AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Aiden, you won’t win. Just pay her.” Max chuckles.
After Aiden reluctantly pays her, I tell her to get dressed because we’re going on a trip.
Her eyes go wide. “Are you taking me far away from the bad guy?”
I bend down and grab her hands. “Yes, very far away. We are going on a plane.” Her eyes get even bigger. “Have you ever been on a plane?” I ask, wondering if she’s scared.
“Nope. Are we going to Disneyland?” she excitedly asks. Why the hell does she think we’re going to Disneyland? When I don’t answer her right away, she continues. “My friend went on a plane and she went to Disneyland.”
“Sorry, sweet girl, we’re not going to Disneyland.”
Her shoulders slump. “Oh.” She sighs. Holy shit, how do parents deal with letting their kids down?
“But you’ll have fun where we’re going. You get to meet my aunt in Texas.” My words are rushed as I swing her little hands.
“Is she nicer than my aunt?” she asks. That is definitely a yes. I still can’t believe what a bitch Lexi’s aunt was. It’s horrible to say because she’s dead now, but wow.
“She will love you, Lexi. And she has horses, cows, and chickens. You will have so much fun,” I say excitedly. I know I’m exaggerating how much fun she’ll have, hoping to make her forget about Disney. “Oh, and we’re going on Max’s airplane.”
She whips around to Max and runs to him. He swoops her up in his arms. “You have a plane?” she asks. It’s so cute how animated little girls can be.
“Yep.”
She puts both her hands on Max’s cheeks and puts her face right up to his. They are touching nose to nose.
“Can you take me to Disneyland?” She stares into his eyes. So much for trying to get her to forget.
“Lulu, for you, I’ll take you anywhere.” She screams and wraps her hands around his neck. I narrow my eyes at Max and cross my arms. He must understand why I’m irritated because he adds, “But not this trip. You need to go to Amy’s house this time.”
She looks at him. “Okay. But do you pinky promise you’ll take me to Disneyland?” He looks at me, tilts his head, and shrugs. I shrug back, not having a clue.
“Lulu, I don’t know what that means.”
She sticks her pinky out and says, “You have to wrap your pinky with mine and promise you’ll take me to Disneyland.”
He does as she says, and then she runs to the bedroom to get dressed. I look at Max and giggle. “You’re such a pushover.”
“There is no way in hell that I’d be able to tell that little girl no. Those eyes are like voodoo, it’s fu…” he stops himself, “…freaking ridiculous.”
We all laugh, glancing at her bad-word jar. I doubt she ever had that much money in her jar from home. We’re so bad.
“Well, brother, looks like we’re all going to Disney after this,” Aiden says, getting off the couch, slapping Max on the back.
Our flight takes off smoothly leaving Austin. I peek over at Addison while she’s looking through her case files. I wish she would’ve stayed with Lexi. I could tell that she wanted to. It pained me to hear Lexi cry when Addison told her we were leaving. I’m thankful to Max that he stayed behind. He wanted to make sure security was all set in place around the ranch. At least that was his excuse. I’m sure part of him staying had to do with Lexi feeling better. I’ve never seen Max become so soft around someone, let alone a five-year-old child. It’s surprising.
“Where are they with the DNA test?” I ask to break the silence looming around us.
“They put a rush on it. Hopefully we’ll have it back tonight or tomorrow,” she says, looking up. There are moments of silence before she speaks again. “I’m glad Max stayed.”
“Me too.” I’m not sure why there’s this awkwardness between us right now. It dawns on me that this is the first time we’ve truly been alone since I got back yesterday. There is so much we need to talk about, but I know this is definitely not the time.
We’re about an hour away from landing, and I’m getting nervous. My leg shakes and I have my arms on the armrests with my fingers pointed on my lips. Just thinking about Addison being here already has my anxiety spiking. She looks over at my fidgeting with a questioning look.
“So, your place or mine?” I spit out.
“What are you talking about?”
“Tonight. Your place or mine?” I repeat.
