The woman behind him tapped him on the shoulder. “No. She’s right here.”
He spun around and looked into her eyes. How had he missed that she’d been in disguise right in front of him? The baby was one of those lifelike dolls. “I’m impressed.”
“I thought you might be. So will you be okay with me having King Cakes at your diner in Wilde now?”
“We’ll see.” He placed his hand on her shoulder and led her to the far exit he’d spied moments ago. Disguise or not, he wasn’t taking any chances of someone recognizing her.
“She’s a handful just like Bobby said, bro.” Carrying the luggage, Kyle’s eyes never left Gya’s.
A handful you’d like to get your hands on, I can tell. “Yes, she is.”
“You two are the best, or so you say.” Gya pulled her baby close in. “They’re going to take good care of mama. You’ll see.”
Kyle laughed. “You’re too much.”
“You haven’t seen anything yet, fellas.”
“I’m sure we haven’t. Aaron, thank God we have each other on this one. I can’t imagine how tough this job would be all alone.”
“I’m not that bad, am I?” Gya sounded sincerely concerned. “I really was just teasing.”
“You’re not bad at all. I haven’t seen Kyle this engaged on a job ever.”
“Most of our clients are complete bores. She’s definitely not that.”
Gya’s eyes widened and fixed on Kyle. “Neither are you or Aaron.”
He used his key card and unlocked the exit door to the hotel. “Let’s go.”
“What about food?” she asked.
“Yeah, bro. We’re all starving.”
“We’re going to get settled in the room first and then I’ll get us something to eat. You can count on me.” But for how long?
As they walked up the stairs, forgoing the elevator, his mind drifted back to his doctor’s appointment. Funny how a little white spot on an X-ray can change someone’s entire world. Now he knew for sure it was cancer. Hodgkin’s disease, the doctor had said. Even before getting the final results, he’d run through the odds and had known they weren’t in his favor. Given his family history, he’d expected the worst. And he’d been right.
Kyle was his only family. He loved his brother. He was proud of his brother. Giving him half of SCSS had always been the plan, but he’d revised it. Kyle needed to be ready to take the company over. In the last several months, he’d seen him get serious and prove himself well.
They went into the room.
“Is this my room or yours?” Gya asked.
He answered flatly, “It’s our room.”
Kyle placed the bags on one of the beds.
Her cheeks reddened. “I can’t possibly sleep in here with you.”
“Have you forgotten the rules, Gya?” He checked the window, and was happy to find it was sealed completely shut. Outside was the parking lot with a bright security light. Access this way wasn’t impossible but unlikely. “We will be perfectly respectful, but you cannot have your own room. It’s just not safe.”
“There are two beds,” Kyle said, clearly hoping to ease her concern. “It will be fine.”
“One of us will be awake while the other sleeps. That’s the drill.” He grabbed up the local diner’s menu, which was sitting on the tiny desk by the phone. He passed it to Gya. “Pick what you want.”
“I already told you what I wanted.” Gya’s aggravation at the current state of affairs had returned. Gone was the softness he’d seen earlier in the car.
“Pancakes. I remember.” He thought if she saw him as an asshole it would make it easier for her to lean on Kyle for support. A perfect plan. “Anything else?”