“Of course,” I replied.

I held as I dealt with the diaper.

I was back in the kitchen when Angie came on.

“Hi, Carissa. How are you?”

“I’m good, Angie. Let me guess,” I said, moving to the sink to wash my hands. “Aaron’s attorneys have been in touch.”

“Was there an incident?” she asked.

“It happened during the handover yesterday,” I told her. “I haven’t had a chance to call.”

“Tell me about it now,” she ordered.

I washed my hands and did so.

“Well then, this makes their demand that we set a meeting as soon as possible not as surprising as it seemed,” she remarked when I was done. “I need you to give Leanne your work schedule for this week so we can schedule the meeting.”

“I’ll do that, but, Angie, I need to say that confrontation was unpleasant, so I feel from now on that we should talk through our attorneys only. And if this drags on, I’m not comfortable in Aaron’s presence, so there will be someone else dropping Travis off at Aaron’s and I’ll not be opening the door when he brings him to my place.”

“Will this be Mr. Steele?” she asked.

“Likely,” I told her. “However, it could be another friend. It just won’t be me.”

“Noted. And if this drags on, I’ll make that point. But I’ll call them immediately to share that any further communications go through me. If you hear from Mr. Neiland, it should only be if there’s an emergency about your son. If it isn’t, you tell me as soon as you can.”

“Thanks, Angie.”

“Not a problem, Carissa. Now I’m handing you off to Leanne.”

“All right. Speak to you later.”

“You will. Take care.”

She did the handoff. I gave Leanne my schedule as I walked into the living room and watched Travis rearranging the scattered toys.

We rang off and I called Joker immediately.

I gave him the news.

“Not a surprise,” he said when I was done.

“He’s angry, which means I’m scared,” I told him.

“You’re good, Carrie. But if he makes you not that way, then I’ll be there to make you that way again.”

“I know,” I whispered, eyes to my boy as he played.

“Hang tight, this’ll be done soon,” he promised.

“Okay.”

“Love you.”

I closed my eyes.

Aaron had made me not good.

Then Joker was there to make me that way again.

When I opened my eyes, I was smiling. “Love you too.”

I could hear the smile in his voice when he said, “Let you go. Later, Butterfly.”

“Later, sweetie.”

We disconnected.

Before I left for work a few hours later, Leanne called.

Aaron wasn’t messing around.

The meeting was set for Thursday afternoon, the specter of which made me not good again.

So I called Joker.

And he made it all better.

Joker

Disconnecting with Carissa, Joker texted Tack.

It’s happening.

Five minutes later, he got back, Meet me at the table.

Joker didn’t waste time leaving the garage and walking across the forecourt to the Compound. He went directly to Chaos’s table in the meeting room.

Tack was the only one there. He was standing by his seat at the head of the table, two piles of folders resting on the table in front of him.

One was very high. The other one wasn’t near as high, but it was still tall.

Joker closed the door behind him, walked into the room, and stopped, his eyes on Tack.

“This,” Tack said, his fingertips pressing into the high stack of folders, “is Chaos. Angie has it. She won’t be blindsided.”

Joker nodded. He didn’t need to give gratitude. Tack knew what he was giving was huge, and he knew Joker knew it.

They also both knew they had attorney/client confidentiality.

“This,” Tack went on, touching his fingertips to the other stack, “Angie’s also got. You need to study it, brother, then decide by how ugly it gets when or if you need to give the nod to Angie. Her ex isn’t dirty. But he’s a cheat, and I know Carrie knows it. I just don’t think she knows he’s had his dick in so much pussy, he makes Shy in his glory days look like a choirboy.”

Fuck.

This meant he might have to have the conversation with her that she, too, should get tested.

Fuck.

“It’s the father that’s deep in dirt,” Tack continued. “Shit in here gets loose, she’s got destructive powers that if she gets queasy at markin’ your old man, who she fuckin’ hates, I’m not thinkin’ our girl’s got in her to use. But it’s yours. It’s hers. They force it, be smart how you use it. It gets to that point and you need a strategy session, you know where to find me.”

Joker nodded again.

Tack held his eyes, and Joker saw in his what he saw after their meeting with Sebring and Valenzuela. It wasn’t exactly the same, but only because it wasn’t for the same reason.

Now, Joker knew the reason because he knew that he’d shared with Tack the trash talk Aaron Neiland had tried to shove down Carrie’s throat.

And Tack had not liked that.

Therefore Tack’s voice was granite when he stated, “They will not take her boy, and the time to fuck with Carissa Teodoro is now over.”

Joker’s voice was a quiet growl when he stated, “You know you got my love, brother.”

“I do,” Tack returned. “And it’s a privilege, Carson.”

Joker felt that in his throat but only nodded again.

Tack tipped his head toward the end of the room, where there was a closet that held their massive safe. “Read. Lock it up when you’re done.”

“Yeah.”

Tack moved, clapping Joker on the shoulder as he walked out.

Joker went to the folders.

He didn’t touch the high stack.

But he read every page of the shorter one.

When he was done, he locked them away, and he didn’t do it smiling.

But he did it relieved.

Chaos had them by the balls.

But Carrie would never know.

Not unless she needed to.

And all Joker could do was hope like fuck she never needed to.

Carissa

“Okay, this is not good,” I whispered.

I was sitting in Angie’s conference room. I was not in my tube top. I’d chickened out on the tube top.

Instead I was wearing my butterfly dress and shoes. It wasn’t casual, exactly.