Page 67 of Caged Bird

This was exactly why I’d always hidden him in the closet. Because he was a curious child, and the lure of lights and people and music outside his window would be hard for anyone to ignore.

Audrina wriggled her fingers at him and called, “Hey, cutie!” even though common sense would have told her he wouldn’t hear from here.

My sweet boy waved back, big, friendly smile on his rounded face.

Until he noticed his father sitting next to the woman and then he quickly ducked out of sight.

“Oh, he’s so cute!” Audrina squealed. “I just love kids. They’re such sweet souls. I was devastated when we learned Guerra couldn’t have any more.”

Eddie half choked on his beer. “Really?”

She nodded. Then widened her eyes at him. “Oh, don’t tell him I said that though. He’d be so mad.”

Eddie shook his head and mimed zipping closed his mouth.

He’d suddenly gone from being unimpressed with Guerra sending Audrina in his place, to eating right out of her hand.

And from a split second of satisfaction on Audrina’s heavily made-up face, she knew it too.

I couldn’t help but be impressed with the woman.

Until she said, “I’d love to meet your boy, Eddie. He looks just like you.”

Eddie nodded, even though we all knew Otis looked nothing like his father. A fact I was grateful for every day of his life. He actually reminded me a lot of the childhood photos of my brother my parents kept in their house.

Eddie waved a hand toward the house. “Spider. Go get him.”

No. No. No. “Eddie, it’s his bedtime,” I blurted, stepping out of the shadows, putting myself between Spider and the back door.

Eddie’s gaze narrowed on me, anger instantly sprouting behind his eyes. “If you’re here, then you can go get him,” he said with barely controlled temper, completely ignoring my protest about him needing to go to bed.

Audrina put her hand on Eddie’s arm. “Oh no, please. I don’t want to keep the little one up. I can meet him another time. Plus, you and I have business to take care of.”

Eddie gave a curt nod, and I breathed a short sigh of relief, slipping back into the darkness and away into the crowd.

Whatever Eddie was doing with that woman, I didn’t want or need to know about.

I skirted the edge of the party, making my way back toward the house, but detouring away from the light so nobody noticed me.

That was the story of my life. Always making myself small so I didn’t attract any unwanted attention. I was just Eddie’s servant, here to do his bidding but never be noticed.

I was so busy wallowing in my own self-pity I didn’t notice the man step out from the shadowy shed doorway until it was too late.

His hand wrapped around my mouth, and I was hauled back into the darkness, the door slamming shut behind me.

19

ZANE

“It’s me,” I whispered in Fawn’s ear.

Her body flagged against mine, and I slowly removed my hand, once I was sure she wasn’t going to scream.

She spun around in my arms and then punched me square in the chest. “You scared the life out of me, Zane Sinclair!”

In the privacy of the shed, I cupped the side of her face. “I’m sorry. I just didn’t want anyone to see us.”

Her gaze darted around the small shed, both of us edging away from the windows instinctively. They let in enough light for us to see, which meant if we stood in front of them, others might notice us. I didn’t need any of Eddie’s crew reporting back to him that his missus and his brother were having secret meetings he didn’t know about.

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