Page 4 of The Sinner’s Son (Sawyer and Royce: Felonies and Fatherhood #2)

“ S o, we meet again,” Sawyer said.

Kelsey snickered from his right side. “Feels like déjà vu. Like maybe we just did this a few hours ago.”

“The chairs at the doctor’s office were more comfortable,” Royce whispered from Sawyer’s left. “And this feels more like a visit to the principal’s office. Dr. Yang has way more chill than our chief.”

Maeve stepped out of Mendoza’s office and smiled at them before reclaiming her seat behind her pristine desk.

The personal assistant’s good-natured expression did not fool Sawyer for one second.

She opened a drawer and pulled a cookie tin from its depths and set it on the desk.

“Chief Mendoza isn’t his usual jovial self, so take this with you.

I’m sure his mood is nothing an afternoon cookie and a cup of coffee can’t cure.

He has the latter already, so my peanut butter cookies should tip the scale in your favor. ”

Royce snorted. “Jovial?” Leave it to him to voice the private thoughts out loud.

The fair-haired assistant sat up straighter in her chair and looked affronted by the question.

Maeve obviously got to see a side of the chief they didn’t.

Mendoza was the fairest man Sawyer had ever met, and he was certain their chief held his officers in the highest regard, but none of them would ever describe the man as jovial.

Mendoza’s smile was as rare as the Hope Diamond that may or may not have existed and may or may not be at the bottom of the ocean.

Sawyer exchanged a glance with Kelsey. Their thoughts aligned with Royce’s, but they weren’t going down with the sinking ship, and if Royce wasn’t careful, he’d find himself afloat without a door to cling to.

He really needed to stop watching Titanic every time it popped up on a streaming menu.

“You don’t agree?” Maeve asked casually while tucking a wavy lock behind her ear.

Sawyer sensed a trap and subtly nudged Royce with his elbow, willing his husband to use the filter in his beautiful brain, but his efforts went ignored. If her earrings came off, Royce would need to fend for himself.

“Jovial sounds like jolly,” Royce said. “That makes me think of Santa Claus. I think affable works better in this situation. Wouldn’t you?” He looked at Sawyer and Kelsey for support but got crickets in return.

Maeve’s blue eyes twinkled with humor as she took in the trio. “Uh-huh.” Her desk phone rang before she could comment further.

“That was close,” Kelsey whispered. “Keep it up and there won’t be room for you on the door.” She started humming “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion.

Sawyer laughed. “I had the same thought.” He turned to Royce. “But notice we didn’t voice them.”

Royce rolled his eyes at their shenanigans. “Are you nervous about the conversation with Mendoza?”

“A little.” Sawyer turned and met his husband’s gaze. “But I don’t know if I feel like a kid waiting outside the principal’s office.”

Royce’s gorgeous mouth curved into a smirk. “Because the Golden Boy never got in trouble.”

“Until I met you,” Sawyer said. Rigby had summoned them to her office more than once when she’d been their chief.

“Were you the schoolyard snitch?” Kelsey asked Sawyer.

“Hell no. My brother and sister told me what happened to them. Stitches ,” Sawyer whispered dramatically.

Royce looked around him to smile at Kelsey. “Can’t you just see him writing his classmate’s infractions in a notebook?”

“Absolutely,” Kelsey replied.

“Your names would be at the top of my snitch list,” Sawyer told them. “Beautiful people picking on the nerdy, chubby kid.”

Kelsey hooked her arm through Sawyer’s and leaned her head on his shoulder. “I would’ve kicked anyone’s ass who picked on you.” She pointed a lavender-tipped nail in Royce’s direction. “It would’ve been a weekly beatdown with this one, I bet.”

“Probably daily,” Royce said with a sigh. “I would’ve been jealous of everything Sawyer had, and it would’ve spilled out of me in the ugliest ways. It’s all I knew back then.”

“But you’re an amazing man now,” Sawyer said. If they were alone, he would’ve kissed Royce, but the chief wouldn’t appreciate PDA in the precinct, especially right outside his office.

A metallic clank interrupted their sweet moment, and Sawyer turned to look at Maeve.

She’d removed the lid from the tin and helped herself to a cookie, watching them with a sappy expression on her face as she chewed.

“I love your love.” Her face turned bright pink, as if she couldn’t believe she’d said that out loud. “Sorry,” she squeaked.

Sawyer smiled to ease her embarrassment.

“That’s very sweet of you to say.” The click of high heels on a tile floor caught his attention, and he turned to see who approached.

His eyes widened when he saw Audra Teller from Human Resources making a beeline for them.

Her no-nonsense stride matched the serious cut of her navy pantsuit.

The only vibrant color on Audra was her fiery red hair, which she’d slicked back into a bun.

“The chief called HR without knowing why we requested a meeting?”

Maeve shrugged. “He must’ve done so after I left.”

“And now I know what it feels like to visit the principal’s office,” Sawyer grumbled.

“He actually saved us time by inviting her to join us,” Kelsey said. “Which means he knows why we want to see him.”

Royce nodded sagely. “So it would seem.”

Sawyer glanced at Maeve, who devoured the unfolding scene with wide, unblinking eyes, her half-eaten cookie now suspended partway to her mouth.

He didn’t know Maeve very well, but she wouldn’t work for Mendoza if she gossiped, so he classified her reaction as natural curiosity.

Their secret would be safe for the time being.

If his mother found out about Kelsey carrying her grandchild through the rumor mill… Well, it didn’t bear thinking about.

Audra stopped when she reached Maeve’s desk and straightened her navy blazer. “I got here as soon as I could,” she said, sounding slightly winded. “Mendoza said it was important. Do you know what’s going on?”

Maeve shrugged before tipping her head in their direction. “No, but these are your likely culprits,” she said before taking a bite of her cookie.

Audra cocked her head to the side and studied them with shrewd, dark eyes. “I expected this day with one of you,” she said, her gaze lingering on Royce. “Will someone from Internal Affairs be joining us? Do any of you need union representation?”

Mendoza’s door opened before they could respond. “Oh, good.” The chief’s flat tone said he meant the exact opposite. “Let’s do this.” He turned on his heels, leaving his office door open.

Audra fixed Royce with a scowl. “What did you do?”

“ Me ? Why not them?” His mock outrage didn’t move her conviction one iota.

“Get real, Locke. Do you need a union rep?”

“Hey, I’m innocent,” Royce claimed.

“Well…” Kelsey said.

Sawyer immediately jumped on the bandwagon. “You are a major part of why we’re here.”

“I knew it,” Audra groaned. “I don’t know if I should run for the hills or hustle into the chief’s office to put out the fires you’ve started.” Both hands went to her hips. “Level with me. Are we talking tiny embers or a five-alarm blaze?”

“You’ll find out faster if everyone comes inside,” Mendoza called out from the depths of his office. “I’m not the one who instigated this meeting, and I have many things to accomplish today. Tick tock, you’re on the clock.”

Audra glowered at Royce before pivoting on her stilettos and marching into Mendoza’s office with her head held high. Royce and Kelsey filed into a single line and followed her at a more leisurely pace, leaving Sawyer to bring up the rear.

Maeve, who was hanging on to every word they’d uttered, quickly replaced the lid on the tin of cookies and slid it across the desk. “Take these,” she whispered. “Trust me.”

Sawyer snagged the tin and entered Mendoza’s office, shutting the door behind him. Kelsey and Audra occupied the only visitors’ chairs, so he placed the tin on the desk and stood off to the side with Royce. Audra darted suspicious looks at Royce every few seconds until the chief cracked a smile.

“I suppose congratulations are in order,” Mendoza said.

“I’m sorry?” Audra asked in confusion. “Whom are you addressing?”

“We’re having a baby,” Royce told her.

Audra’s eyes widened. “The three of you?”

“Yes,” Sawyer replied casually, even though it was obvious her thoughts were going in the wrong direction. He blamed his tiny display of orneriness on Royce’s influence.

“I’m their surrogate,” Kelsey explained. “Royce and Sawyer will be the baby’s parents.”

“Ah, of course.” Heat flooded Audra’s cheeks, and she dropped her gaze to her lap.

Sawyer felt a tiny bit guilty for playing along. “Our due date is mid-February.”

“Maybe a Valentine’s Day baby,” Audra said, rebounding quickly.

“I asked for a representative from HR to join us to address any concerns the department might have about this situation or any pitfalls we need to steer clear of,” Mendoza said.

Audra blinked for a few moments as she considered the situation.

“There are no issues that I can think of. None of you work in the same department, nor do you report directly to each other, so there isn’t a power imbalance issue.

I think the only concern would be inappropriate comments someone might make to or about you.

” She cleared her throat. “Or misguided assumptions someone might make.”

“No one in our departments would dare,” Kelsey said. “My coworkers know how much I love my husband.”

“And I don’t think people question our commitment to one another either,” Royce said, gesturing between himself and Sawyer.

“People will be curious, and they might say something out of line,” Audra said. “We’ll just deal with the situations as they arise.”