introduce new people into Mo’s life until we’re sure that they’re going to be around.”
His “all right” took a moment or ten longer than I would have expected. And it sounded a lot rougher than it needed to as well. It came out hesitantly, if I wasn’t imagining it.
My hand shot out before I could think twice about it. “You sure? Deal?”
That big hand that was a lot more calloused than I remembered, settled over mine before I had a chance to take it back, his fingers sliding over my own, giving them and my palm a warm squeeze that lingered longer than necessary.
Well, I’d been doing that for a low-five, but… okay. That seemed even more permanent. All right.
I wouldn’t be doing that again anytime soon.
I swallowed and pulled my hand away, returning it to the steering wheel.
We had a whole lot more to settle, but suddenly, I really didn’t feel like asking any more of the hundred questions we had to discuss. Not when we were so close to Maio House, and I was still unsure what the hell my gramps’s weird call had been all about. Luckily, in no time at all, I was steering the car into one of the three reserved spots—one for Peter, Grandpa Gus, and myself.
As I was putting the car into park, I asked, “Do you want to come inside?” Then immediately fucking regretted it.
Shit. I imagined the looks the assholes inside were going to be giving if and when he came in with Mo and me. As soon as I thought that, I wanted to punch myself.
What the hell was I doing? Worrying about what they would think or say? They could all suck it. I wasn’t hiding anything.
“It might be a while,” I let him know, irritated with myself for worrying over what other people would think or say if I walked in with him.
He was Mo’s dad.
And he might be a dipshit, but it wasn’t like anyone else knew that.
Fuck it. They could think whatever they wanted to think. It was more than likely going to be true anyway.
Oblivious, Jonah nodded as he unbuckled his seat belt, reaching for the door with his other hand.
I got Mo out, Jonah grabbing the diaper backpack in the process. But it was just as I was standing straight again that I realized what was happening. I held Mo out to him and raised my eyebrows. “Take her. The more you hold her, the more comfortable you’ll feel with her.”
His “all right” sounded pretty dubious to me, but I could appreciate him not trying to get out of it. I guessed.
He kept the diaper bag over his shoulder as he pulled her in real close to his chest, eyes widening the slightest. “We’re going to get along just fine, aren’t we, Mo?” Jonah asked as he gazed down at the girl with his same eyes.
Mo answered by grabbing his nose and pinching it with a quick burst of animated commentary.
He grinned right back at her.
All right. Enough of that. I was glad I wasn’t the jealous type.
I turned around and headed toward the entrance to the training facility, Jonah and Mo trailing behind me. I punched in the code then opened the door. I held it wide and watched the corner of his lips arch upward as he headed into the building first, stopping just inside.
He really was a big son of a bitch, I thought as he brushed by me.
Gesturing him toward the office like he didn’t know where it was, I stopped almost immediately at the sight of Grandpa Gus, a woman, and Peter standing right outside the office door. But it was Grandpa’s posture that had me pausing. He had his arms crossed over his chest, and the look on his face was one I hadn’t seen, ever. Not even when he mean-mugged Jonah the other day during breakfast.
But even Peter, who was pretty damn easygoing, looked tense.
Taking in the woman, who had to be somewhere around my height, she had to easily be in her sixties or early seventies. Slim without looking exactly frail. Her hair was all white and was cut in a chin-length bob. She had on a dressy blouse and white pants.
She was… elegant.
And I had no clue who the hell she was, but I already knew I wasn’t going to like her because of Grandpa Gus and Peter’s body language.
If I had thought I was imagining that something was going on, it would have been