Page 78 of When He Protects

“Because, like me, my father is also often in places where he should not be. Consider it a family trait.”

She thinks her father killed my parents.“Your father wasn’t the only person in that first video. Thaddeus Caldwell was there, too. And the hitman who recently came after you—that hitman just died while in federal custody.” A pause as his mind sorted through possibilities. “Do you think your father could have gotten inside a federal facility and had someone killed?”Or was it Thaddeus doing the dirty work?

“I think my father can get in and out of just about any place.”

He needed to watch the third video.

But in his mind, Tyler kept seeing the footage of his parents’ car. Exploding.

Just like the café exploded.

“I didn’t want you to see them die. I’m so sorry, Tyler.”

“How did you know they were on the video?” His hands wrapped tightly around her arms. “How the hell could you have known that?”

“Jorlan doesn’t like you,” she breathed. “You fought him in boarding school. Punched him out in front of everyone. He acted as if he got over it. He didn’t. He never forgets or forgives a slight.” The delicate column of her throat moved. “That’s why he won’t stop until he finds me. It’s not the seven million on my head that worried me so much. It was him. He scares me.”

“How the fuck do you know so much?” About Jorlan. About the CIA. The Feds.Me.Hell, she’d even known Kane.

“I know because information is my business. I don’t just steal pretty jewels. I can buy jewels. You can’t buy information. You have to trade for it. Barter. Work deals that you would rather forget.”

Is that why she steals? She is working her deals?There was so much he felt like she was not telling him.

“I try, but, believe me, I don’t know everything. It’s impossible to know everything in this world. Hell, I didn’t even know about Clay, not until we got here, and I realized you had a close bond with him. I mean, I retrieved intel on some of your old Marine buddies—like Kane—but I could hardly pull up classified information oneveryoneyou knew. I’m good, but I’m not all-knowing. Despite my best efforts.” An exhale. “I try,” she repeated again, sounding almost defeated.

Rage pulsed inside of him. “How the fuck did you know that my parents would be on the USB drive?” That was the million dollar question for him.

“Jorlan bragged to one of his men once that he had something you wanted. Very badly. I do know you, you see. Made it a point to know you after you saved my life. You were my specialty. My focus.” A soft exhale. “I know the one thing you want is what you never got. Despite your best efforts.”

His heartbeat thundered in his ears.

“You wanted justice for your parents. You woke up one morning, and your whole life was gone. Wiped away. The cops didn’t even fully investigate, did they? They just gave you a story about faulty wiring.”

A story he’d never believed.

“No one was caught. No one was punished. Justice—it’s the only thing you want. Jorlan knew it. He was going to use it as a bargaining tool with you. Only I took his bargaining chip away.”

He could not wrap his head around all this no matter how hard he tried. It was too much. “Your bombing. My parents’ death. What the hell is on the third video?” He had to see it. Tyler let her go. The chair was on the floor. He kicked it aside more. Then he clicked on that third file. He could barely breathe as he waited to see what would appear.

Louis’s face appeared. A close-up shot. Louis glanced over his shoulder. Then back at the camera. “This is my insurance,” he stated gruffly. “In case things get as bad as I suspect they will. No one can be trusted. Not at the Bureau. Not at the CIA. I won’t turn over jack shit to them. If I do, they’ll destroy you. I don’t want that.” He acted as if he was talking directly to someone.They’ll destroy you.He exhaled and spoke straight into the camera. “It all has to vanish. Disappear. I have a plan, but…shit, in case something goes wrong—this is all I can leave behind. You’ll find it. You will search here. You know me better than anyone.” His gaze sharpened. “Youknow me, Esme.”

Esme. Louis was talking into the camera, talking straight to Esme. And she was finally hearing his message.

“You found this video, didn’t you?” Louis asked. “You know me.”

As he peered into the man’s hazel’s eyes and saw the intense emotion on his face, Tyler felt jealousy rise.He loved Esme.Great. Savage jealousy, lethal fury—just the combo Tyler needed as he fought to hold onto the razor-thin edge of his control.

“Your father is dirty, Esme,” Louis said in the video. “It’s not just about some hobby where he steals for a high.It’sbad.Up to his eyes bad. You won’t believe that because you love him. But it’s true. His enemies vanish. He makes them disappear.” His gaze jerked to the left, then back to the camera. “You knew I was working to take him down. I knew you were protecting him. You fed him intel. He led me on a long chase, but I figured out the truth in the end. It started so long ago. A lifetime ago. And he has connections, Esme. More than you can guess. Even the people pretending to be after him? They’re really on his side.”

Tyler’s attention sharpened.People like Thaddeus Caldwell?

“They’re scared of him,” Louis continued quickly. “I can’t trust them. Thaddeus—hell, there is no way I’d ever tell him what I’ve learned. Why is a Fed so involved in all this? It’s CIA business, but he’s here…because he owes your father.So many people owe him.”

Hell.

“Where your father goes, destruction follows.” Louis’s gaze implored the camera—no, it implored the woman who he knew would one day watch his video. “Pull up stories. Look at the attacks.Bombings.That’s what he does. He destroys. The people who cross him? He puts hits on them. A bomb that takes them out—and any collateral damage that might be nearby.”

Esme had been collateral damage in Paris. Only her father hadn’t realized the truth until too late.

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