Page 69 of Deceived Wrath

Kieran and Brennan are on their feet now too.

“And what? Have you sit on a six-hour flight thinking your son is missing? Fuck, no. I had it under control. But jeez, Cormac. I think I’ve reached my limit here. Your kid needs you.”

“I know?—”

“And I’m not talking about in a couple of weeks. I’m talking about right now.”

I let out a breath as I look around and catch Ronan’s eye, letting him see in my face that I’m going to have to leave yet again.

“I’ll be there before Scout wakes up.” I hang up the call. “I have to go.”

Kieran frowns. “What’s going on?”

“I need to take the next flight out to LAX.”

Ronan pulls out his phone. “I’ll ring ahead and get you a seat. Go, Cormac.”

I perch on the edge of Scout’s bed, feeling a mixture of anger and relief as I watch him sleep.

Not anger at him, but at myself.

He snuck out because of me. It was nothing more than a cry for help. And the fact that he made it home in one piece is, quite frankly, a miracle.

“Daddy?” Scout murmurs.

I shift my body so that I’m lying down beside him and reach out to push his dark hair out of his eyes.

“Hey, bud.”

Scout blinks a few times before realization dawns on his face. He bolts upright in bed and launches himself at me, almost knocking me off the bed.

“You’re here!”

“I sure am.” I laugh, wrapping my arms around him and hugging him as tight as I can without hurting him.

“I didn’t know you were coming.”

“Well, Ray said you were a bit upset.”

“I missed you.” He doesn’t meet my eyes, though he has guilt written all over his face.

I don’t want to make him feel bad, but he also needs to know that what he did can never happen again.

“I know, bud. But that doesn’t mean you can just take off like that. Ray was worried sick. And so was I.”

“I didn’t mean to worry you or Ray,” he mumbles.

“Well, what did you expect to happen when he found your bed empty?”

“I dunno…”

I exhale slowly as I reach out to cup Scout’s face, brushing away his tears with my thumbs.

“That can’t happen ever again, you hear me? Never.”

“Okay.”

“Do you promise me?”