Page 39 of Wicked Proposal
My eyes narrow as I see what he’s pointed out. “A settlement?”
“Yup. Last year. Record’s been sealed, but people talk. There was a fire at her old place. Rumor has it, her kid set it.”
“Her kid?”
“Oh, yeah. She’s got a rug rat. Little boy of four, going on five.”
I do the math in my head quickly. “She must have had him young.”
“Wasn’t even twenty-one.” Maksim flips through a few more pages. “Here’s his birth certificate.”
I scan the document quickly.Eli Winters, male.
“There’s no father listed here,” I note.
“No father anywhere I could find,” Maksim confirms. “He’s either a ghost, or very much not in the picture.”
Suspicion spreads through me, but I push it aside. It’s not like it matters who the father of Mia’s kid is.
But it does matter to you, doesn’t it?
I shut that voice up and turn to Maks again. “You mentioned a fire.”
He pages back to the incident report. “Apparently, she left her kid home alone over a night shift. Probably thought she’d be back before he woke up.”
“But she wasn’t.”
“No, she wasn’t,” he sighs. “Kid woke up, started playing around with the stove. Luckily, he managed to run off to a neighbor before the fire spread.”
“He was unharmed, then?”
“Why?” Maksim ogles me with a cheesy smirk. “Looking to adopt an heir?”
His smug face irks me. “Keep reading,” I snarl. “And keep your idiocy to yourself.”
“Oof. Yessir.”
The truth is, I’ve got no idea why I asked. Why is the thought of Mia and her kid’s well-being on my radar at all? Mia’s business is her own—it doesn’t concern me.
“Anyway,” Maksim yawns, “that’s pretty much it. Landlord sued for damages; she settled. Most likely wanted to avoid a full-blown court case.”
“Or a jury,” I muse. “Might not have looked kindly on a mother leaving her kid alone overnight.”
“That’s what I thought, too.” He shrugs. “Unfortunately for her, child protective services got involved anyway. To paraphrase their report, she’s on thin fucking ice.”
“Is that all, then?”
“Almost.” Maksim’s face splits into a grin like he’s been waiting for this exact question. “Wanna know the kicker? Until five years ago, Mia Winters didn’t even exist. At all.”
Thatfinally catches my attention.
“And you waited untilnowto mention it?”
“You know me, boss. Got a flair for the dramatic.”
I ignore my idiotic best friend and focus on what he just told me.
Five years ago.
