Vote Then Read: Volume III

by Aleatha Romig

  “Fine. Give me a few minutes to pack his bag.”

  “Where’s his car seat and stroller?” he asks.

  “In the closet.”

  “I’ll get them in the car and you can meet me downstairs.” The surprise must be clear on my face because he frowns. “What?”

  “Nothing, you’re just unusually helpful today.”

  “Save the smart mouth for once. I want to have a fun day out with my son.”

  God forbid the man doesn’t get what he wants.

  9

  Axton

  Naomi picks up a map of the zoo exhibits and shoves it at me. “Where to first?”

  While she isn’t exactly seething with anger, her attitude is far from her upbeat usual demeanor. After the other night, I guess I should’ve expected as much.

  I’m aware I acted like an asshole, but it was necessary. When I saw her at the party, clearly prowling to get laid, I forced myself to ignore her and head in the other direction even though every inch of me was screaming to do the opposite. A few drinks didn’t help. Neither did reminding myself that I don’t fuck anyone not paid for their services anymore.

  I was starting to consider breaking that rule for one night—not to nail my son’s nanny, that would be incredibly stupid—but one of the groupies, just to take the edge off, when Patrick told me Naomi went off with Niall.

  The combination of fear, anger, and alcohol turned to lust, and I made a huge mistake. It didn’t help that she was so fired up as well. With her sexy little body, she took everything I gave her and I haven’t been able to get the image of her bent over my bed out of my mind.

  The second I came, regret smacked me in the face. I had to make sure she’d never want to fuck me again because I clearly wasn’t going to be good at resisting her anymore. Tossing the condom on her was a dick move, and the look on her face at the time made my stomach twist, but it was necessary.

  Now we can get things back to normal.

  Her face impassive, she stares at me, waiting for an answer.

  The map shows the place is built in a huge oval. I gesture to our right. “We can work our way from one end to the other.”

  Grabbing the handles of the stroller, she follows me. We’ve never been the best company to one another but the silence from her as we make our way through the winding paved path to the big cat exhibits feels like a wave shoving me away from her. I should be glad, right? This is what I wanted, to keep her from getting close, from expecting more. Instead, I just want her back the way she was, smiling, playing with Caden, giving me the sharp side of her tongue. Today, she’s just…doing her job.

  Caden squeals and bounces in his seat when he spots the large tiger. For the first time today, a smile leaps to Naomi’s face. She reaches into a side pocket of the stroller and produces the animal book he loves, then squats by the stroller. “It’s a tiger just like in your book.”

  Caden looks from the picture to the real live animal stalking back and forth in front of the glass. Opening his mouth wide, he makes a raspy sound and Naomi beams at him. “That’s right. Tiger’s go roooooar.” Caden giggles at her imitation and mimics her again.

  The parents around us laugh and I can’t help but watch her. It’s no wonder the press mistakes her for his mother. You’d only have to watch them for a few moments to see how he adores her and how much she loves him.

  I’m awed by how easily she loves, and not just with my son. Dani has become close with Naomi, and she’s always been choosy when it comes to her friends. Patrick isn’t the only one from the tour who tries to spend time with her and it’s not just the men. People genuinely enjoy her. And she has no problem connecting with them, whether it’s just a few words and jokes at an after party or a long conversation with someone she’s never met at the hotel pool.

  Look at her now, kneeling down alongside two other parents, laughing about the kids’ reactions to the animals.

  She makes it look so easy. Caring.

  I want to think it’s because she hasn’t been subjected to the dark side of it, but that may not be strictly true. Her background check revealed some things about her. I know she has no living blood family. That her parents are deceased, and she had no siblings. She’s been through the death of both parents. Maybe they were as worthless as mine, so it didn’t affect her. I don’t know.

  Is she stronger than me or just naïve? How do most people go on loving?

  With Hatch, I have no choice. Holding back my love would damage him, but he’s the only person I’ll ever risk that for again.

  The next couple of hours are the most fun I’ve had in a long time. Watching Caden’s face light up at the animals, at all the new sights around him, tugs at something in me that felt long dead. What would it be like to see the world the way he does? Where everything is a new experience to be marveled at?

  His joy loosens Naomi up as well and she stops giving me the cold shoulder. After we spend a few minutes at the penguin enclosure, Caden starts fussing.

  “He’s probably hungry. We should have some lunch, and let him get a nap,” she suggests.

  “Da!” He holds his arms up to me. Before I can get to him, he yells again. “Da! Da!”

  He grins as I take him out of the stroller. “You aren’t the boss around here, you know.”

  Naomi snorts, and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “Keep telling yourself that.”

  Satisfied now that he’s on my hip, he babbles to himself as we make our way to the zoo café.

  Naomi blinks when I suggest that I grab our food while she gets Caden organized. “Uh, okay. Just get me a hamburger, fries, and a Coke.”

  When I return to the outdoor table with our food, Caden is tucked into a giraffe shaped high chair, popping pieces of boiled carrot into his mouth. Naomi sneaks a bite of yogurt into his mouth here and there as well.

  His chubby elbow bumps his cup of formula and it topples over. Setting it right, Naomi remarks, “He could be bottle broken anytime now, I think. When he turns a year old, he can also drink cow’s milk instead of formula. He has so many teeth, it won’t be hard to introduce more table food. He isn’t finicky.”

  Caden continues eating his finger foods, pausing every now and again to smash one into the tray, while Naomi takes her food and spreads it out in front of her.

  His eyes are on my French fries when I look up at him. “Hatch, try one of these.” He takes the piece of fry from my hand and stares at it a moment before putting it in his mouth. His eyes widen as he chews and swallows.

  “Da!” he demands, and we both laugh.

  “Fry.” He stares at the chunk of potato in my hand as I hold it up in front of him. “Fry,” I repeat.

  “I! I! Da!”

  “Close enough, dude.” He grins as I put it in his hand and tear up a few more to put on his tray so he can feed himself. When I look up, Naomi is staring at me. “What? He can’t eat a few French fries?”

  Her head moves back, and she shrugs, putting her gaze on her food. “Of course he can. He just hasn’t had them before so I was surprised.”

  She’s lying. Whatever that stare was about had fuck-all to do with Hatch’s food choices but there’s no point in pressing the issue once I hear her take that defensive tone.

  Once we’re done eating, Hatch begins to cry again, twisting to get out of the highchair. He isn’t any happier on my lap, and Naomi digs a diaper and a pack of wipes from the stroller compartment. “He probably needs to be changed.”

  When I try to take them from her, she shakes her head and reaches for him. “I doubt there’s a changing table in the men’s restroom.”

  Shit. I never thought of that. What a double standard.

  By the time they return, I’ve tossed our trash. Hatch’s cries reach me before they do. He is not happy. “Take him for a moment so I can adjust his stroller,” she says, handing him to me.

  “Hey, what’s all that about?” I ask him, grabbing one of his plastic toys and trying to placate him. He grabs it, chucks i
t to the ground and lets out a screech that’s probably heard in the parking lot.

  Sitting down at the table, I set his diapered butt on the edge. “All right. You’re mad, I get it. But you need to chill on the drama. You’re making a scene.”

  Naomi laughs at my attempt, but I don’t care. It’s not like it really matters what I say. I’m just trying to distract him. “He’s tired. It’s usually best to just let him cry a little. He’ll stop once we get moving.”

  Defaulting to her knowledge of him, I put him in the stroller which just seems to piss him off worse. “Nuh! Nuh! Da! Daaa!”

  “I think he’s cursing me out.”

  “He definitely is,” she agrees, chuckling.

  Ignoring the wails, she starts pushing the stroller. “There’s a butterfly garden that should have some shady spots to let him rest.”

  “Lead the way.”

  Hatch goes from screaming to letting out an occasional yell just to remind us he’s still not happy with the situation. Finally, he falls asleep, just as we find a bench off one of the pathways. It’s secluded by a few trees and tall bushes.

  “Boy has a temper,” I remark, sitting beside Naomi on the bench.

  “Can’t imagine where he gets it.” She pulls out her phone and proceeds to ignore me for about ten minutes.

  This is what I typically want. Silence. Space. But her indifference is annoying the hell out of me. I know what she’s doing. What she’s done all day. Trying to pretend nothing happened. Like she didn’t scream my name when I made her come.

  And that would be for the best, forgetting, but some stubborn part of me has to hear her acknowledge it. “What?” she sighs when she catches me staring at her.

  Her gaze goes to my mouth when my tongue wets my lips. “Is this where we’re supposed to pretend you didn’t come on my cock with my thumb in your ass?”

  Her jaw falls open and the pink rising in her cheeks makes me hard. “Jesus, Axton! There could be kids around!” Twisting, she looks all directions before glaring at me.

  “There’s no one here.”

  “I still don’t want to talk about it. And for your information, I didn’t even know about that stupid picture in the press. Trust me, I never want anyone to find out.”

  What the hell is she talking about? “I don’t care about that picture. Things like that are bound to happen. There was speculation about Dani and me before we made it clear she’s my sister.”

  “Whatever.” She focuses on her phone again, but I can see the tremble in her finger as she swipes the screen. She’s pissed. “I’m the slut just trying to get laid by a rock star and you were the one to teach me a lesson. Pat yourself on the back again and leave me the fuck alone.”

  Is she really trying to play innocent here? “You hopped from Patrick to Niall. You were clearly trying to get laid.”

  Her chest rises on a quick breath and if looks could kill I’d be dissolved on this bench. “Again, my personal life is none of your business. And I didn’t hop anywhere. Patrick is a friend. I knew Niall for about ten minutes. We took a walk to get to know each other and he jumped me. That wasn’t my fault. I haven’t done anything wrong and I’m not taking any shit from you whether you blame me or not.”

  The memory of seeing her pinned against that tree, the way she shoved him off of her, him unbuckling his pants, strikes fury in me all over again. I was on the phone to Milo that night, and Guilty Realm was out of the house and off the tour before morning. “Niall is not your fault, no. He’s a prick.”

  Her mouth turns down. “You were my only mistake that night.”

  I should be glad to hear that, but the regret ringing in her voice is a punch in the balls. Leaning toward her, I murmur, “That’s not what you were saying then. You loved it.” Wiggling my thumb at her, I add, “All of it.” Her cheeks turn from pink to scarlet and she swallows audibly. God, what would it be like to have her swallow with my cock in her mouth?

  Composing herself, she tries to appear aloof and shrugs. “I guess grudge fucking turns me on.”

  My phone buzzes in my pocket before I can wrap my head around that response. I have it set where only Dani and Milo can actually get through without going straight to voicemail. Digging it out of my pocket, I can see I have quite a few missed calls and voicemail messages.

  “Fuck, Ax, you need to answer your goddamn phone. We’ve got a problem,” Milo exclaims as soon as I hit accept.

  Milo freaks over things I couldn’t care less about so I’m not instantly alarmed. I probably missed a phone interview or something. “What is it? I’m at the zoo with my kid.”

  “Yeah, I’m aware,” he replies, sarcastically. “I just sent more security your way. Someone put your pictures up on the SLY tracking forum. You’re going to get mobbed by paparazzi when word gets out.”

  “Damn it.” Naomi stares at me with apprehension. “Press knows we’re here. Time to go.”

  Nodding, she gets to her feet.

  “That’s not all. We have another situation to deal with. A threatening letter was sent to the label. It appears to be targeting Naomi. It’s probably nothing, you know how this goes, but don’t either of you go anywhere without security until we look into it. Paul should be just outside the zoo gates, waiting with a car. One of the other guys can take the one you drove.”

  “What did the letter say?” I demand, sticking close to Naomi and Hatch as we make our way to the main gate.

  “Get back to the house and I’ll send you a copy.”

  “Fine,” I reply through gritted teeth.

  I’m relieved when we exit the zoo and see the word hasn’t quite spread yet. There are no cameras or rabid fans. Milo must’ve gotten word quick about the forum post.

  The car parked at the curb is sleek and black like all the security cars, and I toss my keys to one of the other guys whose name escapes me. “Grab the car seat from the blue Chrysler 300 in row four.”

  “Got it.” He rushes off as Naomi gets a sleeping Hatch out of his stroller.

  “Take him,” she orders, and folds the stroller, handing it off to Paul who tucks it in the trunk.

  A moment later, the guy returns with the car seat, and belts it in. Hatch doesn’t even stir as I fasten him in the seat, then turn to tell Naomi to get in.

  She’s gone. What the fuck?

  Adrenaline shoots through me and I jerk my head back and forth, doing a frantic sweep of the area, before spotting her squatting down in front of a homeless man.

  The man sits against a row of bushes, a cup in front of him for donations. “Naomi,” I snap, stalking up to her. “Let’s go.”

  I’m met with a hateful look and she talks in a low voice to the man for another moment before handing him some money, then squeezing his hand. He looks up at her with a wide smile, and she grins back at him. Finally, she tosses me an exasperated glance and heads toward the car.

  “She’s very kind,” the man remarks.

  Digging in my pocket, I pull out a few bills, not paying much attention to what they are and hand them to him.

  Paul sits up front with the driver while Naomi sits between Caden and me. After we’re on our way, the driver glances back in the mirror at Naomi. “You shouldn’t enable them like that.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “He’s probably just going to buy some rotgut alcohol with the money you wasted on him. He probably makes a ton of money a day out there and goes home laughing at the suckers who hand it over.” Apparently, he missed the fact I gave to him too or he doesn’t have the balls to call me out.

  Naomi surprises me by not getting angry or even frustrated. Sitting back, she shrugs. “Maybe he does. If so, that’s a strike against his character. If I stand by and watch someone suffer when I can help, that’s a strike against mine. If you do good things, then you live in a world with more good things in it. That’s never a waste.”

  Paul grins at me in the rearview mirror when the driver doesn’t reply. I’m not the only one who enjoyed her bringing him dow
n a peg just by being herself.

  A few press vans wait just outside the property when we get back to the house, but security is keeping them back. Word has gotten out that the bands playing the Rock Wild festival are staying here. It’s a good thing it’s our last night and we’ll be moving on anyway.

  I’m not concerned about paparazzi. I just want to know what kind of threat has been made against Naomi. With the vultures outside creating a bullshit story from that picture, it’s not a surprise some rabid fan has taken offense to her, but I’m not going to have her or Hatch put at risk.

  Naomi takes him back to her room while I text Milo. Dani meets me in the hallway on the way to my room. “Milo get a hold of you?”

  “Yeah, he’s supposed to be texting me a copy of the threat letter.” She follows me through my door and into my suite. My phone beeps and I quickly download the picture.

  Fear whirls into anger as I read the words aloud.

  “You stupid bitch. Do you think you’re better for him than me? Do you think he actually loves you? He’ll never love you like he does me. Stay the fuck away from him.”

  Dani gazes at me, shaking her head. “It doesn’t make a specific threat, but it’s scary. They knew her name. It was addressed to her but sent to the label.”

  “It’s no secret she’s on tour with us since the picture got out,” I point out, running my fingers through my hair.

  “Management doesn’t want to comment or put out a statement. If they did, you’d have to publicly explain who Caden is to you.”

  Flopping on the couch, I look up at my sister. “I’m not ashamed. But making him known to the public as my kid would put him at more risk.” I close my eyes and lay my head back. “Fuck. How am I supposed to keep things normal for him if he has to have security crawling all over him, paparazzi trying to get shots of him?”

  Dani sits across from me. “You’re right. That’s not the way to go until you have to, but it will come to that. I don’t see how you can give him days like today and keep him out of the public eye. Management wants to increase security around all of us. It’s probably a good idea since you aren’t exactly unknown anymore. This is just the beginning.”