Page 16 of Kingston

I gave the dining room a quick appraisal, noting all the customers were being taken care of.Everyone had drinks except for us, but I saw our waitress carrying a tray in our direction with the three beverages.All the waitresses were doing exactly what they were supposed to do.There was happy chatter and the sounds of utensils against dishes.No one seemed to be displeased with their service.

“You can take time for a meal, Ma.”I nudged Iris.“Tell Grammy you want her to eat with us, princess.”

Demi and Mom both gasped, but I was focused on the kid beside me.I winked down at her.Iris did that brow-crease thing for a few moments before nodding, giving me a smile, and turning the full effects of that beauty on my mom.“Will you eat with us, Gammy?”

ChapterTen

Demi

Kingston Everett Hannigan was overwhelming.

From his smile, to how gentle the giant biker was with my daughter, to how he waited for me to put my hand in his before touching me.It was too much for my heart to take.At times, I couldn’t catch my breath when I looked at him.I was more afraid that this was all a dream, and I was going to wake up in the back of my car, cold and alone with Iris bleeding from her ears, than I was of coming face-to-face with Charlie ever again.

Which was the most terrifying scenario that could possibly happen to me.Charlie and his family could kill me, leave me in the middle of the street, and walk away without a single person in the world to stop them.It wasn’t a matter ofcould; the law didn’t matter when it came to the politician’s son.No onewouldtouch the powerful Johnson family.Not the local authorities when I’d been beaten to the brink of death.Not even the Feds, when I’d tried to ask for help and offered to testify about some of the sketchy things I’d seen while living in their house.

That had been a last-ditch idea that had finally sent me running with Iris at the threat of having my baby being raised by those monsters.

Kingston scooped up a bite of the sundae he’d made for Iris personally, making sure it was the perfect bite of ice cream, sprinkles, fudge, and whipped cream before stretching his arm across the table.I dipped my head forward, accepting the offered treat.He thought he was so sneaky, feeding me every few minutes from his own plate and then slipping me a little of the huge dessert he’d made for a three-year-old.

I hadn’t been hungry when we first arrived.It was hard to think about eating when I needed to figure out how I was going to cover the cost of the treatment my child needed to avoid potentially losing her ability to hear.That kind of stress made me nauseated.Despite my only ordering a side salad—at Quinn’s insistence—he’d been feeding me fries from his own plate.Or slipping pieces of his chicken tenders into my salad while his mom distracted me with her happy chatter.Or telling Iris to offer me bites of her mac and cheese so I knew how good it was.

“It’s yummy.Right, Mommy?”Iris asked as she watched me lick the cream from my lips when Kingston pulled the spoon back.Her face was covered with chocolate sauce, cheese, and ketchup, but she hadn’t complained about her ears hurting since we’d left the doctor’s office earlier.She’d laughed more in the past half hour than she’d done in the last week.

Damn it, she’d been happier in the last twenty-four hours than she’d been in her entire life.

And fuck, but same.

Considering the fear I’d experienced over Iris having a bleeding ear, terrified she was going to lose her hearing, then going home with a man who could have easily filed charges on me for assault and destruction of property, that didn’t say much for my mental stability.I was stressed more than ever, worried sick about how I was going to get Iris the medical treatments she needed, still homeless, and yet I felt truly safe and more content for the first time…ever.

I was starting to wonder if Charlie had caused me brain damage with that last beating he’d given me.Maybe it had simply taken three years before it fully set in.

But I couldn’t blame my ex for the bizarre choices I’d made since seeing Kingston in the ER waiting room.That motherfucker didn’t get to take any credit for the best thing to happen to me since my baby was placed in my arms.

Quinn used her napkin to wipe her mouth after taking the last bite of her own salad and turned so she was facing me on our side of the booth.“Does this mean you’ll be supplying us with morning pastries again?I have at least a dozen customers who keep begging me to put them back on the breakfast menu.And I’m not even exaggerating when I say that Elias Reid drops by every morning looking hopeful for his muffin fix.He might have a slight addiction.”

Embarrassed heat climbed my neck, memories of the last time I’d brought her a batch of muffins replaying in my mind.“I truly am sorry for what happened the last time I was here.I’m so ashamed of myself for how I behaved.”

“Don’t be,” she dismissed with a melodic laugh.“You have great aim, by the way.It was a little satisfying seeing you put my son in his place.I think you may have even knocked some sense into his thick head.”

Kingston grunted.“Let’s pretend that never happened.”

“If anyone should apologize, it would be Kingston.He’s kind of an a-hole at times.”Quinn picked up her glass of Diet Coke, and I choked back a laugh of my own, remembering what River had said earlier that morning about her cousin’s name normally only being in the same sentence with the word “kind” when someone was calling him an asshole.

His green eyes captured mine, and he winked.But then he surprised me by placing his right hand over his heart.“From the bottom of my heart, I apologize for what I said that morning, baby.”

While my heart turned to a squishy, melted mess in my chest, Quinn’s jaw dropped.“Holy cow.I didn’t think he was capable of saying sorry to anyone but me and maybe five other people.Interesting.Very, very interesting.”

“You’re exaggerating, Ma.”

“You’re right.Five was being generous.It’s more like three, and that’s including me.”

“Mom,” he growled.“You’re making me look bad to Demi.”

“Oh please, she already saw how rude you’re capable of being.But now, I actually can increase the number of people you’re nice to.With Demi and Iris added to the list, five is no longer an inflation.”He rolled his eyes at her, and she smirked at her son.

But she stopped teasing him and returned to her original question.“So, let’s discuss the muffin situation.I’m confident if I place a sign on the door that you’re going to be resupplying us with all that baked goodness, I can sell twice as many products every day.I’m willing to increase your percentage of the profits of the sales from fifty to seventy-five percent.What do you think?Do we have a deal?”

Twisting my fingers together in my lap, I considered her offer.If I had a kitchen to cook in, I definitely would have already jumped at what she was suggesting.But it was difficult to bake anything when my kitchen was the trunk of a run-down car that primarily stored the nonperishable foods I tried to stock up on for Iris.I doubted Joy Lively’s family would accept me back as the old woman’s caregiver, and even as desperate as I was for a secure place to sleep, I didn’t think I could return to their house without doing that mean old witch bodily harm.

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