Ravenous (Steel Brothers Saga 11)

“Why didn’t she say anything?” Bryce queried, more to himself than to me.

“Maybe it didn’t happen the way you think. Maybe it was a simple exchange for money and that’s all, which makes her a shitty mother.”

He shook his head. “Nothing my father ever did was simple. This is just another piece of a puzzle that seems never-ending.”

“You don’t have to deal with everything today.”

“But I do. I have to exorcize that bastard from my life.”

“Why would he have done such a thing? Get rid of Henry’s mother?”

“Why did my father ever do anything? If I could get into his head and figure it all out, I’d be as psychopathic as he was. I’d rather not.”

“Maybe he did it for you. He got your son for you so you’d have him full-time. He knew that would make you happy.”

He didn’t reply, just stared at the agreement, his forehead wrinkled.

“Bryce?”

“I was happy,” he said, his tone anything but. “I was always happy…until I found out who my father truly was.”

“You’re not happy now?”

He turned to me, his eyes overflowing with emotion. “Honey, I am. You make me deliriously happy, but I have so many unanswered questions. So much I still need to deal with.”

“When are you going to talk to Mel?”

“God only knows. Between the new job, which I haven’t given a hundred percent to yet, and trying to uncover the mystery of Justin and Colin Morse and now Frankie—”

“Frankie?”

“Francine. She went by Frankie.”

“Oh.” Cute. Kind of. I felt bad for her if Tom had forced her into giving up her son, but she was still Bryce’s ex. I wasn’t going to like her. “Let’s take things one at a time. We don’t know whether Frankie is innocent here. She may have been happy to take the money.”

“Marj…”

“Why did you leave her in the first place?”

“I caught her cheating.”

“With whom?”

His mouth curved up on one side. “A pizza delivery guy.”

I couldn’t help myself. I laughed out loud.

“Marj…” he said again.

“Come on. This was a woman who cheated on you with a pizza delivery guy, for God’s sake. Hardly a paragon of virtue.”

That got a smile out of him—this time from both sides of his mouth.

“Look. Henry is safe with your mom in Florida. Frankie has no idea where he is. This isn’t something you need to worry about right now. Documents have been filed with the court showing that she gave up her rights. If she tries anything, she doesn’t have a leg to stand on.”

“But is it right for me to keep Henry from his mother?”

“For now. Until we know for sure whether there were extenuating circumstances.”