Page 72 of Breaking the Code

“Good boy, mo ghille donn. I’m proud o’ ye. As for coming home, I’ll be there as soon as ye can get me a flight.”

I squeal and pull up the contact info for the pilot, sending him the information so I can get Daddy back asap.

“It’s done. Look for the message. I’ve already sent it. Now, can we talk about all the fun things you’re going to do to me when you get here?”

More laughter crackles through our connection. “I think I’ll leave ye guessing on that, pojke.”

“Daddy,” I whine.

“Whining willnae get ye what ye want. As ye well ken.”

“Will you at least tell me what these two new nicknames you’re using are?”

“Pojke is Swedish for baby boy. I’m gonna hang onto the other for a wee bit longer.”

We talk for a while more. I have no clue what he’s doing. I know where he is, o’ course, but we do not talk about his trips outside this room. Everly is aware the Order stole his sister and that he’s searching for her, but since the Society and the members must stay hidden, we keep his missions under wraps.

This trip has been the longest we’ve been apart since he choked me with his cock and asked me to be his. I giggle a bit because, well, if I’m honest, I can’t help myself. The man makes me delusionally happy.

When he’s here at headquarters—which is whenever he’s not out on an assignment or tracing leads on Maeve—he’s feeding me, forcing me to rest, and he’s even started teaching me self-defense. Zayn and Everly’s guys had taught me how to handle a knife, but Draven offered to teach me more when I made a comment while watching one o’ his training sessions.

Draven wielding those axes o’ his, especially the big one with the long handle, is breathtaking. I could sit for hours while he went through his training routine. I know I’ll never be able to do anything close to what he can, but I like knowing I can defend myself physically. It has been slow going, because I’ve never been very athletic, but he’s an amazing teacher.

Standing up to stretch, I head to the bedroom. I need a shower and some sleep. Draven will be home in a few hours, and I want to be fully rested when he arrives.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

DRAVEN

I skulk through the dank, dark alleyways, stepping over things I cannae and dinnae want to identify on yet another trip away from my boy. I second guess myself with every trip I make. Even more so since Tavish agreed to be mine. This trip appears as fruitless as all the others I’ve made to find Maeve.

Every trip, I weigh the options. Stay with Tavish or go and hopefully find my sister. If Maeve is still out there, I need to find her. Yet, this quest has already taken Simon from me, and now I’ve found Tavish. I still dinnae think I’m the one for him. He does, though, and I’m through fighting how he makes me feel and what I feel for him. Plus, people know o’ our attachment and I dinnae want his life to be forfeit because o’ me.

The problem with that line o’ thinking is the threat to him at the moment has nae anything to do with me. This is the Order and I’m fucking petrified I’m gonna lose Tavish as I did Simon.

Pulling out my phone, I pull up his contact. The little shit thought I dinnae ken he took the photo o’ us in bed, but I did and sent it to myself one day when he left his screen unlocked. It’s the only thing that gets me through these times away from him.

Well, that and the meals I leave behind. There’s nae anything I can do to ensure he sleeps, but I can at least leave him healthy food I ken he likes. It’s nae the same as being there, though. And that’s what I want more than anything.

Unable to help myself, I ring him. We dinnae talk about anything important, but the giggles and squeals brighten my mood. He makes me smile and laugh. Two things I’ve nae done in a verra long time.

When the call disconnects, I turn back to the building I’ve been watching. I’ve searched it twice and nae found anything that leads me to believe it’s a hiding spot for one o’ the Order’s purchasers. At least nae anymore. Iffn it ever was. There’s also nae anything to suggest Maeve was once held here.

Turning away, I head to the airport. This was another waste o’ time.

On the plane, I contemplate my life and the mission I’ve given to myself. I was twenty-five when I first learned o’ the Order. Over the last ten years, I gave everything I am and everything I have to avenge my parents and then to find Maeve.

I gave up normalcy and my relationship with Simon, all to hunt down the people who robbed me o’ those I love.

Poor Simon.

The worry he felt when I first showed him the stuff from my grandfather that first day. I should’ve heeded it, but I didnae, and instead o’ giving me and my family closure, it took the one person I had left from me. Simon gave up his life to help me.

Now there’s Tavish. He’s immersed in this world. Has been for nearly twenty years. Sacrificing everything only to be used and abused. He’s never known love or family or normal. When most kids were learning to drive, he was working for the Order o’ Death and being raped.

He’s not said it outright, but my gut kens the truth o’ it. The things I’ve heard from some o’ the victims I’ve rescued are the stuff o’ nightmares. Knowing what little Tavish has told me, and what the victims have gone through, the leap isnae a difficult one to make. The thought o’ my boy being hurt in that way enrages me. How he’s still so sunny and bright, I havenae clue.

Yet he is.

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