Page 45 of The Hitman's Secret Love Child

Chapter 18

Constantine

“I’m not so sure about this.”

“You two have been stuck in the house for two days and you need to get out, if not for you for him.” I jerked my thumb over my shoulder and to the back seat where Austin was watching a movie with earphones on. Personally, I hated cartoons, but being a kid Austin loved them. The earphones were a compromise that would allow me to keep my sanity while making him happy.

“Yes,” she lowered her voice despite Austin having earphones blocking out our voices, “but Gabriel is out there, looking for me and so I don’t think being out in a public place is such a good idea.”

“It’s two hours outside the city and I’m pretty sure it would be the last place you’d run into him or his men.”

She gave me a dubious look, but I was confident. Six Flags was the last place I’d expect to see Gabriel. And if they were there, I’d take care of them early. The fact was that this very well could be the last day I would be with her and Austin. I’d come up with a plan after tracking Gabriel and his crews’ movements and tomorrow would be the day I executed it. I knew that after tomorrow, life would seriously change for her. She’d be the widow of one of the biggest drug kingpins in the country and I may or may not be a part of that new life, that was still on the table.

Our future was still undecided. Just because we had sex didn’t mean things could restart with us. If she felt my life six years ago was too extreme to raise a child in, then raising one where his father was a contracted killer would be doubly so. Bottom line was that I wanted this day. Hell, if I were to admit it to myself, this day was more for me than them. I wanted to know what it was like to be part of a family. I wanted to lose myself in the illusion of being a father and family man – even if it was just a façade.

“Look, if it makes you feel any better, he’s waiting for a shipment today so he and his staff will be preoccupied with the arrival. Six Flags is the last thing on his mind.”

“How do you know this?”

“It’s my job to know, Robyn. Do you think I agreed to work for him without knowing exactly what I was getting into?”

“No, I suppose not.” She sounded uncertain, which bothered me. I needed for her to be confident in my ability to protect her.

Then tell her what you really do for a living, a voice in the back of my mind urged.

Fuck that. No way. I’d rather keep her in the dark about what I do than have her scared of me, or scared for our child. Yes, she might suspect, but she didn’t know for certain. Ignorance is bliss, isn’t that how the saying goes?

“Ohhh, look Mommy!”

It was the first we’d heard from Austin since we left my place and the sudden sound of his voice startled me for a split second. I looked into the rear-view mirror to see where he was pointing. I followed the line of his tiny finger to see the very top of a rollercoaster. The little guy had some damned good eyesight to have spotted that. It was still quite some distance away.

“That’s a rollercoaster, pal,” I said.

“Cool!”

“Very cool.”

“I wanna ride it.”

Looking over at Robyn, I gave her a smile.

“That one might be a little scary for you, honey. It’s for grownups. But I bet there are ones that you’ll like better.”

“I’m not a baby, Mommy.” He crossed his arms over his chest, tilted his chin up and gave her a look of outright defiance.

“What your mother means is that they only allow tall people on it. And you have to be over twelve years old.”

“Oh.” His lips turned pouty. “I’m not scared.”

“Of course not, pal, you’re the bravest five-year-old I’ve ever met. I know you’re not scared, but it’s the rules.” I glanced over at Robyn to see a wide smile on her face as her eyes shifted from Austin to me and back again.

“There’s all kinds of rides and cotton candy.”

“Good. Are we there yet?”

“Soon pal,” I answered.

~*~TT~*~

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