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FOUR

PAUL

“U ncle Paul?” Easton tugged at my shirt, and I moved my attention from Olivia’s soccer game to where her brother peered up at me. “I need to pee.” He shifted from foot to foot.

“Hey, buddy, I can take you.” Savi started to stand, but I held up a hand. “I got it.” I lifted Easton up like he was a football and tickled him as we raced off.

“Uncle Paul,” his laughter rang out, and it made me laugh harder, “I’m going to pee!”

I spun him around before I set him on his feet and watched as his body dipped to the side. “You need to lay off the juice, my friend. You’re starting to walk like your mama after a few glasses of wine.”

“Huh?” He looked confused, and I shook my head.

“Never mind.” I chuckled and opened the door to the diner across the street from the field. I tugged off my ball hat when a hostess greeted us with a friendly smile.

“Well, hello, there. Table for two?”

“We need to use the restroom please.” I placed both hands on Easton’s shoulders to show it was for him.

She scrunched up her nose. “Sorry, it’s only for customers, but there are restrooms just down the street.

” I looked out the window and wondered how far down they were.

I wasn’t familiar with this town. It wasn’t often Cole let Olivia participate in the away games, but he figured since we traveled to North Dakota so often and Mark had a shipment to pick up that we could attend this one.

The fact that Olivia was beside herself excited made it doubly worth it.

I bent down to Easton’s ear and pointed to the picture of the chocolate milkshake. “I won’t tell Mom if you don’t.”

“Tell mom what?” He grinned, and I nodded for the hostess to seat us.

Once Easton saw where our table was, we hurried off to the restroom.

I checked to make sure the coast was clear and gave him a fist bump as I left.

He was old enough that I didn’t feel he needed me to wait.

The kid was at that age where he wanted to do things himself, and I fully embraced that as an uncle.

Still, I kept one eye on the entrance and another on the side exit.

I picked up the menu and eyed the cheeseburger. It looked good in the picture, and I was suddenly hungry. I wondered if I should eat something, since we were to head straight home after this.

“What can I get for you, darlin’?” The waitress held up her notebook.

“Chocolate shake, cheeseburger and extra fries, please.” I knew the little bugger would home in on my fries, so I made a defensive move.

“Coming up.” She left, and I pulled out my phone to check in on my team.

They were keeping an eye on Jerry Canos’ compound in case some new activity started.

There was a lot of unrest in that area of Mexico, and now that we pretty much knew Bruno was alive, I was damn nervous about what that might mean for us.

The waitress set the food in front of me, and I smiled, unsure I wanted to eat something made that quickly.

I didn’t think much more of it and went back to my phone.

So many emails had come in from Frank. He wanted me to show off my new drone at a conference next month.

My answer was always the same. No. I wasn’t about to share my technology just so some government department geek could make their own version and cash in on it.

My stuff was strictly for our teams to help save innocent people, and no one else.

Easton slid into the booth. “Feel better, little man?”

“Yup.” He grinned and reached for my fries.

“Whoa, you wash those mitts?” I eyed his hands. At his enthusiastic nod I let him go at them. I heard the door of the diner open.

“No, thank you, miss. I’m meeting someone.” That voice made my head shoot up and I instantly scanned the room. What the…

“Mr. Gates? What on Earth brings you here?” Something was seriously off. How the hell did he find me?

“Relax. Mike told me you were here.”

“Why would he do that? How would he even know I was here?” He didn’t answer that but glanced at Easton and head pointed for him to move over in the booth so he could join us. The look on Easton’s face almost made me laugh.

Grim Gates was covered nearly head to toe in tattoos. Not like his Uncle Mike’s, whose were all colorful. No, Grim’s were black, gray, and white. Plus, Grim had this whole mafia feel going on and carried himself with a level of power that would make most people uncomfortable, let alone a child.

“It’s okay,” I assured Easton as he crawled under the table to sit next to me. His hand clamped down on mine, and I gave him a light squeeze to show it was okay.

“Hello, there.” Grim, to my surprise, gave Easton his attention. I knew he’d recently become a new father himself. “I’m Grim.” He held out a hand, and Easton looked at me. I gave a nod to shake it.

“Your hand’s like a drawing.” Easton admired it as they shook. “Uncle Mike has color in his. Why don’t you?”

Grim gave him a lopsided smile. “I don’t have a lot of room for color.”

“Hmm.” Easton shrugged and instantly relaxed. He dipped one of my fries into the whipped cream on top of his milkshake and became absorbed in the food. Grim turned back to me.

“I have my contacts, and I used them because I needed to speak with you. It’s not something I wanted to talk about over the phone, and I’ve no idea where you live, so it was my only option.

” He paused, and his upper lip curled a little with distaste as he glanced around.

“So here I am in Sunny Ridge, North Dakota.” He lifted the edge of the sticky menu with the tip of his finger and then nudged the napkin wrapped fork and knife slightly toward the middle of the table. “Lucky me.”

I’d run into Grim Gates off and on over the years, and we had a little history, but I’d never been able to get a good read on the man.

However, he’d helped me out of a very difficult situation once back in Mexico, and I knew I could trust him.

The fact Mike, one of my brothers, had told him where I was spoke volumes.

I still had a lot of questions, but curiosity as to why he wanted to talk to me made me put my concern of how he found me aside.

I handed Easton my phone with a wink and opened it to a game I knew he loved but knew his dad didn’t approve of. He grinned and began to play.

“All right, Grim, what’s so important that you came all the way here from your fancy hotel in Vegas to tell me?” He glanced at Easton then back at me. I nodded and knew the boy would be checked out for the most part.

He reached into his breast pocket, pulled out a white envelope, and slid it across the table to me.

“I was asked to give you this. You can read it later.” He shifted in the booth and unbuttoned his vest. “Look, Paul, I know you thought Talya and I dated back then, but like I explained to you before, we were merely friends with a common goal, that of deceiving her parents.” I was instantly uncomfortable with the mention of her name.

“She needed me as a buffer, and I needed the in with Jerry and Elva. She was in love with you.”

“That was a different life, Grim.” I hated that her name pricked at my armor. “She’s not a part of my life now. It’s easier to pretend she’s gone.”

“Yes, well, that’s why I’m here.” He cleared his throat as if what he was about to share was hard for him too. “The night my brother was killed in New Orleans, Talya came to see me.” He gave a glance at my face, and my skin grew cold. “She told me that she needed to get away from her parents.”

“That shouldn’t surprise you, Grim. We both know she didn’t agree with the business they were in.” He nodded and tilted his head at me.

“Shall I continue?”

“Okay, sorry.”

“She went to stay with her cousin, then her best friend in Mexico City, but later they moved to Campeche. They had to keep their whereabouts quiet, given…” His voice trailed off as someone came into the diner. We waited a beat, but it was just a mom and child, so we both relaxed.

“Why was she keeping her whereabouts hidden?” I prompted Grim to go on.

“Because she was pregnant.” His face was neutral as I stared into his dark eyes. “She was pregnant with your baby, Paul.” He used my real name, and that got my attention.

“Ahh.” I couldn’t speak. I was too busy doing the math on how that could be. Fuck, the last time I saw her…Oh, my God. I covered my mouth as everything hit me. “I need to see her.”

“You can’t.”

“Who the hell are you to tell me I can’t see her?” Anger pushed through my shock. “Give me her address.”

“Uncle Paul, is everything okay?” Easton looked concerned.

“It’s okay, son.” Grim smiled at him. “Your uncle just doesn’t understand something.” Easton looked at me again, and I pulled myself together and gave him a reassuring look.

“Paul,” Grim said quietly as he pointed to the letter, “I had made a promise that night I saw her in New Orleans, that if anything happened to her, I’d give you this.

” He pushed the letter closer to me. “All I know is that she was keeping the baby hidden from her family, because she didn’t want it raised in the Cartel life.

She did it so someday you could be part of the child’s life, and not as enemies. ”

“Wait a minute.” I looked at him hard as something he said clicked. “You said if anything ever happened to her. Is Talya in some kind of trouble?” He puffed out his cheeks and slowly let out a breath.

“Talya’s dead, Paul,” he said with a quick glance at Easton, who was busy with the game.

The blood from my head drained into my stomach and threatened to make me pass out.

“I don’t know much, but I can tell you what I heard from Chili when I called him this morning.

” I blinked a few times and couldn’t believe what was happening or that he and Chili, my old undercover friend, had spoken.

“Jerry knows about the baby, but so do some other very powerful people. That child is going to be used as a bargaining chip for power, and then…” He looked away but continued.

“Talya was a dear friend, so if you need anything,” he dropped his card on the envelope, “call me.”

“I, ahh—” I couldn’t form a sentence.

“Just so the lines are clear, I’m not doing it for you.

I’m doing it for her.” He stood and looked down at me as my world spun off its axis.

“Her father’s desperate to find his grandson, so much, in fact,” he ran his thumb along his bottom lip with a small hiss, “he had the nerve to ask me for help, and Jerry Canos never asks anyone for help. He even tried to push a million-dollar reward at me.”

I pulled in my chin and thought how crazy that was when you considered it was Jerry Canos who tried to burn down Grim’s hotel not long ago.

“Disgraceful,” Grim muttered, more to himself, then looked at me. “They have a two-day head start on you. I suggest you read the letter then haul ass.”

I looked down at the letter then back at him as he turned to walk away. “Grim,” I called, and he looked back at me, “boy or girl?”

He cut his eyes to Easton then back at me, and I nodded. “Be careful.”

I have a son.

In a foggy state of mind, I tucked the letter in my pocket, paid the bill, and Easton and I left to find the others.

Cole was packing up the SUV, and I could see his sore arm still slowed him down some. Savannah handed out snacks to the players. “We won, three to one. Where were you guys?”

“We got milkshakes and fries,” Easton called as he raced to tell his mother.

“Cole,” my voice was low and cold, “I, ah, I think I may need your help with something.”

He immediately called Mark to take over. “Let’s go chat over there.” He pointed to a bench just off the playground. We walked in silence while I tried to pull my head together then took a seat on the snot-infested wooden bench.

“I’m not one for beating around the bush, so I’m going to lay it all out for you.” I pulled out the unopened letter. “Grim Gates just found me.” I pointed in the direction we’d just come from.

“As in here, here?”

“Yes.”

“Shit, I guess that’s what Mike was calling about. I missed the call.”

I took a deep breath. “I think I know what Jerry Canos’ men were freaking out over.”

“Really?”

“Talya went to see Grim a while back because she was leaving her parents’ business to go raise her child away from the Cartel life.”

“Talya Canos has a child?” He seemed just as confused as I was.

“Did. I guess she was killed.” I blinked away how much that hurt. “And, well, it turns out that baby is mine.” I watched as he absorbed the information. “Yeah, that was my face too.”

“Holy shit, Paul.” He shook his head. “I’m sorry about Talya, but holy shit.”

I nodded repeatedly. “So, as you’re digesting that, here’s something else.

The word is out about him, and now my son is most likely the youngest child ever to be at the top of the Cartel’s most wanted list. They’ll use my kid as a bargaining chip.

” I wiped the sweat off my forehead. “Cole, if those monsters get their hands on him… Oh, my God. And if Jerry and Elva get him, I’ll never have a relationship with him. ”

Cole rubbed his face and let out a long breath. “How old is he?”

“One and a half, maybe two? My head’s too foggy to work out the math.”

“Young enough not to be swayed in any direction.” Thankfully, Cole’s brain was already working out details. “All right, we’ve been under the clock before. We can do it again. Let’s get back to the house and figure this all out.”

“Cole,” I knew it was a big favor to ask, but he knew I’d go there, “when we do this, I want to be part of it, and I don’t mean the drone.”

He saw Savannah watching us. “Let’s talk at home and work everything out with the others.”

“Yeah.” It was all I could manage to say. We stood, and he turned to look at me straight on and put his hands on my shoulders.

“For just a second, clear your head of everything and really hear me when I say this.” I nodded. “You’re a father, Paul.”

“Seems that way.”

“You’re one of us now.” He laughed and clapped me on the back. “Listen, man, we’re gonna get your son home safe and sound so you can raise him on the right side. It's really amazing that Talya did that for both of you.”

He was right. I could fall apart over Talya later. Right now, I needed to get to my son.