Page 159 of Halo

“Oh, c'mon …” I chuckle, tickling his belly as he bursts into giggles. “Now you have to tell me.”

He motions me closer, waiting until I lean down before cupping both hands around his mouth.

“I saw you kiss her,” he whispers.

Oh boy.

I pull out the chair beside him and sit. “How would you feel about Ms. Harrison being around more?”

Grady considers it seriously, his fingers tracing the edge of his empty bowl.

“I like it,” he announces.

“Yeah?”

He nods, pushing his glasses up again. “She’s really nice and pretty. And-and she doesn't make me talk if things get fuzzy in my head.” His smile grows. “And she thinks dinosaurs are cool.”

“Those are some pretty good reasons.” I chuckle, tickling his hair behind his ear.

The doorbell rings.

I share a look with Grady as Angus snaps to attention, his hackles rising along his back.

Who the hell is here this early?

“Stay here, partner.”

Another ring follows before I make it to the door. I look through the peephole, expecting just about anyone except the man standing on my porch.

Matt fucking Barnett.

For half a second, I consider leaving him standing there. Instead, I open the door and step onto the porch, pulling it shut behind me.

“What do you want?”

“I’m not here for you.” Matt tries to look past me. “I’m here for my sister. I know she's here, Crawford.”

“Do you?”

“I don't know what kind of game you're playing here or what your sick interest is in Leah—”

“Your sister is a grown woman making her own damn decisions.”

He narrows his eyes. “She's a sweet girl, and now she hasn’t answered her phone in days. Her family is worried about her. She doesn't act like this—not since you came along.”

“So wait … I'm good enough to raise your firstborn son you abandoned, but not your sister? I must've missed the verse in the Bible.”

“Listen, I don't want to talk to you—”

“And she doesn't want to talk to you.”

“I’m her brother.”

I laugh. “And that means what, exactly? That you protect her? Look out for her? A lot of good that did.”

His jaw tightens. “You don’t know a darn thing about my relationship with Leah.”

“I know enough about how you treat your family.”