Page 28 of Exposed

“Good to the last fucking drop,” Dan held up his mug as if to say cheers, then threw back the last of it before getting up to refill it. Having poured another cup, he leaned against the counter. “A.J., can I ask you something?”

“Shoot.”

“Do you still have my phone number buried somewhere in that highfalutin phone of yours? Maybe not in the top ten, but somewhere?”

Alex was quick to retort, “Well, you were number one, but got bumped about a month ago.”

“Well, that’s interesting. See, Frankie and I caught up a little last night, and it all strikes me as, well, odd. Why didn’t you just call me and ask for her number?”

Alex’s head fell back as his hands raked through his hair. He’d known it was coming. He sighed and returned to sitting up. “I guess I didn’t feel right about it, with how much you’d helped me. Everything you did for me. I think it would have been, I don’t know, rude maybe. Like, hey, thanks for saving me from myself and all, letting me crash at your place for months on end, and nursing me back from the brink of death. By the way, I’d like a go at your daughter. What’s her number?”

Dan smirked. “Well, good to see that at the very least, you’re still so goddamn polite. But with your resources, you could have had her information in a New York minute.”

Alex shook his head. “If I couldn’t ask you to your face, I sure as hell wasn’t going to sneak surveillance behind your back, no matter how trivial it seemed.” He pushed out a long breath. “I wasn’t sure I’d be good for anyone, let alone your daughter and Jack’s little sister. And meeting Madison wasn’t exactly premeditated. I mean, I didn’t set out to do it. But, I don’t know, I couldn’t shake this feeling. I just kept getting the sense that we were going to meet, run into each other, almost as if—"

“As if by fate?” Dan shook his head. “Damn, son, are you telling me that under all that hard-charging exterior bullshit, you’re a hopeless fucking romantic?”

Alex took the tease, but was compelled to explain further. “The first time I saw her, it was only a hunch. I didn’t actually know who she was until after our first, um ...” Alex looked nervously at Dan as he carefully continued, “... date. Not fate exactly, but, I don’t know, like maybe someone was looking down on us and lending a hand.” Alex grew shy, sharing his true sentimental suspicion.

Dan balked. “Jack wouldn’t lend you a hand.” Then, his glare melted into a broad grin. “More like a swift kick in the ass.” Alex laughed out a breath. “Well, be it fate or friendly forces, I can’t think of two people better suited for each other. And I know you’d tear out your own heart before you’d break Frankie’s.” Alex beamed, grateful for another round of paternal bonding from Dan. No matter how long it had been since seeing him, Dan once again appeared in his life at just the right time, manifesting as the father Alex never had.

Dawn was breaking outside, and a ray of sunlight pierced the window, striking a row of pennies on the kitchen ledge. Alex’s gaze followed the beam to the center of the table, highlighting the small copper pile shining before him. “You know, I forgot about all the pennies around here. They’re in Madison’s room too.” Dan grabbed one off the windowsill, tossing it to Alex. He shot his hand up and palmed it mid-air. “You threw one at me when I left. I guess they’re pretty lucky.”

“These pennies aren’t about luck. They’re about loyalty. Risk. Never giving up. Don’t you know the saying, ‘in for a penny’?”

Alex swallowed another gulp. “Something like in for a penny in for a pound.” Dan nodded. “Okay, so what does it mean?”

“Back in the day, the Brits coined it, saying if hanging was the punishment regardless of the crime, why not go for broke. If I stole a penny, and it had the same punishment as a larger crime, I might as well steal a pound. But we red-blooded Americans took it to the next level. If I’m gonna risk anything, I might as well risk everything. If I’m going to start something, I’m gonna see it through to the end. In our family, we always used it to show we had each other’s back, through thick and thin.” Alex now considered the penny on his desk, the one Madison had left for him after their first night together. He beamed, losing himself to the penny in his hand as Dan interrupted.

“That you?” It was the faint ring of his cell from the bedroom.

He walked back and picked it up, but it had stopped. It was Gina’s office line. And he could see it was 6:40 a.m. Then, her avatar displayed on the screen as it rang again. He clicked to accept.

“Hey, Gina. You’re at work early.”

“Not my plan, I assure you. But that’s what happens when I hear a competitor’s VP is coming in for a meeting.”

“It must be a mistake. I don’t have anything on my calendar. Did you check with Paco?”

“That’s just it. Paco told me it was nothing and not to worry about it, but it would appear Madison Taylor’s taking the meeting with Frank Seaver. Mr. D., are you okay with this?”

Alex shook his head in amusement and looked down at the penny still in his hand. “Yes, I guess I am. Do me a favor. Send me the details, but don’t let anyone know I know. Not even Paco.” He saw the text come through with the time and location. “Got it.”

“Do you need me to get a car to you?”

“No, there’s no time for that.” He looked out Madison’s bedroom window to the open field on the side of the house. “I’ve got a faster ride. Thanks, Gina.”

He hung up and scrolled to number five in his favorites. He clicked it, and after a few rings it was picked up.

“Hey, I’m gonna need to call in that favor. And bring the baby.”

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