Page 25 of Treasure and Tarot

“That’s fair. Let’s work on the things we can work on. Let’s deal with the ghosts. From there, if it’s all right with you, I’d like to spend some time with you and Abby. I’m not asking for custody or solo visits or anything like that. I just found out I had a daughter, and I’d like to get to know her.”

“There’s not going to be a point where I’m going to allow her to know your parents. I want to be clear there. If you can’t handle that, then no. But if what you’re saying is true, and I don’t have any reason right this second to not believe you, they gave up their rights to call themselves grandparents.”

He could take Colton with a grain of salt. But those assholes he was related to? Not a chance. Sebastian would burn them with his will alone.

“I told Sebastian that he should take the money.” Xander stood there in the doorway, arms across his chest. “I came to check on Abby. And I still think you should have cashed the check. You could have just put it in a bank account for her to have for college. We all saw the letter, we all saw the check, so don’t think that you can make it disappear by just willing it to be so.”

Colton shook his head. “Dude, when this check was signed, when this paperwork was signed, I was in the hospital. I wasin a friggin’ coma. I couldn’t have signed it. I have the medical records to prove it. They can also prove it’s not my signature forensically, but I was not even conscious.”

Xander blinked. “Man, what did you do to your parents to make them hate you so much?”

“Xander!” That was mean.

“What? It’s an honest question.” Xander shrugged, his focus on Colton.

“I don’t know. I’m not a hundred percent sure I give a shit.” Colton’s lips were a tight, hard line.

Xander nodded. “I can understand that. Anybody hungry?”

“I could eat,” Colton said. “And if Abby needs a college fund, I can start her one, or if she has one, I’ll put the money in. Screw my folks.”

“So we can talk about that.” There was very little he wasn’t willing to do for his daughter, including swallowing his pride. “But not today. Today, let’s work on…” He opened his hands. “I don’t even know. I—I don’t even know what to do next.”

His entire world had just shattered again, and just because it wasn’t bad news didn’t make it not fucked up as hell. He’d dealt with the fact that Colton was an asshole. He dealt with the fact that Colton’s people were assholes. He’d dealt with the fact that he was going to be a single dad, and now he had to deal with the fact that everything might or might not be okay.

This was very stressful.

“You don’t have to.”

“What?” He looked at Colton, utterly not understanding.

“You don’t have to know what to do next. It’s all right. We’ll figure it out.”

He opened his mouth, but then closed it, because he had no idea what to say to that. It was the kindest thing anyone had said to him in ages. Xander and Xavi were always telling him tosuck it up and get his head in the game and all the other mixed metaphors of encouragement.

Sometimes, he just wanted to be told that it was going to be okay, or that he wasn’t alone.

So, he blinked hard, clenching his hands in his lap. Then he took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay. Okay, one thing at a time. Do you need me to come to the house to help?”

“Only if you’re okay with being on camera. We could do a little on-camera interview about what’s been happening. If not, or if you need to come down and get stuff, just let us know, and we’ll tell you when we’re between sessions.” Colton gave him one of those slow smiles, the ones that had always been just for him. The ones that spoke of what they knew about each other, not of Colton having a public persona.

His heart kicked into high gear, and Sebastian was pretty sure he didn’t want it to. But there it was.

“Come on, you two.” Xander stuck his head back in the door. “I’m making food.”

“Okay.” It was so weird to be in this situation, but here he was.

Maybe Colton was right, though. Maybe he didn’t have to know what to do next.

At least not right at this very moment.

Chapter

Ten

“Okay, Boss,” Law said. “We got the cameras all set up for the first walk-through shoot. Then we’ll do the night shooting over the next couple of days, so we’ll have to re-set.” He pushed his hair back off his face, then took a huge gulp of his third latte from Xavi’s. Apparently, he’d gotten them and then put them in the fridge to heat up during the day.

No coffee pod crap for Law.

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