Free The Hitman's Baby - A Bad Boy Secret Baby Romance (With extra added bonus novel for a short time only!) by Ashley Rhodes Page A

“bogey at ten o’clock. Wait, no…” he had to pause and point at imaginary numbers on a clock face, “…more like… two o’clock.”
    “What do we do, Agent Poquito Gordito?”
    “Come with me if you want to live, Agent Lame Mom,” Ramon said, and stuck his tongue out at her. “I’ll to left, you go right. We’ll rendezvous at… the taxi round.” It was the only place to rendezvous, at the end of the parking lot.
    She laughed, and pinched his cheek while he sighed and pushed her hand away. The he counted down to three on his fingers, checked around the corner one more time, and ducked to scramble toward the nearest car.
    Cassandra followed him, her eyes flickering toward Ramon’s version of ‘two o’clock’ and then staggered to a halt.
    “Ramon,” she snapped, suddenly panicked. She should have been elated. Or something else more positive. But the ‘bogey’ Ramon had seen could only be here for one reason and it was as bad as it got.
    There, leaning against a car in the parking lot, arms folded while he waited patiently for them, was Ramon’s father.
    Nick had come back. Their life here was over.
     

Chapter 9
     
    If he was being honest, Nick knew that he was going to feel something when he saw Cassandra again, and especially when he saw Ramon. Granted, there was every possibility that Ramon wasn’t his. After all, Cassandra was a grown, beautiful woman. Once she knew she was safe, maybe she’d opened herself up to having a real, full life.
    Irrationally, that doubt vanished when he saw Ramon scamper across the grass, crouched low, head down, zig-zagging as though he expected to be shot at. A thrill of mixed wonder, anxiety, and panic shot through him.
    Then he saw her.
    She came out after him, smiling—they were playing a game, not actually evading pursuit—and as she did she looked his way and almost stumbled forward before she stood up straight and stared at him. She was somehow more beautiful than she had been before. Maybe motherhood agreed with her. He wished she hadn’t seen him; that he’d been more careful, and that he’d been able to watch her being happy just a little while longer.
    “Ramon,” she called.
    The boy peeked out from where he’d ducked behind the car, first at her and then at Nick. Then, hesitantly, maybe sensing that something was wrong, he approached Cassandra and reached out to take her hand.
    Together, they walked toward him. Both were cautious, but only Cassandra scanned the parking lot, the roof of the St. Peter’s Auditorium, and the darkness beyond the lot where the trees could hide would-be assassins. Good girl.
    “Cassandra,” he said when she got close.
    Ramon looked puzzled, and peered suspiciously at Nick. “My mom’s name is Elena. Who are you?”
    “Honey,” Cassandra said after she licked her lips and swallowed. “This is Nick Graves. He’s… ah…”
    She looked up at Nick. He saw confirmation in her eyes without having to ask the question. Thunder shook the inside of him, cracking some long sealed vault. His stomach dropped as the reality of Ramon’s existence—his son’s existence—finally hit him full force. Outwardly, he was calm. Inside, he was unraveling. He nodded to her.
    “Nick is…” she had to swallow again, “…Ramon, this is your father. Nick.”
    If he showed even a little emotion, it was over. So he didn’t. But he looked at Ramon and let the corner of his mouth be the only bit that moved.
    “Where have you been?” Ramon asked, instantly challenging but somehow hopeful at the same time. As far as stories went, Nick supposed his were the stuff of little boys’ fantasies. If he left out the blood.
    “It’s a long story,” he said. “But I’m here now. And we need to go.”
    Cassandra shook her head. “No. No, no, no.” She was starting to cry.
    It tripped Ramon’s defenses immediately, and he stepped between his mother and Nick. “What do you want? What’s wrong? Mom?”
    Cassandra’s hands were over