22. Slade

22

SLADE

T he king-sized bed Jake bought for me is glorious. The room is safe, and I’m able to take a long shower all by myself. I should sleep like the dead. But I don’t. My conversation with Jake keeps me up all night.

He thinks I should tell Quin the truth.

I finally give up trying to sleep and get out the phone Jake gave me. Lots of guys smuggled in phones at Sciff, but I never did because it was too much of a risk. The last thing I wanted was a longer sentence because I broke the rules. Having the internet at my fingertips is thrilling after all this time. I can look up anything—watch anything.

I search for Bandit Bakery. Other than a website, which has photos of their products and a list of stores where you can buy them, there isn’t much of a digital footprint, except for an Instagram page.

I download Instagram and go searching again. The Bandit Bakery account has dozens of reels, all with Quin as the star. He’s kneading bread, decorating cookies, or taking a bite of a cinnamon roll. He smiles for the camera, his dimples popping, and God help me. I don’t know if I can live without him now that I’m free in the world.

I fall asleep with one of his reels on repeat. In this one he’s frosting cookies while singing along to a song in the background. He’s smiling and so full of life—nothing like the tortured, confused man who couldn’t decide what to do about our unresolved bond yesterday.

Jake may think I can make Quin happy, but I don’t know anymore.

By the time I wake, it’s eleven in the morning, and Jake has already gone to work. He left me bagels and cream cheese. I eat two of them before my stomach protests. It’s still recovering from all the pizza and wings I ate last night.

My new phone buzzes on the countertop. It’s an unknown number. I’m not sure if Jake added himself to my contacts list before giving me the phone, so I answer it.

“Hello?”

“Hi.”

I recognize his sweet, tenor voice right away.

“Quin?”

“Yeah. Your brother gave me your number.”

How did Jake find Quin? Even I don’t have his phone number. What did Jake say to him? Did he just call to pass on my number or did they talk about something else?

“Look, I’m sorry about yesterday,” Quin says. “Everything happened so fast, and I think I handled it all wrong.”

“It’s okay. I was just… surprised.” And heartbroken. And euphoric. And devastated.

“I was hoping that you could come over for dinner tonight. With enough adult supervision Chime makes a pretty good macaroni and cheese.”

Chime? He’s inviting me to have dinner with our daughter?

“I’m free for dinner. What time?” I ask.

“Um, how about six? Chime goes to bed at seven-thirty. I was thinking we could talk afterwards. About us.”

Us? Does that mean he wants there to be an us? Even after I ignored his letter and left him to raise our child all alone? Maybe he’s found out more about our unresolved bond. That would make more sense.

“Okay,” I say. “What should I bring?”

“Chime likes cake. Or any dessert, really. If it has sugar, she’ll love it.”

I get to give my daughter cake. The idea makes me irrationally giddy. We’re going to share a meal together. I can talk to her, ask her questions about her life.

“Thank you, Quin. I appreciate this.”

There’s a long pause on the other end. “Don’t thank me just yet. I need more time before I’m ready to tell Chime that you’re her alpha dad. I think it would be better for her to get to know you first, so you don’t feel like a stranger when she finds out.”

When she finds out, not if.

Did Jake say something to Quin about the murder? I spent six years in hell so that he could be free and happy. He wouldn’t jeopardize that, would he? Especially not while he’s pregnant.

Maybe Quin had a change of heart because I offered to pay child support. That must be it.

“We can wait to tell her as long as you want to,” I assure him.

“Thank you, Slade.”

My heart sinks as I realize I can’t go to dinner at Quin’s tonight.

“I don’t have a car,” I say.

“I figured. Coin has a spare he can lend you for a while. I already talked with him about it.”

After my conversation with Silver, that surprises me.

“Coin is lending me a car so I can come see you?” It sounds even more implausible when I say it out loud.

“Not exactly. He thinks you’re going to use the car to find a job so you can pay child support. My brothers are very into the idea of you paying child support right now. It’s all they want to talk about. Well, that, and the many violent things they’d like to do to your genitals. Our litter group chat has been very annoying during the last twenty-four hours.”

That seems a little more plausible than Coin giving me a car out of the goodness of his own heart.

“So, we’re lying to your brothers about what I’m using the car for?” I ask. “I mean, I do want to search for jobs, so I guess that isn’t entirely untrue.”

“We are absolutely lying to my brothers. If they knew I wanted to spend time with you, they would freak out, and it’s none of their business.”

Technically, if I’m driving Coin’s car, it is his business. But that’s okay. Quin is inviting me to his home. He’s even letting me see Chime. So I’m not going to complain or ask too many questions.

“Coin should stop by with the car in an hour or so,” Quin says. “He’ll be a total asshole. Sorry. If it’s any consolation, he’s an asshole to everyone except Chime.”

“You forget that I just got out of prison. I’m used to assholes.”

He laughs. God, I love that laugh. He’s so full of sunshine, he warms my heart, even over the phone.

“I guess I’ll see you at six, then. I’m looking forward to it.”

My heart races. Quin is looking forward to seeing me. That has to be a good sign, doesn’t it? A niggling doubt in the back of my mind reminds me that there must be a reason why Quin is letting me see our daughter, but I push it out of my mind.

Jake would never go behind my back and tell Quin what really happened.

“I’m looking forward to it too,” I say.

In just a few hours, I get to see Quin again.