Page 32 of A Daddy for Christmas 2: Kitt

“A wedding that his own brother isn’t invited to?”

I glanced over at Kitt, who was following every word. He was only getting my end of the conversation, but that must have been enough. His eyes were enormous. I wanted to take him in my arms, and I wanted to throttle his insensitive, asshole brother.

“Looks that way,” Lucas was saying. “He’ll be leaving on his honeymoon to Jamaica two days later.”

“How do you know all this?”

“He’s been blowing up the phones about his brother and whether or not you have him yet…demanding all the details.”

“Which you didn’t give him.”

“I wanted to speak to you first. Something about all of this doesn’t add up, Rio.”

“Agreed.

“Do you need anything else from me? Backup? More cash?”

“Cash would be good. I don’t know if anyone is tracking my credit card use, so I’m not using it until further notice. I’ll get a burner and text you the number. Talk to me on that if you need me. Don’t use the office phones. I’ll call you when I get back to Atlanta.”

Lucas gave a little laugh. “Sounding a little paranoid, buddy.”

“Yeah, maybe so. I hope that’s all this is, and that none of this is necessary. But it might not be a bad idea to run a few checks with the staff.”

“Yeah, maybe not.” There was a pause as I heard him speak to someone else in the office. “I have a meeting. I’ll run this byEd, but I’ll get what you need out to you right away. Leave that location as soon as you can. In the meantime, it might be a good idea if even we don’t know exactly what route you’re taking from the hotel.”

“Agreed. I’ll be in touch,” I said and ended the call. I glanced over at Kitt hugging himself by the window and held out my arms to him. He came hurrying over and I pulled him onto my lap.

“What are you looking so worried about?”

“I don’t understand what’s happening. Was that your boss? What was he saying about my brother?”

“Jazz is getting married tomorrow, it seems. Did you know he was engaged?”

“Yeah, to a girl named Miranda, but I’ve never met her. I think her family is pretty well off.”

“Oh yeah?”

“I saw Jazz at a club with her, I think. One night in Buckhead,” he said, mentioning an uptown and upscale commercial and residential district in Atlanta. “He didn’t introduce me. They were in a big group, but I think I know which one she was. She was tall and blonde. And very, um...thin all over. Like too thin. I waved at Jazz, but he pretended not to see me.” He looked up at me and shrugged. “I didn’t really care.”

“Okay, good.”

“But what are we going to do now?”

“We’re going back to Atlanta. We’ll go to my place and hide out for a few days until I can talk to your brother. I need a little more information from him before I give you back to him.”

“Information about me?”

“Yes.”

He began playing with a button on my shirt and so he didn’t have to look directly at me. “And then you’ll take me back to him?”

“In a manner of speaking. We’ll go see him. But what did I tell you in the hotel? I’m going to help you find a lawyer and get you out of this mess first, okay?”

“Yes.”

“Yes, what?”

“Yes…Daddy.”

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