Page 33 of Echoes and Oaths
Jinx swallowed hard, stepping closer. "I’m glad you did."
Eira’s eyes glimmered with something between sadness and resignation. "Except now it puts us all in danger, doesn’t it?"
He nodded once. "To a degree, yes. They’ll see my love for you and Teo as a weakness they can use against me."
She stepped toward him, her voice sharp with the fear and fury of a mother backed into a corner. "That’s why you want us to leave the country."
Jinx met her gaze, something raw flashing in her eyes. "I want you safe."
"And where would we go, Mateo?" she asked, her voice tight. "What would we do? We’d be in a foreign country without papers, visas, or a way to survive. My government won’t give us the documentation your country needs. You’re here to do this job you told me about. What happens if you don’t survive?" Her voice broke at the end, a tremor cutting through the steel. "We’d be alone. Teo and me. In a world that wants to swallow us whole."
Jinx took her face gently between his hands, forcing her to look at him. "I’d make sure you were taken care of," he said quietly. "No matter what."
The doubt in her eyes was immediate. Shestepped back, putting a small distance between them. Jinx could feel his frustration boiling beneath his skin like lava. His jaw ticked, and he ran a hand over his neck, trying to control the rising storm inside him. She didn’t believe him. The frustration wasn’t with her. It was with the decisionshe’dmade. If he could turn back time, he would. But he couldn’t. "I have plenty of money," he said quietly, deliberately, his gaze locked on Eira. "More than enough for you, Teo, and your mother to live comfortably if I don’t survive this mission. But I have every intention of surviving." His voice softened, but the steel never left it. "I have every intention of coming back to you."
Eira folded her arms across her chest and lifted her chin defiantly as the warm Venezuelan breeze stirred her hair. The humid air pressed heavily against them, thick with the scent of damp earth, sunbaked grass, and cattle. "And I have every intention of taking care of my mother and my child the way I always have," she replied. "You stand here and tell me you’re about to start a war. But I’ve been surviving through this war my entire adulthood, Mateo. I know the dangers. And now you’re back, you bring another layer of protection, your name." Her eyes shimmered with determination. "Nowthat you’re back, why would anyone try to harm us?"
The question punched him in the chest because he knew the answer. "Ortega has an army," he said quietly. "The militia in the foothills has another. You’ve lived in this battlefield for too long not to see the cracks forming. Please, Eira, let me send you out of this country."
She shook her head, her arms tightening around herself like armor. "I’ll consider it," she said after a pause. "But it’s only a consideration." Her eyes flicked back to him, sharp and assessing. "The war you’re about to start … when will it happen?"
Jinx shook his head, the shadows shifting across his face as the late afternoon light slanted through the gaps in the barn walls. "I’m not sure. It could take time. I don’t know the inner workings of Ortega’s cartel anymore. I don’t know what the militia intends. Everything is a guessing game right now."
Eira’s gaze didn’t waver. "Then give me time," she said softly but firmly. "Give me the time to adjust to the fact that you’re back. Give me time to know what you’re telling me is the truth."
His brow furrowed. The weight of her words settled heavily between them. "Why would you think I’m not telling you the truth?"
She laughed hollowly and shook her head, her expression crumbling. "Withholding facts is lying, Mateo," she said, voice sharp as a blade. "You never told me you were an enforcer. You never told me how high up you were in Montoya’s cartel. You didn’t tell me you were a killer. You didn’t tell me you were working for your government."
“There were things I didn’t tell you to protect you and myself.”
Her eyes locked on his, fierce and wounded all at once. "You lied to me by omission. Why would I think you’re telling me the entirety of the truth now?"
Jinx scrubbed a hand over his face and exhaled roughly. He stepped back, pacing, breathing in humid, heavy air. He felt like he’d just taken a hit to the gut. Stopping, he met her gaze and spoke, his voice stripped bare. "This is the absolute truth," he said quietly. "I loved you, Eira. I still do. I tried to shield you from the ugliness I had to become. I didn’t want you to see the monster I had to be to survive, to do what needed to be done." His throat worked as he swallowed hard. "I walked away because I thought none of my deeds would ever come back to haunt you. I thought leaving would protect you."
He let out a bitter breath, shaking his head. "I didn’t know about Teo. I had no idea Ortega had taken over. I didn’t know you were caught in this hell." His voice dropped, rough and low. "I walked away, and I tried so damn hard to forget you. I told myself it was the only way to keep you safe." He paused, voice softening. "Yes, I’m a killer. But I don’t eliminate people for the joy of it. I take out monsters. I work for governments of this world, and I’m here to remove two of the biggest monsters on this continent."
His gaze bore into hers, steady and unwavering. "But I can’t do that if I’m worried about you. About Teo. About whether you’ll survive the war I’m about to start. I need you safe, Eira, so I can concentrate on finishing this … so we can both walk away." He took a step closer. "If you want to stay here afterward, I’ll stay. If you want to leave, I’ll take you anywhere. America, Europe, any country you choose. I’ll follow you."
His voice broke with the next words. "I can’t imagine my life without you." Eira released a shaky breath and walked away from him, her footsteps echoing in the quiet barn. She rubbed her arms, her fingers trailing over the goose bumps on her skin, then leaned back against the rough wooden wall. "I’ve changed, Mateo," she said, her voice soft but steady. "I don’t know if the woman I am now is someone who can still love you."
Her words hit him like a sledgehammer to the chest. He crossed the distance between them and stopped a few feet away, his hands flexing at his sides.
"That doesn’t matter, Eira," he said quietly. "If I’ve ruined our love, it doesn’t change anything. I will still take care of you. Of Teo. Of your mother. I’ll never abandon you again."
She glanced at him, her lips curving in a small, bitter smile.
"Words are cheap, Mateo."
Outside, the oppressive heat of the Venezuelan lowlands clung to the air, thick and suffocating. In the distance, the distant boom of thunder rolled across the horizon, a storm gathering over the jungle just past the foothills. But between them, the storm had already arrived.
"Not mine," Jinx said, his voice low but unwavering. "My words are filled with absolute truth. I will never lie to you again, by omission or otherwise."
Though Eira’s gaze softened, the shadows of doubt still lingered in her eyes. She glanced towardthe door, her expression guarded. "Your friend can stay. But where will you be staying?"
Jinx closed the distance between them slowly and carefully as if approaching a wounded animal. He took her hands in his, cradling them gently in his. "I would like to stay here," he said quietly. "With you and Teo."
Her big brown eyes lifted to his, and he saw the flicker of old memories, the wariness tangled with longing.
