The Last Peak (Book 2): The Darwin Collapse Read Online Free

intruded on their private moment.
    “Ewww, gross. Aren’t things bad enough already without you two going max PDA in my face all the time?”
    The other most important person in Mason’s life, his daughter Theresa. Maybe the most important. He and Beth had had conversations over the years about the hierarchy of deepest love and, by mutual and inoffensive consent, they agreed Theresa came first. That was just what being a parent meant.
    She was a carbon copy of his wife in so many ways. Long, wavy black hair framing amber eyes. An easy smile both coming and going. A sharp tongue when the situation suited her. A tenderness forever hidden beneath.
    His heart ached for the world she’d inherited.
    She deserved better.  
    Beth pushed up on her tippy toes while pulling Mason’s head down to hers. She slipped her tongue between his lips and flicked at his teeth until they gave way.
    “NO! NO!” Theresa yelled. “I’m scarred for life. That unholy image is burned into my retinas!” She held her arms out and cast her eyes around the room like a cat following a laser light. “It’s everywhere! Everywhere!”
    Elio Lopez flew into the kitchen and jolted to a stop behind Theresa. He held her shoulders. “Are you okay? What’s wrong?” His eyes darted back and forth from person to person. He narrowed them. “Wait. Am I missing something here?”
    Theresa giggled. “No, nothing you should be subjected to seeing. I just walked in on these two making the kitchen into a love shack. And the kitchen is not where it’s at.”
    Elio scrunched his brows together in confusion.
    Theresa turned to him, “That gives me an idea.” She leaned in to Elio, their lips drawing ever closer.
    Mason’s heart leapt into his throat. He jumped over and lowered a hand between their faces. He eyeballed Elio. “Back up, hero. I’d hate for you to get injured right when you’re getting better.”
    Theresa tried to slap his arm away, but it held firm. “Dad, we weren’t going to actually kiss!”
    Elio’s eyebrows jumped and he stumbled back. “Uhh, no. No, sir. I mean—“
    “Yeah,” Mason said, “I was seventeen once. I know what you mean.”
    Elio shook his head. “It’s not like that, sir. It’s not—“
    Theresa whirled on him, her hands anchored to her hips and a dangerous glint in her eye. “It’s not like that ? So, we’re not like that , huh?”
    She had her mother’s fire. The same ability to flit from humor to anger and back again in heartbeats. It occasionally terrified Mason, but it always captivated him.
    “No, it’s not like that. I mean, yes! Yes, it is with us!”
    Mason’s mood darkened. “So it is?”
    Elio looked between Mason and Theresa, caught in a trap from which he couldn’t escape.
    Beth cut smoothly between the opposing forces and swept her arm around Elio and led him away. “Come help set the table while her father adjusts to his daughter’s growing independence.”
    “Yes, ma’am,” he said with clear relief in his voice as they disappeared into the dining room.
    “Dad,” Theresa said, “don’t scare him.”
    Mason shrugged. “Isn’t that my job?”
    Theresa arched a brow at him. “I thought you were a bodyguard.”
    “I am.”

CHAPTER FIVE

    The sizes of the portions on each plate were exacting and unavoidably meager. Mason ensured that each plate got a cup of Cajun rice and beans, a slice of bread, and a slice of apple. His mouth watered tasting the spicy scent in the air. His belly grumbled. It would get one of the plates even though three or four were needed. He surveyed each one and shook his head. This was going to be considered feast before too long.
    Theresa had left to go check on her blossoming love interest. His mind almost gagged on the words. She was fifteen. That was too young. Back when she was five, fifteen had seemed like a reasonable age to start this kind of thing. But now?
    No. Too soon. Way too soon.
    Maybe the lack of calories would suppress their teenage