Page 62 of A Very Daddy Christmas

Riggs opens the door for the kids. “Get in, munchkins. Your mom’s got a table ready for us, but I need to have a quick word with Auntie Cora before we join you.”

“Don’t stay too long,” Teresa jokingly warns him. “Mom hates it when we’re late to the table.”

“Fair enough,” he chuckles, and lets the girls take Dario inside with them.

From where I’m standing outside, I can see Eva and Carl getting pastries out of the oven and setting them on serving plates. The bakery is closed to the public at this hour, but we made a habit of gathering here every Saturday to try out new recipes and to simply catch up as a family. It has brought us closer together.

Eva smiles as her daughters join them, and Carl cordially takes Dario aside to help with the plates and napkins.

Cora then steps back and moves closer to the car, out of their sight.

Sebastian, Riggs, and I join her. We huddle together, the cold sharpening as the sunlight begins to fade in the west. The sky above us is streaked with strips of neon pink and dark blue, announcing a cold night ahead. We won’t see another snowfall for a couple of days, at least, but the city is already clad in a thick layer of white.

“I cannot express how grateful I am for everything you’ve done, everything you’re still doing,” Cora tells us as she tucks herself tighter into her plush blue winter jacket. “Carl has been feeling so strung out lately. He’s not the type to just sit around and wait for employers to call him back.”

“Carl has always had a steady job, from what you’ve said,” Sebastian replies. “It’s only natural that a man like him would feel that way. Personally, I’m glad Waylan still has friends in the real estate development industry who aren’t entirely beholden to the likes of St. James and Hamilton.”

“They’re actually competitors,” I say, grinning. “Hamilton’s going to blow a fuse when he hears about it. My buddy will enjoy bragging just to ruin his day.”

“I like it.” Cora giggles.

I give her an amused nod. “That’s what happens when you’re a dick to people, babe. People tend to remember, and some will eventually pay you back in kind. And for all the trouble Hamilton has caused at the behest of St. James, I can’t say that I feel sorry for him in any way.”

“Oh, me, either. I’m just glad Carl will start a new job sooner rather than later,” Cora says, then throws her arms around bothRiggs and me.

I’m the first she pulls into a kiss while Riggs lovingly pecks her cheek. Sebastian joins the group hug, and we huddle like that for a minute or two. My eyes dart left and right, in a bid for cautiousness.

The street looks pretty empty, with the exception of a few cars parked along the opposite sidewalk. There’s no movement. No activity anywhere. This whole stretch of road is eerily quiet at this hour on a Saturday, even though it’s in the middle of November. Which makes me breathe a whole lot easier as I plant a hot kiss on the side of Cora’s neck, the warmth of her skin dissolving into my lips.

“We should take this inside,” Sebastian warns.

The sound of a car door slamming shut causes the four of us to instantly separate as we look around, searching for the source of the noise. My heart gallops into a veritable frenzy as I see George Hamilton approaching us from across the street.

“Shit,” I mumble. He was sitting in one of the parked cars and I didn’t see him. He looks pissed off.

“Here he comes,” Riggs says, spotting Hamilton as he stalks toward us, his dark gray overcoat flapping in the brisk wind.

“Your friend must’ve called him,” Sebastian sighs.

All I can do is shrug. “It’s not like I can tell Leon what he can and cannot do. It’s his company. Besides, Hamilton had it coming.”

“How long has he been out here, though?” Cora asks the tough question.

“Not sure, but brace yourself,” I whisper, keeping my distance while Sebastian instinctively moves back to stand beside her.

We drew up contingency plans to avoid discovery in public—one of them being that if anyone ever suspects anything going on between us, Sebastian would openly admit that he and Cora are an item. We figured it would be safer that way.

“You’ve got some nerve!” George Hamilton hisses as he points an angry finger at me and the guys. “I know you’re the ones who did it. You shouldn’t have gotten involved in this because now I have no choice but to retaliate!”

“Pretty sure you retaliated when you left a man without a job just before the holidays,” Sebastian coldly replies. “All we did was restore some balance to the universe.”

“I can’t believe the nerve,” Cora says. “Openly admitting you tried to hurt my family, only to get pissed off because Carl won’t stay poor and unemployed. You’re pathetic, Mr. Hamilton.”

“And desperate,” I chuckle dryly, drawing his attention.

“You’re in for a heap of suffering.”

“Is that a threat?” I ask, my tone suddenly icy, my glare deadly as I straighten my back. I’m already taller than him but standing on the curb while he’s still in the street causes me to practically tower over the man. “I don’t take kindly to threats.”

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