Page 15 of Stealing Home

“My nephew is single,” Mrs. Alvarez called after him.

He stopped and turned to look at her. “Excuse me?”

“One of my nephews, Mateo, was just named the team chef for the Barracudas. The youngest ever.” She puffed up with pride. “He’s very handsome. And gay.”

Gavin pressed the elevator button harder than necessary. He wasn’t even going to ask how she knew he was gay. “I’m not dating.”

“Why?”

“I don’t want to.” The doors opened, and he stepped inside.

“That’s not a reason,” she said as he pressed the button for his floor.

“It’s the main one.”

“He has a good heart too,” she called as the doors slid closed on her voice.

“Goodnight, Mrs. A,” he called back.

His apartment was quiet when he stepped inside. Clean, sparse, and nothing he couldn’t pack in a day. He set the soup down, dropped his keys in the wooden bowl, and stood there. He didn’t mind living alone, but he didn’t like coming home to nothing. No one to greet him or ask him about his day. That wasn’t the same as wanting a relationship. He’d had a husband, and they’d promised each other forever. Forever, it turned out, wasn’t nearly as permanent as people liked to believe, and it was a dangerous thing to build a life around.

4

DOM

Matt Caldwell arrived the next morning at eight on the dot, wearing dark jeans, a gray sweater, and the determined expression of a man who had already rearranged his entire morning to handle this situation. Dom probably looked like he hadn’t slept at all, with messy hair and heavy eyes, and a faint spit-up stain dried across the front of his chest that he only noticed as he made his way to the door. Evan and CJ had left just after two in the morning, and Dom definitely had not teared up when they let themselves in just after seven, armed with breakfast sandwiches and coffee. They hadn’t said much, just made sure Dom ate something while they stayed close, offering their quiet support.

He answered Matt’s knock with Lucia tucked against his chest, and Matt’s gaze dropped immediately to the baby. For one rare second, the usually unflappable agent looked completely stunned.

“So,” Dom said. “This is Lucia.”

To his credit, Matt recovered quickly and his mouth twitched. “I see that.”

Dom stepped to the side to let Matt in, who grinned at Evan and CJ as he made his way to the living room. “Why am I not surprised to see you two here?”

He placed his canvas messenger bag on the coffee table and dropped into a seat at one end of the sectional.

Lucia began to fuss against Dominic’s chest, and CJ pointed at the diaper caddy Evan had picked up the night before. “She just ate, so she probably needs a diaper change.”

Matt watched Dom move to the corner of the room where Evan had set up a changing station. “Should we wait?”

“No,” Dom said as he knelt. He laid Lucia down carefully on the changing pad. “This is just how meetings are going to work now.”

He changed her diaper while Matt explained the immediate legal steps: DNA testing, establishing temporary custody, and Matt trying to contact Talia. Dom listened as best he could while trying to fasten a diaper around two tiny kicking legs.

“I cannot stress this enough,” Matt said, waiting for Dom to look at him before he continued. “Do not sign that paperwork she left until we get the results of the DNA test.”

Dom fastened the impossibly small snaps on the sleeper and sat back on his heels before he carefully picked Lucia up and brought her to his chest. “What happens if the test says she isn’t mine?” he asked.

The room went silent, and Dom looked over at his friends. “I mean, I believe Talia, but what if…?” He trailed off.

Matt’s voice was measured when he answered. “Then, legally, the situation changes.”

Dominic swallowed. “That’s not really what I asked.”

Matt glanced toward Evan and CJ, then back at him. “No. It isn’t.”

Lucia squirmed, and Dom tightened his hands as he rose to his feet and started pacing. He had known her for less than twelve hours, and all of it had been filled with panic, feeding her, watching her breathe, and tears. His and hers. That shouldn’t have been enough time to matter, but it was.