Page 37 of Mine to Keep (Bloody Desires #10)

twenty-three

we good?

Olivia and I would have talked long into the night, but I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I felt tired and wrung out, so I went into the room and climbed between my boys, pulling them close so I could feel their warmth.

I smile as they turn into me, both of them cuddling close. Kissing each of their foreheads in turn, I whisper, “I love you.”

The words feel foreign on my tongue, since I haven’t uttered them in years, and I’ve never said them to anyone I was romantically involved with.

A soft voice—Talon’s—whispers, “Love you too, Daddy Koda.” Then he’s back to sleep.

I fall asleep with a smile on my face, though my heart is heavy with worry. For them, for our future. Nothing else matters but keeping them safe.

I’m not sure how long I was asleep, but I’m woken by my ringing phone. I startle, which scares my boys awake as well. I shush them, letting them know it’s my phone, but they both still look frightened. After being run off the road and shot at, I can understand why.

“It’s okay,” I soothe them, kissing them on their foreheads. “Nothing will happen to you here.”

“Are you leaving?” Talon asks as my phone stops ringing. Then it starts ringing again immediately after.

“Nah. I can take the call in here.”

“Okay,” he whispers.

I see it’s Peggy, and answer immediately. “Pegs, do you?—”

“Knox listen to me,” she says quickly and frantically. “There’s someone here. I think The Void sent someone after me.”

My back goes ramrod straight. “How do you know it’s them?”

“I hacked into their system. They got an alert. I found some shit in there that only a few people would know.”

“Did you?—”

“Saved it and sent it to an offshore server they’d never be able to crack.”

“Where are you? I’ll?—”

“Don’t worry about me. I’m leaving. I have alarms that alerted me when they were a mile out.

Gave me enough time to send you an email.

I’ll be underground until they get tired of looking for me.

” A growl leaves my throat. “Don’t worry.

They won’t find me, I promise. You have what you need.

It might be a while before you hear from me again. ”

“Take care of yourself, Pegs.”

“Always, handsome.” Her voice echoes, almost as if she’s in a tunnel. Knowing Peggy, she has some intricate system built at her own place like she does here.

When we got to this safe house, I looked over the schematics, and there’s a warren under the floor; a tunnel that leads to the main road, one that leads to a garage, and one that leads to another safe house three miles away.

I’m not sure why Peggy would have a safe house in a small town outside of Toronto, but I’m glad she did.

“Call me when you’re safe,” I tell her, now worried about if she’ll get away like she says she will. She sounds confident, but The Void has all kinds of ways to find who and what they want.

“You got it, doll.” She hangs up and I stare at my phone for a few beats.

Talon sits up and slides closer to me. “Everything okay?”

My phone beeps, but I ignore it. “Yeah. Just…” I search his face, looking into his curious eyes. “Do you really want to know what’s going on? I don’t want to pull you further into my mess and put you in more danger.”

A sardonic smile crosses his face. “We got shot at last night, Daddy Koda. I don't think it can get much worse than that.”

I nod, figuring he’s right.

I run through what Peggy just told me, including my thoughts of if she's in a tunnel system much like the one that’s under this house. Talon’s eyes grow wide when he learns there is an escape exit, but he keeps quiet while I talk.

“But before she hung up,” I say, holding up my phone, “she sent me the information about the man that shot at us.” I stare at him, then look at Javier, who’s awake, but hasn’t moved from the spot he’s lying in.

“I’m going to kill him for trying to kill me and putting you two in danger. Do you understand?”

Talon and Javier look at each other, fear and apprehension palatable between them. I can almost read their thoughts.

It’s wrong, he can’t kill people.

He already has, what’s the big deal?

What if he gets hurt?

He won’t, he’ll keep us and himself safe.

Sighing with a shake of his head, Talon looks back at me. “Be safe, please. We can’t….we can’t lose you, Daddy.”

My lips tip up at the title. It still makes me happy that they’ll stay with me. “I will, little one. Daddy won’t leave either of you. Ever. You believe me? Javier?”

His lip trembles, though he tries to hide it. “Yes, Daddy Koda.”

I lean down and kiss him, feeling the quiver of his lips under mine. “Don’t worry, okay?” He nods.

Now that my boys are assured, I hurry and get dressed so I can talk to Olivia about Peggy.

When I exit the room, she’s already in the living room, her tablet open and a jacket on her screen. “Peggy sent me an email.”

“Me too.” I open it on my phone and scan it, then hand my phone to Olivia. She passes me her tablet and I read what she has. “Fuck. Peggy has been hard at work. No wonder The Void sent someone after her.”

“Exactly what I was thinking,” Olivia says, handing me my phone back. “What do you plan on doing about yours?”

“I have his number. I’m going to call him to schedule a meet-up. Last one standing goes home.”

She glances at me with a raised eyebrow. “You think he’ll go for it?”

My mind flashes back to Patience, to how far I was willing to go to get revenge against the men that ruined her, that made her life hell, that took her away from me. “Yeah, he will. He's got nothing to lose now.”

“You’ll be in for the fight of your life.”

“When am I not?”

She smirks and nods. “Okay, but what about this?” She flips her tablet over to me again. “Wanna split it?”

I chuckle. “Yeah, it’s been a while since we did a job together. One more for the road.”

Olivia looks at me with an expression I’ve never seen cross her face before: worry. “You think Peggy is okay?”

“If anyone knows how to survive, it’s Peggy. I mean, look at this place. She’ll be fine. She’s smart.” I try to infuse as much conviction in my voice as I can, so hopefully I’ll believe it too.

The two of us discuss where we’ll meet Skylar and what I should anticipate when I do. He’s fighting to put me in the ground, to avenge his wife. I’m fighting to make sure my boys are safe so I can spend the rest of my life with them. We’ll see who wants it more.

Just as we’re finishing up the last details on the plan, my boys exit the room, looking shy and scared.

Smiling, I stand and pull them into my arms, kissing the tops of their heads in turn. “You okay?” I ask them.

“Good,” Javier says.

“Hungry,” Talon comments.

“Before I feed you, this is Olivia.” I turn them and point to my friend. “Olivia, this is Talon,” I incline my head to him, “and Javier.” I do the same in his direction.

“A pleasure.” She glances between the two of them. “Sorry for pulling a gun on you . I was expecting Knox and saw two men I didn’t know. You understand.”

Talon shakes his head. “Not really, but thanks for the apology. This is all new for us. I’ve never even seen a gun in real life before Ko- Knox pulled one on us at the hotel. I guess it’s like a hitman’s motto? Don’t trust and shoot first? Or something?”

Olivia smiles at him. “Or something.”

I lead my boys into the kitchen and deposit them on the stools. I raid the cabinets and fridge, and manage to come up with eggs, pancakes, and corned beef. It’ll have to do.

As I’m cooking, I come to terms with what I have to do; I have to get Talon and Javier out of here.

I have to make sure they’re safe. Nothing else matters, not killing Skylar, not Peggy’s email to Olivia, and not myself.

They are what matters. And until they’re safe, I’ll just worry.

They can’t be anywhere near me until all this is resolved.

It’ll tear my fucking heart out, but it has to be that way.

But for right now, we can pretend we’re still on vacation. We can pretend that we’re here because we’re on an adventure.

We can pretend until we have to face the real world.