Page 57 of Savage Daddies

Good thing they remained home.

Bullwhip probably would’ve taken Warren’s eye out.

“Paul did something thirteen months ago that required Felix’s assistance,” I tell them.

Grizzly abandons the game of pool and ushers us to a table. We all sit. “Did what?”

“Not sure. He didn’t say.”

“And how was this found out?”

“I found them outside. Warren had him pressed up against the wall.”

“That Fernando-wannabe bastard,” Grizzly mumbles to himself. He returns his gaze to us. “What does Warren want?”

“The money envelope that he thinks Paul stole back,” I say.

“So Warren’s the guy he handed it over to?” asks Poet.

“Yep.”

Grizzly huffs. “Doing Felix’s dirty work, as per usual.”

“Let’s just give him the money back,” says Poet.

“Doesn’t matter,” I say. “Paul’s adamant on not giving them any.”

“Sounds like my guy,” laughs Grizzly.

“Look, he’s in trouble either way. We should probably do something.”

“More digging needs to be done first.” Grizzly strokes a finger under his chin. “This is good, but we need more.”

“He must’ve done something bad,” says Bullwhip, “if he went toFelixinstead of us.”

“It’s never a money thing with Paul.” Grizzly stares vacantly. “It’s shame.”

Modest guy.

Grizzly turns to me. “What business did you have at Paul’s casino this morning, anyway?”

I practically see Poet’s and Bullwhip’s ears flower open to listen. They knowexactlywhy I was there, and it’s because Zoe didn’t show at Pilates earlier.

“Nothing much,” I answer. “Nothing like a quick dopamine hit.”

“Hm.” Grizzly raises his gray brows. “Wouldn’t you three know?” He stands up and bangs on the table. “We have the afternoon ahead of us. Get back to work and find out why Paul has his Britishknickersin a twist, and do it sooner rather than later so we can put this to bed. The world only has one Paul, and I wouldn’t like to see him bleeding out on the floor.”

13

ZOE

Sammy grabsher platypus by the neck and swings it around.

I stare vacantly at the toy, and then Sammy. She seems entertained.

Felix ended up picking Sammy up from ballet last night, and had to cut his meeting short as a result. He was pissed when he questioned where I had been. “Tied up with the pap,” was my response, and that seemed convincing enough.

Until this morning when he told me to stay indoors, just as I was about to head out for Pilates. “I know what you did yesterday,” he said, and before I could question and deny, he walked out of the kitchen to begin work.

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