Page 13 of Sawyer (Sabre Security Daddies #6)

S awyer had just settled back on the couch when she spoke. At her words, he bolted to his feet. “Arrested? What the hell?” This was tough. He knew she’d been arrested, but he had to play the part. Even so, the way she spoke so casually jarred him.

Everything in him wanted to gather her up, sit her in his lap, and hug her close. To shield her from the pain of her memories and the danger that might be in her future. Never in his life had he thought about grabbing a mark and leaving. Disappearing into the night, leaving all her problems behind.

The problem was, somewhere in the past few weeks, Lele had stopped being the mark and become his Half-Pint.

But he would never do that to Jaxon. His brother had suffered long enough.

Sabre had been working for six years to reach this point.

And even though he was starting to have serious second thoughts about what they thought had happened, he had to see it through.

“Oh, you know. Same song, second verse," she said in a sing-song voice.

Sawyer did his best not to scowl. Why was she trying to make light of it? That day six years ago might be many things— a young girl’s hoax, a powerful man cleaning up his shit, or a tragedy. The one thing it was not was funny. A man’s life had been destroyed.

Catching his bottom lip between his teeth, he forced himself to calm down. He was close to the truth. He could feel it.

Trying to keep the frustration from his voice, he said, “I’ve never been one to think being arrested was a laughing matter. Now, I want you to tell me what happened without the catchy phrases, little girl. Why were you arrested?”

Lele’s cheek turned bright red. “Sorry, it’s a nervous habit. I don’t like to talk about it.”

“I get that, Half-Pint. It doesn’t sound like a happy memory. But you can’t just drop something like that in the conversation and not explain what happened.”

Nodding, she took a deep breath. “About nine months before I graduated from college, my car, though at the time I didn’t know it was mine, was used to deliver a large amount of fentanyl to the home of an FBI agent who had gone rogue while he was working on a drug trafficking case.”

Sawyer burned to interrupt her and ask questions, but there would be time for that after she got it all out.

“The agent, um, Special Agent Jaxon Ruick, was accused of using the connections he’d made while supposedly trying to help with the War on Drugs to get into the drug trafficking trade himself. The crazy thing was, the prosecutors had pictures of what looked like my car parked in his driveway.

She took a deep, shuddering breath. “It was scary, and hard, and awful. The most awful thing outside the death of my parents that I hope I ever face.”

Lele shrank into herself at the memories, and the need to get her in his lap so he could comfort her grew stronger.

“I had to testify at the trial that I knew for a fact it wasn't my car. The prosecuting team said if I hadn’t driven there, that meant the car could have belonged to the drug traffickers they’d been keeping tabs on.”

“And you’re sure your car never left your drive? Could someone have stolen it to deliver the drugs and then parked it back in the same spot?” So much for holding back his questions.

The color drained from her cheeks, but she shook her head.

“That’s my worst nightmare ever since. But it couldn’t have been my car.

I got a horrible case of food poisoning that weekend.

I had to go to the doctor to get medicine.

I was sick for three days. My house is so small, I could look out of the front window and see my car in the driveway every time I went to the bathroom.

Which was a lot. My car didn’t leave my driveway. Besides, I have the only key.”

“Are you sure someone couldn’t have taken it between the times you got up?”

She shook her head. “Hector came by and checked on me so many times while I was sick. He saw my car in the driveway every time. So, between the times I saw my car and the times Hector saw my car, I swore under oath I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt it was there.”

Even though he knew this story as well as she did, he sat up straighter and frowned. “You swore, under oath, to something you didn’t see? Why would you do that?”

She gave up on holding back the tears. One of the hardest things he’d ever had to watch was the tears streaming down her cheeks. “Hold on a second,” he said. Pushing to his feet, he looked for a box of tissues, eventually settling for a roll of toilet paper.

She blew her nose, then looked around for a place to put the used tissue.

He held out his hand. “Give it to me, Half-Pint.”

At any other time, the look of horror that washed over her face would have made him laugh. When she continued to hesitate, he said. “Now, little girl. One. Two. ”

Immediately, she put the tissues in his hand. Then her mouth dropped open as if her action shocked her. And it was cute as fuck.

Once she was settled back with her stuffie and her blanket wrapped around her, he said, “So, I’m guessing because you believed it was true, and because they told what would happen to their case if you couldn’t say you were one hundred percent certain, you swore your car didn’t leave your driveway.”

“Y-Yes. I told the people under oath that I knew for a fact that my car had never left my driveway.”

“OK,” Sawyer said. “I can see why you would do that. But, fuck, Half-Pint, it makes me angry with those lawyers. Did no one talk to you at the time about perjury? Not even your lawyer?”

Lele startled at his words. Damn it. He needed to keep the anger out of his voice. That wasn’t going to help anything.

Before she could answer him, he crossed to where she sat. “I'm sorry, babygirl. I didn't mean that the way it sounded. I'm not accusing you of intentionally doing anything wrong. I'm angry because the legal counsel you had didn't tell you what you were doing was wrong."

“Tell me it was wrong? No, they were the ones who told me I had to say it. There was a man, a really big, scary man everyone called the General, even though I never saw him in a uniform.”

It took every ounce of self-control and training Sawyer had gone through to keep his face blank.

Her lip trembled again. “I’m sorry, Saul. Do you want to leave? I’ll understand if you do.”

He didn’t answer her at first. Maybe he should, just so he could go back to his house and punch a few holes in the walls.

Lele had been trying to do the right thing.

He’d hack into the video footage at the jail to make sure she was telling him the truth, but he was good at spotting a lie.

When he had himself under control, he said.

“I’m fine, Half-Pint. I want to hear the rest.”

“It doesn’t get better,” she warned. “The General was the worst of all the prosecutors who’d talked to me.

He told me terrible stories about what would happen to the children if they didn’t stop the drugs from getting into the school.

You have to understand, these kids were the younger brothers and sisters of the people I grew up with.

He said, if I didn’t say what he told me to, I was the one killing those children.

That I owed it to everyone to do whatever it took to make sure the FBI agent ended up behind bars.

" Tears brightened her eyes, but she blinked them back. “He said, if I didn’t, my father would be ashamed of me.”

Fucking hell. Sawyer shoved to his feet and paced the room. “That fucking fucker. How does he keep getting elected?”

“I’m so stupid. I hate lying. I never do it. But lying under oath? Yeah. So, so, stupid.”

Oh hell no. There was enough shit coming out of her mouth already.

He wasn’t about to let her get away with that.

He turned to her and glared. "I told you before, do not ever let me hear you say that about yourself again, Half-Pint.

I would like very much to find the General and beat the holy hell out of him.

How the fuck could a man representing the law emotionally blackmail you into lying on the stand? "

"You sound like Hector. Well, at least at first, he was against it. But he changed his mind. In the end, he agreed with the General. I wish he hadn’t because, as it turned out, we were very wrong."

He watched as she braced for his rejection. As she waited for him to march out the door. Rejection was the last thing he had on his mind.

His heart broke for this beautiful Little girl. All she’d wanted to do was keep children safe, and she’d wound up in prison.

“Come here, babygirl.” He took her hands and lifted her off the sofa, pulling her high into the air before settling her on her feet in front of him. The squeal that got him brought his cock to life.

He pulled her closer, until her breast pressed firmly against his chest. Without another thought, his mouth was on her lips.

All the stress of the past week fueled the kiss.

He slid his hands down her back until he reached her spectacular ass.

God, it was the perfect ass. The same as the last time he kissed her, she tasted of strawberries and sunshine.

He lost himself in the kiss, taking his time and enjoying every second.

She was evidently more prepared this time. Without hesitation, she kissed him back. She tugged his head down so she could kiss him harder, grinding her hips against his.

When her phone rang, she stiffened, but he wasn’t anywhere close to done.

He walked her backward until he had her back against the wall.

As soon as she relaxed, he kissed along her jaw, all the way to her delicate ear.

He ran his tongue along the shell and sucked the lobe into his mouth.

He nipped the sensitive flesh and then soothed the bite with his tongue.

She shivered in his arms. His cock pulsed in response.

“Saul,” she moaned, and he had never hated a name more.