TOTAL ECLIPSE: The Evolution (Sin City Heat Series Book 7) by S. K. Hardy Page A

you?”
     
     
     
     
    Lorenzo’s eyes went to Darrell, grimacing at the timing of his father’s phone call. “You know where I am, Pop.”
    Lorenzo got up and walked a couple of feet away and stood with his back to Darrell and Angel. He was too tired to deal with his father right now. He’d been going almost nonstop for the last week. Fatigue was setting in fast and threatening to knock him on his ass.
    “I take it you found him?”
    Renzo glanced over his shoulder. Just as he expected, Darrell was watching him and listening closely to his end of the conversation. Gone was the brief moment of amusement they’d shared a few seconds ago. In its place was the mistrust he was fast becoming accustomed to seeing on Darrell’s face. 
    “Yes,” he replied in answer to his father’s question. “Pop, listen, let me call you–”
    As if a thought just occurred to him, Isaac cut in and asked, “Is he there with you now?”
    Lorenzo sighed. It was obvious his father was not going to be put off. “Yes. He’s here. We’re both at Angel’s.”
    Darrell took a step forward. “Tell him if he has something he wants to know about me, don’t use you as a go between. He can ask me himself.”
    Lorenzo’s eyebrow shot up, but Darrell refused to back down. A moment later, Isaac’s booming laughter sounded through the phone line. “I take it that’s him? Put the little arrogant bastard on the phone.”
    Surprised at his father’s response, Lorenzo pulled the phone away from his ear and wordlessly held it towards Darrell. His eyes found Angel’s in sudden understanding. Now he knew why Angel had taken the proactive steps to act as a shield between Darrell and his father. Isaac’s temper was legendary. He didn’t tolerate insolence from anyone. From what Renzo had seen so far, Darrell Monroe had no filter. He said what he liked, whenever and to whomever he chose.
    Curious, he tuned into Darrell’s end of the conversation with undisguised interest. Glancing behind him again, he saw that Angel was doing the same.
    “Yeah. Somethin’ you wanted to say to me?” Darrell asked.
    Amusement was still evident in Isaac’s voice. “Hello, Darrell. This is your father.”
    Darrell’s laugh came out rough and forced. “Man, I ain’t got no father.”
    “You most certainly do, no matter what that tramp told you. Besides, how can you trust anything coming from a woman who dumped her child off at an orphanage before continuing her life as if he never existed? You might think you know everything that happened, but you don’t.”
    “I don’t know everything, but I know enough. I know you’re a coward who refused to take care of his responsibilities when it came to my mother.”
    The tension on the other end just about mirrored the tension hovering around the space in Angel’s office.
    When Isaac finally spoke, his voice was low and full of warning. “You need to watch your mouth before it gets you in trouble, boy. I don’t give a damn whose protection you’re under.”
    “Like I told Angel, I can take care of myself. As for Tina, she may be a lot of things but at least she chose not to get rid of me.”
    “And why do you think that was, Darrell? She didn’t do it out of any type of maternal instinct, that’s for damn sure. You were a bargaining chip for her to get what she wanted. Nothing more.”
    Darrell knew that Isaac was fishing for a reaction. He was just as determined not to give him one. “It doesn’t really matter at this point, does it?”
    “That’s where you’re mistaken. What if I told you there was more to the story than the one I’m sure she’s told you and your brother?”
    “You think I’d believe anything you said?” Darrell scoffed.
    “Yet, you seem more than willing to take everything Tina tells you at face value. She wasn’t some poor innocent young girl who I took advantage of, that’s for sure. She knew exactly what she was doing.”
    When Darrell remained silent, Isaac’s laughter