Chapter 32
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
SLOANE
Cassie and Sasha were officially settled in at one of Trista's Second Chance homes. Wes was kind enough to help facilitate, and I knew they would be in good hands. Wes wouldn't have it any other way.
Cassie was free of the Astors and would now have the opportunity to raise her daughter without the threat from them hanging above her head. It was too bad the Astors refused to tell us who the other four families were before they died.
Until we got rid of them, Cassie and I would always have to worry about our kids.
"What if I don't know how to be a mother?" I looked down at a sleeping Benny in my guest bedroom. Krista had graciously let Hayes and me turn it into a bedroom for my son.
"Follow your instincts," Lilith whispered. "They've gotten you this far."
We walked out of the room and met Anita in the hallway. "I think I might know someone who can help you with the transition," Anita blurted and didn't look her usual confident self.
"Who?" I asked skeptically. "And why do you look like you sucked on a lemon while telling me this."
"Because I'm about to break a friend's confidence, and that's something I never thought I would do."
There was only one friend Anita would hate to betray.
Nova.
I was torn between wanting to preserve Nova's secret and begging for whatever help I could get. Motherhood scared the shit out of me, but after learning the plans the Astors had for Benny, I couldn't let him go with another family. I would never trust anyone again when it came to my son.
"Please," I begged. "I think Nova would understand."
Anita nodded. "I think she would as well." She took a deep breath. "Nova's brother, Jett, works with parents reuniting with their kids. He usually only takes on extreme cases with severe trauma, but I think he would make an exception for you and Benny."
I was still stuck on the fact that Nova had a brother to fully comprehend the rest of what she just told me.
"Since when does Nova have a brother?" Lilith asked before I could.
"She always knew about him, but they never lived together.
Same mom, different dads. Jett's father had full custody of him long before Nova was born.
Jett's twelve years older, and he was in his twenties when Nova's mom passed away.
He tried to get custody of her, but the courts refused.
I always suspected his father had something to do with that.
Growing up, Jett wasn't allowed to visit his mother, but he would sneak away sometimes to see them.
After my mother took Nova in, he visited more, and I kept tabs on him when she disappeared.
He works for a nonprofit agency that focuses on keeping families together.
I think if I reached out to him and told him your story, he would be willing to help. "
It was a full minute before I could speak. "Sure. That would be great." Yes, I sounded like a dumbfounded idiot. Don't judge me. Sometimes, I struggled when people threw me for a loop. And this was one of those times.
"I'll give him a call after we fill the team in."
We walked in silence down to the living room where Nyx, Beckett, and Hayes waited for us.
"The Astors refused to give up the names of the other four families." Anita didn't waste time. "But they made something very clear. Their ultimate goal was to bind the families together until they were one."
"Why is that explanation giving me emperor vibes from ancient Rome?" Nyx shuddered.
"Probably because that's what they meant. Or at least, I assume that's where they were going with it," I clarified. "They kept mentioning keeping the bloodlines pure."
"Kind of hard to do when you adopt a child…" Nyx said what we were all thinking.
"They refused to see it that way. They were sick in the head, and honestly, it made me wonder about their own bloodlines.
" I shook my head and tried to dislodge the rabbit hole my brain wanted to go down.
"Either way, I have Hawk looking into the other families.
They have to be people the Astors spent time with.
They were vain enough to keep a small circle, so with any luck, it won't take long. "
"In the meantime," Anita jumped in. "We're going on lockdown. Sloane advised Hawk we won't be taking jobs for the foreseeable future. I refuse to leave Krista and Benny vulnerable while those families are still out there."
Anita cleared her throat. "However, we will have someone joining us during that time."
"I thought you just said we were going into lockdown. Isn't letting a stranger in the opposite of that?"
"He's not a stranger. It's Nova's brother, Jett, and I think he can help Sloane, Hayes, and Benny as they navigate their new life."
I felt Hayes step up behind me a moment before his arm wrapped around my belly, and he pulled me back against his chest. We haven't had a moment alone since we left to learn what we could about The Givers.
And now that Benny was with us, life was about to get infinitely more complicated. In a good way though.
"Excuse us for a minute." Hayes didn't care if my team disagreed with his statement. He kept me firmly planted in his arms as we shuffled awkwardly out of the room.
"You know you didn't need to keep me trapped." I laughed. "I would've gladly followed you on my own."
"I couldn't be sure." As soon as we crossed the threshold into our bedroom, Hayes pushed me against the wall and buried his face into my neck. "I've been dying to get you alone to make sure you're all right."
I ran my nails along the back of his head just as he liked. "I'm fine. The Astors didn't hurt me."
"Maybe not physically but I saw the haunted look in your eyes when you walked into the safe house. They rattled you."
They certainly did, but they were gone now. My team and I would ensure Benny was safe from the other families. We wouldn't stop until The Givers were wiped from the earth.
"I don't want to focus on them right now. I want to take the time to get to know Benny and for the three of us to be a family."
Hayes shifted so our foreheads rested together and our breaths intermingled. "I want that too. So damn much. I thought seeing him the first time changed my life, but seeing the two of you together sealed my fate. I don't want a life where the two of you aren't in it."
"Then I guess it's a good thing we're stuck here together for a while. It will give you the chance to change your mind." I snickered.
Hayes grabbed my ass and picked me up. Immediately, my legs wrapped around his waist. "Never. But I guess if you need the reminder of who you belong to, I can gladly show you."
Boy did he show me.
By the second orgasm, I was ready to say screw it and let the whole house know I was Hayes', but thankfully, he had enough sense to cover my screams with his mouth. The last thing I needed to do was traumatize our son the first night in the house.
I would have plenty of time to do that in the future after he learned what Hayes and I did for a living.
I knew one thing for sure. Benny would have a better life than Hayes or I had growing up because, already, he was loved and that was steps above what we had.