The baby held his hand up to him. “Up. Up. Up!”
“Drove the Chevy home again,” he explained as he lifted the baby out of the highchair. “So, he’s just gonna keep sending you shit forever?”
“He knows this is near and dear to my heart, Orlando.” She slipped her hand into his. “It’s why he put the petition together.”
“Oh, I’m sure that’s why he did it.” He brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed it. “But you have to realize he’s gonna keep finding reasons to stay in touch one way or another. You have to cut him off at some point, babe.”
He kissed her lips softly, despite his annoyance because he just couldn’t stand not doing so anymore. The baby squirmed to try and get in between them and then started reaching for Dani.
“Mama, mama,” he said, reaching out for her.
“No, no, baby, I have to get dinner on the table.” She glance at Orlando before turning to the stove. “Can you get his highchair into the dining room, please? I’ll bring out everything right now. It’s ready.” Deciding to let it go because it was just a fucking petition and Orlando didn’t want this asshole’s attempts to stay in touch with her to ruin their evening, he changed the subject once she was in the dining room with the food. He’d thought about telling her about his call with Felicia, but he didn’t see the point, and he didn’t want that ruining the evening either. Instead, he told her about the progress on the construction today and the drama they’d had when they’d had to call 911 because a customer in the lobby began feeling faint.
“Old guy’s blood sugar was too low.” He took his first bite of her spaghetti. Not wanting to comment just yet on the sticky ass pasta, he took a sip of his tea and went on instead. “The traffic was a mess out front. What with all the construction trucks, and then first responder vehicles blocking the street, it was backed up for blocks.” She eyed him as he took a bite of the overly salty garlic bread. “Little salty,” he said but added quickly when her bright eyes waned a little, “but the spaghetti’s good. Pasta’s just a little overdone, but the flavor is good.” He picked up her hand and kissed it. “You don’t have to cook every day you’re here, babe. You got enough work dealing with the baby. I’ll leave you money or one of my cards so you can order out or buy something to just throw in the oven.”
“I need the practice,” she said, squeezing his hand. “My mom always told me the more I cooked the better I’d get at it. I was just too busy being angry and getting into trouble to try cooking all the recipes she tried to teach me.” Those beautiful eyes gazed into his. “I wanna get better. For you.” She turned to the baby. “And him. I’d love nothing more than for him to miss mom’s cooking someday.”
Jesus Christ, could she be any more perfect? He leaned in to kiss her again, and it went on longer than he first anticipated. He nearly came off his chair as he leaned in further, cradling her face in his hands, kissing her deeper and longer, moaning when her hand ran up his thigh and stopped just over his already throbbing cock. Fuck the car he’d planned working on. The moment they had Oreo down for the count, Orlando was ready to make love to her, and he did. All night.
Orlando had been pissed that he hadn’t thought to ask Dani about her next court date sooner. This was a big one and one he would’ve wanted to be there for her. He, Beast, and Nine had to fly out to Vegas to shoot a video with a car restoration reality show out there the day before her court date. He wouldn’t be flying back in until the afternoon when her court appearance was over, but he’d managed to change his flight back into LA at the last minute, so he might try to make it. Then of course the flight was delayed. His fucking flight landed just forty minutes before her hearing. He raced through LA traffic to get there and surprise her because she didn’t expect him to be there. Unbelievably, he arrived at the courthouse just minutes before her hearing, but getting through security took more time. He rushed through the hallways, trying to find her courtroom, and not knock people over in the crowded hallways in the process. When he finally got to her courtroom that was just filing in, he did a double take when he saw it, and his insides were instantly on fire. Dani was walking in with someone who appeared to be her lawyer still briefing her on one side and Ted on the other side—hand in hand with her. What the fuck?
There were too many people in front of him, and then they closed the doors before he could get in. “Courtroom is at capacity,” the bailiff announced. “We’ll let people in as others exit.”
Still on fire, Orlando paced the hallway. He peeked into the window, feeling his blood boil when he saw Dani sitting next to the old fuck as he put his arm around her. Knowing he couldn’t make a scene there with so many cops ready to pounce, he decided to just wait outside, as his mind raced to try and figure out what the hell was going on. There were too many cops and bailiffs for him to chance his reaction to seeing her walk out hand in hand with her ex again. It felt like an eternity when they finally walked out into the parking lot, thankfully not holding hands again but still looking a little too friendly. He rushed up the stairs to meet them, desperately trying to keep his cool because he had to be mindful of where they were.
“What happened? Why’s he here?” Orlando asked, glaring right in the fucker’s face.
“They dropped the charges down to a misdemeanor, and they’ll likely be expunging all charges in the next few weeks, thanks to Ted.” Dani reached for Orlando’s arm, squeezing it even as Ted peered at him.
“Why the fuck were you holding his hand?” Orlando asked, still reeling over the whole situation.
“Who are you?” Ted asked, still peering at him.
“I’m her boyfriend, asshole,” he said, getting in his face. “We live together.” Orlando was aware heads were turning, but he didn’t give a fuck. He was livid.
“I can explain,” Dani urged, bringing her body between him and Ted because Orlando felt ready to explode and he didn’t even try to hide it. “Please, calm down.” Infuriatingly, she turned to Ted. “Thank you for everything. I gotta go.”
Orlando turned to Danica, his expression likely as disgusted as he felt. “Thank you?”
“Her boyfriend?” Ted chuckled. “I guess we’re both suckers.”
“What did you say?” Orlando tried to move around Dani, but then some other dude in a suit got between them.
“Let it go, man.”
“Who the fuck are you?”
“My attorney.” Dani put her hands against his chest. “Please, baby, I can explain everything,” she said as officers began to approach them. “It’s okay.” She turned to them as she tried pushing Orlando along. “We’re leaving.” Only because he didn’t feel like spending a day in jail waiting to hear Dani’s explanation, he gave in and started walking away with her.
“Call me, Danica,” her attorney said as they walked away from him. “We’ll talk about your next court date.”
Dani nodded, pushing Orlando away from the crowd that had begun to gather. He stopped before they reached her car. “I’m fucking done. Either you tell me right now why you can’t get rid of this asshole and why the fuck he was holding your hand and had his arm around you in that courtroom, or we’re done.”