Pieces of Him (21 page)

“What?”

“You’ve done well as a project manager, your crews respect you, you get the job done, you do it well, and I want to give you the opportunity to expand on that.”

“You want to make me an equal partner?” I ask him with more than a small amount of disbelief in my voice.

“Let’s not get crazy, kid. We’ll start you off at twenty-five percent and build you up to an equal partner.”

Shit, even twenty-five percent of a successful business is a huge deal. I’d never get another opportunity like this unless I went off on my own and started my own business. Something I do not have the capital to do, which brings me to my next comment.

“As much as I appreciate the offer, Jack, I don’t have the money to buy twenty-five percent of your company. I’m saving up for a house and …”

“We’ll set you up on a tiered payment plan where you make installments over the course of the next two years. We can deduct it automatically from your pay if you want, and we’re not talking millions here, bud. I’m gonna give you a break. After that, we’ll revisit the situation.”

“You would do that?”

“My kids don’t give a shit about my business ‘cause they’re off doing their own thing. You care about it, you learned from me, and I know you can handle it. I need someone to take this over when I decide to retire, and if you want it, that’s you.”

“I can’t believe you’re saying this to me right now.”

“Here,” he says, sliding an envelope over to me that I hadn’t noticed before. “Have a lawyer read this over, call me when it’s done, and we’ll go from there.”

He gets up, throws some bills on the bar, and moves to walk away. I need to say something, but nothing I could ever say would be enough. This man changed my life in a way I’d never be able to repay.

“I don’t know where I’d be right now if you hadn’t helped me.”

He shakes his head and his hand lands on my shoulder with a pat.

“You’d have been fine.”

He’s gone before I can utter another word, not that there was anything left for me to say. This opportunity is life altering; it allows me to give Xander everything that I was so afraid I wouldn’t be able to give him. With this chance, I can give him the childhood I never got. Then there’s Emilia and what this means for her and me. I can build a future for us and be confident in the fact I can support my woman and have something more to offer her than just me, a kid, and a crappy apartment.

I’m still trying to process all of this when I leave the bar and head home, trying to figure out how a punk-ass kid with nothing ended up like this. Fucking miracle but I’m not about to keep questioning it. Instead, I’ll accept it and make the most of it. The night is falling by the time I make it home; I grab the papers Jack gave me and head inside. When I open my front door, I find Emelia in the kitchen pouring a drink. Xander is standing up in his play yard watching some cartoon character count numbers in Spanish. When his attention comes to me, he squeals and starts to bounce up and down. His excitement to see me makes me smile every single time, and though I don’t show it, I’m pretty sure I’m just as excited to see him.

“Hey, little man,” I call as I close the distance between us. When I make it to him, I reach down and scoop him up into my arms. He slaps my chest with elation as I kiss his little cheek. Once we’ve had our proper hello, I tuck him into my side and walk with him into the kitchen. Emelia’s eyes are on us, a smile on her face.

“Hey, baby,” I greet. My lips find hers for a quick kiss, one that I hope to expand upon later tonight. She looks up at me with happy eyes, and instantly, my day is complete. A kid, a girlfriend—none of this was on my radar a few years ago, not even close. I would have told anyone that I didn’t want either of those things and they were crazy if they thought I eventually would want them. Funny how life has a way of working out sometimes. How it gives you exactly what you need even when you’re so resistant.

“You hungry? I made burgers and fries,” she asks, giving my arm a squeeze.

“Yeah, I can get it.”

“No, I’ll get it. You put Xander down and I’ll bring you a plate.” I watch as she turns away knowing deep down that I don’t deserve a girl like this. After every bad thing I’ve ever done, the girls I hurt along the way … I shouldn’t have someone as good as Emelia, but I’m too selfish to give her up. I worry about how young she is at times; I worry that she might get tired of playing house and mom and want something more. No one has to tell me what normal twenty-four-year-olds are into. I’ve been there and could have written a book about it. She’s happy, though; she wants to be here now, and I’ll do whatever I can to keep her happy.

Xander and I plop down on the ground in the living room. He plays with his toys while I watch and occasionally join in, showing him a new sound or song a particular toy will play. Emelia puts a plate of food and drink on the coffee table in front of me before sitting with us. I give her my thanks then scarf down my dinner as she engages Xander in her world, singing him songs and making silly faces. He eats every single second of it up.

“You going to tell me what Jack wanted?”

“I got fired,” I lie, schooling my features and trying to look serious.

“What? Oh, my God, Max, why? You bust your ass working for him. I thought he was your friend? How could he do that to you?”

God, I fucking love this girl. Yeah, I said it. I love her. Never had anybody given a shit about what happened to me. Never had anybody worried about me the way she does. Leaning forward, I wrap an arm around her and pull her to me. When my lips meet her neck, her entire body just melts into mine.

“I’m just kidding, babe,” I tell her softly. “It’s actually good news.”

She lets out an audible sigh of relief. “You think it’s funny to mess with me like that? You’re supposed to be working on NOT being an asshole all the time.”

“I know,” I tell her with a grin, pushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “He offered to make me a partner. He wants to sell me twenty-five percent of the company.”

“Holy crap,” she whispers, wrapping her arms around my neck.

Her eyes dance with excitement, and I can’t help but chuckle.

“You have such a way with words.”

Her hold on me tightens as she shakes her head. “Holy crap, Max. That’s so good.”

“It is kinda good, right?”

“Yes. But why does he want to sell it to you?”

“I’ve been working with him a long time, babe. It’s probably the only thing I ever did with any consistency and commitment.”

She looks down at Xander, checking to make sure he’s okay before turning her attention back to me. It’s something a mom would do, something his mom would’ve likely done. “Why do you think you were so committed?”

“Because Jack gave me a chance when no one else would have. He showed me his business, he trusted me to do the job, and I wasn’t going to piss away that opportunity. I liked it too, you know. Learning from the ground up how to build things and all the jobs that go into that process. When he made me project manager last year, I thought that was the best it would ever be. It’s a big deal, it meant that he trusted me, that he knew I could get the job done and do it right. Now this,” I say through narrowed eyes. “I never would have guessed it.”

“It’s amazing.”

“There’s more.”

She looks at me with a hint of confusion. “More than owning a part of his company?”

“Yeah, he says this is his way of slowly turning the entire company over to me. He wants someone he can trust to keep shit going when he retires and that’s me. This is… I can’t explain it, Em. I mean, this is something I’ll be able to leave to Xander one day if he wants it. This’ll make it so I can take care of him the way he deserves. It’s a fucking future for my family.”

“I’m so happy for you, Max. I’m so proud of you.”

“Be happy for us, baby. You’re a part of it too.”

She buries her face in my neck, her hold on me firm. “I want to be a part of it,” she murmurs.

“Why wouldn’t you be?”

“I don’t know. You could get tired of me and leave me one day.”

My entire frame moves as I break out into silent laughter. I’ve never heard anything so ridiculous in my entire life. This girl came out of nowhere during a time when I needed someone the most and made it possible for me to succeed as a father. She’s worried about me leaving her when really I’m the one who should be worried. She pulls back slightly and glares up at me.

“Are you actually laughing at me? I just told you a legitimate fear, and you’re laughing.”

“Baby, you’d leave me before I ever left you,” I say trying to calm her down.

“Whatever.” She huffs. “Regardless, we need to celebrate. Maybe we can go out this weekend. We can ask Mrs. Park to watch Xander. Or maybe we can do something fun with him.”

Leaning forward, I whisper into her ear, “I’d rather celebrate alone … tonight.”

I watch with amusement as her cheeks flush. She likes the idea of a private celebration too.

“I think I’ll go give Xander a bath and get him ready for bed,” she says through a little bit of a wicked grin. I’ve never seen this look on her before; it makes me want to throw her over my shoulder, throw her on my bed, and fuck the shit out of her … relentlessly. She’s up and has Xander in her arms before I can so much as get a word out. They disappear into his nursery, and I head into the kitchen to wash my plate loving every minute of domestic bliss.

Max~

After checking the locks and making sure that all the lights are off, Xander’s room is my last stop. I check on him; looking at his sleeping form, I revel in how peaceful he looks, how totally innocent he is. He has no idea he’s already been through so much in eight short months. He has no idea that he lost his mother or that he got stuck with a father who didn’t know up from down in the beginning. That pang in my chest that I felt right after Keri died comes back; it hits me every now and then when I remember how things have played out. How differently they turned out, how unexpected it all was. I don’t think the pain will ever truly go away because I know my son lost something important when she died. Then I think about what I have with Emelia and how with her I have a chance to give him something really fucking good. My mind goes back to earlier when she said she was afraid I’d eventually leave her. I’ve had that same fear since the moment I met her; maybe I’ve been worrying about nothing.

When I make it back into the bedroom, Emelia is sitting with her legs crossed in the middle of the bed looking a little uneasy.

“Xander okay?” she asks. I watch as she tugs at the hem of her shirt, and I know that’s one of her nervous quirks.

“He’s fine.” I close the distance between us stopping just before I hit the bed. “What’s wrong?

“Nothing.”

“Emelia.”

“No, really, I’m fine. It’s just … Okay, so I know we’ve never really talked about this, but we said we were going to celebrate tonight and I thought that maybe we could do something a little different.”

I must admit that her stuttering and using the word different when it comes to our sex life has piqued my interest in a big way.

“What did you have in mind?”

“Well, I-”

“Hey. Anything you ever want to do you can tell me. You’re safe to tell me anything. I would never judge you.”

She scoots off the bed and heads to her bag on the floor, which she insists on keeping her stuff in.

“I picked these up a few weeks ago,” she says pulling out a pair of handcuffs. “And I just thought maybe we could do something with them tonight.”

Mind equals blown the fuck away. I’ve died and gone to girlfriend heaven. Just when I thought she couldn’t possibly get any better, she did. Awesome pornos are made of this stuff.

“Okay,” I say trying to get my mind out of the gutter. “First, get the embarrassed look off your face.”

Getting off the bed, I take a few steps closer to her, reach out, and grab the handcuffs from her. Instead of stopping, I keep moving on her, forcing her to retreat, making it so she has nowhere to go. By the time her back hits the wall, I’m on her, my hands on either side of her head, caging her in. I bring my head down so my lips are inches away from her ear.

“Second. If you want to get creative, all you have to do is say it. I have no problem doing whatever you want me to do.”