Page 133 of The Fix

Nodding, I take another scalding sip from my cup and lean my forearms onto the table. “I have a proposition for you.”

Her dark brows shoot up to her hairline and her sleeved hand goes to her mouth. “I don’t think I like the sound of that.”

“You might.”

She stares at me, her blue eyes too haunted, and I know I’m all in already.

As long as she agrees.

“See, when 25k was gifted to you in exchange for your silence, the purchases made were tracked. So it surprised the shit outta me when I learned that only one was made, for a place over in Meadow’s Park, in someone else’s name.”

Zoey freezes in her seat and those dark circles get darker.

“When I asked around, that name threw up some flags I didn’t like, Zoey.”

If it’s possible, she scrunches further in on herself, and I would bet just as much money that the woman is hiding bruises beneath that tattered hoodie.

And that fact alone makes me wanna hide her away from whoever is putting their hands on her.

But then there’s Jack.

“Look, I don’t want any trouble,” she mutters from behind her hand, her teeth working away the threads of the sleeve’s already torn cuff. “I just want to raise my son and that’s it.”

“Funny, seeing as how that’s exactly what I want for you, too.”

“I don’t understand what you’re getting at, Toby, and frankly, I went through a lot just to get here.”

I nod again and click my tongue. “Back to the proposition, then.” I sit back in my seat, my gaze steady on hers. “I have a place and I have some cash that’s yours if you want it.”

She jolts again like I shocked her.

“No rent until you can get on your feet and a pretty damn good motherly woman in need of some company.”

“Why?” The response comes out so fast, I think it startled even her, judging by the shake of her shoulders. “I mean … I’m sorry. I just don’t understand why you would offer me anything.”

“Because while Jack isn’t mine, and I don’t know you at all, I know enough to see that he deserves a chance better than what he’s got right now.”

Her brow furrows deep and her sight drops to the table.

“Are you saying I’m a bad mom?” Zoey whispers.

Clearly not the first time she’s thought that.

I shake my head and dip my gaze to meet hers so that she sees the sincerity setting my jaw. “I’m saying that I know what it’s like to lose a parent and I don’t want Jack to live that life.”

She goes quiet for a long beat, her teeth worrying that cuff of her sleeve, then shakes her head. “There’s no way you care about my son that much.”

I shrug. “I also owe you.”

She finally lifts her distant gaze.

“How?”

“If you hadn’t done what you did, I wouldn’t be where I am right now. Funny how that works, isn’t it.”

Zoey lets out a breath that screams disappointment and my stomach drops.

Is she going to say no?

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