Free Coming Clean by C. L. Parker

inviting anyone who felt qualified to submit his or her résumé for consideration. Though everyone at SSE was sad for Wade to go, the excited chatter over the prospect of having a shot at the partnership had become like white noise in the background. There was no guarantee the next partner would be someone internal, but Wade liked to keep things close to home, so it was possible. If one of our agents got it, I was going to make sure my assistant, Ben, got a promotion to fill the vacancy. I’d miss him, but I couldn’t hold him back for selfish reasons.
    Ally, Cassidy’s old assistant, seemed less than interested in the partnership. Of course, she’d only been an agent for around three and a half years, taking over Cassidy’s clients when she’d gone on a maternity leave that had turned into her resignation. I was proud of the work Ally had done. She was like a carbon copy of Cassidy in the way she approached and landed a client. The roster she’d inherited from her former boss had been free to choose another agent, but they’d all declined after private meetings with Cassidy to discuss Ally’s capabilities.
    After the staff meeting, I didn’t dally. I didn’t even make a stop off at Monkey Business. I had one goal in mind: calling a cease-fire with the woman I loved, who had felt less-than as of late, and spending some quality time with my family. I had a lot of groveling to do. Groveling that would hopefully lead to the best makeup sex we’d ever had. I’d sort of missed throwing her against the wall to bury my cock balls deep in her delectable pussy. Hell, I sort of even felt like having her juices for dessert before that.
    Once we made up with the nicey-nice and were each perfectly sated, I was going to tell Cassidy the big news Wade had shared, how our lives were going to change for the better. I was going to own Striker with the majority share. God, I couldn’t wait to see her look at me with pride when she realized all my hard work had finally paid off, that my absenteeism hadn’t been for nothing. I finally had
something
. And it was pretty damn big.
    But all of my excitement, my feeling of accomplishment, flew right out the window the moment I stepped over the threshold and into the home we shared. Cassidy was in our bedroom, zipping up a suitcase while Abe played on the floor.
    Weird.
    “Daddy!” Abe squealed when he saw me and then ran over to hug my leg. I really fucking loved it when he did that.
    “Hey, little man! Did you have big fun today?” I sat my briefcase on the floor and bent over to kiss his forehead before straightening to discern the scene before me more closely.
    “Mommy and I pwayed pack-it-or-weave-it today,” he told me with an adorable smile that showed all his baby teeth.
    “You did, did you? I bet that
was
big fun.” I turned my attention to Cassidy then, more than concerned, but unwilling to jump to conclusions. “Was that a game or are you actually going somewhere?”
    “Both.” Though it was only one syllable, I could hear the disdain in her voice. Uh-oh, I was still in the doghouse.
    “Really? And where might you be going?”
    “Stonington.” Her answer was short. Clipped.
    And surprising. Shit. Had we had a conversation about this? No, I was sure we hadn’t. Though if I were wrong, she was definitely going to jump all over it, once again telling me how much I don’t pay attention to her when she talks. It wasn’t true. Most of the time. Okay, it was true more than it should be, but this was not one of those times.
    “Huh. Okay, then. I mean, a little warning would’ve been nice, but I think a visit to see Pop-Pop and Mimi would do my boy some good.” I lifted Abe off the floor and tossed him into the air, earning a giggle in turn. After the day I’d had, I really needed it. Tucking my arm under his little tush to hold him, I kissed his forehead and then ruffled his hair. “And I’m sure Mommy could use a bit of fresh air, too.”
    Cassidy yanked the