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“I thought we could handle it on our own in Atlanta, but he’s been having a really hard time with it. It’s why he’s so tired. I did some research, and it seems like for him to have a safe first shift, he needs to be with his father.”

“And his father is here in Lakeview,” Mom said. “Mm. Makes sense. Not a lot of dragon shifters around on the East Coast anymore, so I figured his daddy was one of the guys from the clubhouse. So, who is it? Do you know?”

“Of course Iknow,” I said.

Mom raised her hands in surrender. “What? I don’t know how wild you were back then!”

“I wasn’t wild at all.”

“Wild enough to get wrapped up with the shifters.”

“Mom.Please.”

“All right, just tell me. Who’s the lucky dragon?”

I pressed my lips together for a moment, then exhaled and finally told her the truth. “It’s Stephan.”

“What?!” Mom squawked. “You meanAce?The clanalphaAce?”

“Shh, you’ll wake Dylan! Yes, it’sAce. He was always Stephan to me.”

“Good lord, girl, you’ll be the death of me yet.” Mom rubbed her hand across her forehead. “I never would’ve guessed Ace was Dylan’s father. Though, now that I think about it, there is a resemblance…”

“Apparently since Stephan is an alpha, it’s likely that Dylan is, too. An alpha dragon will only listen to itssire. So, here we are.”

“Harley, do you have any idea what Ace has been up to since that summer?”

“No, we haven’t kept in touch. Obviously. He doesn’t know about Dylan.”

Mom’s phone, screen-down on the coffee table, began to buzz. She grabbed it, raised her eyebrows at the screen, then stood up in a hurry. “Hold that thought. I need to take this.”

“What? Mom! What has he been up to?”

She grabbed her wine and hurried up the stairs with her phone pressed between her shoulder and her ear.

Classic Liz Founty. Ignoring me right when I needed her most. Shaking my head, I went to the kitchen. I’d only had fries since my crappy airport lunch, and I was getting hungry. I opened the fridge. Beer and condiments. I checked the cabinets. Expired pasta and… More condiments. The wine rack was full, though, and the cabinet over the sink was as well-stocked as a liquor store.

Great. So now I’d have to wrangle our own dinner, too. Ridiculous of me to think Mom would have anything in mindother than a shitty pizza delivery. Dylan needed at leastonereal vegetable today.

I poured myself a small glass of wine, then killed some time shooting off a few check-in texts to Suri and Cassidy, and answering the last of my work emails. By the time I was done, Mom was back downstairs. Except now she was dressed differently. Same tight jeans, but she’d put on a tight white T-shirt, a pair of chunky heels, and a swipe of red lipstick.

“I’ve got to run, honey,” Mom said. “I’ll be out for a bit, so you and Dylan make yourselves at home, okay? There’s a list of good delivery places on the side of the fridge.”

“What the hell, Mom, are you going on adate?”

“I’ll see you later, okay?” Mom called, and then she was out the door.

“So, what has Ace been doing?” I asked the empty house. Of course, there was no answer.

Dylan came downstairswith his hair mussed like a bird’s nest, still dressed in the clothes he’d traveled in. He blinked a few times blearily at me. “Mom? Did Mama Liz leave?”

“Yeah, she had plans,” I said. “But she’ll be back later.”

“I’m hungry,” he said sheepishly. “What’s for dinner?”

I knew Ishouldgo grocery shopping, but after a long day of travel, even nuking a frozen dinner in the microwave sounded like too much work. “How does pizza sound?”

“Pizza!” Dylan cheered.