Stealing Hearts (Wild at Heart #1)(32)

Technically, I don’t owe her crap because we weren’t married ten years, and in the state of Texas that’s what would garner her alimony, but she’s the mother of my children, and I wanted to make sure she had the money she needed for the boys.

Amber pales. “You said you’d always look after me.”

“And you promised to be faithful. Apparently, we’re both full of shit.”

I need a drink. I head for the kitchen. I can’t believe I left Paige naked in the hot tub for this.

I grab a beer and smack it on the edge of the counter to pop off the lid. After I take a pull, I turn back to my ex. “I’m assuming since you brought the boys back a week early, they’re mine now?” Glancing at the calendar on the fridge, I note that we’re supposed to go back to switching every other week after her vacation time. But fuck that. “You can pick them up on the twenty-first.”

“But that’s two weeks away. I still have one more week with them.”

“Then maybe you shouldn’t have marched into my house uninvited and dragged me away from my honeymoon.”

She rolls her eyes. “What kind of honeymoon did you have if it took you half an hour to get here?”

Not the kind Paige deserves, but I don’t have time to deal with that guilt right now. “If you have a problem with me keeping the boys, we can make an appointment with our attorneys this week, and I’ll make sure we adjust the alimony so it reflects your complete disregard for our children’s emotional well-being.”

“What are you talking about? They’re clothed and fed.”

“You’re not the one who has to deal with how sick they get when you drop them off.” It’s always worse if she yells. Their pediatrician said it’s likely from stress.

“Whatever, Rhett. Just keep your wife away from me.”

I chuckle. “I doubt she’ll be inviting you over for coffee.”

“Why are you such an asshole?” She stomps to the door, but pauses to look at me. “Mark my words. This won’t last.”

Tell me something I don’t know.

Some part of me senses it’s gonna suck when Paige leaves, but my life’s a fucking mess. I don’t wanna wrangle her into my crap any more than she already is.

Finally, the Grim Reaper leaves. I lock the door behind Amber and take another swig of beer before I go looking for my kids.

I find them with my brother in the boys’ room. Gabriel is sitting on the bed, doing that rocking thing he does when he’s stressed out, and Austin is curled up in Jace’s lap.

“Hey, guys. Sorry about that.” I kneel down in front of the bed. “Can I get some hugs? I haven’t seen you two in ages.”

Austin holds out his arms, and I hug him to my chest. “Missed you, bud.” He sniffles, and I pat his back until his breathing calms. “Come here, Gabriel. Unless you’re too big for hugs.”

He shuffles down the bed, and I hold my other arm open to him. “Mama was mad.”

“She’s upset with me, not you. She might have a temper, but she loves you two to pieces.” At least, I hope she does.

Gabriel leans back. “She said you got married. Was she lying? Sometimes Mama lies.”

Fucking Amber. I blow out a breath. “Let’s sit down for this.”

My brother smacks me on the back. “I’m gonna take off, since you’ve got this under control.”

“Thanks, Jace. I appreciate you holding down the fort. I owe you one.”

“Anytime.”

After I sit on the rocking chair, I grab both my kids and pull them onto my lap. “Did y’all have fun on your vacation? You went to the lake, right?”

Gabriel shrugs, and Austin doesn’t say anything.

“Looks like you both got some sun. Did you go fishing?” Gabriel’s been wanting to do that for a while.

When they don’t say anything, I start to worry. “Were you with your mom or one of her friends?” Gabriel gives his brother a look, and my parental Spidey senses go off. “You can tell me, boys. I won’t get mad.” At you.

Gabriel looks down. “We were with one of Mama’s friends, this guy Quentin. But he wasn’t very nice. Mostly Austin and I just played outside by ourselves.”

“Was an adult with you?”

They don’t say anything, which tells me there was no adult.

I try to keep my voice soft so they don’t know how pissed I am. “Must’ve been nice by the lake. How close were y’all to the water?”

“Super close, but Mama said we couldn’t go in it. That was a bummer.”

My children were unsupervised at the fucking lake. It’s a small miracle they didn’t jump in.

I kiss them on the tops of their heads, grateful they’re home safe and sound. No thanks to Amber.

Gabriel starts to fidget. “Did you really get married?”

I was hoping he’d forget about that until morning, and we could all go to bed. “I did. She’s a nice girl. You’re gonna like her. Do you remember Danny? I have that picture of y’all on my desk that time we went to get ice cream when you were little.” He nods. “Paige is Danny’s younger sister. You’ll meet her tomorrow.”

“Mama doesn’t like her. She called her a tramp.”