Michael, who didn’t look at Carl like a bit player or an afterthought, but like a leading man.
Suddenly Carl needed to know how Michael was doing.
How was your day? he texted.
He got back a photo montage and spent a few minutes scrolling through pictures of Michael and two gorgeous teenagers, along with Molly, taking in the game at Wrigley Field, followed by shopping downtown and a dinner of deep-dish pizza. The kids smiled shyly, Molly blew kisses, and Michael, staring straight into the camera, biting his lip, looked so happy. Included. Like this had been something he’d wanted to do his whole life.
Looks like a good day, Carl typed. Thanks for the pictures!
Missed you. Kept thinking of things I’d say.
Why didn’t you text me? God, a text from Michael right after he’d escaped from Foster Aldrich’s office would have done so much to calm him down!
Didn’t want to be a bother. You were doing something important.
Carl’s chest ached.
YOU are important, he texted, not sure how it happened but not wanting to question it. Not a bit player. Not an afterthought. Not an almost-ran. Neither of them.
Can we go to a game? Michael texted back. You and me? Can we take my kids? I want them to see a pro game now that I can afford one. We’re doing the aquarium and the Art Institute tomorrow. I feel like I’m scouting future outings. Is that dumb?
Carl chuckled at the string of sentence after sentence, as though Michael had broken a dam of sorts to flood Carl with information. Maybe he had. If Michael was important, then his dreams were important, and he was sharing them, as requested.
That’s fine. I’d love to do family things. I never actually did them as a family—only as an adult. Chuck had dragged him to a game a couple of weeks ago when Lucius had been on a business trip. Hunter had come along, and they’d worn their hats and thrown popcorn at each other. In retrospect, maybe the “hazing” with landing the plane had been a long time coming.
Me neither. Beth had a happy family—she told me how.
The Salingers are my best example. It looks like Molly knows a little too.
She’s wonderful. Like the little sister I didn’t know I needed. We had fun. I think the kids were okay with being stuck in Chicago for three days.
Any news on the home front? He actually wanted all the news.
Josh and his uncle met. I was across the room, of course, but it looked tense and sad.
Must be rough for both of them.
Di Rossi didn’t tell his kids why he was here.
Carl frowned. Did you?
Yup.
Uh-oh. Uhm, did anybody say anything?
Why would they?
Carl blew out a breath. Sort of in the family, you know? As in, our family vs. the di Rossi family. Only a little bit of info at a time.
The next text hurt him a little. Did I do anything wrong? God, poor Michael. Rules he didn’t understand.
Carl thought about it before he texted. No. No, I don’t think so. Just remember—you’re working with smugglers and thieves. Di Rossi is on the up-and-up, but his children’s mother might not be. Kids get used as pawns all the time. That’s why Josh’s mother kept his father a secret for so long.
I’m sorry. Should I say something?
Carl half laughed. If they’re kids, they’ll say something on their own. Nobody gave you a briefing. How were you supposed to know?
You did.
Carl sighed and hit Call.
“It’s a game,” he said as soon as Michael picked up. “A stupid one. The kids all know how to play because they’ve watched the adults play all their lives. It’s a rich person’s game—what the kids know, what people are allowed to know about their children. The Salingers sort of sucked at it. That’s why their group is run by college students now, and why Danny and Felix never seem to grow up. The di Rossis were big-time criminals, the kind who played for keeps, and Leon may be working to go mostly legit, but he still knows there’s danger out there for his children. So no, you didn’t do anything wrong. You told the truth. That’s what you do. Julia, Danny, and Felix wouldn’t have expected any less from you. Leon di Rossi is going to have to deal with the fact that we don’t keep secrets like that, and that’s all there is to it.”
He blew out a breath, having run out of things to say to reassure Michael, and was greeted by a soft chuckle.
“What?”
“You called me up to say all that?”
Carl gave a half smile, and realizing nobody was there to see it, allowed it to grow into a full one. “And to hear your voice,” he said with dignity. God, his voice was sweet. That Texas twang that Chuck seemed to turn into a come-on without trying sounded more like a come-hither when Michael spoke. Carl liked it. Michael’s voice, his big brown eyes, and a simple touch of his hand could bring a wandering spirit like Carl home.
“Good to hear your voice too. Anything big happen today you didn’t text?”
“Won a game of racquetball,” he said blandly. “Found out some good shit to tell the family.”
“Stirling said you were doing some Mission Impossible shit this afternoon,” Michael said chirpily. “I wanted to hear about that.”
“Stirling wasn’t even there,” Carl teased. “For all you know, Mission Impossible shit to him is like dusting the blinds for me.” He chuckled softly, because that hadn’t been far from the truth.
“You can’t tell me just a little,” Michael wheedled. “Just a little bit?”
“You don’t want to hear,” Carl baited, liking this game. “Boring. So boring. Wasn’t even—”
“Please!”
Carl laughed outright. “Since you asked….” He launched into a soft telling of his trip to Foster Aldrich’s office, leaving out the fact that the company could and would have pressed charges if he’d been caught.
“All that!” Michael said, sounding so impressed. “That thing with the onesie was so smart! But you left your suit there?”
Carl had thought of this. “I’ve made it very clear I’m here to clean house and move my base of operations to Chicago. If the suit is ever tracked back to me, I’m giving a lot of stuff to thrift stores over the next couple days. Who knows how that happened?”
Michael chuckled. “You’re bad. You’re gonna get caught, you know.”
Carl shrugged. “And then I become an ‘Independent Security Consultant,’ which is what I do for most of Felix’s friends anyway. They pay me pretty well. Like I said, not a hardship.”
“Would you miss it?”
Ooh. Good question. “Not as long as I had something to take its place,” he said. “What I’m doing with the Salingers works fine.”
“Well, I don’t want you to get caught anyway. I want you to be able to tell everyone to take the job and shove it.”
Carl laughed outright. “If it ever comes to that, I’ll be sure to film it. You can watch it on loop.”
Michael’s open guffaw was like music to his ears. “You’re so bad,” he said, but it sounded like he thought that was fine, just fine.
“I talk big now,” Carl said softly, suddenly feeling vulnerable. “But if I hadn’t run into Danny and Felix in March, I might not have been this brave. Just, you know, in case you think you’re getting a hero.”