Page 70 of How Much For a Life of Lies?

“The decision to entrust him to you was easy, and it’s not because I don’t want to know him, but because I love him so much that I’d do anything for him. Sometimes, what I do, there’s a real risk of not returning home. I can’t bear the thought of my son growing up without a father, and I need to be out there, and…” I scrubbed at my face. Was I wrong to do this? Why couldn’t I get my heart to settle. “You can give him a stable and loving home, even if I can’t always be here.”

“But you’re happy if we tell him everything about you, show him photos, and you can write to him, visit us all.” He bit his lip and seemed conflicted. “I mean it’s okay to tell him everything?”

“Of course.”

“What can you tell me about his mom?”

That was a throat punch I wasn’t expecting. “She’s passed, no family that we could track down. She was a product of the system, the same as me.”

“Do you have photos of her?”

No. I had nothing. But it hit me that I could get surveillance photos, maybe ask someone back at Shadow Team to AI them, and make Kerry into something beautiful and untouched by the world that hurt her.

“I’ll get some,” I said. “She was very beautiful.”

“Did you love her?”

Fuck. “Always tell Charlie I loved her.”

There, the lie wouldn’t be coming from me. I wanted to keep her safe. We’d created a miracle between us. I felt affection, but only since I’d found Kai did I know what love really was. I’d never loved her in the same way—she’d been a mark, a target, but the thing we’d done, the beautiful child in my twin’s arms, was a greater love than anyone could know.

Jax buried his face in Charlie’s hair and took a moment, and his eyes were bright with emotion when he glanced up at me. “I’m sorry you didn’t get a family growing up.”

I crossed to sit next to him, stroked Charlie’s tiny back, and we side-hugged as hard as possible for the longest time.

When I sat back, we were both crying as something in my heart began to mend. “I have a family now, and that’s all that matters.”

Silence settled between us then, punctuated by the soft sounds of Charlie’s breathing and the distant hum of the night. At that moment, I felt a sense of peace wash over me, and for the first time, I didn’t want to run from the quiet.

Epilogue

KAI

Five Years Later

Today was Charlie’s sixth birthday, and we were headed to Jax and Arlo’s house to celebrate. Well, as soon as we finished up with today’s bad guys, that is.

Thankfully, they were based in south LA, so close to Jax and Charlie that I could almost taste Arlo’s homemade guac.

“So, what did you get Charlie for his birthday?” Zach asked, leveling his gun at the nearest bad guy—some wannabe drug lord called Laz—and gesturing for the idiot to drop his AK47.

I chuckled, shaking my head. Another drug-dealing asshole—Pax—was on his knees in front of me with a broken nose, whimpering.

“You hurt me,” Pax cried. “I need a hospital!”

“Did you take the thirty-seven kids you hurt to hospital?” I accidentally-on-purpose shoved the bad guy with my foot until he sprawled on the floor. Then I turned my attention back to my beloved.

“I decided to be a co-giver on what you bought him,” I lied, not mentioning the big deposit into the college fund I’d set up for him. After all, going after bad guys paid Zach and me very well, and what else was I going to spend it on?

“I got him superhero action figures,” Zach said, gesturing again for Laz to drop his weapon.

“Ah, something to inspire his inner hero,” I said and waited to see if I was needed in the Zach/Laz standoff.

Zach raised an eyebrow at Laz, who took one glance at his five comrades-in-arms, all incapacitated in various ways, and then decided it might be wise to lay his weapon on the ground. Zach cursed when Laz gave up so quickly. Hell, at least I’d gotten to parkour over crates to take my last one down.

“We could have gotten him a phone,” I said. “So he can stay in touch with his favorite uncles.”

I kneeled on Pax, zip-tying his hands, maybe a little tighter than they needed to be, but then I’d spent the last four weeks staring at intel, and this was nothing compared to what he’d done to his victims.

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