Page 18 of Night of the Living Manny
That thought kept him smiling all the way to bed.
Chapter Three
“DAD!I want to go over to Shelly’s. Can I?”
Liam stared into his coffee cup, trying to make his brain work. He’d been at the office until midnight. Greg was… gone. Like, gone. He’d gone over to his assistant’s house after he’d left the office, and it was just empty, as if Greg had up and moved.Poof.
“Daddy!”
Christ, his head hurt. “Is your homework done?”
“Yes?” The question in her answer said she was lying.
“Susanna.”
“No. But it can be, in, like, half an hour.” Now she was wheedling.
“Come ask me in, like, half an hour, then.” He gave her a stern glance because she would just keep at it if he didn’t.
“Oh God.” She stomped off, her footsteps loud and angry.
“Hey, do you need me to make— Oh, are you okay?” Brenden stepped into the kitchen, coming to put warm hands on the back of his neck and massage.
“Headache. Long fucking night. You have great hands.”
“Thanks. Massage therapist.” Brenden chuckled but never let up on the rubbing.
“Uh-huh. And chef and manny.” He was going to melt into goo.
“You’re really tight. What’s up with work?” Brenden dug in until goose bumps rose on Liam’s skin.
“My assistant has disappeared off the face of the earth. Like, seriously.” He couldn’t believe it, but not one of the crew had seen or heard from Greg. Asshole, just running off.
“Disappeared how?” Brenden actually paused, hands stilling.
“I don’t know. He’s not at home, he’s not at work, he’s just gone.”
“Your supervisors haven’t heard from him?” Brenden began rubbing again, really finding his stress points and working them.
“No. They don’t seem as worried as I am.”
“Huh. Is his office still… his?” Brenden sounded a little fascinated. “Like, it still has his stuff in it?”
“Yeah. Weird as fuck, huh?”
“Daddy, you said a cuss. Can I have scrambled eggs?” Brittany asked.
“I was going to ask if you needed me to make breakfast.” Brenden moved around to pour a cup of coffee. “I know we said I could take Saturday and Sunday half days, but I really don’t have anything else to do.”
“Oh, Brenden, please? I’ll feed Moose. I like your eggs.”
Liam squinted at Britt, who gave him a beatific smile.
“You want eggs, Liam?” Brenden refilled his coffee too.
“They’re real good, Daddy. Real good.” Brittany was so earnest that Liam found it hard to be offended, since she didn’t like his eggs, really.
“Sounds great, man. Thank you.” He drank deep again, letting the coffee soothe him.
