Page 15 of Echoes and Oaths (Guardian Security Dynasty #4)

J inx held Eira close as her body trembled against him, each sob slicing through him like a thousand knives. He hadn’t known pain like that. Watching the strongest woman he’d ever met unravel in his arms and knowing he was the reason.

When she finally pushed away, wiping at her tear-streaked face, his arms instinctively twitched to pull her back in, but she turned away, her shoulders hunched and tense, her shame thick in the air as if she couldn’t bear to let him see her broken.

As if he hadn’t already seen the cracks he’d put there.

Jinx closed the space between them, the wooden floor of the old barn creaking beneath his boots. He placed both hands gently on her shoulders, feeling the fine tremor in her muscles.

"Will you ever be able to forgive me?" His voice was low, rough, and edged with desperation. It wasn’t a question he wanted to ask, it was one he needed to.

Eira took a shaky breath, her shoulders rising and falling as she let it out in a shuttering sigh. She didn’t look at him when she whispered, "How can I answer that question?"

Slowly, she turned to face him. Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears, her cheeks blotched and wet. The rawness in her expression gutted him.

"When you didn’t come home, I thought you’d died," she said softly. "I grieved you, Mateo. I mourned you like a widow. And then … I found out I was pregnant."

Her voice cracked on the last word, and Jinx felt something sharp and cold wedge into his chest.

"I went through all the emotions again," she continued, her voice brittle. "Damning fate for being so cruel. Cursing myself for not making sure we were more careful. And then cursing myself even more for thinking that. Because if I’d been more careful … I wouldn’t have Teo."

Her gaze dropped, her fingers brushing over the frayed hem of her shirt like she needed something to anchor her.

"It took me months after I found out I was pregnant to come up with a plan," she said. Lifting her chin, she looked around the barn, her eyes lingering on the worn wooden beams, the rusted tools hanging on the wall, the faint shafts of light slanting through the gaps in the planks.

"This place … This was the plan. This was how I was going to survive, how I was going to keep Teo safe. This was going to be my legacy to him."

Her lips parted in a bitter laugh.

"And then Ortega took over."

Jinx’s jaw tightened at the name. A sour taste filled his mouth as he listened.

"It was about nine months ago that everything settled down," Eira continued, her voice turning distant like she was recounting a nightmare. "By then, I had Teo. Ortega brought one of his dogs here. Before he locked himself away like the coward he is. He’s in Montoya’s compound now. He’s untouchable.

Even Simón says he rarely sees the man."

Her fingers curled at her sides, her voice dropping to a whisper.

"But one time was enough for Ortega’s obsession to start again. "

Jinx’s eyes narrowed. His gut twisted.

"Again?" he asked, his voice low and dark.

She nodded, giving him a sad smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

"I went to school with the Ortega boys," she said, her voice turning distant with memory. "That was back when this area was still breathing. When the fields were alive, and the villages bustled. Well … as much as Venezuela could thrive under the weight of corruption."

Her gaze drifted past him toward the green hills rolling beyond the barn, shadowed by the humid haze of the lowland jungle.

"Ortega’s brother was older than us, but those two boys, they always found ways to pick on me, to be near me. My mother used to say boys didn’t know how to tell a girl they liked her. They pulled your hair because they didn’t know how to ask for your heart."

Her lips flattened.

"Well, he knows now."

A pulse of jealousy, hot and unwelcome, flooded Jinx’s veins. He clenched his fists to keep from punching the barn wall.

"Was he ever inappropriate?" His voice was carefully measured, but he couldn’t hide its edge .

Eira glanced up at him and let out a dry, humorless laugh.

"No. The one time Simón was ordered to bring me back to the compound, whether I wanted to or not, was when I told him Teo was your son."

The words slammed into Jinx like a fist to the ribs. His heart stuttered.

"That shocked Simón so much he risked going back to Ortega empty-handed," she said, her gaze locking on his. "Because no one ever saw your body, Mateo. No one knew for sure if you were gone."

The barn felt suddenly colder, the humid air pressing against them, but there was no comfort from the warmth.

"The others, the other enforcers, you remember them. Ortega hunted them down. He made them choose: join his crew or die. Most stayed because they’d followed Montoya and liked the money."

Jinx shook his head, disgust twisting in his gut. "He’s not a leader. He’s weak. He doesn’t command loyalty. How the hell did he rise to power?"

Her lips quirked in a humorless smile. "He’s cruel. Not as cruel as his brother was, but cruel enough. And I knew I'd never leave if I set foot inside that compound. That’s why I told them the truth about Teo. "

Jinx swallowed hard, stepping closer. "I’m glad you did."

Eira’s eyes glimmered with something between sadness and resignation. "Except now it puts us all in danger, doesn’t it?"

He nodded once. "To a degree, yes. They’ll see my love for you and Teo as a weakness they can use against me."

She stepped toward him, her voice sharp with the fear and fury of a mother backed into a corner. "That’s why you want us to leave the country."

Jinx met her gaze, something raw flashing in her eyes. "I want you safe."

"And where would we go, Mateo?" she asked, her voice tight. "What would we do? We’d be in a foreign country without papers, visas, or a way to survive. My government won’t give us the documentation your country needs. You’re here to do this job you told me about.

What happens if you don’t survive?" Her voice broke at the end, a tremor cutting through the steel.

"We’d be alone. Teo and me. In a world that wants to swallow us whole. "

Jinx took her face gently between his hands, forcing her to look at him. "I’d make sure you were taken care of," he said quietly. "No matter what."

The doubt in her eyes was immediate. She stepped back, putting a small distance between them.

Jinx could feel his frustration boiling beneath his skin like lava.

His jaw ticked, and he ran a hand over his neck, trying to control the rising storm inside him.

She didn’t believe him. The frustration wasn’t with her.

It was with the decisions he’d made. If he could turn back time, he would.

But he couldn’t. "I have plenty of money," he said quietly, deliberately, his gaze locked on Eira.

"More than enough for you, Teo, and your mother to live comfortably if I don’t survive this mission.

But I have every intention of surviving.

" His voice softened, but the steel never left it.

"I have every intention of coming back to you. "

Eira folded her arms across her chest and lifted her chin defiantly as the warm Venezuelan breeze stirred her hair.

The humid air pressed heavily against them, thick with the scent of damp earth, sunbaked grass, and cattle.

"And I have every intention of taking care of my mother and my child the way I always have," she replied. "You stand here and tell me you’re about to start a war. But I’ve been surviving through this war my entire adulthood, Mateo. I know the dangers. And now you’re back, you bring another layer of protection, your name.

" Her eyes shimmered with determination.

"Now that you’re back, why would anyone try to harm us? "

The question punched him in the chest because he knew the answer. "Ortega has an army," he said quietly. "The militia in the foothills has another. You’ve lived in this battlefield for too long not to see the cracks forming. Please, Eira, let me send you out of this country."

She shook her head, her arms tightening around herself like armor. "I’ll consider it," she said after a pause. "But it’s only a consideration." Her eyes flicked back to him, sharp and assessing. "The war you’re about to start … when will it happen?"

Jinx shook his head, the shadows shifting across his face as the late afternoon light slanted through the gaps in the barn walls.

"I’m not sure. It could take time. I don’t know the inner workings of Ortega’s cartel anymore.

I don’t know what the militia intends. Everything is a guessing game right now. "

Eira’s gaze didn’t waver. "Then give me time," she said softly but firmly. "Give me the time to adjust to the fact that you’re back. Give me time to know what you’re telling me is the truth."

His brow furrowed. The weight of her words settled heavily between them. "Why would you think I’m not telling you the truth? "

She laughed hollowly and shook her head, her expression crumbling.

"Withholding facts is lying, Mateo," she said, voice sharp as a blade. "You never told me you were an enforcer. You never told me how high up you were in Montoya’s cartel. You didn’t tell me you were a killer. You didn’t tell me you were working for your government. "

“There were things I didn’t tell you to protect you and myself.”

Her eyes locked on his, fierce and wounded all at once. "You lied to me by omission. Why would I think you’re telling me the entirety of the truth now?"