Beneath the Scars (Masters of the Shadowlands #13)(127)

Josie stepped into the room, taking up a position against the wall. But she didn’t jump into the discussion.

Still up to him, then. Holt stroked the cat. “Now, let’s say sex is like driving a car.”

Choking on a laugh, Josie murmured, “There’s a unique comparison.”

Carson’s expression held puzzlement.

“Just go along with me, children.” Holt hoped to hell he could say this right…without getting into a birds-and-the-bees lecture. “Sex is something you choose to do, and like with everything else, there can be consequences. One result can be a baby.”

Brows together, Carson sat on the floor and pulled on a sock. “What’s the consequence for making a baby?”

“The mother and father are responsible for the child until he reaches eighteen. Even if a parent isn’t involved in the hands-on raising, well, a kid still eats food, needs clothes, all that stuff.”

“Oh.” Carson studied the other sock in his hands. “Everett should help, like, pay for my food?”

“He should have been doing that all along, yes.”

Carson kept turning over the sock in his hands. Silently.

Not good. “Tell me what you’re thinking, ace.”

“I eat a lot. Maybe…firefighters probably don’t make much money. I could… I don’t need to eat as much.”

Fuck. That sure as hell hadn’t been his point. Holt held up his hand to let Josie know he was still at bat. She—bless her—let him take his swing.

“Money isn’t a problem for me, Carson.” Holt set the cat to one side and dropped to the floor beside the boy. “I earned a lot of money when I was modeling, chose good investments, and I make a good salary now.”

Carson’s head was still bowed.

Holt slung an arm over his shoulders and pulled him close. “You’re my kid, dumbass,” he said lightly. “Even if I didn’t have money, I’d still share you with your mom. I’d just work harder to help support you.”

“Then…why?” Carson had big eyes the color of chocolate. Puppy-dog-eyes that could turn a guy’s heart inside out. Perhaps it was best Josie’d had him up to now. With Holt, the boy would’ve been spoiled rotten.

“We’re not going after Everett for the money. It’s because he should be held responsible for his actions.” And it sucked that retroactive payments were capped at two years and the statute of limitations had passed for criminal charges. Holt would have preferred to send the asshole to jail. Ah, well. “We plan to dump whatever he coughs up into your college fund.”

“Oh.” After a second, Carson wrinkled his freckled nose. “College?”

“Yep. Call it a consequence for being so damn smart.”

Carson started to grin. “Did you call me dumbass in front of Mom?”

A grumbling sound came from Josie. “He did.”

“Just had to point that out, didn’t you, brat?” Holt tipped Carson over on his back and dug his fingers into the kid’s ribs until giggles filled the room.

Fuck, he loved this kid.

A few minutes later, they were heading out the door when the house phone rang. “Great timing.” With a grunt of exasperation, Holt grabbed it. “Yes?”

A pause.

“Ah, do I have Josie Collier’s home?” The woman’s voice with a light Southern accent was familiar, but he couldn’t quite recall whom it belonged to.

“That’s correct. May I ask who’s calling?” After the fire, they’d had more than a few calls from reporters, and Holt took point on those whenever possible.

“Of course. I’m Pamela, Everett Lanning’s soon-to-be ex-wife.” As Holt motioned Josie close enough to listen, the woman continued with a thread of cynical humor running through her tone. “I’ve spent the last couple weeks explaining to Timothy and Britney how their father could have a son we didn’t know about.”

Holt winced. “Ouch.”

“Oh, yes. However, the children are thrilled they have a half-brother. As far as they—and I—are concerned, a sibling is a sibling. Would y’all be amenable to letting them get to know each other?”

With a wide grin, Josie nodded.

Holt looked down and saw Carson had moved close enough to hear as well. The kid looked as pleased as his mother—because his heart was just as big.

“We look forward to seeing you all.” Holt ruffled his son’s hair and smiled. It seemed his family was expanding again.





Chapter Thirty-Three





Two weeks later, Josie sat in the back seat of Max’s car beside Rainie. Leaning forward, Josie tapped Zuri’s shoulder. “You only said out for drinks. So where exactly are we going?”

“Oh, somewhere nice,” Zuri said.

Max’s smile flashed, but he didn’t answer.

In the back seat, Rainie giggled and stayed silent.

Suspicious, Josie frowned at the streets going by and then straightened. She recognized this area. In fact…

Max pulled the car to the curb in front of The Highlands.

Josie stared. “You’ve got to be kidding. You do know I used to work here.”

“We know—and it’s a great place.” Zuri slid out, not waiting for Max to open her door. “Won’t it be fun to be a customer for a change?”