Page 77 of His Reluctant Savior

Dalton slept for mostof the day as I watched over Owen. Easton helped take care of him only to keep me pleased, but the help was a relief. Neither of us really knew what we were doing, but thankfully, Owen was an easy kid.

I’d debated getting Owen bathed but decided against it. First, I needed Dalton’s approval, so I put the boy in bed and read him a story.

Easton kept watch on the house as I sat up in bed, while Dalton continued to sleep. My heart beat too hard, and my hands fisted, seeing his face even more bruised than it was, along with his broken finger. I was angry, guilty, frustrated…

I picked up my phone and swiped it open. For the first time, I was afraid of my family because I truly had someone to live for and protect.

With a deep breath, I opened my messenger app, dialed the number I knew by heart, and entered my text.

Me: It’s Sid. I’m coming in.

It didn’t take him long to respond.

Malik: Where are you?

Me: Nope. I’ll be there in the morning. Keep your

red-headed Rottweiler on his leash.

Malik: He has been difficult to control as of late.

Me: Do it or I’m not coming back. I have answers

for you.

Malik: Very well. I will see you in the morning.

Before I closed my phone, he sent me another text.

Malik: Is Easton with you?

Me: Yes.

Malik: As I suspected.

Me: He’s only protecting me. You know how he is. Sully

would do the same for you.

Malik said nothing else, so I closed my phone. I shouldn’t have been surprised Malik knew Easton was with me. Did Malik keep that a secret from the family? If not, was Easton even safe? Now I had four lives to worry about.

I slipped under the covers and slid down onto my side to watch Dalton, my thoughts running a million miles per minute of all I needed to do and worry about. Regular jobs didn’t have this many emotions attached to them. This job had worn me the fuck out.

“Do they know we’re coming in?” he asked sleepily, his eyes still closed.

“I just texted Malik, but he doesn’t know you and Owen are coming with me. I don’t want them to bethatprepared.”

He nodded into his pillow and scooted closer to me, wrapped an arm around my side. “I’ll be okay.”

“If you say so.” I still had my doubts. My family and I had never faced a betrayal from within before, so I didn’t know how it was really going to go down.

Malik was betrayed a long time ago. A killer went against his explicit orders, which resulted in Sully losing his entire family, including Sully’s little brother and sister, and forced Malik to take the boy in. He’d simply tossed a dagger into the man’s eye and straight into his brain, instantly killing him without a thought.

That could very well be my fate.

Sid pulled into the private parking garage underneath The District. Apparently, they owned the entire building but only used two floors. He explained that in the basement, there was the firing range, sparring room, weapons room, and a big office with servers, where Layla did her deep dives into the net.

The main floor held their library, research rooms, lounge areas, break room, and two offices that belongedto him and Malik.

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