Page 12 of The Hitman
“It’s a little intense,” I agree. “But your uncle clearly cares about you. He knows you miss school, but he has your well-being to consider, and you’ve been through a lot.”
Leo huffs before shutting off the game and tossing it aside. His chin rests on his knees when he brings them to his chest. “That’s the problem. He says he’s doing this because it’s what’s best for me, but all I want is for him to tell me the truth.”
I pause, my gut intuition immediately on alert.
“The truth about what?”
He finally looks at me, eyes too sharp for a kid his age. “What really happened to my mom. He says it was a car accident, but car accidents don’t come with bodyguards, fingerprint locks, and hiding out at the top of a skyscraper.”
Fair point.
“Well, what do you think happened?” I ask, gently probing for more.
What’s going on between them is none of my business, and far above my pay grade, but I can’t help wondering what happened to Leo’s mother myself. Kids are intuitive, and if he’s suspicious, then I want to know why.
“I don’t know what to think...” His jaw tightens. “Uncle Jax is so serious all the time. He won’t let me out of his sight, and no matter how many times I ask about Mom, he never gives me a real answer.”
A painful knot fills my stomach.
Leo’s right, the high security stuff is overkill. But is it enough to question Jaxon about it? It feels wrong to be paranoid when this has been traumatic for them both. More than that, what would I even say? Accusing him of caringtoomuch for his nephew doesn’t exactly make a compelling case.
“That’s a lot to carry around by yourself,” I say after a moment.
His lower lip wobbles for a second before he ducks his chin. “It’s not fair.”
“No, it’s not,” I admit honestly. He doesn’t flinch when I give his arm a comforting squeeze, and I take the win. “But I’ll tellyou what—just because I was hired as your nanny and tutor, doesn’t mean we can’t also be friends.”
“You want to be friends with me?”
“Sure, I do.” I hold a pinky out to him. “And I promise to do everything I can to make our lessons asunboring as possible.”
He studies me like he’s deciding whether I’m worth trusting, then slowly wraps his pinky around mine.
“In fact, why don’t we take today off? You can teach me how to play your GameBoy thingie.”
“It’s a Nintendo Switch,” he corrects me.
My head drops back, all drama. “Oh no. Day one, and I’ve already lost cool points.”
“You did.Bigtime.”
“Well, thank goodness you’re here to keep me hip.” His face brightens when I nudge him.
“No one my age sayship, Callie.”
“You’re right.” I snap my fingers. “That’s it. I’m adding Advanced Cringey Lingo to your weekly curriculum. Lesson one, don’t let me embarrass myself in public, ‘kay?”
We share a laugh as he scoots closer, and when he rests his shoulder against mine, I pretend my heart isn’t detonating behind my ribs.
I may not know if Jaxon’s hiding anything yet, but I know one thing for sure: this kid deserves answers.
And if his uncle won’t give them to him… then I might just have to find them myself.
Chapter Four
Callie
Icrawl my way out from under the blanket fort Leo and I have been working on for the last hour and dust my hands together.
