“We can’t change what happened though. I did fuck Carla. I knocked her up, and my father killed her, and tried to dump the body. He failed. I went to camp, knocked up another woman, and turned my back on her.”
“I didn’t want to come in here and reflect on what happened or what could have been. I came as a friend. I’ve not seen a whole lot of you outside of work. Karson and Romeo said you’re not even hanging out with them at the club.”
“I’ve got no reason to or desire. I’ve got to get this work done.”
Axton stopped as if he wanted to say something else.
Easton waited.
“I’ll talk to you soon.”
He was left alone, and Easton spent the rest of the day catching up on work. At two o’clock he got a call from Liam.
The moment he heard the other man’s voice, his heart started to race.
“Are you busy?” Liam asked.
“Erm, I can stop now. I’m one of the bosses, why?” Had Liam felt their connection as well or was it just him? Get your head in the game.
“Something’s come up at work. I need you to go and pick up Junior if you’re able to. Scarlett’s busy with the lawyer, as otherwise she’d go and pick him up. Please, Easton, I’ve already phoned the school. They know you’ll be waiting for him.”
“What if I’d said no?” Easton asked.
“You’d say no to the opportunity to go and pick up your son? You can pretend to be an asshole all you want who doesn’t care, but if it was the case, you wouldn’t have come to us, or agreed to the weekends. Are you okay?”
“I wish people would stop asking me that.”
“You want people to stop caring about you?”
“It’s not about caring.”
“It’s not? Could have fooled me. When people around you are worried, they ask personal, invasive questions. You should try it from time to time. You might learn something. You’re good to pick up Junior?”
“Of course. I can take him out for ice cream, right?”
“You can take him out for whatever he wants. Be warned, he’s a very determined kid.”
“Will do. Have a good day.”
“You too. Thanks, Easton.” Liam hung up, and Easton smiled as he put the phone down.
Junior’s school let out at three-thirty. He didn’t have a whole lot of time to get over there. Quickly closing all of his files and shutting down his computer, he packed everything away and headed out of his office.
Axton, Karson, and Romeo were talking over one of the files he recognized from Paul. He’d opted not to be part of any of the business dealings with Paul for many reasons. One of them was related to Carla. He was aware of the other man’s love of Carla, and he’d been the one to fuck her and lose her.
“I’ve got to take off. I’m going to go and pick up my son from school.”
“You need one of us to come with you?” Romeo asked.
“I can handle the drive. Thanks.”
He left them alone with their business and climbed onto the elevator. Within minutes he was sitting behind the wheel of his car, his palms sweaty, but he drove out, and took the time to arrive at his son’s school.
Music blasted out of the stereo, and as he parked he saw he had over fifteen minutes to spare.
He turned the ignition off and just sat waiting, staring at the school where his son was taught.
His son.
Easton still couldn’t get his head around the fact he had a son. He’d missed so much, and he was determined to make this work, one way or another.
Time seemed to slow down so much that by the time the bell rang, his nerves were shot. He’d always had some kind of buffer with Junior. Either Liam or Scar, but now, he didn’t have anyone.
This was all on him.
Junior appeared with a couple of friends. He shook hands with them in some kind of special shake, and then headed his way at a run.
“Hey, Dad,” Junior said, climbing behind the wheel.
“Hey, yourself.” He was going to shoot himself in the head. There was a time he considered himself cool, and right now, he wasn’t proving it to anyone.
Junior laughed and climbed in the car.
“You knew I was picking you up?”
“Yep, my other dad sent me a text message.”
“Your other dad.” Liam, of course. Easton started up the car and waited as several cars were already waiting to pull out.
“I hope it doesn’t upset you I call Liam dad as well. I love you both.”
“Junior, we’re all adults here. Honestly, I don’t mind. I think I’d find it a bit disrespectful if you stopped calling Liam dad just because I was here. He’s taken care of you and your mom for a long time.”
“Yeah, he really helped. I know my mom was terrified when she said there was a man who wanted to marry her. She wanted me to meet him first and get to know him before she made that kind of commitment.”