Chapter 30
CHAPTER THIRTY
HAYES
One glimpse of Sloane's son and all my worries disappeared. I would protect that boy with my life. There was no longer any doubt in my mind.
Benny was the spitting image of his mother, and I was half in love with him already. And that was even before I had the chance to interact with him. I had a feeling time together would only strengthen the bond.
I half listened as Cassie provided the car information to the team.
I would be no help to them now, but as soon as they dealt with the assholes responsible for keeping a little girl away from her mother, I would swoop in and make the mess disappear.
It would be like they never existed at all.
I would gladly do it for the woman who took such good care of Sloane's son all these years.
Cassie's love for him was evident by the way she talked about him.
He wasn't just a job to her. He was family.
"We need to split up."
Anita's declaration got my attention.
"If we want to do this the right way, we need to hit both the Astors and the couple guarding Sasha at the same time. We can't afford one or the other to get a tip-off before we contain the situation."
It made sense. I didn't like it, because I couldn't be in two places at once, but I understood the logic.
"Sloane and I will go to Paris to deal with the Astors. Nyx, you take Hayes. Get Sasha and make it look like those people never existed. No trace. You got me?" Anita addressed that last part to me.
I dipped my chin in affirmation.
"Lilith, I need you to stay here. As soon as I give you the go-ahead, you move Cassie and Benny to a safe house. I'll have Wes set you up with one."
I needed to find out who this Wes person was. This was the second time I’ve heard that name but no explanation as to whom it could be.
"Sloane and I will need the plane, so for the time being, you'll use a safe house until we're done with the Astors. Nyx will meet you there with Sasha while Hayes gets to work."
"What about you two? You'll need a cleanup crew as well."
Sloane tipped a small smile my way. "Don't worry, Hawk will provide one. They won't be as good as you, but they will get the job done."
That was my fear. Hawk had great cleaners on their payroll, but now that I was back in Sloane's life, I wanted to be the one ensuring she was safe, and there was no trace she committed a crime.
"Give us a minute." I grabbed Sloane's hand and walked us into the next room. As soon as we were alone, I sling-shotted her around so her back was against the wall, and I was crowding her space. "I need you to promise me you're going to be careful."
She brought her hand up and cradled my cheek.
Her eyes softened in a way I hadn't seen since we were teenagers.
"I promise I'll be careful. Anita and I aren't reckless.
Actually, now that I think about it, I should be asking you to promise me since you're paired with Nyx.
She likes to go off the reservation when the opportunity presents itself. "
"I'll be fine. I'll clean up any mess she makes. You're the one who has to rely on someone who isn't me."
Sloane smiled. "This isn't my first rodeo. I trust Hawk to have our back and to send someone in who's competent. You have to trust them as well. But I can promise you after this, you'll be the only cleaner we use."
I brought our foreheads together. Her promise would have to be enough for now. If this relationship was going to work, I needed to trust that she could handle herself. And considering she did a pretty good job of it up until now, I needed to worry less.
I wouldn't stop worrying completely but I could do less.
Hopefully.
"I love you, and I'll see you soon. Don't let Nyx give you too much of a hard time. Busting balls is her love language, but sometimes, she takes it too far."
I smirked. "I can handle her, and I love you too." I brushed my lips across hers. I kept it light even though I much preferred to claim her. I wanted there to be no question who she belonged to.
"Sloane, we need to move," Anita barked from the other room and broke up our moment.
I followed a smirking Sloane back to the entryway. I gave her one last kiss and was prepared to watch her walk away until the sweetest little boy came running into the hall hollering. "Wait!"
Sloane turned around and got down on one knee just in time for Benny to smack into her and nearly topple her over. It was a good thing Sloane had great reflexes. "Are you leaving already?"
"Just for a little while. I have something to take care of at work, but I promise I'll be back, and when I am, we can take some time to get to know each other. How does that sound?"
"Pinky promise?" There was so much hope in those two little words. "Ms. Cassie always says it's bad luck to break a pinky promise."
Sloane held up her pinky. "Ms. Cassie's right. I pinky promise I'll be back."
There was no way the moment didn't tug on everyone's heartstrings. Sloane and I weren't the only ones invested in how the situation turned out.
Eventually, Anita and Sloane left. Once Lilith, Cassie, and Benny were settled in, Nyx and I slipped out as well. We had more time until we could hit our target, and apparently, Nyx was going to spend that time annoying the shit out of me.
I was going to regret saying I could handle her.
"Do you ever shut up?" I finally had enough. We were going on ten hours together, and the fact that I hadn't strangled her yet was a miracle.
The first eight weren't horrible. We were tasked with getting the safe house together with supplies since we would be bringing Cassie, Benny, and Sasha here while we waited for Sloane and Anita to return.
Then I suggested some downtime because sleep would be sparse once things got rolling. Depending on how much of a mess Nyx made, my job could take a couple hours or several. Either way, I preferred to nap when the opportunity arose.
But now, we were waiting in the vehicle for the go-ahead to enter the Robinsons’ home––they were the couple tasked with keeping Sasha from her mother––and Nyx was driving me up the wall.
"Not usually. I've been told in the past by men that shoving their cock down my throat is the best way to keep me from talking."
"Jesus fucking Christ." I rubbed my temples. "That's a visual I didn't need right now."
"No one said you had to picture it. I was just stating a fact. You're the one who had to go and make it weird."
I sputtered. "Me?" I pointed to myself. "I made it weird?" Then I turned my finger around on her. "You're the one who's spent the last two hours saying the most random shit to get a rise out of me. Well, congratulations. You found the right button."
Nyx leaned against the door with a smirk on her face. "I knew I would eventually. Although, I have to give you credit. You lasted much longer than I expected. I was giving you forty-five minutes before you cracked. You almost tripled that."
"Thanks. I think." Nyx was making my head hurt. I now knew why I preferred to work alone. I wouldn't make it a week with someone like Nyx. I wasn't sure how her team did it. Anita clearly had more patience than I gave her credit for.
I practically sighed in relief when Nyx's phone finally beeped.
"It's go time. Remember the plan. You keep Sasha busy while I deal with the couple from hell."
I rolled my eyes. This was the tenth time she reminded me of my role. "I know. You don't have to keep reminding me."
"Maybe I just like to hear myself talk."
Now, that I could believe.
The Robinsons’ house wasn't nearly as grand as the Astors’.
There were no guards or a large gate keeping the rest of the world out.
It was, however, three thousand square feet of stone and large glass windows in a nice suburban neighborhood.
If the community didn't have an HOA, I would be surprised.
It would seem like the kind of neighborhood that would.
The lawns were immaculate. Nothing was out of place, and there was no evidence kids lived in the area. It was the kind of place where people called the police because of noise complaints rather than real crimes.
"Let's get this over with. The neighborhood is creeping me the hell out. No one should live this perfectly."
That was something we could agree on.
I stood off to the side of the door while Nyx knocked. It was late enough in the evening that visitors weren't common, so it was no surprise when Mr. Robinson cursed on his way to the door. His situational awareness sucked, and he didn't check before ripping the door open.
Bad for him. Good for us.
"Who the…" Nyx didn't let him finish. She shoved him back through the door and pounced like a lion. I stepped out of the way and gave Nyx the space to work while I went in search of Sasha.
I found the little girl and Mrs. Robinson hiding in the tub behind the shower curtain. "Please," Mrs. Robinson begged while holding Sasha close to her chest. "Please don't hurt us."
"I'm not here to hurt the child. You, on the other hand, aren't so lucky. That's what happens when you agree to keep a little girl away from her mother."
The color drained from her face when the reality of her situation hit.
"Marco!" Nyx sang from somewhere farther down the hall.
"Polo," I hollered back.
Two seconds later, Nyx joined us in the bathroom. "Well, hello there, pretty girl. I know someone who's going to be very happy to see you."
Nyx plucked the little girl out of Mrs. Robinson's arms and handed her to me. I didn't know the first thing about holding a child, but Sasha didn't seem to care. She shoved her chubby thumb into her mouth and snuggled in.
"Well, look at that. She likes you." Nyx smirked. "Now go pack her a bag while I get to work." I moved around Nyx and headed down the hall until I came across a room covered top to bottom in pink.
Sasha couldn't be more than three years old, and I didn't know what it said about her life that she didn't get upset around a strange person. I wanted to hope she had a decent life despite being separated from her mother.
I found a suitcase in the closet and filled it with clothes and anything else I thought she might need. There was one ratty-looking blanket and turtle that looked like they had seen better days. I scooped them up and added them to the collection. Something told me they were her favorite.
"You almost done?"
Nyx startled me enough to drop the suitcase back on the bed. I whipped around and hissed, "Next time, make a noise or something."
She shrugged. "I did. It's not my fault you were too absorbed to pay attention." She wiggled her fingers. "Now give me Sasha so I can get out of here, and you can do what you do best."
Sasha whimpered a couple of times before Nyx managed to bounce her back to sleep. With the little girl in one arm and the suitcase in the other hand, I followed Nyx through the house. I was glad to see Nyx was smart enough to keep the mess out of sight in case the little girl woke up.
I waited until Nyx got Sasha settled, and they drove off, before I let myself settle into work mode. I found Mr. Robinson in the kitchen with over a dozen stab wounds over his chest and stomach. I shook my head and sighed. I don't know why I thought Nyx would make this easy on me.
I pushed the thought out of my mind and got to work. With any luck, I would be done long before Sloane got back, and I could spend some time getting to know Benny while we waited for her.