The Firefly Cafe (Billionaire Brothers, #1)(12)

Across the deck, next to the stone wall that separated the patio from the wide, blue ocean, Dylan and Matt faced off like boxers in the ring.

And as she watched, horrified, Dylan drew back one brawny arm and let fly with a punch toward her child’s face—and Penny was plunged suddenly into the nightmare she’d left her husband and their entire life behind to avoid.

* * *

“Get away from my son.”

The low, terrible voice from behind him had Dylan pulling his punch before he meant to, stumbling forward just in time for Matt to prove he’d learned the new block by executing it directly into Dylan’s jaw.

Matt’s knuckles cracked hard into Dylan’s chin, and they both said, “Ow!” simultaneously.

Seeing stars, Dylan shook it off, vaguely aware of Penny brushing roughly past him.

“Mom, look what you made me do!” Matt exclaimed, looking half apologetic and half thrilled at getting a shot in.

“He’ll be lucky if that’s the worst he gets,” Penny snarled, and Dylan gave her a sharp look.

Her cheeks were whiter than the sand on the beach, but her eyes burned with a poisonous green rage that sent a chill through Dylan’s blood.

“Wait.” Dylan’s hands dropped lifelessly to his sides. “Do you honestly think I was about to hit him?”

“I know what I saw.” Penny’s voice was hard and brittle, like ice cracking over a frozen pond. Betrayal and fury strung every muscle taut as she faced him down, ranging herself between her child and the man she suddenly perceived as a threat.

Fighting an answering surge of betrayal, Dylan deliberately stepped down and made himself less imposing by sprawling into a nearby café chair. “I guess it looked bad, but Penny, come on. Is that honestly what you think of me?”

Something flickered in her gaze, but before she could reply, Matt spoke up from over her shoulder. “Mom. Come off it. Dylan was just showing me a couple of moves.”

“Moves?” Penny’s spine was so stiff, he could’ve used her as a battering ram.

Working his jaw from side to side, Dylan tongued at the sore spot where his teeth cut into his lip. “Yep. He’s a natural. But don’t expect a block to work like that every time. You usually have to throw a fist on purpose to get a solid hit.”

“That’s enough.” Penny’s chest heaved, spots of dark red appearing high on her cheekbones.

Dylan stared. She was still pissed, even though he obviously hadn’t been beating up on Matt. “What is your problem?”

Her throat worked. “My problem,” she said slowly, “is with you teaching my son violence and aggression. I don’t know how you live your life, but my son doesn’t need to know how to ‘throw a fist’ or get a ‘solid hit.’”

The palpable disgust in her voice when she echoed Dylan’s lesson made him recoil slightly. Feeling attacked, he came back with, “Oh yeah? Maybe you should talk to your son, instead of assuming you know what he needs.”

Penny blinked. Over her shoulder, Matt was frantically shaking his head and making “Abort, abort!” gestures. Dylan raised his brows. He wasn’t about to get caught in the crossfire on this one.

“What do you mean…” Penny twisted to face her son. “What is he talking about? Is there something you want to tell me?”

Wiping all expression save a blank innocence off his face, Matt shrugged. “No, not really.”

Oh, kid. Dylan got it, he did. This was a sensitive subject. But Penny needed to know what was going on with her son.

Luckily, this wasn’t Penny’s first rodeo. Clearly unimpressed with Matt’s innocent act, she propped her hands on her hips and stared him down until he squirmed.

“Fine.” He rolled his eyes. “I asked Dylan for a few tips on fighting. Just in case.”

Hmm. Not exactly the way Dylan remembered the conversation, but okay.

“In case of what?” Penny demanded, her gaze darting suspiciously between her son and her handyman.

Dylan held up his hands. “I think maybe this is my cue to bow out. Seems like this is a family matter, and you probably want privacy.”

To his surprise, Penny squeezed her eyes shut in a full-body flinch. “A family matter,” she repeated, her voice a thready whisper. “Oh, God. Matty…”

Matt’s face darkened, his hands clenching. “I’ve asked you a billion times to quit calling me by that dumb baby name. It’s like you don’t even hear me! I hate it!”

I hate you.

He didn’t say it, biting his lips closed on the words, but they hung in the sea-swept air like a gull riding the wind.

Visibly shaken, Penny tried to pull herself together. “Don’t try to make this about a nickname.”

Dylan couldn’t stand to watch another second of this train wreck. But instead of beating a retreat back into the diner, he found himself leaning forward in his chair and resting his elbows on the patio table. “But that is what it’s about, at least partly.”


The kid shot him an agonized look, but Dylan shook his head. “Tell her. Or I will.”

“Ugh, fine!” Matt threw himself down to sit on the low stone wall separating the deck from the shore. “Some stuff went down at school, last semester. I got in a couple of fights. Dylan said he could show me how to win, so I took him up on it. End of story.”