Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 119011 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 595(@200wpm)___ 476(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119011 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 595(@200wpm)___ 476(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
Leo flinched when Mona stroked his arm. “Leo, you can tell me if you’ve got any concerns. If you don’t want the baby to know, we can just keep it on the down-low in the future. Nobody expects you to take responsibili—”
“I want to take responsibility!” Leo burst out. “I am a responsible guy, okay? And I want a family, so it’s not really making me feel that great that I’m being sidelined when—”
Mike butted in. “You’re not. Your genes are literally being chosen over mine. Which, if you ask me, is a grave mistake.”
Rain’s eyes narrowed. “That’s not what we meant.”
Leo took a deep breath, squeezing and opening his hands as he struggled to calm down. He didn’t want Zolt to see him like this, but there was no point in putting this discussion off, either. He was no pushover. “That’s how you presented it. If I am to be in any way involved in this, I want to be the baby’s dad. I don’t want to pretend I’m its uncle if it’s made of me.”
Mike frowned. “Whoa. Why don’t you just let them have their kid? You can have another one.”
“With who? I don’t see a candidate on the horizon!” Leo barked at him, increasingly hot on the inside. “For all I know, this might be my only child, and if that’s not what you want then I’ll have to say no. Sorry.”
Mona’s full lips formed a perfect ‘O’ as she stared back at him without a word.
Rain cleared her throat. “Okay. I didn’t know you were this serious about it. And you want to… pay for the kid as well and all that?”
“Yes. Of course I’d support them however necessary if I was the dad.” Leo had to exhale, but the tension wouldn’t leave him.
“I guess, Rain and I need to talk it all over,” Mona said but offered Leo a warm smile.
He’d worried his decision might ruin the experience for everyone, but maybe by being less agreeable they’d actually arrive at a mutual understanding without anyone harboring a secret grudge.
Mike rolled his eyes but said nothing for once and made a gesture of washing his hands of the whole situation. Prick.
Zolt cleared his throat. “So, which one do you want? The one with the ivory handle or the one with the cross?” he asked, changing the topic as if he also found it uncomfortable.
While Mona made her pick, Rain wrapped her arm around Leo and pulled him away under the pretense of looking at guitars. “How’s it going here? Do you need to swap with someone? It’s been over a month, and that sofa can’t be comfortable. Between the cops watching our every move and the Jackals hovering around town, we don’t even know when it’ll be safe to continue our usual business.”
Leo waved it off. “It’s fine. I’ve got the bed now, anyway.”
Rain cocked her head, and only then Leo realized what he’d said. A million thoughts darted through his mind, making him wonder whether he shouldn’t tell Rain what was going on with him and Zolt, but this wasn’t the right time. He hardly understood himself where they stood or what his sexuality was. Where would he even start explaining? At the first kiss? Right before he’d murdered a Jackal brother and hadn’t told anyone in the club about it, because Zolt had dealt with the corpse for him?
“I mean, I worked out that it unfolds into a bed,” he said quickly.
Rain kept her inquisitive gaze on him for a couple more heartbeats but eventually let it go and grinned. “I see what’s going on here!”
“What? What’s going on? Nothing. Big fat nothing. I’m bored out of my mind,” Leo insisted, at the pace of bullets from a machine gun. The thought of anyone finding out about his secret made his anxiety skyrocket, even though he couldn’t imagine an activity more relaxing than making out with Zolt in bed.
But his sister kept watching him with a wide smile. “You don’t have any work to do around here. I bet you just play video games all day. I know you, Leo!” she said and poked him in the ribs.
Leo’s panic turned into relief. “Caught red-handed. Everyone needs a break sometimes. But since you know me, you also know I miss work. How are you handling the garage workload without me?”
A scowl passed over Rain’s face. “I won’t lie, I’ll need a vacation once you’re back.” Her gaze remained on Leo’s face, as if she were trying to scrape the lies off it, but before she found out that Leo was sleeping with Zolt, that they were all in trouble because he’d killed a Jackal over a month back, or that Zolt was still doing business with the enemy, she gave him a pat on the back and walked toward Mona.