“Can I go with you?” Ransom’s question comes out of nowhere and Kona can only stare at him, mouth open, shocked.
Keira is immediately worried, and she pulls on her son’s sleeve, making him step away from Kona. “Ransom… no, you don’t want to meet that woman.”
And just then, Kona thinks he sees a flicker of his twin; that slow smile, that easy grin, right there in his son’s features. “I think I have to.”
Kona stares at him, jaw working. It would be a shock to his mother to see this remarkable boy, to see the face of the life she tried to destroy. It would level her to see how she hadn’t broken him, how strong he is. In Ransom’s face, Kona sees determination, a fierceness he knows doesn’t come from him and he realizes that there isn’t much he can refuse his son. A quick nod and then Ransom smiles.
“No,” Keira says, giving up on convincing Ransom as he smiles, she takes Kona’s arm, pulling, pleading with those worried eyes. “No, I don’t want…”
“Keira, you’ve been handling things for a long time.” A small graze of his hand against hers and she retreats. Kona buries his disappointment, pushing aside the need to grab her. “You don’t have to anymore. Please, let me carry this. It’s mine anyway.” When he tries touching her, she recoils and that disappointment swells, has his shoulders sagging. “Let’s go,” he tells his son. “I wanna get this over with. We have to stop off at the bank first.”
He needs to leave before Keira’s frown stops him. He wants this over with, this betrayal buried so he can start to rebuild whatever is left with Keira again. He waits by the door as Ransom whispers to his mother, as he kisses her forehead.
He is on the walkway, nearing Kona’s rental when Ransom catches up to him. “You sure about this, Kona?”
He’d never been surer of anything more in his life, but Kona stops, looks down at his son with a grin pulling the side of his mouth. “Think they’ll ever be a day when you call me Dad?”
A small flicker of anger sticks in Ransom’s features; it is softening and Kona thinks his boy is waiting to see how this visit to his mother’s will go. Those familiar features are guarded, gaze considering as Ransom eyes him. Then, his boy shrugs, continues down the walkway with Kona trailing after him. “Maybe. But you gotta earn it.”
“You sure, man? They want an exclusive.”
Kona rolls his eyes. His agent wasn’t thinking about Kona’s choices or the direction of his career. The man was worried about his commission and how much he’d lose once Kona walked away from the NFL.
“I’m sure. I said what I needed to. It’s done.”
There is a pause on the line and Kona pops his neck, waiting for whatever tactic his manager will try to use to convince him to change his mind. Finally, Devon’s sigh echoes in the phone and he clears his throat. “Kona, look, I had no idea that she’d done anything. I told you, she just called with a statement she said you wanted to make. Shit, I didn’t even know you had a kid. You were supposed to be training with the Steamers.”
“And I was. But damn, dude, you’ve know me what, ten, twelve years and you thought I’d say shit like that about my own blood?” Next to him in the passenger’s seat, Ransom scans through his phone, his frown deepening with every message his reads.
“I was shocked. Like I said, I didn’t know you had a kid so we were all kind leveled by that video and then your statement.”
“Doesn’t matter. I’m done. It’s over. I said what I needed to and have this last thing to handle.” Ransom’s frown only worsens and Kona taps his son on the arm, pulling his phone away from his mouth when his boy looks up at him. “Stop reading that shit. It’s only gonna piss you off.”
“Kona?”
“I’m here, Devon.” He looks up at the Victorian, shaking his head when he sees his mother looking out of the front window. “I gotta go, man. You take care.”
The phone rattles against the cup holder when Kona throws it down and he grips the steering wheel, knuckles white as he takes a breath.
“You alright?” Ransom asks him.
“Yeah.” Another glance at the window and Kona bites his lip, relaxing a little when he doesn’t see anyone looking outside. “What about you?”
A quick shrug and Ransom silences his phone. “Just people talking smack. Fuck em, right?”
“You really need to watch your mouth.”
Ransom’s eyebrows lift and then a pull of his mouth has that familiar grin surfacing. “Seriously?”