His Reluctant Savior (The District #3)

25. Chapter 25

It was nearing one in the morning by the time we dragged our exhausted bodies back to the hotel. Well, I was exhausted, in pain, and overly emotional.

Sid laid a sleeping Owen down in the bed as I gently pulled the covers over him and tucked Danny in with him. He instantly rolled over, hugging his dino tighter.

He looked so peaceful and innocent; like nothing had harmed or traumatized him. I sat on the edge of the bed and ran gentle fingers through his strawberry-blond hair, wishing I had a do-over. Owen didn’t deserve this. Hell, no child deserved to be hurt, even teens like Sid, who hid their suffering behind bullying.

Once life returned to normal, if it ever did, I’d have to find a good therapist for Owen. He was still young, and eventually, all the scary things he’d seen would be like a hazy dream. Even if his trauma was blocked, it could still have a profound effect on him and his life, affecting his mental health.

“Thank you for coming to get us,” I whispered, not taking my eyes off my son, but I could feel Sid behind me.

“You knew I would. I’ll always be there when you need me.”

I stood, faced him, and wrapped my arms around myself, looking at this man I’d fallen for, which also terrified me. “What if I need you tomorrow and the next day? Instead, you’re leaving to go back into the viper’s nest. What if… they take you away from me?”

He chuckled humorlessly. “You forget that I’m a viper, too.”

“This isn’t the time for jokes, Sid,” I hissed under my breath, glaring at him.

“Who’s joking? Seriously, Dalt… I need to do this. We can’t run forever. Someone will catch up with us, eventually. If not the people hunting you, it will be my family.”

He stepped up to me, grabbed my hand, and tugged me against him. I didn’t fight him as I slipped my arms around him and rested my head on his shoulder made of granite.

Sid held me tightly as if I would slip away from him, but then he gently eased me back by my shoulders, unable to look at me, before sighing. “I can’t do this, Boy Scout.”

I held tightly onto his forearms. “What do you mean?” When he didn’t answer, I gripped him tighter. “What. Do. You. Mean? ”

“You almost died because of my failings. I’ve been questioning everything I am and what I do… all my mistakes since I took on this job. If we continue as we are… you’re going to die, or… Owen is. I’ve made too many mistakes. You and Easton are right. I’m too damn distracted. This situation has gone beyond being personal. I’ll still protect you, but…”

He shook his head and pushed me back, but I refused to let go of him. “No, you saved us! Several times!” I snapped, desperate for him to listen. He couldn’t do this to me. Not now. Fuck if I’d let him leave me behind.

When he still wouldn’t look at me, I tugged on his hand and pulled him outside to talk freely because he was about to get a fucking earful.

The evening was cool, so I wrapped my arms around myself and shivered.

Sid pulled me against him again to keep me warm, thank god. I needed his touch. No way was I going to let him push me away. Not now. Not… ever.

“The bastard who hurt you was right about one thing…” He sighed and kissed my bruised head.

“Right about what?”

“Loving someone is a liability. Not just to me, but to you and Owen.”

“He’s an idiot. Love makes you stronger. Love makes you fight harder. Love will push you to your max. Love helps give us a reason to survive and to keep moving.”

“And love will fucking destroy me if you’re taken from me because of what I do, Dalt. It’s a risk I’m not sure I can take. Let’s say we make a go of this thing growing between us, that you’re willing to put aside your code of life and come to work at The District… There may be a time when someone finds you and knows of our special connection. They’ll hurt you just to hurt me. I’m not sure if those are consequences I can live with.”

It was definitely a risk, but I was more at risk than ever without him. Even if things worked out, there would always be doubts among the people I worked with. There could be other politicians who wanted to silence me, knowing what I was capable of.

I sagged against Sid and gripped the back of his shirt. “There’s no going back, baby. I’ll always be a liability to the government. Who knows what stories have been told about me? What if they always hunt me? What if they find a way to turn me into a criminal and take my son from me? Anything can happen, even with you stepping aside. No matter what, my old life is over, and I’ve got to come to terms with that. Owen and I will be the safest with you. I know you will do whatever it takes to protect us because you’ve already done it. Don’t push me away. It won’t save me. Beyond all that, I need you, too. I want you.”

“We don’t know that. We don’t know shit until all this gets cleared up. If we do this right, you can get your job back, and life will return to normal.”

I looked at him and pulled his face to meet my eyes. “Exactly. We don’t know shit. Still, you and I both know I can never trust the people I work for again.”

He rested his forehead against mine. “And what if I can’t save you from my own family?”

“You can. Do you know why?”

Sid shook his head, still fighting this.

“Because I’m coming in with you. I’ll work with you. ”

He shook his head again and tried to push me away. “No. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but no… You’ll lose a part of yourself… the part I actually love about you the most. I’ve always been drawn to your goodness.”

“If I do this—”

“You aren’t doing this.”

“If I do this, changes will need to be made.”

He stopped trying to push me away and finally met my eyes. “What do you mean?”

“We’re not going to kill all… willy nilly. You can’t just kill innocent people just because you get paid enough. Make The District the outlier. You all already stand out with your queer members. Be the organization, which still does what it does, but it now takes out the bad guy—the man who fucking gets away with everything because he’s wealthy or has connections. Take out a leader of a sex trafficking ring. Make the world better while hidden in the shadows. There are plenty of other organizations that kill for profit. Be different. Be better.” I gripped his doubting face. “I wouldn’t even suggest this if you didn’t give a shit about how I live my life. But you do . Somewhere deep inside this killer’s heart and mind is a boy who wishes he had a different life. A boy who could have had a different life had he not been surrounded by evil. I would never ask you to change who you are. I’ve accepted that already. All I’m asking is that if you’re going to do this, make a fucking difference in the world.”

“How will it help? My family won’t go for it.”

“They will. Not only will it reduce competition, keeping Owen and me safe, at least from other syndicates, but your family won’t want to pass up a real live FBI analyst on their team, someone who has inside knowledge. But I’m not going to do jobs that kill anyone innocent. The District will need to be reworked. You’re going to have to do thorough investigations into your clients. Sometimes the clients are worse than those they wish to eliminate. Protecting their privacy is one thing, but you need to protect yourselves. You all not investigating clients is what got you into the mess in the first place.”

Sid huffed a humorless laugh. “Mess? But I wouldn’t have found you had we not accepted this job.”

“Well, I’ll give you that. But really, knowing who is handling the money is vital. When you want to reach the top of the bad guy chain, always follow the money. This will allow you all to take on more worthwhile jobs. Jobs where we know damn well the justice system has failed us.”

Sid rested a hand on my cheek. “See, you’re already changing. You’re starting to sound like me.”

I placed my hand on his. “You weren’t wrong. Too many leaders get away with things that everyone else would end up in prison over. If this situation has taught me anything, it’s that our government is fucked up, and it’s failing its citizens. I don’t know… maybe it’s always been that way. But with all the data we have today, we’re able to really dig deep to see what a cesspool it really is. There are some good people out there trying to do real good in this world, but they’re constantly trampled on by those whose only motivations are greed and power, and they have a lot of money behind them. Being with you will allow me to fight back without red tape and roadblocks. Maybe I can do some real good, and so can The District.”

Sid smiled and pressed his lips to me for a quick kiss. “That’s some speech, Boy Scout.”

I chuckled and rested my hand over his heart. “When you were a teen, there was a reason I wanted to take a chance on you—a chance I never got to give you. You have good in you. You were desperate for it, which I now know why you were so drawn to me. Life dropped you into this world of death, but you now have the power to do something different. I’m not saying don’t kill. I’m saying… kill the right people. No matter what I believe in, I won’t shed a tear if Speaker Rush is suddenly unalived.”

“I’m still not sure my family will go for this.”

“Does that mean you’re willing to consider it?”

Sid nodded. “Yes, but…”

“Aren’t you half-owner? What you say should hold a lot of water.”

“While true, I also betrayed it. There’s a lot of trust lost within my family.”

“Then we fix it… together. Let’s get you to your family and repair the damage. Then we’re going to fucking end this mess once and for all.”

Sid rested his forehead against mine again. “There’s a chance they could kill us. I can’t…”

I swallowed, closed my eyes, and nodded. “I know, but I’m taking a gamble for you, as you would, and have for me. We’re going to take this risk because if anyone comes at my son again, I want the means to fucking stop them. And…” I looked at his denim-blue eyes, full of pain, doubt, and worry. “And because I love yo u, too.”

He shook his head, looking angry suddenly. “No, it’s too fast. Why? Don’t just tell me that, Dalton.”

“But it wasn’t too fast for you?”

“I’ve always had strong feelings for you. Sure, they dampened with time, but they came flooding back as soon as I saw you again.”

“Let me tell you something. When they had me bound to that chair, beating me, forcing me to answer questions, I knew I would die if you didn’t come. There were only two people I thought about as I got close to death… Owen and you. I didn’t want to live without either of you. When you find your person, you do what you can to make changes, sacrifices, and compromises. I’m doing this because I love you.”

Sid pulled me against his rock-hard body, squeezing the hell out of me. “But I don’t want you to change… at least not too much.”

“And I won’t. I’m still and always will be your Boy Scout.”

“Okay,” he sighed. “Let’s do this.”