“Of course. You’re always welcome.” Molly shifted in the seat like she was making herself more comfortable, but she looked anything but. “How bad is your phone?”
April flipped it around to show her the shattered screen.
Molly winced. “Do you need money for a new one, hon?”
“No, it’s insured.” And if she took her father up on his offer, she could afford to throw it away and buy the latest model.
Molly tilted her head, her eyes narrowing with concern. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
April picked a wet strand of hair off her forehead and smoothed it back. I’m not sure about anything. “My father asked me to move home for a few months. He wants to get to know Archie.”
Molly’s eyebrows shot up. “And how do you feel about that?”
“Conflicted.”
“Maybe he’s trying to make amends for what happened between you two.”
April nodded as she stared unseeingly at the Mother Earth statue on the coffee table. “If I move across the island, I’ll have to take a leave of absence from the bookstore.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve already decided to promote Cass to manager. She can handle things on her own until you’re able to come back. Don’t worry about us. You take care of yourself and that little boy of yours.”
The living room lights flickered, but didn’t go out. A burst of rain sprayed the windows on the side of the house for the force of a power washer.
“You know Anders and I love you like a daughter. As far as we’re concerned, you and Archie are family. If you need anything, you can come to us.” Molly fussed with the pillow at her back, trying to get it positioned just right. “Dagnabit,” she said, giving up in frustration.
“I know, but you’ve already done so much for me already. I can’t ask for more.” April stood and grabbed another throw pillow. She tucked it behind Molly’s back while readjusting the first one.
“Oh, thank you. These babies are taking the piss out of my vinegar.” Molly touched April’s arm to stop her from moving away. Their gazes met. “I mean it. We’re family, you hear? Whatever you decide, your apartment will be waiting for you when you’re ready to come home.”
Home.
April returned to the recliner and tugged the blanket she’d abandoned across her lap.
Funny choice of words.
Chapter Six
“Oh, April. Why wouldn’t you want to move back to Casa Linus?” Greenlee Fiori asked the question that had kept April awake last night. She still hadn’t given her father an answer.
April leaned against her kitchen counter in her tiny apartment holding a cordless phone to ear. Her high school best friend lived in Miami now with her new fiancé. She and April had grown apart after Archie was born and now only spoke on the phone occasionally. Needing someone to talk to, April mentioned her father’s offer to Greenlee who thought she was crazy for not wanting to move back home. Greenlee didn’t know the whole story, but knowing her the way April did, she doubted knowing her father was an International Arms Dealer would have mattered much to her.
April jumped as a train whistle blew. The noise came from the television and the cartoon that mesmerized her son. He knelt on the floor surrounded by Legos in front of the small sofa. The Spiderman action figure hanging limply in his hand matched his pajamas.
“It’s almost bedtime, Buddy.”
“Just one more minute, Mama.” He pointed a little digit at the screen.
“Okay.” She smiled. He had about thirty minutes, but she learned to start warning him early. He gave her less trouble when it was actually time for bed.
“How’s the little munchkin?”
“He’s good. He’s growing so fast. He’s my little man now.” April grabbed a dish towel and started drying the dinner dishes she’d finished washing before Greenlee’s call.
“It doesn’t hurt to have a grown one around, too.”
“It’s hard to find the time to date.”
“Gary’s best friend is single, and he’ll be at my engagement party. Please say you’re coming so I can introduce you.”
April put the cup away and reached for a plate. “I don’t know. It all depends on whether or not I accept my father’s offer.” The only way she could afford an overnight trip to Miami was if she agreed to the bargain.
“Mama, can I have a snack?”
April tucked the phone between her shoulder and chin and went to the fridge. She poured a small cup of milk and put a couple of gram cracker strips on a plate and set them on the footstool he used as a snack table. “Here you go, Archie. Put your toys down and eat, because you have to go to bed soon.”
“Gam cwackers!” he exclaimed, dropping the toy train he was playing with to clap his hands. “Thanks, Mama.”
“You’re welcome, sweetie.”
Archie bit into the cracker and pretended to faint because it was so good.
“You’re such a funny guy. Be careful you don’t spill your milk.”
He sat up quickly when the cartoon returned from commercial.
“Just think, when Gary and I get married and start a family, our children can play together.”
“Yeah.” April didn’t point out that there would be at least a six-or-seven-year age difference between their children since Greenlee’s wedding wasn’t scheduled until the summer after next. “That would be great. It’s Archie’s bedtime, so I have to go. It was great catching up with you though.”
“Promise me you’ll come to the party.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“Kisses.” Greenlee kissed the receiver twice and hung up.
April pressed end on the phone and placed it back in the cradle.
“Mama, it’s not time for bed yet. My show isn’t over.”
“Not yet.” She padded barefoot across the tile floor and placed a kiss on top of his head. She closed her eyes as she inhaled his sweet intoxicating scent. He smelled faintly of bubblegum shampoo. She loved him so much. She wanted him to feel as safe and secure as she did when she was growing up. She really hoped she wasn’t screwing this all up for him. She was doing the best she could, but she couldn’t know for certain his future was secure unless there was a college trust fund waiting for him when he graduated from high school.
When April sat on the couch, Archie left what remained of his snack to curl up beside her. Stroking his silky brown curls as she cuddled him, she wondered not for the first time, where he’d gotten the wavy hair from. Definitely not her side of the family. Archie had her smile and chin, but he had his daddy’s eyes. Dark blue and slanted at the outer corners. It had been so strange looking into the adult version of eyes she knew as well as her own. She hadn’t seen Jonas in so long, she hadn’t realized just how much Archie resembled him. He was small for his age and too thin, but the doctor said he was healthy and just a late bloomer. She had been overweight from the time she was a baby, so he must take after his daddy in that department too. Except, she couldn’t imagine Jonas – who was a solid six-feet-tall, broad-shouldered, and ripped – ever being small.
Her stomach grumbled, scolding her for pushing her dinner around on the plate instead of eating it. As soon as she put Archie to bed, she’d grab a snack before she started studying.
Someone knocked on the door. Her heart skipped a beat, and she squeezed Archie tighter. She never got unexpected visitors. Molly usually texted before making her way up the stairs, especially since she hadn’t been feeling well. You had to know the combo to the backyard gate in order to get to the pool house stairs, but didn’t mean a determined crazy person couldn’t jump the fence.
“Who is it, Mama?”
“I don’t know. Stay here, okay.”
As she climbed off the sofa, she glanced back at Archie. His face was pinched with concern.
“It’s okay, sweetie. Watch your show.”
April flicked on the porch light. Whoever it was didn’t mind climbing the stairs in the pitch black.
S
he looked around for a weapon and landed on the chef’s knife still waiting to be dried in the dish rack. Strangling the knife handle, she peered through the peephole.
Jonas leaned back against the concrete railing on the small landing. He stared at the door as if he could see her in the tiny peephole. Her heart leapt, and she straightened away from the door and spun around. “Just a minute,” she shouted through the door. “Archie, Mommy has to talk to our visitor. I’ll be just outside the door. Watch your show. I won’t be long.”
“Okay.” He didn’t take his eyes off the screen.
April paused to glance at herself in the mirror hanging on the wall beside the door. Her hair was tousled on top of her head in a messy bun. She had no makeup on and she was wearing her pjs, a white cami top that kept riding up and baby blue terry-cloth short shorts. She took a deep breath before she opened the door and quickly closed it behind her as she stepped outside.
Jonas’ gaze zeroed in on the 10’ knife she forgot to put down. “What do you plan to do with that?”
April shrugged. “Defend myself? I didn’t know who was outside my door in the pitch black.”
“It wasn’t that dark. Moon’s almost full.”
She glanced up at the sky and shivered though the temperature was in the low-80s. “What do you want, Jonas?”
Dressed in the black t-shirt, cargo pants, and boots he always wore, Jonas gave off a dangerous vibe that always managed to rattle her nerves and make her heart race. He was as lean and ripped as she remembered, but he seemed bigger, broader through the shoulders, and more intimidating. His brown buzz-cut was the same. It showed off the tribal tattoo that snaked from the collar of his black T-shirt up the side of his neck. The total lack of emotion in his face was as unnerving as was his dark blue eyes, almost black in the dim light. She focused on the faded scar that sliced the edge of his bottom lip. It hadn’t been there before, but wasn’t new either.
“I came by earlier today, but you weren’t here.” His voice was deep and gruff. It gave her more goosebumps.
“I was working. Did you stop by last night too?”
“No. Why would you think that?” His brow pinched with concern.
“No reason.” So, it hadn’t been him. Maybe she hadn’t seen someone after all.
“You look tired.”
“I am tired.”
“I guess being a single mom is rough.”
“You know.” Her pulse leapt. She hadn’t planned on keeping it a secret, but she wasn’t ready for him to know. Would he suspect? Ask questions? What would she say? His safety depended on nobody finding out the truth, but could she lie to him? No. No, she couldn’t.
“Things will get easier when I finish college.”
Jonas still pulsed with the strange energy she’d always sensed in him. For her, it was as intriguing as catnip to cat. She gravitated toward him without realizing she’d taken several steps closer. He straightened away from the concreate railing.
“Listen, your father wants to know your decision. You moving home or what?”
“I haven’t decided yet.”
“He wants an answer now.”
“Why did he send you? Or did you volunteer for the job?”
“Hell no. He cornered me after you left. I don’t get it. Why not take him up on his offer? Is a pride thing?” He stared at her intently, waiting for an explanation.
I see the way you look at me when you think no one is watching. The last time he looked at her like that she was newly nineteen and hot for him. Full of false bravado and high on being the center of attention at her birthday party, she’d cornered him in the library under the guise of searching for her cat. Jonas was standing with his back to a wall of books looking darkly sexy and completely unattainable. When his emotionless expression grew dark with a warning, she ignored the tremor of nerves that rolled through her body and moved closer.
Wearing nothing but a skimpy white bikini top, a flimsy sarong over her bikini bottoms, and 5-inch heels, she’d pressed her chest against his and thrilled at the hard jut of the military grade knives contained in the harness that crisscrossed his chest. She bit her bottom lip and gazed at him through her eyelashes. “When you look at me like that, it makes me shiver and go all limp and gooey inside.”
He grabbed her arms and spun her around, slamming her back against the bookcase so hard some books tumbled off the shelves.
Dizzy with the thrill of being manhandled, she sucked in her breath. When she realized his mouth was moving closer, dipping toward her own, her pounding heart threatened to break her breastbone. Her eyes drifted closed as she waited with anticipation.
When he hesitated a bit too long, she arched her back, pillowing her breasts against his chest, and whispered, “I want to feel you on top of me.”
The sudden volatile emotion that flickered across his face terrified her but also gave her a glimmer of hope.
“Hell no,” he growled and his warm breath brushed her face. He let go of her abruptly and stepped back.
Disappointment curdled her insides, but she lifted her shoulders and stuck out her chin. “That’s too bad.” She walked past him, adding tartly, “If you change your mind. I’ll be in my room.”
When she learned the next morning Jonas had abruptly disappeared, April had assumed it was her fault. She’d known back then who her father really was and what he was capable of and had selfishly seduced one of his employees into sleeping with her. Even though she knew now that he hadn’t been hauled off and murdered, seeing him again alive and well felt like a miracle. She swallowed the lump in her threat and shook off the tears burning the back of her eyes. “No, it’s not a pride thing. Archie and I are settled in our new home. We have a comfortable routine. I want to help my friends though and the bargain my father wants to make with me will save them. I don’t really want to let them down.”
“Mama? The show is over.” Archie stood in the open door wearing his Spiderman pajamas and a milk mustache.
“Go back inside, sweetie. I’ll be there in a minute.” She glanced at Jonas and her heart stopped.
His expression was unguarded for once as he stared at Archie like a man in awe of a miracle.
He knew, and he was smitten.
Her lungs constricted making it difficult to breathe. What would he do? What would he say? Would he be angry at her for keeping Archie from him? Of course, he would.
Archie stood in the doorway staring back at Jonas with curiosity. Damn, if her son wasn’t a minute version of his father. She didn’t see it until now when they were five feet apart. Did Jonas have curly hair too? Is that why he kept it so short? She didn’t know whether she wanted to laugh or cry.
“Jonas, I can explain.”
“Don’t.” He held up a hand. Swallowing hard, he seemed to fight the strong emotion spinning around inside. “It doesn’t matter. Let’s keep things as they are.”
Why? She wanted to say, but she’d be shooting herself in the foot. “Okay. But if you want to talk about it—”
“Not interested.” Turning away from Archie, he stared out at the night.
April blinked back the moisture in her eyes and scooted Archie inside the house. “Mommy will be right there. Be a big boy and go brush your teeth.”
“Okay. Who’s that man?”
“A friend of Mommy’s. It’s okay.” She kissed him on top of his head. “Don’t forget to use toothpaste!”
April closed the door away and stared at Jonas broad back.
“I have money. Let me know how much you need.”
“I don’t want your money. Why aren’t you angry? I’ve kept this from you for five years.”
“It’s not like you knew where to find me.”
“No, but Jimmy Panama did. I could have told him or asked him to have you call me.”
“I wouldn’t have called.”
April crossed her arms. She didn’t know if she should be angry or hurt. “That’s a jerky thing to say.”
Jonas turned around. “We
ll, if you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m a jerk. What’s your answer going to be. I’ve got places to be.”
“My father can’t find out about this.
“I agree one hundred percent.” He lowered to the knife she still hadn’t put down. “Do you know how to use that thing to defend yourself?”
“I’m sure I could figure it out.”
“Try to stab me.”
“What?”
“Go for it.” He nudged her hand higher, more even with his chest. “Do your worst.”
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Do it. I’m a creeper, coming after you and your kid. What do you do?”
She lunged forward, intending to withdraw the knife before she made contact.
In one swift movement, Jonas stepped to the side, pulled her elbow back, and took the knife handle out of her hand. She stumbled toward the top of the stairs, but he caught her by the waist and hauled her back against him.
“Oh!” She gasped as she found herself smashed against his chest and his big, warm hand splayed across her bare back.
“How about I get you a can of mace?”
She nodded. “That might be better.” She’d forgotten how starkly handsome he was. His slanted eyes, high cheek bones, and square jaw made her racing pulse leap. Her body tingled where they touched and sweat beaded between her breasts. His smelled faintly of aftershave. She was stupid, but she didn’t want him to let her go. She wanted him to kiss her. Her thoughts must have been written on her face, because he scowled and let her go.
“Look,” he said. “I don’t know anything about kids except that I was one once and if I can forget about the hell hole I grew up in, your kid can forget about living in grandpa’s massive estate for few months.”
“You’re right. I’m just making excuses. I’m starting to realize that no matter how much you think you have things under control, life does whatever the heck it wants anyway.”
“Life is full of surprises.” He offered April the knife back, and she took it.
Passion Punch Page 6
