Page 64 of Dangerous Secret

“Richie.”

“Oh, I remember you said that.” He turned his attentionto his lunch and scarfed down one meatball. “Will you play with me after I finish my lunch, Richie?”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Anders said. “You know better.”

Tyler let out a big sigh. “But Daddy’s not here now.”

“Doesn’t matter. It’s a bad habit to have, and if you do it now, you’ll forget and do it in front of your father.”

There was kindness in Anders’s voice when speaking to Tyler. He was trying to help the boy stay out of trouble.

“Daddy gets mad if I talk with food in my mouth.” Tyler lifted those big blue eyes to Grayson. “He takes my dinner away and makes me go to bed hungry.”

Grayson exchanged a glance with Anders. The boy was five years old, for God’s sake. Teaching him good manners was one thing, but sending him to bed hungry? Wrong on so many levels. Grayson didn’t doubt there were even more serious ways Pressley was failing as a father. Like hiring the woman who walked into the kitchen as Tyler’s nanny.

Ava’s eyes widened and a smile appeared when she saw Grayson. “Well, hello, Benny’s cousin.”

Grayson dipped his chin in reply. He didn’t want to be anywhere near the woman, but maybe he could learn something if he stayed.

She moved next to him. “You going to tell me your name?”

“His name’s Richie,” Tyler said.

Without sparing a glance the boy’s way, she said, “I wasn’t talking to you.”

Anders removed a plate that appeared to hold a salad from the refrigerator, carrying it and a glass of water with a lemon to a small table. “Ava, your lunch.”

There was no warmth in his voice as there had been for Tyler. Another of Pressley’s employees that Grayson decided he liked.

“I think I’ll have my lunch at the counter today. Keep Richie company.” She put her hand on Tyler’s arm. “Go take your nap.”

“But I haven’t—”

“Don’t talk back to me, Tyler Pressley. Do as I say if you don’t want me to tell your father.”

Was tattling to his father a constant threat she used on the boy? Grayson wanted to throttle her.

“He hasn’t had his cookies yet,” Anders said.

Ava shrugged. “He can take them to his room.”

The air was tense between Anders and Ava, and Anders opened his mouth, then closed it. He turned his back on her, got a small baggie and put four cookies in it.

“I get four?” Tyler said when Anders gave him the cookies.

Anders smiled. “It’s a special day.”

“Now go,” Ava said irritably.

Grayson waited until Tyler turned the corner and was out of sight before saying, “Gonna hit the restroom. I’ll be right back.” He caught up with the boy. “Tyler.”

Tyler’s eyes lit up. “Are you coming to play with me?”

“I wish I could.” He squatted. “Maybe another day I can. I just wanted to tell you that I think you’re a smart and interesting boy. If you want, I’d like us to be friends.”

“Really?”

Grayson nodded.

---