Page 62 of Bossy Baby

Mac had failed his boy.

But he wouldn’t let Hayley get hurt. Even if Mac died, he’d take the son of a bitch with him.

His heart hurt. Mac didn’t want to leave Hayley. Did not want Hayley to find out the truth of him this way.

Survival. That was all he could do. In order to protect Hayley, Mac had to survive. If Hayley left him after this, Mac deserved it. But Hayley would be alive.

Not turning on the kitchen light, Mac let his eyes adjust to the darkness as he snuck to the back door.

Of course the threat could go around front. Or enter through a window, but the best guess was the back door.

Positioning his back to the wall right next to the back door, Mac lifted his gun.

Unlike the movies, there was no sound. The knob didn’t turn. It had been locked, but it opened slowly.

“It’s me.”

The whispered voice was familiar.

Mac wasn’t surprised. “Hands in front of you,” he ordered quietly.

Two hands appeared in the doorway.

“Step forward slowly.”

Lance entered the kitchen, still holding his hands out.

Mac grabbed the man’s arm and threw him against the wall. He covered Lance’s body with his own while pressing the barrel of the gun to Lance’s temple.

“You don’t seem surprised to see me,” Lance said.

“Only one person could get this close without setting off the alarms. The man who designed the system,” Mac responded.

“I missed one, apparently,” Lance commented.

“I added more.” Mac didn’t trust anyone. Not even Lance. Well, no one but Hayley.

“Are you going to shoot me?” Lance questioned.

“I haven’t decided.” Mac didn’t want to admit that he’d prefer not to kill the other man. They weren’t friends, but they shared a past. “Where have you been?”

“Around.”

Mac didn’t expect a different answer. They all had their secrets. “What happened.”

Lance sighed. “I fucked up.”

“Am I in danger?” More importantly, was his boy?

“No. I took care of it.”

Mac backed off, although he kept his gun trained on Lance. “Don’t move.”

“I won’t.”

Mac retreated to the kitchen sink and flipped on the small light above it. He took in Lance’s disheveled appearance. There was blood on the shirt and he had a black eye, but he didn’t appear to need medical attention.

“Talk,” Mac ordered. Leaning against the sink, he didn’t let his guard down. Lance had done more for Mac than anyone else. It had been Lance who’d set him up in his new life. Mac didn’t want to kill the other man, but he had Hayley to think about. Lance was also the one person that could set Mac up and kill him.

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