The Protected

deeply.

“I was arrogant,” he said, his voice bitter. “I thought I would have known if he was a man that should concern me. I knew all the dirty secrets, and he was greedy and vain, but there were never stories about him being abusive or cruel. But I didn’t look at him hard enough. Consuelo paid for my arrogance.”

Vaughnne stroked a hand down his arm. “She was a grown woman. If she knew what he did, and married him anyway . . . you can’t take responsibility for her choices.”

“Can’t I?” He shifted his eyes to her. “I could have looked deeper, but time and again I pulled back because I feared it would be discovered. That my connection to her would be discovered. That my cover would be blown. My fucking cover. I was this rich, foolish playboy. I’d fucked and gambled my way into money, forgotten my family . . . Only the lowest of men do that in Mexico. Family is everything. It was the only way to protect them, though.” He sighed and shrugged, staring off into nothing.

He laughed bitterly. “Looking back now, I don’t know what is worse. If people had noticed there was a connection between us, and if she suffered for that? Or if I had just done exactly what I did. Either way, she would have suffered for it. This way, she died. And no matter what, Alejandro has paid the price. He has lost his mother. Has lost most of his childhood.”

Most . . . what a lie. Alex had never had a childhood. The boy had been a pawn to his father, and although Consuelo had loved him, tried to protect him, she just hadn’t been strong enough. Not with Reyes in the picture.

But Reyes wasn’t in the picture any longer.

And in a matter of days, perhaps weeks or months even, Gus was going to make sure that anybody who knew about Alex died. It was the last thing he had to do, eliminate those men who had been with Reyes for years. Once he’d hunted those men down, Alex would be safe.

But he couldn’t do that with a child at his side.

It was like cutting off his arm—or cutting out his heart—as he eased Vaughnne off his lap. “The boy has nothing,” he said, keeping his voice flat. “I am his family, but I have never provided him with the security he needs. The stable home. He doesn’t even have the chance to go to school or be a regular boy. That is what I want for him.”

Rising to his feet, he bent over and scooped up the document from the floor. From the corner of his eye, he saw Vaughnne rise.

When he lifted his head, he saw the knowledge burning in her eyes. “Don’t,” she said, shaking her head. “Don’t you do this to that boy.”

“It’s the best thing I can do for him,” he said simply. “You love him. I see it in your eyes. Family isn’t just who you are born to. It’s those you find in your life . . . those who love you. You made him your family when you took him in your heart, Vaughnne. And you can make him happier than I can. He doesn’t have the threat of his father hanging over his head so he doesn’t need a hired killer hovering over his shoulder as he sleeps. He needs somebody to love him, to give him a home. Somebody who understands what he is, and how to make certain he gets that training he needs.”

“He needs the people he loves.” Fury made her voice shake.

But he knew he was doing the right thing.

“I’m leaving the documentation you’ll need.” He nodded to an envelope on the nightstand. “You have his birth certificate. Proof of my relationship to his mother, a letter she wrote naming me his guardian. Now I’m naming you.”

“You can’t just give him away!” she shouted. “He’s a child. A person, you son of a bitch. He’s got feelings, too, you bastard, and this is going to destroy him.”

“I’ve done nothing but destroy him, destroy his life, bring him pain for the past few years,” Gus said. “I did what I had to because it was necessary to protect him. And that’s what I’m doing now. Protecting him. He needs a real life, Vaughnne. I can’t give him one.” He headed for the door.

“What makes you think I should?”

He paused in the doorway, smiling a little. “It won’t be because you should. If you did what you should, you never would have gone to Mexico. You never would have gone after the men who hurt your sister.”

She narrowed her eyes at him.

“Yes. I know about that.” He’d learned as much about her as he could in the past few days, calling in favors, bribing, threatening. He had to make sure he was doing the right thing, he’d told himself. In truth, he’d just been hungry for what he could learn of her. For anything about her. “You took leave, just to hunt them down. You don’t always do what you should, Agent . . . do you?”

“Obviously, we make a great pair,” she said, her lip curling in disgust. “Except I don’t abandon the kid who loves me.”

He arched a brow. “Exactly. That is why he should be with you . . . he loves you already. Don’t disappoint him as I’ve done so many times.”

TWENTY-FOUR

DON’T disappoint him.

As Taylor guided her down the steps to the TV room in the basement, Vaughnne tried to steady her breathing. Tried to quell the fury still burning in her heart. Yeah. She’d expected anger would carry her through, but she hadn’t expected it to be like this.

As she rounded the corner and saw Alex sprawled on his belly, next to a dark-haired girl with a headful of wild curls, she sucked in a deep breath. Breathe, Vaughnne. You can do this.

Then, out of spite, she focused her thoughts and reached out.

She knew when she touched a mind. Could always feel it—it wasn’t much different, to her, than touching somebody’s hand, or seeing the way a person reacted when she said their name. She could just . . . feel it.

And she felt Gus’s reaction as she said, I’m getting ready to break this kid’s heart, you son of a bitch. Wherever you are, I hope you’re having fun.

Then, because she was feeling pithy, she added, Don’t suppose it ever occurred to you to try this with me together? This kid could use two people in his life who love him. We could have both given him a home . . . I would have been happy to have you in my life, Gus. But you’re too much a coward to try it.

She didn’t even have to worry about a response.

That was the beauty, sometimes, of her gift. A curse at other times, but just then, it was welcome. She didn’t want to see him, didn’t want to hear from him. Not when she was going to have to break this poor kid.

“Jillian.”

The girl looked up.

The name was familiar, and Vaughnne stilled as the girl sat up and turned around. The teen focused a vivid pair of blue eyes on them.

Jillian. Jillian Morgan.

Shit, the girl was already a borderline legend back at headquarters and she was still in high school.

This was the girl Taige had rescued all those years ago, and if the rumors were true, the kid was already feeding Taylor bits and pieces of information that sometimes led to their cases being solved.

Narrowing her eyes, she focused on Alex and then looked over at Taylor. She never did hear just how he’d learned about Alex’s presence in Orlando. She’d assumed it had something to do with Nalini, but standing there, looking at Jillian, she realized she’d been off base. Way off base. No wonder he’d been so fucking vague about things.

She told you about him, didn’t she?

Taylor’s only response was a flicker of his lashes.