Chapter 27

After a long moment, just as I’m about to crack, he lets out a long, low sigh. “Nat Allen,” he drawls. “That stand for what, Nathan? Nathaniel?”

I open my mouth to answer, but he waves the questions aside. “No matter. You’re a good man, you know that, son? Hard worker, from what Chavez says. Never had any trouble with you.”

Before today,I think, almost hearing the words tacked onto the end of the sentence in his voice.

“You’re from where, back east?” he wants to know.

I lean forward and tell him, “Philly, sir. Philadelphia.”

A frown crosses his face. “And your family does what there, exactly?”

“My father’s a dentist,” I say.

Boss Daddy gives me a knowing nod. “Ah, I see. Didn’t want to follow in his footsteps, I take it?”