Page 70 of Mine to Keep
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 theground, 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-Knoxpulled 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.Theyare 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.
twenty-four
alone
The quiet ofthe 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.
