Page 49 of His Reluctant Savior

“It’s complicated.”

“It always is.”

“Easton, I can tell you, but with the way you… are, I’m not sure you’re going to understand.”

Honestly, I was amazed he hadn’t killed me yet. Easton excelled at outwardly appearing steady and calm with affective moods, which was probably from being on the spectrum. Still, his sociopathy caused by his trauma could turn that calm into explosive anger in seconds. He was amazing at wearing masks, but around me, he stayed true to himself, and only because he got something out of it. Easton did nothing that didn’t reward him somehow; such was the nature of a sociopath.

Easton simply being here and defying orders showed how impulsive he could be. I was one of the few people he listened to and obeyed, so to Easton, I didn’t just betray the family. I betrayedhim.

He pressed his face close to my ear, standing on his toes since he was five inches shorter. I could’ve taken advantage of that, but I needed to get him on my good side and to trust me again, especially if I wanted to repair what I’d done to my family.

“Tell me why before I fucking kill you,” he hissed.

Fuck, I hated to reiterate my story, but Easton needed to hear it from me. “I’m trying to fix things with Dalton. We go way back since high school. He’s the reason I… killed my uncle, who’d been molesting and raping me for years, which you already knew about. Dalton, in a way, saved my life. It was because of him that I ended the violent cycle. I’d been fucking horrible to him throughout high school out of jealousy, and yet I wanted him, angry I couldn’t have him. But he accepted me and forgave me despite that. Iowehim. And he has a son. Neither of them deserves to die just because we were hired. Dalton is a good man who was thrown into lies and treachery.”

I rambled all that out quickly; not because I was afraid to die. Death didn’t scare me, because I faced it on a daily basis, but I needed to stay alive for Dalton. Easton could take me out if the whim hit him.

“Why didn’t you just say that to Malik? Why didn’t you just ask the family for help?”

“All good questions. Because we kill as long as we’re paid, it doesn’t matter who we take out, as long as it’s not a kid.”

“But thereisa kid.”

“True, but Dalton’s son isn’t on the hit list. I’m not about to leave him fatherless. He’s already lost one dad. I couldn’t… trust Malik not to force my hand. Maybe he would’ve listened. Maybe he would’ve told me I was compromised because it was personal and gave the job to Sully or someone else. Sully would’ve… made it painful. I took the risk to protect Dalton. I fucking owed him that much.”

Easton hadn’t eased his grip on me. Trails of blood trickled down my throat as the cut from his digging blade stung.

“Easton… let me go. Now. I need to keep him safe. He can’t do this without me.”

He obeyed and finally stepped back. I turned to face him, holding my hand over my wound. Even wearing jeans and a plainblack T-shirt, you could tell he came from wealth with the way he carried himself with poise. Usually, he wore tailored clothes, but in the field, he made himself inconspicuous, as per my training.

His dark blond hair was neatly combed back from his face in a swoop, and his pale brown eyes were always scrutinizing and intelligent.

“I’m angry with you,” he said, fisting the knife at his side. I still wasn’t confident that he wouldn’t kill me. Not until he left.

“I know. I’m sorry you feel betrayed by me, but this isn’t about you. This is about me and needing to help Dalton before anyone else hurts him. I also care about him. He’s mine. He belongs to me. Do you understand?”

He shook his head. “No, you’re letting your emotions control you and distract you.”

“And you’re letting your anger control you, but… you’re right. If I didn’t feel anything for him, he would be dead. Regardless, I do feel something for him, so I can’t have that.”

Easton started to pace, fisting his hair. “Then come back, dammit! Tell them! We’re not done with my training. We can help you.”

I sighed and folded my arms, shaking my head. “Not yet, East,” I said, intentionally using my endearment for him to keep him focused and not lash out, which helped because he stopped his pacing. “Dalton is afraid for me if I come back too soon. I need to dig deeper to find out who’s involved. And we are on the run, not just from The District, but there are others. Just yesterday, we fended off an attack from the fucking Bratva right here…”

That stopped me. Jesus… Distracted indeed. “Speaking of which, how didyoufind me? No one in the family is aware of this place.”

“How else? I followed the violence. I knew you weren’t coming back before Malik even did because you missed two of our sessions, and you’ve never missed them in the three years we’d been training. You didn’t call or let me know.”

Easton tapped his head with his blade. “I was angry that you just… didn’t bother to fucking call! Why didn’t you call?”

He was getting too agitated again. “I would have if I felt it was safe. So, you tracked Dalton down?”

“Not exactly. There’s been a lot of chatter between other organizations on the dark web. I took a risk that the sudden death among those hired had to do with you. This address was mentioned. I came here to investigate, looking for evidence of the recent shootout that resulted in five Bratva deaths. They’re more pissed than I am. But then, you just happened to show up here.”

Lucky me, but I didn’t say that. My luck had been shit so far. Now, I had to tread even more carefully.

“East, are you going to tell them you found me?”

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