Page 24 of Second Shot

Crossing the room, I pick him up, shushing and rocking him until he settles. He hasn’t been sleeping well lately, which means I haven’t been sleeping. My body is tired, my brain is foggy, and some days I’d do anything for a real bath, with bubbles and essential oils, rather than a lukewarmshower.

Kane is behind me, the heat of his body warm against my back. Part of me wants to lean back into him, to feel the strength of his arms around me, even just for amoment.

“Can I…hold him?” Kane asks, his voice cracking withemotion.

I turn and my throat tightens when I see the look in his eyes as he looks atNoah.

“Yeah.”

Swallowing hard, I lift him, transitioning Noah into Kane’sarms.

Noah’s head rests in the crook of his arm, and his eyes widen when he glances up at Kane, one little fist reaching out to touch hisface.

“Hey,buddy.”

Noah gurgles inresponse.

Something inside me breaks. Some essential part that’s kept me strong over the past months, and I feel a flood of feelings bursting in my chest. The damn bricks I’d built around my heart start tocrack.

Danger, my head warns.It’s all afaçade.

This is the same man who spends his money on overpriced booze and cheap women. He’s not a good man. Not a man I want my son to grow up idolizing. Which he will. Because if Kane is good at one thing, it’s putting on ashow.

But the way he stares at Noah with pride and affection, the smile that tugs at the dimples in his cheek, it seems genuine. Real. And in a way, that scares me more than the half-assed, I’ll-do-my-part response I’d expected fromhim.

“He looks likeme.”

I nod, because there’s no denyingit.

“I won’t hurt him.” The words sound forced, and when he meets my gaze I can see the resolve in his eyes. “I won’t hurt either ofyou.”

I don’t want to believehim.

It’s so much easier to hold on to anger andblame.

But deep down, I’ve always known the truth about Kane. He’d never willingly hurt anyone. The problem is people like him can’t help but destroy the people who care aboutthem.

My father is thesame.

Bright, blazing stars that can’t help but extinguish everyone else’slight.

“Did you tell myfather?”

Kane’s never experienced my father’s wrath. Not really. But I know the monster that lives inside theman.

He never raised a fist to me or Sam, but he didn’t have to. My father knew how to wield words like a weapon. Words that could destroy andkill.

And in the end, theydid.

Kane studies me for a long moment. When he shakes his head, I let go of the breath I didn’t know I’d been holdingin.

“But you can’t keep this from him.Wecan’t keep it fromhim.”

Iknow.

“He’ll probably have you traded within theweek.”

Kane laughs. “Maybe.”

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