To Hate Adam Connor

“No,” he said, in a firmer tone this time.

“I’m not gonna offer myself to him so he will drop the charges against Lucy, Jason.”

“Good to hear,” Jason drawled.

Finally, we got home—well, their home—and drove through the gates. It was pitch-dark, just like my hatred filled heart. Jason killed the engine, but none of us got out.

“I’ll talk to him,” he said a few beats later. “I’ll handle it, Lucy, but you can’t go up there to watch him again. Are we clear?”

“Are we clear?” I mimicked, a small smile forming on my lips. “We’re very clear, my brand new daddy. I promise I won’t spy on stupid boys anymore. Now, tell me, am I grounded or what?”

Chapter Six

Adam

It had been almost a week since what we’d begun to call the incident, and I was still pissed. Pissed at Aiden for not listening to me. Pissed at Dan for not being on top of our security. Hell, I’d fired Anne that evening after I was able to get the whole story out of Aiden, yet I was still pissed at her too.

But more than anyone, I was pissed at myself. How I’d been so careless as to take my eyes away from my son—it didn’t even matter that he was a good kid, I was the one who was responsible for him. I should’ve been on top of things. I should’ve…I guess I should’ve done better.

The gates buzzed open, and I walked in hand in hand with my son. His little fingers squeezed my hand, so I looked down at him.

“Are you ready, Daddy?”

My lips twitched, and I nodded. “Are you?”

He nodded solemnly then looked up at me quickly. “Do you think she hates me?”

“Why would she hate you?” I asked distractedly as we neared the house.

“’Cause I caused big trouble. I think she hates me. I think she doesn’t wanna see me again.”

“I doubt it, buddy, but you’ll ask her yourself so you can be sure, all right?”

“She was very pretty,” he added quietly. “I hope she doesn’t hate me.”

I remained silent. I wanted to go and apologize to that infuriating woman like I wanted a bullet in my head, but from what I’d heard from Aiden and then later Jason Thorn, she had saved my son. Still, if Aiden hadn’t insisted on seeing her again, I would’ve never stepped foot in the house where she was staying.

Dropping the charges should’ve been more than enough for the little stalker.

God, thinking about her was making me crazy. Every time someone mentioned her name—and Aiden mentioned her name a lot—I was back in our backyard, scared out of my mind that some crazy stalker or reporter was hurting Aiden. I could still picture her stormy gray eyes glaring up at me as if she had a leg to stand on when I had her delicate wrist in my grip. I remember wanting to squeeze her pretty little neck with my bare hands every time she opened her mouth to talk.

Yea, seeing that my pulse was starting to speed, seeing her again wasn’t gonna be as easy as I’d thought it would be.

Before I could knock, Jason opened the door.

“Hello there. How can I help you two gentlemen?”

“Are you a movie star?” Aiden asked before I could explain what the hell we were doing at his doorstep.

Jason’s face softened, and he kneeled down in front of Aiden. “I am an actor, just like your dad. And you must be Aiden.”

Aiden’s eyes widened, and he glanced up at me. “He knows who I am, Daddy,” he whispered.

Jason chuckled and offered his hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you, Aiden. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

Aiden looked at his outstretched hand then up at me. “Can I, Daddy?”

“Go for it, buddy.”

He gave me a big smile and shook hands with Jason. “It’s nice to meet you too, mister. My daddy is a big movie star. He signs lots of things. Did you play in lots of movies too?”

“I did. And you can call me Jason.”

“Are you my friend?”

“Would you like me to be?”

Another glance at me. “Can I be friends with Jason, Daddy? I like him, and he lives so close to us, so we could play games.”

I gave him a short nod. “How about you tell your new friend why we are here before you make plans for a play date.”

“Would you play with me, Jason? Sometimes Daddy can’t.”

Oh, Aiden…

“Aiden…”

Finally, looking down at his feet, he murmured, “We came to see Lucy because I don’t want her to hate me.”

Jason straightened up, opened the door wider, and invited us in.

As we walked through the narrow hallway, Aiden’s eyes took in everything around us and I had to drag him with me.

“Lucy, you have visitors,” Jason announced.

“What?”

“Who?”

Two distinct female voices responded back at the same time.

And then the stalker appeared with a wooden spoon in her hand. She spotted me and her face fell, a small crease appearing between her brows.

The other one, who I assumed was Jason’s wife, appeared from behind her and smiled at me, covering her surprise very well.

“What are you doing here?” Lucy asked in a hostile voice. She was voicing my feelings exactly; the only difference was I couldn’t act hostile toward her, not when I had Aiden with me.

Christ! I still wanted to kill her, though. I ground my teeth to restrain myself.

“Trust me, I’m not all that fired up to see you either,” I admitted.

That got me an eyebrow raise.

“Then by all means, please leave,” she replied, gesturing at the door with a wave of her hand.

Both Jason and Olive were carefully following our conversation as they stayed silent and watched the interaction between us. I wished they’d interfere in some way; I would have much rather spoken with them instead of this madwoman who managed to spark something inside me. I narrowed my eyes at her and then felt someone pulling on the pockets of my jeans.

Aiden. Right.

“My son has something to say to you,” I said pointedly so she’d get that seeing her wasn’t my idea of fun. When Aiden decided to go all shy on me and hid behind my back, I was forced to take a step to the side so Miss Stalker could see the person responsible for our visit.

“Oh, hello. Hi there,” Lucy said, her expression softening when she finally saw Aiden. This time, instead of hiding behind me, he was hugging my leg to ensure I wouldn’t go too far away.

Aiden wasn’t normally a shy kid, but being around strangers wasn’t something he was used to. With all the media focus on us, we tried to keep our family life as private as possible, meaning Aiden wasn’t used to meeting new adults—not when we were so particular about his security.

“Hello,” he greeted in a small voice, giving her a small wave right before grabbing my leg and hiding his face.

Lucy took a small step forward, but when our eyes met, she stopped. I would’ve much rather taken my kid and gotten the hell away from her, but it was too late for that.

“Aiden,” I prompted so we could get it over with and leave. “What did you want to say to Miss Lucy?”

He’d been talking my ear off about seeing Miss Stalker again ever since I’d picked him up from his mom the day before.

“I want to ask her something,” he whispered.

“Go ahead then.”

“Can you ask her for me?”