Betting the Bad Boy (12 page)

“Hey, Ryder.” He called his son, wanting to talk about his cars. There was no response. No movement on the creaky floors. He went to his bedroom to find it empty, the window thrown wide open even though the air-conditioning was on full blast.

“That little shit,” Duke swore. Ryder had escaped.

He was too damn big to go out the window after him so he went down the stairs and out the door to search for him. Grace was going to have a heart attack. The first time she left Ryder with him and the kid escaped. She was never going to trust him again with their son. He was supposed to be proving to her that they could make this work, that they could co-parent. But maybe he shouldn’t have taken that stupid bet. It was set up for him to lose.

“Ryder!” He shouted his name. There were no houses close by. Duke couldn’t even begin to guess what direction he had gone or how long he had been gone. He checked behind the shed where he’d found him the last time. But he wasn’t there.

He was just about to get in his car when a couple of shingles slid off the roof. He took a few steps back and saw Ryder scrambling farther up the roof. “What the hell are you doing up there? Get down here right now before you break your damn neck!”

“Go to hell!” Ryder yelled back at him.

“Excuse me? You talk to me like that again and you won’t have to worry about the fall breaking your neck because I’m going to.”

“Whatever. Why don’t you go back to wherever you were all day yesterday.”

“What?”

“Just go back to Vegas. I didn’t ask for you to come here. You don’t have to pretend like you want to get to know me.”

Duke knew they were uneasy around each other but he didn’t understand what Ryder was talking about until he realized that he had spent the entire day with his brothers and hadn’t seen Ryder since breakfast yesterday morning. He didn’t think the boy would care. But that was the problem. Duke hadn’t thought at all.

“I had some stuff to take care of yesterday.” He really didn’t know what to say. “I’m here now.”

“Only because my mom had to go to work. I’m not some goddamn burden and I don’t need a babysitter. So just leave. Nobody asked for you to come here in the first place.”

Duke let out a stream of curses. He heard a car pull up behind him, but he didn’t focus on who it was because Ryder moved to the other side of the roof. Duke was pissed at him, but he was more worried that he was going to get hurt.

“Whatcha looking at, Duke?” He felt Levi’s hand slap him on the back. He turned to see that both his brothers were there with Zanna. It had slipped Duke’s mind that he had called over there this morning.

Another shingle slipped off the edge. “He’s on the fucking roof.”

“Who?” Levi asked him.

“My son.” Duke hadn’t told Levi yet, he realized as he said it. With all the craziness of Colt being locked up and them buying up the town and everything that was going on with him and Grace, he just hadn’t had time. He was going to tell them today, though. That’s why he’d called them here.

“What do you mean your son?” Levi walked forward and grabbed his shoulder, clearly pissed off at being left out. “You’ve got a goddamn kid? When the fuck were you going to tell us?”

“Today.” He didn’t have time for his little brother’s anger today. He had his angry kid on the roof to worry about first. “I just learned the truth for sure myself. Grace got pregnant before I got locked up. She never told me. She still wouldn’t have told me, but I threatened to sue her for custody.”

“That worked? Her father is powerful in these parts.” Levi shook his head.

“The boy is mine.” Duke look back up to the roof. “There’s no denying it. She named him Ryder.”

“Shit. Really?” Colt asked, speaking for the first time since they had arrived. “The whole damn world could have figured out he was your kid with a name like that.”

“Somebody want to clue me in,” Zanna said to him. “What’s the big damn deal about the name?”

“My favorite movie is
Easy Rider,
” Duke informed her.

“He used to have a leather jacket with an American flag on it,” Levi said.

“He always said that if he had a boy he’d name him Ryder,” Colt added.

“Yeah. I’ve got a boy and he’s on the fucking roof.”

“Where’s Grace?” Zanna looked up, trying to spot the boy.

“She’s taking shifts at the hospital to make ends meet now that school is out for the summer. She left him here with me. I told her that I would sue her for full custody if she didn’t let me be a part of his life. And she did and now I fucked up because I don’t know shit about kids. He was supposed to be heading to summer school, but when I went to take him he climbed onto the roof. And I don’t know how to get him down without dragging his ass off.”

“Did he climb on the roof because he was afraid you were going to kill him?” Zanna asked.

“I should kill him. He’s a surly, miserable little bastard. The only thing that’s stopping me from wringing his neck is that he’s just like me when I was his age.” And he was coming to terms with his father walking into his life out of thin air. It made Duke think about his own father, who walked out on them without a word, without looking back. Duke knew he wouldn’t handle it well if his old man had just shown up one day. He was pretty sure he would kill him.

“And you were a delight,” Colt said. He was looking at the house, studying, seeing in a way that only Colt could. And then he did something that surprised the shit out of Duke. Colt climbed up the porch railing and hoisted himself to the roof.

“Colt!” Zanna called after him, looking alarmed.

“It’s not that high.” He looked back at her, heat in his eyes that he had only when he looked at Zanna, and extended a hand. “Levi, help her up.”

“Gladly.” Levi grinned and hoisted Zanna up to the railing.

And just like that, Duke was alone on the ground. His brothers meeting another one of their own for the first time.

He heard the rumble of low deep voices and stood there wondering if he should climb up and drag all their asses down or stay put. He didn’t have to make the choice, though, because a few moments later all four of them were climbing down. Colt first followed by Zanna.

“What the hell did you say to him to get him down?” he asked Colt.

“Levi threatened to toss him off the roof and then offered him pancakes. You know, normal uncle stuff.”

Duke waited until Ryder’s feet hit the ground before he went over to him and grabbed the collar of his shirt. “If you think you’re getting pancakes with your uncles, you’re out of your damn mind. You are going to take your ass to school, just like your mother wanted you to. I wouldn’t mess with me, boy. I’ll tell your mother that we should go vegan and she’ll have you eating so much kale and soy your behind will turn green. I can make it so you never have another meat product again.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Try me, boy. I’ve dealt with bigger and badder than you and I always come out ahead.”

Ryder’s nostrils flared. Duke was pretty sure the boy wanted to take a shot at him.

“Damn it, Duke,” he heard Colt say softly. “He’s so much like you.”

“I always wanted a boy who was just like me,” he said, looking at his son. “I’m not so sure it’s a good thing.” He let go of Ryder’s shirt and put his hand on his shoulders. “Look me in the eye, boy, because I’m only going to say this once. Go inside. Get your book bag and meet me out here so I can take you to school. If you get on that roof again, I’ll climb it. If you run, I’ll come after you. And trust me, if I catch you it’s going to be a hell of a lot worse. So do what I say and the world will be a brighter place for you.”

Ryder’s jaw set but he nodded and Duke let him go watching him until he went into the house.

Duke wiped his hand over his face, feeling his head start to throb.

“This is funny,” Levi said, coming around to face him. “I’m really fucking pissed at you for not telling me you had a kid, but seeing him give you a run for your money makes me so damn happy.”

“Don’t bust my balls, Levi. I just found out that I’ve got a son with Grace. A teenager for fuck’s sake.”

“Pleasant little bastards.” Levi grinned. “You’ve got a son, Duke. If any one of us should be a father, it should be you.”

“Why do you say that?”

“You took care of us, Duke,” Colt said. “You were a father long before you had a son.”

Grace’s car pulled up then and Duke let out a long string of curses. She looked pissed. “The school called wanting to know why Ryder wasn’t there. What happened? I asked you if you could handle taking him. You told me not to worry!”

“It’s our fault,” Levi said, stepping in front of Duke. “Don’t be mad at Duke. We wanted to meet our nephew.”

“Levi?” Grace blinked at him. Then she smiled and leaned in to hug him. Levi always had that effect on women. “I haven’t seen you since you were a kid. You’re so handsome.”

“You’re gorgeous. Just like you always were.” He kissed both her cheeks. “You were my first crush and if I were a little older I would have fought Duke for you.”

“Stop flirting with me, Levi. I’m trying to be mad at Duke.”

Ryder reappeared, his face going pale at the sight of his mother.

“What did you do?” Grace rounded on him, finger wagging looking just like a mother. “You wouldn’t look so guilty if you were innocent.”

“We should go,” Colt said. “They’ve got family matters to discuss.” He grabbed Zanna’s hand and yanked Levi into the car and left.

Leaving seemed like a good idea, so Duke grabbed Ryder’s arm and led him to his car. “We’ve got to get to school, Grace. Go to work. We’ll both be here when you get home.”

She still looked mad at as hell as they drove off. He could see how she kept Ryder in check with a look like that, but Duke found it kind of sexy when she got all hot and bothered.

“I could have ratted you out,” he said to his son.

“Yeah, but then you would have been in just as much trouble as me.”

“True.” He was quiet for a moment. “I’m not going anywhere, Ryder. I’m not leaving you. I’m not walking away. I want to be your father.”

Ryder looked out the window and was silent for so long, Duke was sure he didn’t have anything to say to that. “I’m just not used to having one,” he said quietly.

“I’m not used to being one, either. Just give me a little time.”

Chapter 11

Grace walked in that night to find Duke and Ryder in the kitchen, neither one of them speaking to the other, but both of them there together. Duke at the stove and Ryder at the table. She honestly didn’t know what to expect when she walked in that evening. She’d been uneasy all day about leaving them alone.

She knew she had to trust Duke. He was Ryder’s father and he had a right to know him, but he had been gone for so long and giving away half of her son just like that was going to be hard for her. “Hello, boys.”

They both looked up at her, identical expressions of their faces, as if she was interrupting their quiet time.

“Hi, Mom,” Ryder said quietly and looked back down at whatever it was he was reading. It was then she realized he was reading something. She stepped closer to see that it was a car magazine. The article he was reading was detailing the process of reconstructing an engine. That seemed as interesting to her as watching grass grow, but Ryder was engaged in something.

She looked up at Duke, who looked back at her and shook his head, seeming to read her mind and know that she was going to ask their son about it.

“What smells good?” she asked instead, walking up to Duke. She looked into the pot and was surprised to see it was some kind of pasta dish with fresh vegetables. “It’s beautiful.”

“It’s pesto pasta with sun-dried tomatoes and asparagus.” That sentence coming from a giant tattooed man wearing a T-shirt with a skull on it seemed unreal to her. She just blinked up at him. Duke looked like the kind of man who lived on a diet of red meat and whiskey. “I’m going to top mine and Ryder’s with a fried egg for extra protein. Do you want one on yours?”

“Yes,” she said feeling kind of breathless. That might have been the sexiest sentence he had ever uttered to her.

“Good. Sit down. Ryder, grab the bowls out of the cabinet, put forks and glasses on the table, and come here.”

To Grace’s surprise he did exactly what Duke asked without a word.

“I’m going to show you how to make a perfect fried egg,” Duke told him. “Grab the butter and fill that tablespoon up most of the way, then drop it in the pan. We like to keep the temperature real low and let that butter melt slowly. Now I want you to crack the eggs separately in the bowls and be careful about those shells. No one wants crunchy eggs. It pisses people off.”

Ryder did exactly as Duke asked. For the first time in days he lost that hard look on his face and seemed genuinely interested in what he was doing.

“Put the eggs into the pan, but be gentle about it. Then put the lid on the pan. Now watch it. The egg should change from transparent to a nice creamy white and the yolk should thicken, but not be hard. You got that, boy? You let me know when they are done.”

Duke left the stove and retrieved what looked like cubes of mozzarella cheese from the refrigerator, along with two bottles of beer and a pitcher of lemonade. Duke was so confident in the kitchen. Some men acted like this space was a woman’s domain. Like it was woman’s work, but Duke King did everything like the boss he was.

“Duke,” Ryder called, sounding unsure of himself. “I think they are done.”

He walked over. “You’re right. They look perfect. Take them off the heat for me.”

Duke mixed the cheese and the pasta and placed them in the bowls like he had been doing this forever.

“Serve your mother first,” he ordered Ryder, motioning to the bowls as he grabbed the pan of eggs. He then came around and slid an egg on top of each of their dishes and finished them by sprinkling them with salt and black pepper. Grace sat there just blown away.

He was no longer that poor kid from the wrong side of the tracks that she fell in love with.

“Eat,” he barked at them as he sat down.

Grace dug her fork in, never having eaten anything like this before. It was delicious. She looked over at Ryder, who was shoveling food in his mouth like he had never seen it before. She was a tiny bit miffed again that he never enjoyed her cooking this much, but even she had to admit nothing she had ever made compared to this.