The Bandit (The Stolen Duet 1)

“Youfed him?”

“Yeah.”

“You have experience feeding infants?”

“Doesn’t require a degree to figure out how to feed a baby.”

“But apparently you fed him too much if he threw up on you.”

“I fed him until he stopped reaching for the bottle, Mian. It’s not my fault his eyes are bigger than his stomach.”

“So now you’re calling my baby fat?”

“What I’m saying is that he has a healthy appetite and that his mother is a lunatic.”

“Oh, right. You kidnap a mother and child and keep them apart, yet I’m the lunatic.”

He had the nerve to shrug his shoulders. “Just calling it like I see it.”

I started to curse him out when I heard, “You two fight like you’re already married.” Z grinned from his position on the floor.

“Pardon?”

“Cut it,” Angel warned.

Z shrugged his shoulders and lay back down. The movie resumed, and everyone returned their attention to the screen, but my mind was still racing.

“Was he feeling okay?” I whispered. “Did he feel too warm or fussy?”

“He’s good, Mian. He was just hungry, and now he’s asleep.”

“You sure he’s asleep? Because he’s not like most babies. He won’t fall right to sleep. It—”

“I know.” Finally, he turned his full attention on me, and I was struck by the warm brown of his gaze. There was no trace of irritation in them, though his tone didn’t change when he said, “He didn’t fall asleep right away, so I rocked him, and that was it.”

“Oh… Thank you.”

He didn’t bother to reply and turned his attention back to the television.

“I think her baby did a Jedi mind trick on you,” Lucas said after a few moments of tense silence.

“What the fuck does that mean?”

“Well,” he shrugged with a grin, “he’s got you playing Daddy, and you’re none the wiser of who his father even is.”

Angel’s jaw clenched while Lucas and Z laughed at his expense. These were one of the moments when I believed it was wise to keep quiet. The last thing I wanted to do was discuss Caylen’sfather.

The movie played, and I pretended not to notice Angel’s stare.* * *“So you’re amother… How did that happen?” Angel had me brought to him the next day. I watched him sit confident and strong behind his father’s desk, unbroken by the decisions of our fathers.

“Oh, you know… the natural way. If you want to know the positions we used—”

“You still haven’t learned a damn thing, have you?”

“Such as?”

“Your mouth will get you in trouble.”

“Sorry. I’m not much of an actor.”

“You had no trouble pretending you wanted Lucas and Z’s cocks last night.”

I quirked an eyebrow and smirked. “Who said I was pretending?”

“Would you like to fuck them?” he asked quietly. He was calling my bluff.

“I wouldn’t want you to be jealous.” I winked.

He stared at me for a beat and then closed his eyes. When he opened them again, I wasn’t prepared for the heat within them. “I’m going to ask you again, and this time, I want you to think about what comes from your mouth. If I don’t like it, I’m going to walk to the other side of this desk and do something to it. Are we clear?”

I nodded.

“How. Did. Caylen. Happen?”

“I went on a date with a college frat, decided to give it up on the first date, it didn’t go as well as I liked so I decided not to continue our relationship. Does that satisfy your question?”

“So he’s not involved in Caylen’s life?”

“Never told him about him,” I lied. Aaron could be the only person able to do something about our abduction. Anna would have already noticed I was missing. The police wouldn’t do much without signs of foul play. I knew Anna. She would become desperate enough to go to him. I thanked my lucky stars that I told her about him. I just hoped Caylen’s father was human enough to give a shit about his missing son. If Angel were to ever know about him, there was no doubt in my mind that Aaron would come face to face with him.

I hadn’t noticed Angel had moved until it was too late. He leaned against the desk in front of me. Angel in my personal space meant all I could breathe washim.

“I have a proposition for you.”

I did not like the sound of that, but I was curious. “Yes?”

“Despite how I feel about you, my brothers don’t feel the same. They like you.”

“I can’t say the same.”

“It’s not necessary that you do.”

I definitely didn’t like where this was going. “What is this proposition, Angel?”

“They want to fuck you, Mian.”

They hadn’t exactly been subtle about it considering their insinuations over the past week, but it still came as a shock to hear Angel admit it so freely. “What does that have to do with me?”

I had known his answer before he spoke it. “You’re going to let them.”