Page 57 of Centering Kaos

“But what if IwantKaos to be my dad?”

Gah. That was a tough question. “That’s a conversation you need to have with him. I just need to know if you’re okay with me dating him.”

“Yeah. I like him, and he seemed really sad about us leaving. Can we go back to his house now?”

I chuckled. “You really want to?”

“Yes.” Hope widened Dylan’s eyes as he jumped up from the bed. “Can we? Please?”

How could I say no to such excitement? “Yes. But first, let me go talk to Aunt El. Have you seen her?”

He shook his head, grabbing the bags he’d left by the door. Before I left, he stopped me. When I turned around, his gaze met mine.

“You are a good mom,” he said. “You’re just tryin’ to do the best you can.”

God, I loved him so much. My sweet boy was back, the child he’d been before all this garbage with his father went down. Kaos had been great for me, but he’d been stellar for my child. Hugging Dylan as tightly as I could, I wiped away tears and pulled myself together.

“Thank you,” I whispered against his forehead before I released him to go tell my sister hello and goodbye.

Elenore wasn’t usually one to sleep in, even on the weekends, but since I’d seen her car in the parking garage, I knew she had to be here somewhere. Her schedule had been busy this past week, and I’d spoken to her very little since I’d moved out. I couldn’t wait to tell her my news about Kaos, so like any good sister would, I didn’t bother to knock when I reached her bedroom door. I just barged right in, calling out her name.

Elenore was there, but my sister wasn’t alone.

A wave of tattooed flesh crested over the bed and I realized… Oh my god, I realized it was a man. And she’d just shoved him out of the bed. His naked body hit the floor and he cried out a curse. Elenore grabbed the covers and pulled them up to her chin, but not before I realized she was naked, as well.

Covering my eyes with my hands, I turned away. “El?” I asked, shocked by what I’d seen and needing to know that she was okay. Had he been attacking her?

“It’s not what it looks like,” she hurried to say.

Then what the heck was it? “Are you… okay?”

“Yes.” She huffed out a laugh. “Just stupid.”

That didn’t make me feel any better. Pretty sure I’d recognized the man she’d just flung from her bed, I asked, “Is that… Rabbit?” I’d only met him once, when he showed up with Kaos and Tap to get me and Dylan out of here, but Rabbit was the kind of man who made an impression.

“Hey, Tina, how you doin’?” Rabbit asked, confirming my suspicions.

“She’d probably be doing better if you’d get dressed,” Elenore snapped.

Rabbit chuckled. “What’s wrong, babe? Don’t wanna share me with your sister?”

“You’re diabolical.”

“Why thank you.”

What in the heck was going on here? “I… I think I should come back later.” I took a step back, preparing to make my escape.

“No, don’t go. Rabbit was just leaving.” Elenore said.

“Like hell I was,” Rabbit said. “I won that bet, and I’m not goin’ anywhere until you pay up. Although, of course, I might be willin’ to go double or nuthin’.”

What the actual insanity…? “Okay. Well, um… call me… later. When you can talk.” And answer questions, because I had so many of those filtering through my head. Not to mention the images that kept promising to scar me for life. My God, had I seen a flash of metal coming from his…

No.

Refusing to think about that, I stepped out to a chorus of Elenore’s pleas for me to stay and Rabbit’s maniacal laughter. Closing the door behind me—because Dylan definitely did not need to see whatever was going down in my sister’s bedroom—I retrieved my son from his room and hastily shooed him down the hallway.

“I wanna say bye to Aunt El,” he said, dragging his feet as we passed her door.

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