3

“Now then.” Anthony returned to the sitting room, his expression warm. “I think we have much to discuss, son.”

Ford’s jaw ticked at ‘son’, but he simply inclined his head. “Should I have Silver and Oriana go on without me? I don’t want my nephew sitting in the car too long.”

“I’d appreciate that.” Anthony settled in his chair as Ford sent Oriana a quick text, assuring her he’d get Cort or Akira to pick him up when he was done here.

Once he’d put away his phone, Ford looked up to see Anthony watching him, a curious expression on his face.

“Maybe I shouldn’t ask this, but I’ve always wondered why you stayed on with the team after selling your shares.” Anthony curved both hands over the top of his cane. “The team served one purpose for the Kingsleys. I understand you wanting a legitimate career, but why involve yourself in a sport you had no interest in?”

Returning to his seat on the couch, Ford shrugged. “I wanted to be there for my sisters.”

“So you appreciate the value of a family business.”

“It’s not ours anymore, Anthony. The team belongs to Keane.”

“Not for long.” Anthony leaned forward. “The team has always been important to me. Perhaps too much so, but I don’t think any of us want to lose it. Keane has been exploring his options. Rumors have caught the attention of the media, but they’re only speculating. I’ve heard from old associates that he’s received offers that would potentially move the team to San Antonio. Or Seattle.”

That was what Silver had wanted him to know. Damn it, why hadn’t he just read the fucking article? He inhaled roughly as he imagined the team being moved. His family would be ripped apart. All his friends, the life he’d built here, would be gone. Cort, the man he loved, had his auto repair shop in Dartmouth, but their woman, Akira, was an Ice Girl for the team. Would the Ice Girls be moved as well? Disbanded?

He shook his head. “We don’t have the money to make a counteroffer. If Keane decides to sell, there’s nothing we can do to stop him.”

“Really?” Anthony’s brow rose. “Come, my boy. I’m sure, if you put your mind to it, you could come up with some way to at least delay any action by Keane.”

Bowing his head, Ford nodded slowly. “Is that why you wanted me here? Why you put on that whole act? Oriana and Silver love the team, but they’d only go so far to save it. Me? I’m a thug. I’ll do anything, right?”

Anthony’s lips thinned. “Come with me.”

Jaw clenched, Ford followed Anthony to a short hall which opened into a huge, modern kitchen with a long island that cut it off from the living room. To the left was a blocky staircase, leading up to the second floor. The old man started up the stairs, glancing back once to make sure Ford was still there.

“Having children changes a man, son.” Anthony’s lips curved slightly when Ford scowled. “Yes, I know you hate me calling you that, but you are my son. I may not have raised you, but I’ll be damned if I leave you with nothing but a bitter memory. I hope you will feel the same.”

Grinding his teeth, Ford considered a few dozen ways to tell the man to go fuck himself. They reached a spacious landing at the top of the stairs and he blinked as he looked over the three people lounging around the open den.

A man, a woman, on the sofa and loveseat, and a boy of about ten sitting on a beanie chain in the corner with headphones on.

The man stood immediately and came toward him, holding out his arms. “Ford, it’s been too damn long. You look good, man.”

Wetting his lips, Ford focused on the man in front of him. Kyle Macrae. Who Ford hadn’t seen since he was a sixteen-year-old punk in Detroit, stealing cars and giving Cort a reason to want to kick his ass almost every day. Kyle was a few years older than him, which would make him about thirty now.

He looked it, but not in a bad way. Maturity had turned the tall, skinny kid with crooked teeth and huge glasses into a wiry man with a sexy, nerdy appeal. His light brown hair was rumpled in a just-been-fucked way, brushing the top of his stylish glasses. The smile he flashed was fucking perfect. And he’d traded in his comic tees for a blazer that had Ford thinking of a really hot teacher he’d seen somewhere.

Maybe in a porn. Fuck, why had he started watching gay porn? That wouldn’t change years of being exclusively with women and never realizing he could fall for a guy. Had fallen for a guy. Cort, who was still trying to figure out his own shit and wouldn’t have seen that particular porn because he thought all the moaning was fake as fuck and preferred magazines.

He cleared his throat. “Yeah. Damn, you…grew up.”

“As did you.” Kyle arched a brow, lips slanting in amusement as he put his hand on Ford’s shoulder. He motioned to the woman who was stretched out across the plush, black leather sofa. “Do you remember my sister, Andrea?”

“Hey.” Andrea waved at him, not looking up from the book she was reading.

“Hey.” Ford took a deep breath, moving away from Kyle, not liking how familiar he was being, hot or not. “You were in college when me and Kyle hung out, but I think I remember you from a party at your sister’s place—”

“Yeah, when I walked in on you fucking my sister in the pool house.” Andrea’s tone was dry. “Good times.”

Kyle scowled at her, glancing over at the boy. “Jesus, sis. Not in front of the kid.”

“Oh fuck off, he swears more than I do.”

“That’s not the point.”

Ford grinned. They sounded a lot like him and Silver. Maybe not growing up together didn’t matter so much after all. He hooked his thumbs to his belt, the tension easing out of him now that Kyle wasn’t standing so close.

“Is Trista here too? It’s been…” He cleared his throat again. Looked at the boy again. “Been a while.”

“Ten years.” Kyle turned, blinking fast, his smile strained. “And Trista’s dead. She was in a bad car accident…after a party. She shouldn’t have been driving, but…unfortunately, it was something she did a lot.”

“Shit.” Ford dropped his gaze, not sure what to say. He’d liked Trista, but they hadn’t been together long. She’d hung out at Cort’s stepfather’s club a lot, fooling around with the bikers until Ford caught her eye. Cort thought she was too old for him and seduced her away.

He’d actually dated her for longer. Around the same time.

Maybe he should be here.

Ford really really wished Cort was here.

“Ford…” Kyle pushed his glasses up, lowing his voice even though the kid couldn’t hear him with the headphones on. “Trista wasn’t doing good before…before the accident. She was always drinking and partying, going from one man to the next. Me and Andrea did what we could, but Child Services got involved. He got taken away a few times. After she died, we didn’t know what to do with him, but we didn’t want him living with strangers again. We finally got his birth certificate and…she’d never told us. I swear I would have told you if I knew.”

Taking a step back, Ford stared at Kyle. “There’s no fucking way.”

“Really? Because you were so damn careful?” Kyle’s eyes hardened. He looked past Ford to Anthony, who’d remained silent the whole time. “He hasn’t changed. This trip was a waste of time.”

“It wasn’t. Give him a chance to absorb what you’re saying.” Anthony put a heavy hand on Ford’s shoulder, tightening his grip when Ford tried to jerk away. “Go look at him and tell me you don’t see it.”

For a man who’d had a heart attack, the elder Delgado was pretty strong. He didn’t release Ford until he started moving forward on his own.

As his shadow fell over the kid, the boy looked up. Golden eyes hard, he jerked off his headphones.

“What the fuck do you want?”

Holy shit.

Ford’s lips parted. Closed. He swallowed hard. “Ah…just wanted to meet you, kid. I knew your mom.”

“Awesome. At least one of us did.” The boy slumped on the beanbag. “You figure out where you’re dumping me off yet, Uncle Kyle? I’m fucking bored.”

Shit. Shit. Shit.

As much as he wanted to, Ford couldn’t deny it. That dark brown hair, those eyes. That smart ass mouth. Hell, if the kid had been in a video Ford would have done a double-take, thinking he was looking at himself as a child.

Anthony moved to Ford’s side, his tone hard. “You’re not going anywhere, Jaxon.”

“Yeah?” The kid, Jaxon, eyed Anthony warily. “You want me to stay here?”

“You will stay here.” Anthony’s lips curved slightly. “Until it’s time to go live with your father.”

Jaxon’s eyes narrowed. He looked Ford over. “This him?”

I should say something. Ford cleared his throat again. “Your mother and I were together a long time ago—”

“Got that. Ten years ago. I’m not stupid.” Jaxon rolled his eyes. “So you’re my mom’s sperm donor. Cool. Any reason I can’t go with you now?”

“You can—”

“No, he can’t,” Kyle spoke up, his voice cutting through the room as he went to stand over Jaxon, who rolled his eyes again and put his headphones back on. “I’m sorry, Ford, but he doesn’t know you. I don’t know you. Not anymore.”

“But you know Anthony?” Ford wasn’t sure what he was going to do with a kid, but he sure as hell wasn’t leaving his…his…leaving Jaxon with the same man who’d almost destroyed both his daughters’ lives.

Kyle glared at him. “Anthony flew all three of us down here after talking to us for weeks. He’s given us a place to stay. Given Jaxon everything he could need.”

Weeks…Anthony had known about this for weeks? Ford rubbed his hand over his lips and laughed. “Jesus, Dad. Convenient timing, telling me about the kid now?”

“Perhaps.” Anthony shrugged, not even bothering to deny it. “I want my team back. You want your sisters to be happy. And a chance to get to know your son.” The emphasis he put on the last word made Ford wince. Anthony gave Ford a cold smile, then continued. “If family pride isn’t enough to motivate you, maybe this will be.”