Page 101 of A Captive Situation

He shook his head, his head angling so he could see me better. His hand lifted, cupping the side of my face. His thumb smoothed over my cheek. “I took it as a sign. If this was the sort of shit that could happen to my brother, maybe Tab was right? Ishouldstay away from EJ so this wouldn’t happen to him either.”

I sank back on his legs, catching his hands and holding them in mine. He looked down at them.

I stated, “So you stayed out of your son’s life.”

“I took care of Justin.”

Right. His brother and sister, or his son. “I’m so sorry, Jake.”

“I took Justin away from there. By that time, my uncles were starting to circle us. They wanted me back killing for them, and if I didn’t, they were going to take Justin away too. That’s when I had enough. We moved to the city, and I enrolled in the police academy. We had other family down here. Some were cops. They helped take care of Justin.”

“Did he ever remember anything of what he did?”

He shook his head. “If he did, he never said.”

“And your Mafia family? They left you alone?”

Another harsh-sounding laugh sounded from him. His gaze was fixated on my lips, and he raised a thumb, tracing it over my bottom lip. “No. They wouldn’t totally let us go. I had my mother’s inheritancenow and her shares in our family’s business. It’s a front for the business, but my uncles wanted those shares. I wasn’t about to give them up. I had to give them something so they felt like they could control us.”

“What do you mean?”

“That’s when I became a dirty cop.”

My heart paused, stricken.

He was waiting for my reaction. His hand fell from my mouth.

God. My chest ached at seeing everything that was haunting him. Too many ghosts surrounded him.

He frowned, slightly. “Aren’t you going to say something? Condemn me? Tell me what a piece of shit I am?”

Wordlessly, I shook my head. I saw how he condemned himself. He did it enough for both of us. Reaching for his hand, I took it in mine and held it between both of my hands.

His eyes fell to watch what I was doing.

Softly, gently, I said, “You were between so many walls. Justin. Your sister. Your parents. Your uncles. Tabitha. Your son. It kept squeezing you and squeezing you. You were alone?”

The side of his mouth dipped down. “I had Justin.”

“No. You were caring for, supporting, and protecting Justin. Who was protecting you?”

He swallowed starkly, his Adam’s apple jutting up and down sharply.

This man who was underneath me, who sat between my legs—he’d been just a boy when his world fell apart. He had monsters trying to take away who he loved on all sides. So he reached for what he could to protect himself.

He got a badge.

He rasped out, in a rough confession, “I started taking bribes from Ashton Walden as a way to help protect Justin and myself from my own family. His family was powerful enough to go against mine. Ashton got enjoyment out of taunting my uncles, that he now had me and they didn’t.”

“Wouldn’t it—” I didn’t even like thinking this way, but ... “Why didn’t they have you killed?”

He laughed, softly. “They tried a few times. It never worked, and by then, I was too insulated. By law enforcement and with Ashton’s family. Enough people knew that if something happened to me, who it would’ve been.”

Another piece fit together.

“I just cared that they left Justin alone, which they finally did.”

“He never knew, did he?”

---