Bound by Moonlight by Nancy Gideon

excited as a kid herself, Max watched with a satisfied smile. Until Alain Babineau jockeyed by him with a low growl that sounded like, “You son of a bitch.”
    They sat on the first row of the bleachers watching Giles teach Oscar how to maneuver the radio-controlled car. While Babineau was sullenly thinking that here was yet another thing the boy would turn to Savoie for, Max dropped a bomb on him with deceiving nonchalance.
    “Tell me about you and Charlotte.”
    Surprise took him like an unexpected elbow to his still-aching nose. “Say what?”
    Everything about Savoie put his back up. The fact that he was a criminal and should be doing time instead of playing big brother to his son. The fact that Oscar never acted like spending time with
him
was the best gift in the world. The fact that he had to work hard just for groceries and cable, when Savoie could effortlessly conjure up pearls and a car. And the fact that Savoie had scars on his body from saving Oscar’s life. Alain hated feeling grateful to him for that.
    Max continued to watch the miniature car spin around the bases. “She tells me the two of you had an affair.”
    Alain stared, then drawled, “If she told you that much, I’m sure she gave you all the details she felt you needed to know.”
    Savoie’s gaze slid slowly to meet his. “Let’s pretend she’s never told me anything and that I’m asking you, man-to-man.”
    “Man-to-man? That
would
be pretending.”
    The bastard. Who did he think he was, acting as if an answer was due him? Just because he directed the majority of illegal activities in and around the city, just because he’d stepped from anonymity into obscene wealth and power, swaggering around as if he was untouchable, as if he wasn’t a monster but a real man deserving of Charlotte Caissie, didn’t give Savoie the right to pry into his very personal life. Wasn’t it enough that he had Cee Cee’s heart on a plate and Oscar’s devotion as a side dish?
    “Fuck off, Savoie. What happened between me and Cee Cee is none of your damned business.”
    “She told me it was nothing.” Max said smugly.
    “If that’s what she told you, then why ask me?”
    “I just wanted to make sure that that’s how you saw it, too.”
    Babineau wanted to smack that smirk off the bastard’s face, but he wasn’t quite
that
stupid. He settled for a gradual insinuating smile. “What we have is a history together, Savoie. It goes back a long, long way, on a lot of different levels you couldn’t even begin to imagine or understand. That won’t change no matter who she’s sleeping with.”
    Chew on that, you son of a bitch. Hope you choke on it.
    Cee Cee stood at the kitchen window, drying off glasses while keeping an eye on the two men across the street. While appearing cordial, Max had been in her partner’s face from the second they arrived, and she knew Babineau had had about enough of it. Especially on top of everything else recently sprung upon him.
    Men. Geez.
    “Are you sure Ozzy wouldn’t be a bother, staying with you?” Tina asked, interrupting Cee Cee’s thoughts.
    “No way. He’s a great kid. Max is crazy about him. He didn’t have any kind of childhood himself. I think he sees Ozzy as his chance to enjoy those things he missed.”
    Tina looked across the street with a wistful smile. “He and Max get on so well. Like they have some special sort of understanding between them. He nevertook to Alain like that. I don’t know why—they just aren’t on the same wavelength, I guess.”
    Cee Cee glanced at her. Could it be that she still didn’t know?
    Tina caught her look and smiled. Behind the perky exterior, Cee Cee sensed a weariness and worry as the other woman said, “I never got the chance to thank you personally for what you did for Oscar. Alain and I are so incredibly grateful.”
    She shrugged. “All in a day’s work. You had the really tough job.” At Tina’s confused look, she said, “Raising him by yourself for so