Page 33 of Angel's Share

Madison nodded. “Paco knew he took the watch. He did it when he gathered up his things. After getting to know AJ, he was pretty sure he didn’t steal it for himself.”

“What did you want more than anything at his age?” Madison’s voice was small, her fingers fidgeting with the collar of his shirt, then circling figure eights along his chest.

“Love,” Alex said directly. “A father who cared. A mother who lived in the same zip code as normal. Time with them, I guess.”

Her nose nuzzled his. “Then give him that.”

“I can only give him half of that, Madison. We’re still missing his mother.” His neck tensed. “Why won’t he tell us who she is? What if he doesn’t want us to find her? Or what if something happened to her?”

“One insurmountable problem at a time. Baby steps. Maybe start by bringing dinner to his room. Where you grounded him.”

Alex shook his head. “No.”

He could see her chew on her lower lip, a sign she was mulling over his word. “No?”

“No.” He stood, setting her on her feet. “We’ll make dinner together. If we’re going to spend time together, we’ll start with prep time. He’ll pick what we’re having for dinner, and we’ll make it together.”

Madison giggled. “I see a lot of pizza in my future.”

“And dessert,” he assured her with a kiss, his eyes filled with concern. “He’ll need to be enrolled in school in the fall. Without his mother…”

Madison stroked his jaw. “Don’t worry. We will find his mother.”

* * *

Early the next morning, Madison was up, bright and early. Well before her normalbabies are squatting on my bladderalarm. But, it meant she had a little extra time to fix breakfast for her two favorite men.

Except, her husband wasn’t in bed.

“Alex?” she called out. Nothing back. The bathroom was dark, so it was a long shot.

She grabbed the robe off the chaise and headed in the hall. The heavy sounds of grunt and punching hit the air.

What the hell?

Rushed, she followed the noises to the gym, catching AJ in a defensive stance as her husband ripped a hand to AJ’s neck.

Before she could say or do anything, AJ snapped Alex’s arm at the elbow, then twisted his hand until Alex was on his knees.

Alex’s smiled proudly. “Exactly. And then what?”

AJ thought for a moment. “Then, I kick him in the nuts.”

Madison smirked.Are we sure he’s notmyson?

“Buzz.” Alex remained in place, mentoring him through it. “Try again.”

AJ huffed disappointedly. “I break his fingers and run.”

Alex jumped to his feet, nursing his elbow. “Exactly.”

“Boring,” AJ said.

“Surviving,” Alex sang back.

“But, what if he has a gun? Do I…” AJ did a few kung-fu moves with sound effects he must have learned from a movie. Or Sunday morning cartoons.

Alex shook his head, and placed a hand on his shoulder. “If you see a gun, hear a gunshot, anything at all to do with firearms, you have two options. Run and—” Forcefully, he shoved AJ to the mat.

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