Chapter One
Twenty Years Ago
“Promise me we’ll always be best friends, Peter,” Luka asked as they sat in the treehouse in Peter’s back yard. They were eight years old and had been friends since forever.
“Of course we will, we pinky sweared on it. If you break that, then...” Peter trailed off with a look of horror.
“What?” Luka jumped up on his knees and shuffled closer.
“Then something bad will happen, like when Kayleigh catches us as recess,” Peter said, face contorting in disgust and fear.
Luka shuddered at the thought. He hated Kayleigh—she chased them, and if she caught them she’d kiss them and say they would have to marry her. Ewww. Like they’d ever want to marry her. She never shared the colors in Art period.
“Come on, my mom’s making cookies,” Peter said, leading the way down the ladder.
Luka followed, as he always did. If Peter said they were going to be best friends forever, then that’s what they were going to be. Not even their parents could make his friend do something he didn’t want to do.
Present Day
“I don’t care what you have to do, Kelly, I need a babysitter here in the next ten minutes,” Peter Sutcliff said through gritted teeth. His secretary and personal assistant was usually spot-on with anything to do with organization, but lately she seemed more interested in trying to get him into bed.
The ink on his divorce papers wasn’t even dry yet.
“I’m really sorry, Mr. Sutcliff, I thought I’d booked your regular one. I swear it won’t happen again,”
“No, it won’t, because if it does, then I’m sorry, but you’ll have to choose between being transferred elsewhere in the company or finding another place of employment,” he said regretfully.
Kelly went pale and shuffled the papers on the desk, and he could practically see her reaching for any kind of excuse. “Mr. Sutcliff—”
“No, Kelly. I asked you on three separate occasions to double check the babysitter since my regular left for college. You offered to do it, and I trusted you with it. I’m now going to have to take Loukas with me because there's no way I can get a sitter this short notice. Please don’t let me down again.”
Kelly had been with him for a few years, and he wouldn’t enjoy asking her to leave. But tonight was the Christmas function for all the higher-ups in the law company he worked for. It was a big damn deal, and he had something to prove after winning the promotion to his current position over more senior people in the firm. And this was the first year he’d been invited to play with the big boys, so to speak.
Of course, it was also the year his wife had left him for an exotic dancer and signed over all rights to their eleven-month-old son. Their son she signed over without so much as a blink, but the prenuptial agreement she fought for three months.
Talk about priorities.
Thank god she hadn’t thought about blackmailing him for custody of Loukas until after she’d signed. By then she didn’t have a legal leg to stand on, so she just ran off with her toy boy, taking everything from the house that wasn’t nailed down.
She’d even taken the ice-trays and refrigerator shelves.
Who the hell takes ice-trays and refrigerator shelves?
Peter wasn’t about to leave his baby with someone he hadn’t met before, and he hadn’t had time to interview for a new nanny.
So he really had no other option than to take Loukas with him. The event was supposed to be held at the old theater, with a performance from the famous pirate show , whatever that was about. Hopefully he’d be able to lay low in the back or something, and get that Peppa Pig crap on his phone to distract Loukas from fussing.
Peter loved his son more than anything else in his world, but that pig was the bane of his existence. He’d even had a dream the damn thing crawled out of the TV and beat him with a bucket and spade from the beach episode.
Grabbing the baby bag off his desk,
Twenty Years Ago
“Promise me we’ll always be best friends, Peter,” Luka asked as they sat in the treehouse in Peter’s back yard. They were eight years old and had been friends since forever.
“Of course we will, we pinky sweared on it. If you break that, then...” Peter trailed off with a look of horror.
“What?” Luka jumped up on his knees and shuffled closer.
“Then something bad will happen, like when Kayleigh catches us as recess,” Peter said, face contorting in disgust and fear.
Luka shuddered at the thought. He hated Kayleigh—she chased them, and if she caught them she’d kiss them and say they would have to marry her. Ewww. Like they’d ever want to marry her. She never shared the colors in Art period.
“Come on, my mom’s making cookies,” Peter said, leading the way down the ladder.
Luka followed, as he always did. If Peter said they were going to be best friends forever, then that’s what they were going to be. Not even their parents could make his friend do something he didn’t want to do.
Present Day
“I don’t care what you have to do, Kelly, I need a babysitter here in the next ten minutes,” Peter Sutcliff said through gritted teeth. His secretary and personal assistant was usually spot-on with anything to do with organization, but lately she seemed more interested in trying to get him into bed.
The ink on his divorce papers wasn’t even dry yet.
“I’m really sorry, Mr. Sutcliff, I thought I’d booked your regular one. I swear it won’t happen again,”
“No, it won’t, because if it does, then I’m sorry, but you’ll have to choose between being transferred elsewhere in the company or finding another place of employment,” he said regretfully.
Kelly went pale and shuffled the papers on the desk, and he could practically see her reaching for any kind of excuse. “Mr. Sutcliff—”
“No, Kelly. I asked you on three separate occasions to double check the babysitter since my regular left for college. You offered to do it, and I trusted you with it. I’m now going to have to take Loukas with me because there's no way I can get a sitter this short notice. Please don’t let me down again.”
Kelly had been with him for a few years, and he wouldn’t enjoy asking her to leave. But tonight was the Christmas function for all the higher-ups in the law company he worked for. It was a big damn deal, and he had something to prove after winning the promotion to his current position over more senior people in the firm. And this was the first year he’d been invited to play with the big boys, so to speak.
Of course, it was also the year his wife had left him for an exotic dancer and signed over all rights to their eleven-month-old son. Their son she signed over without so much as a blink, but the prenuptial agreement she fought for three months.
Talk about priorities.
Thank god she hadn’t thought about blackmailing him for custody of Loukas until after she’d signed. By then she didn’t have a legal leg to stand on, so she just ran off with her toy boy, taking everything from the house that wasn’t nailed down.
She’d even taken the ice-trays and refrigerator shelves.
Who the hell takes ice-trays and refrigerator shelves?
Peter wasn’t about to leave his baby with someone he hadn’t met before, and he hadn’t had time to interview for a new nanny.
So he really had no other option than to take Loukas with him. The event was supposed to be held at the old theater, with a performance from the famous pirate show , whatever that was about. Hopefully he’d be able to lay low in the back or something, and get that Peppa Pig crap on his phone to distract Loukas from fussing.
Peter loved his son more than anything else in his world, but that pig was the bane of his existence. He’d even had a dream the damn thing crawled out of the TV and beat him with a bucket and spade from the beach episode.
Grabbing the baby bag off his desk,
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