Page 70 of Dangerous Secret

“Then he can stay away from me.”

“Isn’t it your job to take care of him?” What the boy needed was his mother. As tempting as it was to drive straight to Harlow’s apartment and turn Tyler over to her, he didn’t have a choice but to continue on to Pressley’s house.

“I don’t do sick people, especially sick kids who barf all over the place.”

Disgusted with her, he ignored her the rest of the way back to the house. When they arrived, she exited the car and went inside, leaving him to get Tyler in. He got Tyler out of the car seat and carried him inside. The boy laid his head on Grayson’s shoulder and sighed. A sense of protectiveness he’d never felt before welled inside him.

“You hungry?” It was lunchtime, and the kid should try to keep something down.

“No. I’ll barf it up, and Ava will get mad at me.”

“I won’t let her get mad at you. How about we see if Anders has some chicken noodle soup. That always made me feel better when I was sick.”

“Really? Did you barf?”

He chuckled. “Sometimes.” He walked into the kitchen. “Anders, you have any chicken noodle soup? A can of Campbell’s, maybe? Our boy here could use a little something in his stomach that he can keep down.”

“Canned soup?” Anders huffed, giving Grayson a disgusted look. “No, I do not.” He then smiled at Tyler, who still rested his head on Grayson’s shoulder. “But I did make some chicken noodle soup this morning after I heard you were sick.”

“I’m not hungry,” Tyler muttered.

“Maybe not, but I promise you, my soup will help you feel better. Let’s just try a little, okay?”

Between him and Anders, they got Tyler to eat a half bowl along with a few saltine crackers and some ginger ale Anders had gone to the store and bought after hearing Tyler was sick.

“You’re a good man,” Grayson said to Anders as he picked up Tyler to take him to his room.

“Back at you, Richie.”

Grayson hated that name, hated that he was lying to the people here he liked. As for the ones he didn’t like, he had no qualms about deceiving them.

Ava had done a disappearing act, so he took Tyler to his room, removed his shoes and his pants. Leaving him wearing a T-shirt, his underwear and socks, he got Tyler tucked into bed.

“Will you read to me?”

“Sure.” He picked a random book from the bookshelf and settled in a chair near the bed. Tyler fell asleep a fewpages in, and Grayson wasn’t sure what to do. Ava hadn’t made an appearance, and he hesitated to leave Tyler alone should he get sick again. Since Pressley didn’t need him, Grayson stayed to watch over the boy.

That was how Pressley found him.

“Where’s Ava?”

“Not sure.”

Pressley stepped into the room and glanced at his son. “What did the doctor say?”

“He has a mild case of the flu, but he’ll be okay.”

“The flu?” He stepped back to the doorway. “Is he contagious?”

You’re his damn father. You shouldn’t care if he is.“Maybe for a day or two. He’d love it if you came to see him when he wakes up.”

“Find Ava and tell her to keep an eye on him. Be here tomorrow at nine.” He left without another glance at his sick son.

Ava was nowhere to be found, so Grayson returned to Tyler’s room. He closed the door, and while the boy slept, Grayson opened the app on his phone that had recorded any conversations Pressley had in his car today.

He’d only made two calls, both to women. “Hi, beautiful. It’s Anthony,” he said on the first call.

“I was hoping to hear from you,” she said, her voice whispery.

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