Page 44 of Sunshine
“By you!” I say, playing along.
“You belong to me and mommy?”
“That’s right,” I agree distractedly as we pass the new baby’s nursery. I’m momentarily saddened by how much of my little girl’s life I’ve missed because her mother had to hide Reece’s existence from Satan’s Ransom. And how much more I might miss if my parents have their way.
“Daddy?” She squints up at me. “If Mommy’s gone, can you still belong to her?”
“I guess I just belong to you now, cupcake.”
“And what if you get a girlfriend?”
“Only one lady owns this big scary biker daddy.”
She giggles, her smile wide and sticky. “You’re not scary, silly.”
“That’s because you have me wrapped around your finger,silly. Trust me, to most people I’m a big scary dude.”
“Intimidating,” she adds.
“Boogedy-boogedy,” I say, and she bursts into giggles.
“Good one, Daddy.” She pats my chest and wiggles to get down. I grab an outfit from her drawers and lay it on the bed so she can change her sticky clothes.
“I’ll be downstairs, gummy bear. Don’t forget to wash your hands, chin and neck or your hair will stick to it, and you’ll have a funny beard like mine.”
“I like your beard.” She pauses thoughtfully. “Daddy?”
“Hm?”
“I hope you get a girlfriend. Someone who’s awesome like Aunty Lulah that I can share you with.”
I swallow hard, but my baby doesn’t notice, she’s already peeling off her shoes.
Chapter Fourteen
Case
I arrive back on the island late that afternoon and I’m pissed—so pissed I go straight to the site on my Harley from the airport, revving extra loud as I pass Tessa’s.
The site is void of workers and the gates are locked, the letter still pinned to the fence. It looks official enough but when I got the email from Mack—two days late since I left my phone on airplane mode all weekend by accident—I checked with the city’s zoning committee.Turns out the letter is fake, but it’s a damn good fake. She must have snagged an official one from the internet and copied it, right down to the logo.
It’s then that I know it isn’t just my daughter who doesn’t find me scary. My neighbor doesn’t either. But that’s about to change.
“For fuck’s sake,” I murmur as I grab the lock on the fence and inspect it before turning my glare toward Tessa’s house.This weekend was about catching up the project. I’d paid double time to have the crew there all weekend and now nothing is caught up and the guys still expect to be paid.
“You’re in for it now, Ms. Fancy Pants.” I turn back to my Harley, grabbing something from the saddle bag and go back tothe lock. It’s a cheap lock so it takes me no more than a minute to open it with my lock-picking set—one of the few things left from my days in the Ransom. Shoving the open lock into my jeans, I shoot Mack a text telling them the site is good to go. I don’t get into details because this shit with Tessa is getting embarrassing.
Getting on Lady, my bike, I rev it loudly before taking off. It’s time to fight fire with fire.
I pull up in Tessa’s driveway, a gravel one with weeds poking through, ready to hop off and drag the brat over my knee, but when I get off my hog, she’s slumped on the stairs of the front porch, looking at her phone, her face stricken. There’s a manilla envelope beside her.
“What’s wrong?” I demand, worry filling my chest.
She blinks up at me blankly before an ‘oh shit’ look crosses her features, and she scrambles to her feet.
“I’ll open the gate at a reasonable hour.” She sticks her chin in the air. “Until then, let me enjoy my peace.”
“You don’t look like you’re enjoying anything right now.”
