Page 3 of Puma's Pride

“Puma?” He asks in a soft voice, his eyes flicking to Elina. He, like everyone in the club, knows how much Elina adores Puma. If she knows he’s in any danger, she’ll be inconsolable.

“No word.” I whisper. “If you need to go and help, you can.”

He shakes his head. “He’d kill me if I left you unprotected. Then Chill would dig my body up and kill me again before Showtime has a go.”

I can’t stop my laugh. The sound causes my daughter and father to shift their attention to me.

“Mommy!” Mal calls out, jumping off the couch and running to wrap his little arms around his mother’s legs. “We’re watching Turning Red. Do you want to watch it with us?”

“I see that, baby. I’ll sit with you for a while.” Corinne says as she takes a seat on the other side of her son.

Elina is watching me with wise eyes. She’s lived at the club long enough to recognize when everyone is tense. I know she senses something is not right, but luckily she hasn’t asked, or realized Puma is missing. Once she does, oh boy. I give her a smile. She frowns in return, but turns her attention back to the movie.

“She knows something is wrong.” My father says. “She doesn’t know what, yet.”

“Yeah. Luckily, she didn’t see Dante and the others return without Puma.” I reply.

“Mal is a sweet boy. He looks just like his father.” Diego says to me, watching my expression.

“Yeah. Puma’s going to freak when he gets back.” I stop myself from saying ‘if’. But I can’t help but worry about the possibility of losing him.

“Puma’s as close to indestructible as a mortal man can get.” My father assures me. “He’ll find a way out of whatever mess he’s in and he’ll be home soon. You need to focus on how you’re going to help him deal with Corinne without alienating his son.”

I frown at my dad. “Puma won’t hurt the boy or his mother.” I protest.

“No, he won’t. But Puma has a temper. He won’t be happy that she kept his son from him this long.”

I nod.

Corinne glances back at us, and I realize she must have heard our discussion. I feel a little guilty about that, but this is her reality and she’ll need to deal with it.

“I’ll be right back.” Corinne says to Mal before standing to join us.

“You heard?” I ask and she nods.

“Believe me, I’ve been stressing about how Puma’s going to react once he arrives. I’m not completely heartless. I tried to reach out to him when I discovered I was pregnant. When I couldn’t reach him directly, I contacted his manager.” Her face turns a light pink before she continues. “He told me to go away. Had some choice words about me being another gold-digger just looking for a payday.” Corinne says, her words directed at us, but her focus on Mal giggling with Elina.

“Did you try again?” Diego asks. “Another route?”

She shakes her head. “No. I planned on waiting until after Mal was born before I approached him again. Then he had his accident. I followed the news about him. I thought about visiting him in the hospital. Bringing Mal with me. But then I read about his career ending and I just wasn’t sure what to do.”

“Because you didn’t know Puma’s mindset?” I suggest.

Corinne looks at me with gratitude. “Yes, exactly. I weighed every probable scenario I could think of and too many of them ended in disaster. So I waited. But then today happened.”

“I wish we knew who attacked you.” I grumble.

“I have his picture.” Corinne says. “Do you think that might help?”

I want to smack her, but I just nod. “It might.”

Corinne takes her phone out of her pocket and taps it a few times before holding the screen so my father and I can see. The image is of a man behind the steering wheel of a car. I squint to make out his features as Diego draws in a breath.

“It can’t be. Are you certain that he’s the man who came to your condo?” Diego asks as I glance at him, then back at the phone. “Sorry, of course you’re certain. You took the photo.”

“Who is it?” I ask and then suddenly I recognize him. “Wait, is that John? Your second-in-command? The one who drove us to San Diego?”

“Unless it’s his twin and I don’t think he has one.” My father says. “What is he up to?”

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