Impact (Suncoast Society #32)(19)

“Uh, duh.” Tilly’s heart ached. No, Katie wasn’t, technically, her baby, but she was damn sure going to protect her and care for her as if she was. Katie was family.

Hell, she had Cris’ last name already, and had sort of been named after him.

Tilly shoved that wistful thought away.

“So are they moving to Florida with you guys?” Leigh asked.

“Well, I damn sure can tell you the baby is. Sofia’s a wreck. Dale and Landry will go with her tomorrow to the hearing and then to see her probation officer. Dale will have to talk to them to find out what we need to do to get her probation transferred to Florida. If they don’t let her move, we’ll have to set her up somewhere in the area, but not near that f*cker she just left.” Tilly spotted the sign for her exit. “I have to go. I’m almost at the airport. I’ll talk to you in the morning.”

“Just be careful, okay? I know you’re tough but some of those pricks in the gangs don’t give a shit about their own lives, much less anyone else’s. These aren’t Florida gangs. They’re another level of crazy you aren’t used to.”

“Don’t worry. He doesn’t even know who the hell I am, much less where. By the time the cops got done tossing his apartment and hauling him in for his outstanding warrants, I’m sure he forgot all about me and that phone call.”

Tilly got off the phone and focused on driving. She still had fifteen minutes to wait when she walked into the main terminal. She grabbed herself a Starbucks and then sat in a chair where she could see Landry when he arrived in the main terminal, and she placed Katie’s carrier on the chair next to her.

The baby awoke and started to fuss a little. Tilly quickly prepped her a bottle, taking her out of the carrier to feed her.

That’s where Landry found her sitting when he walked into the main terminal.

He sat next to Tilly and kissed her, then stroked the baby’s head. “She’s beautiful,” he said. “What’s her name?”

“Katie, or KC. Short for Katherine Crista Guerrero. How’s that for f*cking irony?”

“Language, love.”

“She won’t remember it. And if I’m in her life, not like she won’t hear me drop that bomb a time or two…thousand.”

“True.” He made Tilly look him in the eye. “How are you doing? Any bodies we need to hide?”

“You know me too well.” They sat there, Tilly’s head resting on Landry’s shoulder as she gave him the play-by.

“I believe you outdid yourself, love. I would imagine it’s a miracle if the * didn’t have a brain aneurism from how you talked to him.”

Tilly giggled. “I know, right? And, language.”

Katie had finished her bottle. Tilly suspected the little girl would seriously start gaining some needed weight now that her formula wasn’t being stolen right out from under her.

Tilly put her on her shoulder and burped her. “What about your luggage?” He had two carry-ons.

“I only brought these. I wasn’t sure how long we’d be out here, but I have clothes at the condo.”

“Oh, yeah. Sorry.” Katie let out a loud belch, making Landry laugh.

“My. That’s a sound I wouldn’t expect from such a little thing as her.”

“You should have heard her earlier,” Tilly said, buckling her back into her carrier.

Landry took the keys from Tilly, but since he had his arms full with his carry-ons, he didn’t take the diaper bag. Tilly guided him out to the car and showed him how the carrier attached to the car seat base.

When he was behind the wheel, he pulled Tilly in for another kiss. “I love you, darling. While I don’t approve of you dashing off alone the way you did, I will admit it’s for a good cause. I shall talk to our dear Cris about not punishing you. See if I can persuade him not to.”

“Wait. I thought you’d order him not to.”

He smiled. “Well, dear, I am a sadist, if you’ll recall. I believe it’s one of my many charms that you fell in love with. You’ll have to negotiate that with Cris yourself.”

“Dammit,” she muttered.

“Oh, love?”

“Yeah?”

“Why is there a can of wasp spray in your car?”

Tilly giggled. “Insurance.”





Cris was sitting up in the living room when they returned home. Now dressed in shorts and a T-shirt, he had a bottle of beer in hand.

He was not wearing his leather cuffs and collar.

He got up and immediately headed toward them but Landry stayed him with his hand. “It’s all right,” Landry said, his voice low and glancing around. “Not with a guest here.”

Cris would have dropped to his knees in front of Landry and kissed his feet, their usual greeting ritual when one of them had been away overnight or longer.

Instead, Landry pulled him in for a kiss and whispered something in his ear that Tilly couldn’t hear.

She took the baby into the living room and set about getting her diaper changed. That’s when she realized the portable crib she’d bought wasn’t in its box where she’d left it.

“Where’s the crib?”

“Our bedroom,” Cris said. “Fi and I talked for a while but she was really hurting. I sent her to bed. When I checked on her a little while ago, she was totally zonked. I told her we’d take care of the baby for the next few days until her shoulder’s healed.”