Page 60 of Dirty Little Secret
“You’re right,” I had to admit that to them and myself. “I’ll head that way and see if I can clean up some of the mess I’ve made.”
On my way over to Zandra’s apartment, I found myself calming down a lot. I would take her and Fox back home with me, and we would have the evening our son had wanted.
As I pulled up in front of her apartment, I noticed her red Mustang wasn’t there. Little spines of worry began to pop up. Getting out of the car, I went to the door and rang the bell.
A few moments later the door opened and a bikini-clad Taylor opened the door. “Well, if it isn’t Dr. Dad. I thought you told Zandy you would give her a few hours alone with the kid.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve changed my mind.” Looking behind her, I asked, “So, where are they?”
“She took him to buy him a bathing suit. He wants to take a swim in the pool. He saw it out the glass doors, just in back of our apartment.” She opened the door wider, backing up. “Come in. You can wait for them.”
“No, thank you.” I was hot as hell over Zandra taking my son anywhere without asking me first. If she’d asked, I would’ve told her no, as I still had no confidence in her driving ability. “I’ll be waiting in the car for them to get back, and then I’m taking my son home.”
“Your son?” she asked with a hint of sarcasm. “Isn’t he Zandy’s too?”
I wasn’t about to get into it with her. “I’ll be in the car.”
Sitting in my car, I gripped the steering wheel in my hands and tried not to bang my head against it. I couldn’t remember a time I’d been so mad. And when the little red Mustang pulled up next to me, I nearly flew out of my car.
Fox looked at me with his mouth hanging open when he got out of the car. “Dad, I thought you said I could stay for a few hours.”
Zandra got out too, looking at me with a stunned expression. “Kane, what’s wrong? Your face is as red as a beet.”
“Get in the car, Fox,” I said with a low, threatening tone. “Now.”
“But, Dad—” he whined.
“Do as I say. And do it right now.” My hands fisted at my sides as the anger rose up in me. I was about to let her have it, and I didn’t want my son to hear me berating his mother.
“Kane, stop it,” Zandra said. “We can talk about this. I have no idea why you’re so mad.”
“You didn’t ask my permission to take him anywhere.” I tried to keep my voice below a roar. “You’ve got no idea what it takes to be a parent, Zandra. I always make sure I know and trust a person before I allow my son to ride with them.” I looked at Fox again. “Get in the car. I’m not going to say it again.”
Zandra turned to look at him. “Go on inside and put on your swimming trunks. We’re going to swim just like I promised you.”
The air went out of me as my son walked away from me and went into the apartment. “No.”
Zandra came up to me, looking me in the eyes with a determination I’d yet to see in her. “You and I need to talk, Kane. Would you like to do it inside where my neighbors won’t be listening, or out here?”
“You can’t …”
“I can,” she said. “And I will.”
“I’m not going in there. So say your piece out here and then I’ll happily call the police if you won’t let me son come with me,” I let her know.
“Have it your way.” She stepped back, crossing her arms over her chest. “This is your fault. You’ve kept stringing him along. He’s only human, Kane Price. And I know I had to give that boy up, and I’m damn glad it was you who got him, but he’s mine, too. He wants to have a relationship with me, and by God, he will.”
“That’s not up to you two,” I reminded her.
“The hell it’s not!” She leaned her ass against the hood of my car. “If you didn’t want me in his life, then you never should’ve told him I was his mother! Do you think you can control that boy for the rest of his life?”
Do I?
“I’m not trying to control him.” I held my hands up in the air, having no idea what I was supposed to do in this situation.
Have I lost control of everything?
“Kane, I know that you don’t know me well. But the fact is that eating one meal together or coming into my work for one night isn’t going to be enough to know me, either. If you think I’m not fit to be a mother to Fox because of the way I acted that night at work, then you need to know that that’s not even who I am. When I’m at work, it’s all an act, and that’s all it is.”
