Engaging his Enemy (Shattered SEALs #4) - Amy Gamet Page 0,24

Or not a dad, but you know what I mean.” Moto looked around the table. Trace had stopped moving halfway through stuffing a grinder, and Chase watched Moto with one brow raised.

“Something going on with you, Moto?” asked Razorback. “You haven’t asked about our love lives before.”

Damn it, he hadn’t meant to divulge too much information. But who the hell was he hiding it from? Wyatt was his child, period. There was no reason not to tell his friends. His palms began to sweat. “Just found out I’m a father.”

Sloan whistled. Trace smiled. “Congratulations, my man. Is it a boy or a girl?”

“A bouncing ten-year-old boy.”

Trace’s face fell. In the silence that followed Moto’s pronouncement, Trace said, “Well, shit.”

“Yeah.” Moto leaned back in his chair. Telling his friends made it that much more real, and he knew the impossible turn his life had taken would eventually permeate his entire world. Nothing would ever be the same again, now that he knew about Wyatt. “My high school girlfriend.”

Razorback looked genuinely sympathetic. “And she never told you?”

“Nope.” Emotion stung him in the gut, surprising him. What the hell was the matter with him? He’d had more feelings in the past week than the last five years. He opened his mouth, about to give them the whole story, but thought better of it. “She had her reasons.”

“Good ones, I hope.” Trace passed Moto a sandwich.

Moto’s phone vibrated. “Lawyer’s on her way.” Even the late, crazy-ass lawyer was more reliable than his brother.

Razorback leaned back in his chair and clicked his pen before putting it down. “Come outside with me, Moto.”

Moto followed him through a sliding glass door and onto a long, narrow terrace, the lights and sounds of traffic far below. “What’s up?”

“I called the feds this morning to get backup dealing with DeRegina’s men in case we need it. I gave them your brother’s name and role in this situation. They, in turn, gave me some information about your brother’s criminal history.”

Moto’s stomach clenched. As far as he knew, Ben had no criminal history. “Go on.”

“He was arrested twice for dealing drugs, once while he was still a minor and once when he was nineteen. Because one was a juvenile record, he didn’t do any time for the second. Is there any possibility your brother is in this deal more than you know?”

“Are you asking if he’s a drug dealer?”

“Or working for them, yes. It seems possible, given his history, that he was more than just a hapless victim. Perhaps even a partner.”

Moto moved to the railing, bracing himself on either side. He wanted to stand up and defend Ben, to insist his brother couldn’t do such a thing, and the realization he could not was a blow. “I don’t know. But I agree, it’s possible.”

“And if that’s the case, my men may be in danger. Now, I’m going to ask you again. Where is your brother?”

“I don’t know. I’m not keeping anything from you, Razorback. I wouldn’t. He had some walk-through to do for his real estate work.”

“Do you trust him?”

Moto looked back at the new leader of his team, a man he respected and admired, a man much like he himself wanted to be. The contrast between Razorback and Ben was striking, and he wondered how much of success was dictated by circumstance and how much was created by design. “His heart’s in the right place, but he makes bad decisions. I have to say no.”

Razorback nodded. “I appreciate the honesty.” He looked out over the city. “Been a hell of a trip down memory lane for you, hasn’t it?”

“You have no idea.”

The men were silent for a minute, a car honking in the distance. For the briefest moment, Moto wished none of this had ever happened, that he could have been oblivious to his brother’s reality forever.

But then you wouldn’t know about Wyatt.

He still didn’t know what to think about the boy, didn’t know how to be a father or what this would mean for either of them. But he knew one thing. He would never want to go back to a world where he didn’t know his son existed. Whatever came next, they’d figure it out together. They would learn how to be father and son, no matter what happened with Ben or Davina. That was his kid, and he was going to do whatever it took to make a place in his life for the boy.

“It’s the best thing in the world, parenthood,” said Razorback, seemingly reading