“You’ll see Jack after school, but baby Ella will be there,” Gonzo said as he handed Alex over to Christina. “Thanks for watching him, babe.” He still felt guilty when his work kept him away from home for long hours.

“You know I love him as much as you do.”

“I know.” He kissed her cheek and then her lips. “We need a night alone. Soon.”

“I’d be all for that. Name the time and place, Detective.”

“I’ll work on that.”

“Will you be here later?”

“I gotta sleep at some point, but I’ll be working from here for a while today. Not sure what’s going on, schedule-wise. Let me know if you need me to get Alex from Angela’s later.”

“We’ve got a free night on the campaign tonight, so I may be home at a decent hour. I’ll text you.”

“Sounds good. Love you guys.”

“Love you too,” she said on the way out the door with his son in her arms. She’d been such a trouper about stepping up for Alex—and for him—since he’d learned about the son he’d fathered with a woman he’d been with exactly once. Lori Phillips. The name had barely registered with him when he first heard about the baby. Now it gave him nightmares as a custody battle loomed.

He’d kept a lot of the details from Christina, not wanting to worry her in the midst of Nick’s reelection campaign when she was so busy and distracted. Thinking now of Lori, he recalled the message he’d received yesterday from his lawyer Andy. He’d put off returning the call because he’d been in such a great mood before the baseball game and hadn’t wanted to hear whatever bad news Andy might have for him.

Now, however, he placed the call to Andy, knowing he couldn’t put it off forever, as much as he wanted to.

“Hey, Tommy,” Andy said when he came on the line a minute later. “So I’ve heard back from Lori’s attorney. Apparently, she’s successfully completed rehab, ended her relationship with Rex and moved into a two-bedroom apartment.”

Each bit of information hit Gonzo like knives to the heart. He had no illusions about why Lori was working so hard to get her life together.

“Tommy? Are you there?”

“I’m here. Waiting for the really bad news.”

“Here it is—she intends to file for full custody.”

The breath left his lungs in a whoosh. His legs buckled, and he dropped onto the sofa. “You can’t be serious. He’s lived with me for more than six months. All that time she’s had hardly any interest in him.”

“I don’t think that’s exactly true. She’s been in rehab for a lot of those months.”

“And in the meantime, we’ve become a family. My fiancée has become his mother.”