knocked on the table, bringing their attention to him. “Keys is smart, King. If he needs us, or some help, I don’t see him throwing up his middle fingers and saying fuck it. He doesn’t have a death wish. Do you, Keys?”
“If I did, I sure as shit wouldn’t be here today.” Keys was sure his back molars had to be close to dust the way he’d been grinding them. Fuck, what the hell was up with this third degree?
“You say you’ll check in every Friday? Not good enough, Keys. I need a report that you’re alive every other day, at the least. And don’t give me that incredulous look, either. You and I both know shit can happen in the span of twenty-four hours. Either you agree, or I’ll have a tag on your ass.”
He snorted, wondering how the asshole would accomplish that since he was the one who normally got that task done.
Traeger held up a little device, the same type he normally used.
“Fucker, what the hell?”
“Hey, I watch and learn. Besides, I figured one day I’d need one of these little gadgets so...” Traeger shrugged.
Knowing it would be useless to argue, he closed his mouth.
“Looks like we’re finally on the same page,” King muttered.
“Yeah, if that page is assholes are us.”
Duke laughed, slapping him on the back. “You being head asshole?”
This time he didn’t fight the urge to flip the VP off. “I’m out. I’ll check in, every other day, Mommy.” The irony of his words hit him. He’d never had a mom who cared whether he checked in or not.
“Hey, be glad I wasn’t demanding a FaceTime call. Of course, that’s not off the table yet.” King pointed his finger at him then the phone lying in front of him.
With his backpack slung over his shoulder, he walked to the door. The need to say something made him stop, his back to the room. “Thank you—for caring about me. Take care of my babies. Remember Moana is good. She’s a new mama. It’s Maui who’s being a dick.”
“We got this. And Keys,” King said, waiting for Keys to turn toward him. “You don’t thank family for looking out for one another.”
PALMER LOOKED AT HER computer, then at the door. Her grandfather had come home a couple hours ago. The household staff always seemed to become extremely busy when the Mayor was home. She wanted to snort in derision, since they were all nothing but busy bodies who tended to gossip behind one another’s backs. Oh, they didn’t know she heard them when they retired for the night. What they didn’t know was she’d been sneaking through the secret passages since she’d been a child, and those passages went behind every wall, including their rooms. Gah, she hated every last one of them who called her and her son trash. Looking over at the baby with the blond curls, sleeping so peacefully, her heart swelled with love. No, he wasn’t trash. His father? God, he was the worst sort of human ever, but that didn’t make the child anything other than a blessing.
She thought back to the email she’d sent off. It had taken her months to track down Silas. Lord, she hadn’t thought of him in years. No, that’s a lie. She’d thought of him almost once a week or more. However, she’d never have gone searching for him if she hadn’t tried to find the papers on her own son’s grandparents. Her mother had been the darling daughter of the mayor, the beloved princess, marrying the perfect man, Palmer’s father. Or so she’d been told. They’d been killed on vacation overseas, leaving Palmer to be raised by her PopPop and MeMaw. She’d had a wonderful childhood with everything a girl could ask for. Until she’d met and married a man her grandfather chose for her. At her age, she still felt like the naïve debutante she’d been raised to be.
“Well, that girl was gone.” Or rather she’d been beaten down.
The hair on her arms rose, memories of her wedding night had her lunch threatening to come back up. Every girl dreamt of being swept off their feet. Of giving themselves to a knight in shining armor, or at least she had foolishly believed in fairy tales where things like that happened. Of course, her PopPop and MeMaw had fostered those hopes and dreams with her, telling her how important it was to save herself for the right man. She’d only truly wanted one man her