Fast Connection (Cyberlove #2) (25 page)

The panel was over when Kai blew a kiss at his “darlings” in the crowd, and then I was on the move. Dominic was at my heels as I cut through the crowd to get my hands on my kid.

Micah stood up, his hand on Adriana’s back, and the moment he saw me, his entire body stiffened. He mouthed the words, “Oh shit.”

Oh shit was right.

Adriana looked terrified, and I wasn’t sure if it was because of me or Dominic, or a combination of both. Before I could get a word out, Dominic brushed past me. “What the hell, Adri? You’re going to give Pops a heart attack.”

She gripped Micah’s arm. “How are you here?”

“We drove,” Dominic snapped. “How the hell are
you
here? Because you’re supposed to be home, not sneaking off to fucking Boston.”

“I’m sorry. I know this was wrong but we wanted to see Kai.” She glanced at me. “I’m sorry, Mr. Rawlings. It’s my fault.”

Micah’s head jerked to her. “What? No it wasn’t.”

“Mic—”

My son looked at me. “Dad, I know she’s trying to say it was her fault because she’ll get in trouble no matter what, but that’s not true. This was my idea. She tried to talk me out of it.”

If looks could kill, Dominic’s cutting glare would have been a bullet in my head.

“We’ll talk later,” I said. “We’re going home.”

Micah dug in his heels. “Okay, but we got passes to meet Kai’s moderators. Can we just do that? Right now? Then we’ll go home.”

Adriana was nodding her head eagerly, her gaze darting between Dominic and I.

I should have said no. They’d didn’t deserve to do what they wanted. But after hearing Adriana speak about her online friendships, I couldn’t do it.

“Fine.” I glanced at my watch. “Thirty minutes.”

Micah shot me a wobbly smile, then he took Adriana’s hand and towed her toward the stage.

Dominic waited until they were out of earshot to say, “My sister’s a horrible influence, huh?”

I gritted my teeth. “Not now, Dominic.”

“Yeah, I forgot. Everything we do is on your terms.”

“This has nothing to do with—”

“Not now, Luke,” he said flatly.

I clenched my fists, but it did no good. He was still slipping through my fingers.

Dominic

The private meet-and-greet was longer than I’d expected. They set up shop in a conference room with Kai and Garrett once again projected on a screen, while Kai’s attending moderators sat nearby. It mostly amounted to eager fans getting to have actual conversations with their gaming hero, and Luke and me hanging at the back while avoiding each other’s eyes.

Part of me knew I needed to calm down and have a real conversation about what had happened on the drive to Boston. He wasn’t used to his kids not listening to him, and he wasn’t used to them sneaking off. For my family, it was old fucking hat. Adriana did what she wanted when she wanted, and she never got into much trouble while doing it, so I was already in the habit of letting it slide. But Luke expected his kids to be perfect, and his brain had practically imploded after realizing that wasn’t the case. His level of stress should have been expected. Especially considering the reason he was so overprotective was because of that idiot Jake—a guy who’d been so desperate to cling to Luke that he’d basically kidnapped the twins.

And yet I couldn’t get his words out of my mind.

Luke’s elbow dug into my side, and I snapped back to awareness and out of my somber thoughts. I started to snarl at him, but realized everyone in the room was staring at me.

“The fuck?”

“What the hell are you doing here, Costigan?”

My eyes flew to the screen, and I realized Garrett was focused on me.

“’Sup Reid,” I said coolly, like it was totally normal for me to be crashing this party. “I’m collecting my runaway sister.”

He grunted, still eyeballing me, before his gaze moved to Luke. He didn’t say anything, because he was Garrett Reid, but I could already tell the gears in his brain were churning and he was putting puzzle pieces together. Judging by the way he frowned at me once his attention returned, he’d also picked up on the tension between me and Luke.

“This
is the famous Costigan?” Kai demanded. He leaned in and shoved Garrett out of the way of the screen. “What a hottie.”

The others in the room murmured in agreement. Normally, I would have preened at the attention and hammed it up, but I was overly aware of Luke inching away from me. The last thing he wanted was a billion sets of eyes on him during a livestream.

“Uh. I guess,” I muttered.

“You guess?” Kai leaned his face against his fist, still grinning with mischief. “I would have been more paranoid while Garrett was on base if I’d have known you were this attractive. Cherry, Garvy, isn’t he a total fox?”

I vaguely recognized the names as being his two main moderators from the chat, but I only spotted Garvy. He was the blond, blue-eyed California boy that his profile had proclaimed him to be, but Cherry was…

“He’s okay,” a deep voice rumbled. “I’m not really into blonds.”

I gawked at the dude who’d just made that shitty comment. Cherrycakes, the upbeat cheerleader of Kai, was not what I’d expected. I’d honestly assumed Cherry was a super-friendly girl who wore anime T-shirts and drew on her arms, but Cherry was apparently a twenty-something dude with pale skin, dark hair, tattoos, and probably belonged in a rock band. He was the polar opposite of Garvy. Who was currently red-faced and glaring at Cherry.

Ho-okay. The drama was strong on this panel.

Instead of coming up with a witty retort, I snorted and leaned against the wall. Thankfully, Kai redirected the conversation and began cheerfully chatting with his viewers. Garrett, however, kept frowning in my direction. Somehow he could tell something was wrong. And judging by the serious frown he kept aiming at Luke, he knew my silver fox was the culprit. If he stayed mine. If this worked out given how much he distrusted my family.

All of a sudden, I wanted out of the room and away from this scrutiny. It was awesome that Garrett’s broship was flaring up out of a sense of loyalty and protectiveness, but I didn’t need the kids picking up on our bullshit.

I made eye contact with Adriana from across the room and jerked my head at the door. Worry had already slid across her expression, but I ignored it and slipped out of the room. I wasn’t surprised that Luke wasn’t too far behind.

He came up behind me, big and warm and strong, and put his hands on my shoulders. That touch was enough to melt me, but I shrugged them off.

“Dominic, we need to talk.”

“Not now,” I said. “I honestly just need to get out of here. This weekend has fucked with my head, dude.”

Luke nodded slowly, and for a breath, I thought he would say something to reassure me. Admit that we’d both been tense and on edge. Maybe make a joke about making up for the wasted time and making up for his harshness with a Sunday full of sex.

But all he said was, “We’ll be home soon.”

Luke

The ride home was my version of hell. Adriana and Micah silently sat in the backseat of the truck’s cab while Dominic stole glances at me from the passenger seat. I knew we needed to talk, but I was worried about saying more words I couldn’t take back. I was hanging on by a thread—tired, stressed, hungry, and frustrated that my weekend with Dominic turned into this shit show.

He sat leaning against his door, like he wanted to get as far away from me as possible. I didn’t blame him. I wanted to get away from me. Ever since we’d gotten in the truck, I’d asked myself the same questions.

Could I really do this? Could I move forward in my life with Dominic, accepting his opinions on my life and how I raised my kids? Would he accept me into his life even if I were critical of his family?

Instead of examining the potential answers to those questions, I directed my attention to Micah.

“Where did you stay last night?” My loud voice in the confines of the cab startled everyone.

Micah met my gaze in the rearview mirror. “A friend we know. From Kai’s chat.”

“So a stranger.”

“Did you even listen to what Kai said? These are real people—”

“I know they’re real,” I shot back. “That’s the whole point. These are real people you are talking to, not harmless names on a computer screen. You want me to respect what you do online, then you need to also prove to me that you’re taking it seriously. It’s easy to get swept up in talking to someone you met online. It’s easy to open up, to spill secrets, to tell them things you wouldn’t tell anyone else.” I risked a glance at Dominic who was now watching me. “But these are still real people with lives and problems, and you can’t just assume they’ll act the same online as they do in person. Do you understand me?”

I thought Micah would argue, but instead he bowed his head. “Yes. I’m sorry.”

We rode in silence for another five minutes before Dominic asked, “You okay, Adri?”

“Yes,” she answered quietly. “I’m sorry too.”

By the time we reached the Costigan house, my head was pounding and my entire body was sore from tensing.

When I parked on the street, the front door opened and Duffy Costigan strode out, red-faced. I hadn’t even planned to get out of the truck, but no way was I driving away when the man looked like he was on the warpath.

I stepped out and rounded the front to stand next to Dominic, who had his arm around Adriana and my son standing beside them. Duffy was heading right for them, but at the last minute veered to the right and stuck his fat finger in Micah’s face.

“What the hell were you thinking taking my daughter across state lines?”

Micah’s body stiffened, and I saw red. Any other day, I might have been able to keep myself but in check, but today was not that day. I stepped forward. “I suggest you get your finger out of my son’s face before I do it myself in front of your neighbors.”

Duffy whirled to me. “Are you threatening me on my property?”

“Yes, I am, now step back. I get you’re angry, but I’m not in the best of moods either, seeing as how I retrieved your daughter for you.”

“You expect me to thank you? Dominic could have gotten her on his own.”

“Dad—”

“I’ll deal with you later.” His gaze took in her clothes and the huge bow-and-arrow. “And what the hell are you wearing? Did you walk around like that in public?”

“Leave her alone.” Dominic sounded defeated. “She knows going was wrong. Just calm down and let’s get inside. You’re just putting on a show for everyone on the block.”

“If you’re so embarrassed by your family, then move in with your boyfriend and be his problem.”

“My boyfriend’s right here, Pops.” Dominic jerked his chin at me. “Go ahead and offer him my dowry.”

For fuck’s sake. As Duffy turned rounded eyes on me and his face turned an alarming shade of crimson, I knew this entire scene was off the fucking rails.

“You?” he spat. “So you’re the one slobbering all over my son in public?”

“Pops!” Dominic barked.

“I’m not even responding to the decisions your grown son makes, but you need to focus on your daughter. You think she skips school and acts out because she likes it? She either wants attention or wants boundaries, which you’re doing a shit job at giving to her.”

“Luke,” Dominic said sharply. “You need to go.”

Duffy barely seemed to hear his son. “What makes you think I want parenting advice from you?” He looked me up and down, scoffing, before grabbing Adriana’s arm.

Startled, she cried out and cringed, which resulted in Micah trying to pull her away from Duffy. Which is when he lost it. He let go of Adriana and put a hand on Micah’s chest, pushing him against my truck.

And then… I lost it.

The next minute or so was a blur. I might have told him if he ever touched my son again, I’d end him. Dominic was yelling, Adriana was crying, and I did what I’d dreamed of doing for weeks, which was punching Duffy right in the fucking mouth. He swung back, catching me in the jaw, but I barely felt it as I geared up to land a fist right into his gut.

Hands grabbed my elbows, pulling me back, and when the haze of my anger blackout cleared, I saw Duffy raging as his wife pulled him back into the house. Micah was holding my arms, and Dominic was standing in the middle of us, his hands fisted in his hair, his gaze darting from his father to me.

We’d just… brawled. Outside. In broad daylight. Like a pair of Staten Island assholes. I shrugged out of Micah’s grip and turned around to see him staring at me with wet eyes.

“Go get in the truck,” I said.

He nodded and sat in the passenger seat, shutting the door behind him.

Nadia was going to kill me when she heard about this.

“I’m calling the cops!” Duffy yelled from the front door.

“You’re not calling the cops, Dad!” Dominic shouted before shooting me a glare. “Go home, Luke. Just go the fuck home.”

“I’m supposed to leave you and Adriana here with him?”

“I don’t need your protection. You’re the one that fucking punched my father in the face.”

“Are you defending him? He shoved Micah!”

“He pushed Micah away, he didn’t fucking assault him. And I don’t know what you think you’re trying to do—make me choose between you and my father? It should have never even come to this.” He looked incredulous. “You should have never gotten involved.”

I needed to go home. My jaw was starting to throb. “You know what, forget it. Fuck it. Fuck this family. I’m done caring.”

Without looking at Dominic, I got in the truck and drove off.

When we pulled in the driveway, I turned off the engine, but didn’t get out. Micah sat with his hands in his lap, head bent.

“I’m sorry about what happened. That was a lot of adults behaving badly.”

He bobbed his head.

“You’ll pay me back for the tickets I had to buy and the gas I had to use to get you. You’ll do that by working for me on the weekends.”

“Okay.” Then he raised his head. “Please don’t say I can’t see Adriana”

I shook my head. I’d seen this coming. “Fine, but your time going anywhere is limited until you prove to me that I can trust you again.”