Page 1 of Winning You
PROLOGUE
FRANKIE: FOUR YEARS PRIOR
The one thingFrankie hated more than anything was the inside of a hospital. It was something about the sterile-white and starchy sheets and the recirculated air with absolutely no humidity at all that left the insides of his sinuses burning.
He’d spent a lot of time in hospitals.
Both of his parents were unfit caregivers. They were fifteen when he was born. His dad turned into an alcoholic with no desire to get better. His mom was on pills, which had happened because she was using opiates to cope with her husband’s slow slide into addiction. Those mixed together led to a lot of incidents of fists flying and screaming and blood and ambulances.
When he turned eleven, his mom had another baby. When he turned thirteen, she had the last—or what he assumed was going to be the last. He could only hope, anyway, because within days of bringing home a screaming, shitting, starving baby, he was doing all the work.
Ten years later, police and CPS got involved, and he held the weight of his siblings’ well-being on his shoulders. He was twenty-four when he was given permanent custody of Fentonand Fallon. He was twenty-six when he had to navigate the ins and outs of a young trans boy who was ready to come out.
And raising two teenage boys also meant the occasional broken bone or fistfight because the kids at school knew that the boys came from a broken home. Fenton had a temper, and Fallon was an easy target.
He was happy to never, ever set foot in a hospital again. But then he’d gotten the call he’d been dreading when his mom went MIA on them. Almost twelve years had gone by, and he was starting to think maybe he wasn’t ever going to hear from her again.
“Mr. Montez, I’m really sorry to bother you,” the woman started. He very much doubted she was sorry at all. They never were. He sat back at his desk and stared blankly at his computer screen. “We’re trying to reach the closest relative of Anika Paisley.”
Right. His mom had dropped her married name once the divorce was final. He’d almost forgotten.
“Is she dead?” There was little inflection in his voice. He’d been waiting for that call too.
“No, fortunately not.Unfortunately,” the woman emphasized, “she’s currently awaiting trial on charges of child endangerment and neglect.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. It obviously wasn’t Fenton or Fallon, so his mother had gone and done it again. A new child. A sibling he’d never met. “Which child is this?”
“We have her records currently listed as Elodie Paisley. She’s currently six weeks old.”
Fuck. Six weeks old? Anika was fifty-two. How the fuck was his mother even able to bear children anymore?
“Alright,” he said slowly.
“We are aware that you were given full guardianship of your brothers while they were both minors?—”
“They’re not now. They’re grown men.”
“Ah. Yes. The reason I’m calling?—”
“I know why you’re calling.” She wanted Frankie to do this. She wanted him to upend his life again to take care of another one of his mother’s mistakes. It felt cruel to call a newborn baby a mistake, but what other words were there in this situation? “Where is the father?”
“There’s none listed on the birth certificate,” she said quietly.
Passing a hand down his face, Frankie let a silent groan into his palm. “Where is she?”
“Your mother?”
“Thebaby.”
“Ah. At St. Vincent’s.”
Fucking hell. She was in town? St. Vincent’s was five miles from his house. He glanced over at his office door and thought about all the plans he had for the night. He was going to get off early and swing by the store to make dinner. Eddie had been working late hours all week, and the couple hadn’t gotten a night to themselves in…fuck. Months, maybe?
They’d only been married for half a year, and things felt tense. Like they were hanging on by a thread. Frankie’s new job as the city health inspector was weighing heavily on him. The hate he got everywhere he went took a toll. And Eddie used any excuse to not be home.
This was going to fuck everything up.
“I can be there around five,” he said. He would hate himself for the rest of his life if he didn’t at least see this child. “I don’t know if I have the resources to take care of a baby.”
