Page 21 of Off Limits Daddy

"We should tell Aiden. Who knows when Social Services will be back for another visit, and if they ask him about us, he needs to be able to tell them."

I didn't want anybody to know about this fake engagement, but I suppose the point was that people would believe it, and therefore, Social Services wouldn't take Aiden away and my supervisor would okay an operation that allowed me to get information from Aiden and protect him. I would've rather gotten that permission in advance, but since I didn't, I reluctantly agreed.

Duncan led me through his brownstone, to the stairs. "I can give you a tour, show you your room since there won’t be any heating up the sheets."

"Guestroom?"

He looked back over his shoulder. "Well, yeah. We’re getting married?—"

"We’re engaged, but that doesn’t require my moving in."

"If you're going to get close to Aiden, you need to be in his life. He’s been with me a week or so and he’s still timid, not very talkative."

Dammit. I hated that he was right.

I didn't say anything, but Duncan must've known that I knew he was right as he turned and finished heading up the stairs.

"There's my bedroom. There’s no need to show it to you since you won’t be using it.” His tone was joking. I rolled my eyes as I headed down a long hall. Along the way, there were French doors out to a terrace. “That’s a nice spot to have coffee in the morning when it’s not cold. If you want to go out, you need to undo the lock here.” He reached up to a slide bolt that prevented the doors from opening. “I don’t want Aiden going out there without my knowing.”

I looked out and had to admit the area was lovely even in the dead of winter. “This is a lot of house for one man.”

He shrugged. “I always thought I’d fill it with a family. Here’s a bathroom. Aiden uses it, and here’s his room.” He continued past Aiden’s room. “Here is the guest room. There is another room, but it’s empty. If you’d rather have it, though, I’ll furnish it.”

I looked into the guest room, wondering if I’d lost my mind when I agreed to this crazy idea.

“This has a full bath, so you’ll have privacy.”

I remembered using my bath to enjoy dirty thoughts about Duncan the other night. That wouldn’t be happening here.

I looked into the bathroom. It didn’t have a garden tub, but it did have a lovely clawfoot tub.

“Nice.” I’d known Duncan was well off as a businessman, but I hadn’t realized just how well off. There were brownstones in Boston that had been converted into condominiums with each unit selling for several million dollars, and here, Duncan had an entire brownstone. Three floors, it appeared. Plus, there had to be parking below.

“Let’s check in on Aiden.” Duncan headed back up the hall to the room near mine. “Aiden?” He pushed the door open and stepped inside. He scanned the room. "Hey, Son, where are you?"

I stepped into the room as well, taking it in. It struck me as the type of room any little boy would want to have. There were planets and stars on the ceiling. There was a large carpet that looked like city streets. His bed frame was a red racecar.

"Aiden. This isn't funny. You need to come out now." Duncan opened Aiden’s closet, his tone turning serious and worried.

“He’s supposed to be here?” I asked, growing concerned myself.

Duncan nodded. "He'd come up to change his shirt."

"Is it possible he would've gone to another room?"

Duncan walked past me and down the hall again, stopping at the bathroom. "Aiden?" He opened the shower and glanced into the tub. “Where the hell is he?” Duncan brushed past me again and headed down the stairs. I followed him as he searched the first floor and later, the courtyard along the side of the building. But Aiden was nowhere to be found.

"Fucking hell. Where is he?"

"Is it possible he ran away?"

He looked at me in confusion. "Why?"

I shrugged. “I don't know. Sometimes, foster kids run away." Verity had run away once, but she was fourteen and wanted to go to New York to be a star.

Duncan glared at me. "He's happy here. He’s six years old and afraid of the world. Where would he go?” Then his eyes rounded as if he'd thought of something. "Jesus fuck, do you think he heard Mrs. Thomas talking about moving him?"

I had to admit that was a possibility. "Maybe he hid from her?" Once again, we scoured the brownstone, still with no luck finding Aiden.

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