Page 38 of Mine to Keep (Bloody Desires #10)

twenty-four

alone

The quiet of the safe house grates on my nerves, the silence too deafening. Already, I miss the nonstop chattering of Talon in my ear and the deep-voiced affectionate words Javier says to him.

But they couldn’t stay here. Every minute Skylar and The Director are alive, they’re in danger. Until I end both of those motherfuckers, my boys can’t be near me.

A sad smile crosses my face as I think about the fight we had about it. I have to remember to give Talon a good spanking for raising his voice at his Daddy when I was only trying to keep them both safe.

I close my eyes and let their pain—and attitudes—wash over me.

“No!” Talon said, standing from the bed. “We’re not leaving you.”

“You have to, little one,” I told him, wrapping my arms around him, though he wiggles out of my embrace. “You have to be?—”

He growled and stomped his foot. “Don’t tell me what I have to do! What about what we have to do?” He pointed between him and Javier. “What if we have to keep you safe too? We can help!”

“You can’t, baby,” I said, using a pet name I never have before, hoping it’ll get through to him. “I’ll just worry that you’re in danger and…I could die. I could get popped, and neither of you would ever be safe.”

Javier’s face paled and he put a hand over his mouth. “Shot?”

“Yes, baby boy. Shot or stabbed or any number of other ways to get me dead.” I looked at Talon, watching the anger bleed from his face.

“Little one, I’m not sending you away because I don’t want you anymore.

” When I wrapped my arms around him that time, he allowed me to hold him.

“I will come for you. For both of you.” I looked at Javier, beckoning him over.

He hurried over to us and I included him in the hug, kissing them both on top of their heads.

“Daddy won’t leave his boys. Ever. I have two more jobs, then I’m done and I’ll be all yours. ”

“Forever?” Talon asked, his wet eyes imploring me to say yes.

“For always,” I promised, kissing them both to seal the deal.

I took their hands and we sat on the bed. “I promise I’ll come back to you both, and we’ll go wherever you want to go.”

“Back to Puerto Rico?” Javier asked.

“Anywhere, baby boy.”

“Can I still go to college?” Talon asked.

“You can do whatever you want, little one. Anything. I’ll take care of you both. I promise.” I kiss them both long and deep, wanting them to feel that I won’t break my promise to them. “Now pack up and meet me in the living room in fifteen minutes, okay?”

Talon jolted. “We’re leaving now?”

“As soon as I talk to Olivia, yeah.”

Javier leaned his head on my shoulder. “We’ll be safe with her?”

“As safe as you are with me. She’ll protect you. She’s almost as good at her job as I am.” I smiled briefly to set them at ease. “Get packed, okay?”

I kissed them once more, then headed to the living room.

Olivia glanced up at me, but went back to cleaning her gun.

I sat beside her on the couch. “I need you to get them out of here.”

“Way ahead of you,” she said and nodded her head to the tablet in front of her. On the screen was a receipt for three plane tickets to JFK International Airport.

“You plan to stay in New York?” I asked.

“Nope.”

“Good. Don’t tell me where you’re going.”

She looked at me then, staring deeply into my eyes.

“I’ll take care of your boys, Knox. I swear on my life.

My Mommy isn’t happy that I’m taking off when I’m supposed to be retired, but she’s allowing me to do this one favor for you.

And the one for Peggy. She said I better be done or she’s going to spank my ass red. ”

My hand twitched, wanting to get my hand on my little one for shouting at me. As soon as I met back up with them, he had a spanking with his name on it.

“After our job for Peggy,” I said, leaning back on the couch, “I’m out too. So tell your Mommy I won’t call on you again.”

She nodded and finished cleaning her gun.

Fifteen minutes later, Talon and Javier came trudging into the room, eyes puffy and red-faced. Javier tried to hide it, but his eyes were just as red as Talon’s.

My heart clenched as I stood from the couch. “My boys,” I breathed, wrapping my arms around them both. “You’ll be safe and I’ll come for you. Then I’ll never let you go. You’ll both get sick of me.”

“Never,” Javier croaked, hugging me tight. Talon’s small arms joined in, cocooning me in so much love that I almost choked on it.

I can still feel the ghost of their arms around me as I sit in the safe house alone. My heart hurts, each thump reminding me of how much I miss my boys. But I need to end this. As soon as I do, I’m holding them tight and never letting them go.

Pulling in a deep breath and blowing it out slowly, I pluck my phone from the table and dial the number Peggy found for me.

It rings twice before a deep voice says, “Who the fuck is this?”

A growl percolates up my throat, hearing his voice pissing me off more because he’s the reason I had to send my boys away. “Skylar. You’re still alive. Thought I plugged you with at least two rounds.”

I can practically hear the tension rolling through the phone. “Viper.”

“The one and only.”

“Where are you?”

I bark a humorless laugh. “You’d like to know huh, bitch?” He snarls. “We need to meet. There’s a place?—”

“How do I know it’s not a trick?” he asks.

“Don’t fucking interrupt me.” I say in a deadly quiet voice. “Let’s meet so we can finish this. You and me, one on one. You want to kill me for killing your clumsy-ass wife, and you shot at my boys, so I want you six feet under.”

“After I kill you,” he says in a hard voice, “I’m going to kill them. I want you to know that now. I want you to know that you couldn’t keep them safe.”

I chuckle, though my blood boils. “Like you couldn’t keep your bitch safe?”

“Do not disrespect my wife like that!”

“Fuck you and your wife. I’ll send you the coordinates to meet me. Come alone, Skylar. Let’s finish this, you and me. Tomorrow night. Understand?”

“I’ll see you there.”

After I hang up, I send him the coordinates. Then I smash the phone, tossing it across the room into the garbage can.

Between now and tomorrow, I need to come up with a plan. I know I won’t come out of our fight completely unscathed, but I’ll put Skylar in the fucking ground.