Chapter Four

CHAPTER FOUR

LEIGH

The cool winter air hits like a shard of ice, and I pull Zach close, bundling him against me as we exit the private jet Luca sent for us.

Most people wouldn’t be happy going from a frozen city to a frozen mountain, but I’m in love.

Inhaling the crisp, clean air, a wave of nostalgia hits me. While these mountains practically kiss the clouds and make the slopes in Michigan look like glorified hills, I can’t help but feel a little at home.

I swallow hard, remembering the last time I felt this way, and fight back the tears that come when I think about my parents. Winter was their season and Christmas their holiday. Snowmobiling. Santa. Hot chocolate by the fire. It’s been nine years, and it still isn’t any easier.

Thank God we will be out of here by the twenty-fifth, so I can smile past the tears for Zach in the privacy of my own home.

“Two days,” I whisper. “I can do this.”

“Down, Mama,” Zach orders, wiggling in my arms.

“Okay,” I reluctantly agree, setting him down on the landing outside the plane. “Take my hand and I’ll help you with the stairs.”

“I do.” He looks up at me for permission.

Those big blue eyes of his melt me. Always filled with a hint of wonder and mischief,I’m helpless to do anything but encourage this sweet boy to take on the world ahead of him.

“Okay, you can do it.”

I watch with apprehension as Zach reaches for the railing and carefully takes one step at a time, not needing my help.

God, he’s getting so big.

Lost in his progress, it’s not until he’s seventy-five percent of the way down that I look up to see where we are supposed to go after this.

And that’s when I see him.

Standing next to a blacked-out SUV, he looks far too hot for it being so damn cold out. Wrapped in a camel-colored trench, paired with black slacks and a button-down that hugs his chest in all the right places, he radiates the wealth of his status. I mean, the guy flew us here on a private jet. It makes sense he wouldn’t show up in jeans and a hoodie.

The same cannot be said for me.

Glancing down at my Renegades zip-up and leggings, I realize just how out of my depth I am. The Bennett name might have once been respected in high society, and I might be best friends with a billionaire and an actress, but we are not the same.

Luca pushes off the SUV and starts towards the stairs. He runs his hand through his onyx hair. Cropped short on the sides but tousled on top, it’s a look that not many guys can pull off—of course, Luca can.

I force a cordial smile to my lips, but it falls as soon as I realize the glittering blue eyes I love to hate aren’t locked on me, but rather on my son.

The significance of the moment bottoms out my stomach. This is it. This could be the first time Zach meets his father.

Maybe.

Then again, maybe not.

Gripping the rail for support, I’m not entirely sure what I’m supposed to do here. I’ve never been one for sentimental moments, but when it comes to my son, I’m a sucker for them. But there’s a part of me that wants to snatch him into my arms and run back up these stairs where the Donatis can’t touch us.

But it’s not about me.

Not anymore.

Which is why I pull my phone from my jacket pocket, swipe up to the camera app, and snap a picture just as Zach reaches the last step and looks up to where Luca stands in front of him.

“Hey, little man,” Luca says, squatting down, so he is eye level with Zach.

Unsolicited tears line my eyes and I blink them away as Zach turns and looks up at me, unsure what to do.

“It’s okay,” I reassure him. “This is Mommy’s friend, Luca. He’s going to take us to the hotel we are staying at.”

Luca glances up at me, but it’s not long enough for me to get a read on him before his eyes are back on Zach. “I’ve got a surprise for you.”

“S’prise?” Zach echoes.

Luca nods. “Do you like baseball?”

Zach tips his little head to the side and smiles. “Cawson?”

I shake my head. Of course, that’s who he associates with baseball. Not his godmother. Or even the Renegades in general. It’s the guy who uses him as his wingman to pick up women.

Luca tips his head back and laughs, and it’s unfair just how beautiful he looks doing so in the light of the setting sun.

“You know Carson?”

Zach nods, enamored with Luca.

“He was on my team once upon a time.” He reaches into the pocket of his coat and pulls out a bright purple beanie with glittering gold edges and flaps to cover the ears. Across the front there’s a baseball with the word Monarchs stitched in gold underneath. “To keep your ears warm.”

Zach reaches up and grabs the hat and looks at it like he’s unsure if it’s a trap.

If Luca had checked with me, I would have told him hats are not the way to Zach’s heart. It doesn’t matter how cold it is, or how many little old women have stopped and berated me for allowing him to pull off his beanie, Zach hates having his head covered.

I open my mouth to tell Luca as much, when Zach goes on and makes a liar out of me by tugging on the hat immediately.

Pulling on the strings, he looks up at Luca and beams. “Tanks.”

My jaw drops and I pin a murderous glare in Luca’s direction. Thankfully, he’s still ignoring me. I don’t have to explain why I’m ready to yank that damn hat away and pretend the last five minutes never happened.

I know I’m overreacting.

I know it’s not a slight against me.

Zach just likes the hat.

At least he remembered his manners.

But then why does it feel like Luca just won for Dad of the Year when he’s known the kid all of ten seconds?

“You’re welcome,” Luca says, his eyes still locked on my son, not understanding the huge feat he’s just accomplished as he continues to ignore me. “You ready to go, bud?”

“Go!” Zach repeats loudly, clutching his stuffed horse to his chest with one hand and reaching out to offer Luca his other hand.

Why couldn’t I have had a kid with crippling stranger danger? No, instead he takes to people like a fish to water and strives to be everyone’s best friend.

Without looking back, Luca and Zach walk hand in hand to the SUV. As I follow behind, my heart constricts in my chest, and I fight the feeling that I’m losing my son.

It’s irrational, but that doesn’t stop it from sticking to the forefront of my brain like dog hair on a black shirt.

Maybe this was a mistake.

Luca and Zach reach the car, and I realize his car seat is still on the plane.

“Wait, we need to grab his car seat,” I call out as Luca opens the back door.

Without acknowledging me, Luca picks Zach up and places him in the car. “I already had one installed.”

“Oh,” I mumble, and I’m not sure if I should be impressed or irritated by his forethought with only twenty-four hours' notice.

Definitely impressed, right?

He buckles Zach in, which I double check to make sure is tight enough and the straps are in the right place.

Of course they are. And here I was worried about him not putting in the effort. Instead, he’s ten steps ahead of me and ready to take my place.

If he is Zach’s dad, would he really do that?

Would he take him from me?

No. Right?

My breath seizes and I grip the car door for support as I close my eyes and try to calm my racing heart.

Breathe in.

And out.

Zach will always be my son. He’s not going anywhere.

I open my eyes and see the smiling face of the little boy that is my world.

“Go, Momma.”

His sweet little voice is enough to ground me.

Leaning in, I press a kiss to his forehead. “Yup, we’re gonna go.”

After double checking the buckles one more time, I shut the door behind me and turn to climb in the front seat but instead I'm greeted with Luca’s chest against my cheek.

Air knocked from my lungs, I stumble back. Luca’s hand darts out and wraps around my waist, stopping me from hitting the ground.

“Thanks,” I rasp.

When he doesn’t respond, I make the mistake of glancing up. Any hope of seeing the man who impressed my best friends and helped save the Renegades disappears. Gone is the glittering smile and twinkling eyes reserved for my son, replaced by darkness as cold as the wind whipping through the trees.

This is the Luca Donati I remember. Cold. Calculating. And overall a grade A dick.

“You should have told me,” he snaps, his voice devoid of any joy.

Yanking my arm from his grip, I step back and narrow my gaze and channel diplomacy despite my heart being in my throat. “This isn’t how I wanted you to find out.”

His lip curls into a sneer.“No, you didn’t want me to find out at all.”

“Luca, that’s not?—”

“We’ll talk about this later,” he bites, his eyes darting to the dark glass that separates my son from us. “We don’t need Zach hearing us argue.”

It’s on the tip of my tongue to inform him I’m perfectly capable of outlining all the reasons he’s being a jackass without my son knowing a damn thing—since he’s a toddler and doesn’t understand half of what we say—but instead, I bite my lower lip and stop myself.

If he wants to wait to talk, I’m not going to twist his arm. Especially when he’s right. I didn’t want him to know about Zach.

Luca turns on his heel and rounds the front of the SUV, leaving me standing there cold, angry, and confused as I try my best to recover from the emotional whiplash of my first ten minutes in Colorado.

My tired reflection greets me in the mirrored glass of the window as I turn to open the door. “Buck up, buttercup,” I whisper to myself as if it’s somehow going to help. “It’s going to be a long ass few days.”