Page 43 of Jager's Prey
It tooksome doing and a few days for me to feel human again and for Jager to get a doctor to look at her shoulder. She hadn’t broken anything but there was some swelling that would take some time to heal. Then there as my leg. My doctor hadn’t been impressed with all the swelling and tenderness of what was left of my leg.
I had to sit through another lecture about how I should be taking better care of myself. I merely nodded as it wasn’t I couldn’t explain to him that I’d been tear-assing around Algeria with Italian mafia thugs shooting at me.
I sighed.
While dealing with all that, we’d put in a requestion to keep Cage with us until alternate arrangements could be made. It took some haggling, but they finally agreed to allow Cage to stay with me.
Well, actually, they agreed to allow him to remain with Jager and I. The thought of him going into the system and getting lost bothered me.
And he would get lost. They weren’t sure what last name he should have—Mencini or Rinaldi. As we were sitting in the office, Cage came up with an idea that he thought would solve things.
“Um—Mack?” Cage’s voice trembled.
“Yeah, Kid?” I replied.
Jager had taken to calling him that and each time she did, a smile would spread his lips. The pride the nickname sent through his eyes always made me happy.
“Do you mind if I took your last name?” Cage asked. “They said if I changed my last name then it would be harder for people to find me—if they come looking.”
“But what about your father’s name?”
“I can’t.” Cage’s voice trembled. “Don’t make me.”
I smiled at him and pulled him into a hug. “I won’t make you. Sure, you can take on Salazaar, but I need you to think about it.”
Cage beamed and turned to the DOD rep. “I’d like to officially change my surname to Salazaar, please. I’m sure about that.”
I smoothed his hair back and nodded when he glanced up at me. With the paperwork submitted so he could have all new identification papers, we walked out with Kujo and Swede flanking us. Jager had taken off to deal with the mole situation and I worried the entire time she was away.
“How about some lunch?” Kujo asked. “My treat.”
“Cage likes burgers.” I pointed out. “Know where we can get a good one?”
Swede smirked. “Leave it to me.”
We hung out with Kujo and Swede for a bit. Montana and one other protector they called Reaper popped in until Jager called to check in with me.
I excused myself and Cage and I drove back to my place where Jager was in the shower. With Cage off to his room, I wandered up the stairs, closed the bedroom door and entered the bathroom. I didn’t ask her permission—I simply stripped down and climbed into the tub behind her.
“Hi.” I sighed, snaking my arms around her from behind.
Jager moaned. “Hi—”
Taking her shoulders, I turned her around so I could see her face. I pulled her toward me, causing the water to beat against her back.
“Here’s what I’ve been thinking, Arin Chioma.” I framed her face. “I’d like to take you out on a date. Tomorrow at about seven.”
“A date?” Jager tangled her arms around my neck and leaned back just a little. “As in, a nice dinner?”
“I’m not sure yet.” I admitted. “But I’d like to take you out—I want to prove to you that I’m serious about building something together.”
“Before you say that.” Jager exhaled and dropped her hands to her side. “I’ve been thinking of adoption Cage.”
I tilted my head.
“You didn’t sign up for a kid.” She told me. “Buy I felt I needed to tell you that before you invest time into a relationship with me. He’s a good kid and doesn’t deserve to be put into the system. He’s an older teen—they aren’t easy to find homes for.”
“And you think I won’t want to date you because you’re a single mother?”
