Chapter Eleven

~Raphael~

I hadn’t directly fought with my ex in months, and a small voice inside of myself told me that I shouldn’t be doing this in front of both of my son and the woman I had already wronged once this week, but I couldn’t stop.

I was so sick of how she treated Dominic! He was a treasure on this Earth, too smart for his own good and kinder than anybody I knew. He deserved the best in the world and, yet she treated him like a burden.

It steamed me beyond all logic, because I knew that if I had full custody, he would never be treated as an afterthought. And also, because I knew the only reason she and her lawyers had fought so hard for even partial custody was because she wanted yet another way to siphon money from me.

So, when I heard his laugh, I stopped cold. I knew Dom hated it when we fought, so what could possibly pull that sound from him?

Turning my head, I saw that McKenna was sitting on the floor, Dominic in front of her with a massive grin on his face. I hadn’t seen him so happy with a stranger in ages -mostly because Dominic was as wary around new people as I was.

“Who the hell is that?” My ex asked, narrowing her snake-like eyes at McKenna.

“An employee,” I answered coolly. “And don’t you have a flight to catch?”

She sent me a look like she wanted to argue, but seemed to think better of it and turned on her red-bottom heel then headed out. I shut the door behind her, as if I could close it on her negative energy and toxicity itself, and turned back to my son.

“Hey there, my little man. What’cha up to?”

“We’re talking about anti-heroes,” he chirped, jumping up to his feet. “But I’m hungry. Mom said I could eat when I got to you, so can we go get lunch?”

Of course, she didn’t feed him. It was just past two in the afternoon and she hadn’t given her own child lunch. God, I loathed her.

“Yeah buddy, what are you thinking? Craving pizza? Burgers? That Greek place?”

“Greek!” He did that excited wiggle he did whenever he heard we were going someplace he liked, and I had to laugh. I don’t know how it was possible, but my kid definitely had inherited all of the best genes in existence.

“Alright then, let’s go. Miss Grady, we will continue to use the names you find most comfortable on your employee file. I hope you enjoy your vacation.”

As much as I didn’t want to part with the redhead, who looked exceptionally beautiful in the dress she was wearing, my son came first and foremost before everything. But to my great surprise, Dominic grabbed her hand and tugged her forward.

“I want McKenny to come with us! She knows about books and cool alien stuff!”

“It’s McKenna,” the woman corrected gently, ruffling my son’s hair. “And come on, don’t you think your daddy wants to spend time with you after you were away with your mother?”

“Daddy needs to hang out with more people anyways!” I couldn’t believe it. My own son seemed completely enamored with the woman he had only known for ten minutes. He never acted like this around anyone that I knew, which made me wonder just who this woman was and how she had such a way with the Barbos men. “Please, can she come?”

Who was I to refuse him? Besides, his therapist said that he needed more positive adult role models in his life. But I had already stepped on it big-time with McKenna and I couldn’t exactly ask her a favor all things considered.

“Um, I don’t think…” she started, but I gave her a pleading look even though I knew she owed me nothing. It was just so rare to see Dom like this that I wasn’t ready to give it up just yet. And spending more time with her would be nice too.

She trailed off, and I could tell that she was debating with herself. I stayed quiet, but a never-ending stream of pleases came from Dominic’s mouth. Maybe I should feel guilty for him being my negotiator-by-proxy, but I didn’t.

“I guess I can manage that.”

“Yay!” Dominic jumped up and down and I swear you’d think it was Christmas by the way he was acting. “Come on! You’re gonna like this place. It’s my favorite!”

She gave me a sheepish look as he pulled her out of the room and I followed along behind them, certainly enjoying the view of her hips in the fitted, yet professional outfit she was wearing.

If someone didn’t know any better, they might think us a family. Her, the mother figure with curves that spoke to obvious fertility and a mildly frazzled expression on her face. The young boy, happily skipping along while pulling her hand, and me, the father figure. Stern but not withdrawn as he followed along behind and made sure they were both safe.

A strange sort of longing rose in me, and I remembered the times before everything had gone to shit and my ex and I had been happy. It seemed so long ago, but it only had been three years. To her credit, the woman had been able to keep her charade up for quite a while, only dropping when I found her in bed with one of my business partners.

Was I missing that? Having a family unit? Someone to lean on when I needed help and share all of the joys of my son with? I had long since given up on ever trusting someone like that again, so I didn’t quite see how that computed.

Nevertheless, I couldn’t help but feel a strange excitement within me as we reached my car. Before I could say a word, Dom ran to the back, explaining that ladies should always have shotgun. When had I raised such a polite little gentleman? It made me glow with pride, and I opened the door for both of them then shut it after they slid inside.

Who would have thought that this was how my day was going to go? I was all set to apologize until I ran out of spit to the woman I had wronged, and now I was taking her to lunch with my son, something only one other person in the company had ever had the privilege of doing.

It was certainly a strange turn of events, but I wasn’t complaining. In fact, I just hoped that my luck could continue to go in such a great direction. I had absolutely no idea who this amazing woman really was, but I desperately wanted to.