“Dad… I think I saw Mom outside the school,” Wyatt says nervously, looking at me with sad eyes.
Rage crawls up my throat. She hasn’t bothered with him since she slept with the mayor’s son and ran off. Left Wyatt behind. I fought like hell for full custody.
She shows up sometimes. Just enough that he remembers her. But her crux was always the booze, and that always comes first to her. I was with his mom for a long time; she was desperate for a family because I wouldn’t marry her. I couldn’t give her the Sterling name, it felt wrong, because she was so against everything the name stood for. But I gave her Wyatt. Hoping that, finally, that would be enough to help her see sense.
But it just made it worse. She drank more. She didn’t come home. She threw glasses at my head. And then she left the son she begged me for.
I loved Wyatt with my whole heart from the second he was cuddled in my arms. And my love only got more fierce the more she fucked up.
Wyatt was never a mistake. Ashley was.
My fists clench.
“She’s not gonna take me back, is she?” he asks quietly.
Christ. A five-year-old shouldn’t carry that fear.
I ruffle his hair and force a smile. “No one’s ever taking you away from me, son. Ever.”
He smiles and takes a bite. “Okay. After this, can I go feed Gary?”
I huff a laugh.
That damn goat hates me. Headbutts me every chance he gets. But with Wyatt? Soft as butter. Only reason he’s still alive.
“Yeah, we’ll go feed him. Then Matilda’s coming to watch you while Daddy goes out with your uncles tonight. I’ll put you to bed first. Won’t leave till you’re asleep.”
He nods, happy again, and I just watch him eat.
Balancing a ranch, the mafia, and being a dad is hard as hell, but I wouldn’t change a single thing.
Tonight, though, I’m just Hunter—a man drinking whiskey with his brothers.
Grieving our father, the only way he’d have approved of at his favorite bar in town.
CHAPTER THREE
LOLA
“What are we doing,just leaving the car at the bar? Can’t we get an Uber?” I ask Violet as we head down to the parking lot.
“Lola, this is New Falls, not New York. I couldn’t get a driver in the next two hours.”
This part is taking some getting used to.
I hurry to catch up and link my arm through hers. “So how are we getting home?”
She giggles. “Hopefully, a nice man will give us a ride.”
I squint at her. “That sounds like the start of a murder documentary, V.”
“I’ll call my uncle,” she tells me.
Ray, her uncle, is pretty well connected in this town, being the only catering firm here. It’s a huge opportunity for V to take this over. While I was in the fashion industry, Violet's passion was food and events. She just has this flare for it that can’t be tamed.
Relief loosens my shoulders. Growing up in New York taught me to be cautious. The men my parents dealt with weren’texactly saints. Rumors said they were mafia. One guy—Frankie—used to come to the house all the time. I’d bet my savings he is.
A lot of people refuse to believe the mafia exists still, like it’s some sort of conspiracy. But I’m pretty sure I’ve been in the same room as these people. And I have no doubt there are bad men in towns like this, too. “Thank you.”