31. Tyson
THIRTY-ONE
TYSON
Even I'm at a loss for words, but while Carter relentlessly tries to pierce through Massi’s thick skull to no avail, I flip through the scenarios in silence, landing on the same conclusion that he’s already come to.
We need to finish this war with her father.
If there’s even a sliver of hope for that life we’ve conjured in our heads, this is the only move we have.
Our chessboard has been attacked, the scattered pieces across the board all looking for a landing space, but if we act first, we’ll be in the best position to topple the King.
“He’s right, Carter,” I say quietly, my voice falling flat against their raised voices, but my words are enough to stun them both into silence, both sets of icy eyes flicking to mine in an instant.
Carter whips her head around from the passenger seat so quickly, she may have nearly detached it from her body, but that dark stare proves how pissed she is at me for taking Massi’s side.
“You can’t be serious! You created every single step of this plan.
Every checkpoint, each restock station, all the way down to our fucking bathroom breaks!
How in the world is abandoning that the right move?
” She screams, her chest heaving from the outburst, but I sit forward until I can reach her, pulling her petite body into my arms.
“It’s okay to be scared, baby girl. It’s alright to be conflicted, but this is the right move. We can’t run forever.”
“We can do anything. As long as I have you two, we can fucking …” her voice trails off, the anger radiating from her bones being replaced with a heavy sadness, the tears slowly slipping down her cheeks.
“I’m not going to let him take you, hurt you, or even lay a finger on you, Principessina.
I made you a promise, yes, but that’s a last resort, remember?
The beaches, the adventures, the matching rings and last names …
those are the goals. That’s what we’re living for, and while we have a few hours of your father thinking you may be back under his talons, we’re switching to offense. ”
“I don’t do sports,” she huffs, crossing her arms as she rolls her eyes, swiping the tears from her lashes like they’re nothing but an inconvenience, rather than an emotional reaction to the idea of killing her father.
Obviously, he did a number on her, but that doesn’t erase the bond they had before she was sent to Emory, sent to us.
From what she’s explained over the last few days, they used to be inseparable.
Ever since she was a teenager, he primed her to take his place on the throne, training her to be just as vicious as he is, and that was all going according to the plan – until we stumbled into her life.
If it weren’t for us, they’d probably still be on that same track, ruling the West Coast as a deadly father-daughter duo.
While I don’t think she regrets choosing a different path and falling into the unbreakable bond the three of us have created, this is something she never anticipated, and it’s heavy as fuck, resting on her shoulders alone.
“We’re attacking him, before he can hit us first,” Jasper gently explains, taking her hand in his, holding it against his chest while she nods slowly, absorbing his words and coming to terms with this in her own ways.
“If this doesn’t work, you better be prepared to pull that fucking trigger, Jasper,” she says, seemingly accepting of what he’s proposing, but what he hits her with isn’t something she expects.
“You better be able to pull the trigger, Carter.” He breaks his focus from the road, staring directly into her eyes, and in a moment that shocks me to my core, she reaches across the console, slapping him across his cheek, the direct contact shaking up the atmosphere in this car.
“Don’t ever doubt me, or my abilities, Stalker Boy.” She spits the old nickname reserved for him like venom, and his jaw only drops in response, not another word leaving his lips.
With that, she climbs out of the front seat, inching her legs forward until she meets my waiting arms, diving into my chest as if she were on fire.
“We need to hit the next safe house,” I say, breaking through the tension and silence in this car with a dash of wisdom.
“Not happening, Ty.”
“We need weapons, you thick fuck. Guns, tech equipment, tactical gear … I even bought your crazy ass a few boxes of grenades. So follow the plan, and we’ll regroup after.
” I watch in the rearview as his expression changes, a small yet recognizable grin cascading across his lips, and finally, he inhales a deep breath, seemingly falling onto the same page as me.
Admittedly, I hate when plans fall through, especially with the carefully curated itinerary I created, but in this life, we aren’t guaranteed a damn thing, and I always have safety nets in play.
“What kind of ‘nades?” He takes the bait like a boy being bribed to finish their veggies, earning a slight chuckle from Carter as she remains buried against my chest, the slight sobs slowing down after her emotionally charged day.
“Fragmentation. Explosive. A few stun and smokes,” I answer nonchalantly, but he lights up like a little kid on Christmas, an utterly deranged laugh bubbling from his chest.
“I’m not sharing,” he declares, his easy-to-please attitude creeping out, but I know him like the back of my hand, and although it was supposed to be a surprise, it’s the only thing keeping his hot head on straight at the moment.
“They're all yours, brother. My gift to you after all the money you spent on my therapy.” I catch his eyes in the mirror, a hint of sorrow in them as I bring up my injury, but Carter perks up in my arms, a somber look on her face.
“Was it all the money we saved?” She asks, but Massi shakes his head, ending her line of questioning.
“I’m not telling you that, my thirsty little bloodhound. Not every question mark needs an answer after it,” he tells her, but she jumps right back in the verbal ring, pushing back at him instantly.
“I’m paying you both back. Every fucking penny.” She folds her arms across her chest, her nose scrunching in pain when the gauze brushes against the seat, but her eyes stay glazed over, that fierce urge to argue until she’s blue in the face taking over.
“Carter, that’s not necessary, okay? I have you, and that’s all I need.” Her body trembles against mine, the ideas of whose fault that night was surely plaguing her beautiful mind, but if she continues to hold onto misguided blame, it’ll only eat her alive.
“No, Tyson. Last time, you guys had the go bags, the fat stashes of cash, and the back up plans for the moment you’d run. Now, we’re going back to my stomping grounds, and my bags … well, they make yours look like child’s play,” she smirks, always wanting to incite a challenge or one-up us.
“If we have time,” I offer, but a quick glance in the rearview between her and Massi only proves that I’m silently being vetoed, and they’ll make plans no matter what.
It should drive me insane, knowing that they speak their own little language, usually behind my back, but Carter and I have that too, and whatever keeps her happy, well, and safe is all I care about.
“You have no idea how badly I wanted to confess, the day we grabbed the jewelry … I thought about telling you to head West, stopping home and grabbing all my own shit. It wasn’t easy, you know?
Not being able to contribute. Lying through my fucking teeth everyday.
There were a million moments where I wanted to spill my guts, but I was scared of the truth, locked in by some false sense of loyalty, even though it meant nothing at the end,” she confesses, tears threatening to roll from her lash line, but I swipe the pad of my thumb along her skin, erasing her sadness.
“Baby girl, none of that matters now. You never need to pay us back, or feel like you need to contribute with money. I promised to protect you, treat you like a Goddess, and I’ll do that until my last breath, even if all you ever do is smile at me in return.
” I tilt her chin, locking our eyes in this tiny, bullet-stricken car, but hers sparkle in the sunlight, nearly stealing my breath as a small smile crosses her face.
“He’s right, Principessina. When I came for you, I thought those things mattered, specifically your confessions …
but they don’t. You are the only important factor, the only reason that we’re all still here, together.
” Massi interrupts our moment, but it feels exactly right as she breaks our eye contact, searching for his gaze and instantly exhaling a breath once it meets over his shoulder.
We’ve barely scratched the surface of her assignment in Emory, the real reasons why she came to us in the first place, but all of that is in the past, where it belongs.
It’s been a different layer to our dynamic, uncovering everything she kept from us, but I knew right away where her dedication lied, even if it took her longer to come to that conclusion.
She’s been with us since the first moment all of our lips locked, and to me, that trumps whatever mission she attempted to complete while plagued with confusions of loyalty and legacy.
“I don’t deserve forgiveness from either of you. But I love you even more because of the grace you’ve given me,” she says softly, a somber tone in her voice as if we’d take away our love because of a few confessions.
Before I can further prove to her that we’ve moved forward from those dark days, an incessant beeping engulfs the silence, a sound that attacks the ear drums and feels like nails scratching a chalkboard.
Carter jumps in response, her entire body tensing beneath mine, hands shaking as she reaches for one of her father’s satellite phones resting in the cupholder.
A few clicks grants her access, and although I consider myself tech-skilled, this level of encryption has me stumped.
She nervously glances between Jasper and I, all of us holding our breaths while she stalls, but finally she presses a button, adding a fourth voice to this car, it ricocheting off the leather seats like a stray bullet.
“Hi, Daddy.”
“Hello, Duchess.”