26. Chapter 26
I unlocked the front door to my farmhouse, which I never thought I’d see again. I was grateful Easton talked me out of burning it down. While I didn’t spend much time there, mostly living in my condo in Washington, DC, this was still the safest place for now.
We planned to stay here for only one night and then head to The District tomorrow morning. First, Dalton and Owen needed more rest.
I had Easton watching over us. He would stay inside, but he had the night watch tonight before we all headed home to my family. Hopefully, they would come to trust me again.
The plan was to bring Dalton and Owen with me, despite Dalton’s insistence and my protests. He convinced me that with them there, the plan would be to calm everyone down or at least not react impulsively with a child around. It was risky, and I worried about Owen, as did Dalton, but I was confident my family wouldn’t hurt the boy. We didn’t have many rules at The District, but killing children was a huge no-no. That was where we drew a line in the sand, a line Dalton planned to erase and move.
I carried Owen inside as he held onto Danny with tight arms. He looked tired and wary, and I was surprised the boy let me carry him at all. Savannah did a thorough workup on the boy and said he’d be fine physically, but psychologically? Who could say? He was stressed, especially seeing his dad for the first time in weeks, covered in bruises, black eyes, and a busted lip.
Owen barely said a word, which stressed Dalton out. Hell, it stressed me out, too, because my failure to prevent their attack caused that.
“Dalt, go up and get some sleep. You’ve been moving way too much with that concussion.”
“No, I need to—”
“Go. I’ll get Owen fed and keep him entertained.”
He glanced at his son with sadness on his face and nodded before heading upstairs.
“Sleep in my room,” I said as he went up .
I took Owen into the living room, sat him on the couch, and turned on the TV. He kept his eyes on my every movement, clinging to his dino.
“What do you like to watch, Little Man?”
“D-do you have ‘ Wild Kratts ?’” he asked shyly.
“I’ll see what I can do.”
I’d never heard of it or any kid show other than Sesame Street , so I looked it up on my TV and found it. Then, I let him choose what episode he wanted.
“I wanna go back to school,” he whispered.
“I know, kiddo. We can’t just yet, but soon. I promise.”
Dalton had to permanently withdraw Owen from school because he had been gone so long. I had Veil set everything up and make arrangements for homeschooling, or at least, making it appear that way for now. The last thing Dalton needed was to be dragged through the court system, but I hadn’t lied to Owen. Hopefully, soon, things would go back to normal, and we could find him another school to go to.
I squatted in front of him. “Are you hungry?”
Without looking at me, he nodded.
“How do you feel?”
Owen shrugged, eyes still glued to the TV. “My head hurts a little.”
It was probably from the drugs. Surely, Dalton brought some pain relief for him in his bag, so I went in search of it. A minute later, after looking at the proper dosage, I gave Owen some Children’s Tylenol .
When I headed to the kitchen to make the boy something to eat, I found Easton sitting at the table, drinking some root beer I had bought for him, watching me carefully.
“Can I make you something to eat?” I asked him.
“I’m not hungry.”
After grabbing a frying pan, I opened the refrigerator and pulled out some butter and sliced cheddar. Then, I grabbed the bread from the pantry to make Owen a grilled cheese sandwich.
“Is there something on your mind?” I asked him.
“You acting like a father is… new.”
“I’m clearly not his father, and I’m not trying to be, but he does need someone to take care of him. How would you like me to act?”
“I’m… not complaining,” he finally said after a beat of silence.
After I layered the cheese between two slices of bread, I heated the pan and turned to face Easton, who was staring down at his hand, which rested flat on the table.
“Are you jealous?” I didn’t ask that to be cruel, but you couldn’t play with words around Easton. No doubt he would have those feelings after how he was brought up.
“More like… envious.”
“It’s okay to feel that way. Do you think I’m going to choose the boy over you?”
He looked up at me with a blank face, but he couldn’t hide from me. “Yes.”
Anyone who was a father figure would have pulled him into a hug with reassurances, but that wasn’t Easton. I think he liked it even if he never responded to touch like that. It made it difficult sometimes to know if I should or shouldn’t reassure him like that.
“There is no choosing. You are mine, and I’m yours. You know this. Even if Dalton wants me in his life with Owen, you will still be mine.”
Easton simply nodded. “They may not like me. Many people don’t. I don’t really care, but you do.”
I breathed out a small laugh and smiled. “They will definitely like you.”
“But I’m… different.”
“You are, but that makes you special, too.”
I turned off the stove and sat down at the table to talk a bit more with Easton, since this was clearly bothering him, or so it seemed.
“You’re almost a man now,” I said.
“I know.”
“Perhaps I should’ve already done this, and maybe it doesn’t matter now that you’re grown, but would you… like me to make you mine… officially? Legally? We can’t go to a courthouse like regular people, but I bet Layla can get the paperwork in order. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if you would care, but since Dalton and I have been on the run, you have shown that perhaps you care more than I gave you credit. For that, I’m sorry.”
His brow furrowed, and he swallowed, staring at his root beer, thinking about my words, showing me a vulnerable side to him. Maybe vulnerable was a bit much since he didn’t have those sorts of feelings, but that didn’t mean he didn’t feel at all, either.
“I… get lonely sometimes, or maybe it’s boredom, but I’m not sure. ”
“I’m sure you can feel loneliness, and boredom can certainly make it seem that way. I’m sorry about that. What do you think of my offer, East?”
He sighed and finally looked me, his dark eyes large and showing how truly young he was. “Would that mean you would be my father?”
“If you would like. I can be yours in any capacity you wish.”
“My parents were bad people,” he said, fisting his hands tightly on the table, his knuckles turning white as the first signs of anger emerged.
“They were, but you know me well enough by now that I wouldn’t hurt you like that.”
That calmed him down, and he unclenched his hands. “Okay.”
I smiled at him and stood. “I’ll make the arrangements as long as the family doesn’t kill me first.”
“They will pay if they do,” he said in a low rumble.
Of that, I had no doubt. “I don’t think it will come to that, East. Why don’t you sit and watch TV with Owen? Let him get to know you.”
After Easton walked out, I made two grilled cheese sandwiches, one for each of them.
Easton wasn’t one for love or even truly understood what it meant, but he was lonely and possessive enough to want to have a stronger hold on our relationship. Bonds formed for men like Easton were more self-serving, which made it difficult to form close relationships with others or to find love.
Perhaps he would’ve been better off with therapy instead of being trained as an assassin, but he had already killed someone. It was either that or spending a lifetime in prison. I couldn’t change who he was, but I could at least ease some of his loneliness and give him more of a home and family than he had before.
While I deeply cared about Easton, this decision to be his legally was also a protective measure. I didn’t need him getting jealous of Owen, which could be dangerous to the boy. He not only saw me as a father figure, but as his property. Anything that hindered that was a threat. Including him in all these decisions and making him officially mine would help with that.
Dalton slept for most of the day as I watched over Owen. Easton helped take care of him only to keep me pleased, but the help was a relief. Neither of us really knew what we were doing, but thankfully, Owen was an easy kid.
I’d debated getting Owen bathed but decided against it. First, I needed Dalton’s approval, so I put the boy in bed and read him a story.
Easton kept watch on the house as I sat up in bed, while Dalton continued to sleep. My heart beat too hard, and my hands fisted, seeing his face even more bruised than it was, along with his broken finger. I was angry, guilty, frustrated…
I picked up my phone and swiped it open. For the first time, I was afraid of my family because I truly had someone to live for and protect.
With a deep breath, I opened my messenger app, dialed the number I knew by heart, and entered my text .
Me: It’s Sid. I’m coming in.
It didn’t take him long to respond.
Malik: Where are you?
Me: Nope. I’ll be there in the morning. Keep your
red-headed Rottweiler on his leash.
Malik: He has been difficult to control as of late.
Me: Do it or I’m not coming back. I have answers
for you.
Malik: Very well. I will see you in the morning.
Before I closed my phone, he sent me another text.
Malik: Is Easton with you?
Me: Yes.
Malik: As I suspected.
Me: He’s only protecting me. You know how he is. Sully
would do the same for you.
Malik said nothing else, so I closed my phone. I shouldn’t have been surprised Malik knew Easton was with me. Did Malik keep that a secret from the family? If not, was Easton even safe? Now I had four lives to worry about.
I slipped under the covers and slid down onto my side to watch Dalton, my thoughts running a million miles per minute of all I needed to do and worry about. Regular jobs didn’t have this many emotions attached to them. This job had worn me the fuck out .
“Do they know we’re coming in?” he asked sleepily, his eyes still closed.
“I just texted Malik, but he doesn’t know you and Owen are coming with me. I don’t want them to be that prepared.”
He nodded into his pillow and scooted closer to me, wrapped an arm around my side. “I’ll be okay.”
“If you say so.” I still had my doubts. My family and I had never faced a betrayal from within before, so I didn’t know how it was really going to go down.
Malik was betrayed a long time ago. A killer went against his explicit orders, which resulted in Sully losing his entire family, including Sully’s little brother and sister, and forced Malik to take the boy in. He’d simply tossed a dagger into the man’s eye and straight into his brain, instantly killing him without a thought.
That could very well be my fate.