Page 53 of Calypso's Shield
He curses under his breath, running a hand through his hair. “It could be someone from my time as a detective,” he finally admits. “Someone I put away, or someone I worked with.”
My stomach twists. “You mean someone dirty?”
He nods. “Yeah. And if it’s the latter, we’re in deeper shit than I thought.”
I process that for a second, letting the weight of it sink in. Cops are dangerous, but dirty cops are lethal.
“Who, Farris?” I press. “Give me a name.”
He hesitates for a moment. “Michael Reyes.” The name hits like a bullet. Even I know that name.
Michael Reyes. Former LAPD. Ex-detective and the kind of corrupt bastard that makes other corrupt bastards look like saints. Farris arrested him a couple of years ago, caught in the middle of some dirty arms deal that tied back to the Black Market Railroad. The same Black Market Railroad we just wiped off the goddamn map. Farris had locked up plenty of people over the years, but guys like this, they never stay gone for long.
“You think he’s the one looking for me?” I ask, voice tight.
“I think,” Farris exhales, dragging another hit from his cigarette, “that if he’s out, he’s looking for payback. And he knows the best way to get to me is through you.”
I press my hand to my belly, my pulse thumping hard. I know how to handle men like Dave Train. Men who fight with their fists. But Reyes? He fights with leverage. He fights with power, and right now, my body is not at full strength. My pregnancy, my Lupus, they’re both working against me.
I don’t have the luxury of charging into this like I usually would by kicking ass and then taking names. We need to be smart. We need a plan.
“What are you thinking?” Farris eyes me cautiously. I don’t blame him since I usually act first and then think about the consequences. Since there is more than just me, I have to be smart.
I lift my chin. “We get ahead of him.”
Farris arches a brow. “What?”
I cross my arms. “We find him first. We don’t let him dictate the terms of this fight.”
Farris looks like he wants to argue, but deep down, he knows I’m right. He blows out smoke, shaking his head. “You’re not running into this headfirst, Calypso.”
I roll my eyes. “I’m not an idiot, Farris.”
He steps closer, voice lowering. “You’re pregnant.” His voice cracks just a little on the word. I exhale. Yeah, I am, and it changes things, but it doesn’t make me weak. “Let me handle it,” he says. “Let me do what I do best.”
I stare at him for a long moment, my fears coming to the surface. “And what if you get yourself killed?” I ask softly. That’s the real risk here.
Farris’s jaw clenches, and I refuse to lose him. I take his hand and place it over my stomach, letting him feel the steady curve, the warmth of our child growing inside me.
“We do this together,” I whisper. “Like we always should.”
A muscle ticks in his jaw, but he doesn’t pull away. Finally, Farris nods. “Alright.”
Reyes is out there, and he’s looking for me. Now I know exactly what we’re up against, but he doesn’t know who the hell he’s dealing with because I’m not the same woman I was before.
I’m stronger. I have a family to protect, and I will burn Reyes’s world to the ground before I let him take anything from me.
Pregnant or not, sick or not, I am still a goddamn warrior.
The weight of it all settles over me like a storm cloud ready to break. Michael Reyes is out there, hunting me. Not because of anything I did but because Farris took down a dirty cop and put him behind bars. Because Farris is the best kind of dangerous, a man who doesn’t bend, who doesn’t break, who doesn’t back down from a fight even when the odds are stacked against him. This bastard thinks he can come after us? Aftermyfamily? He’s got another thing coming.
I grip Farris’s wrist tighter, my fingers press into his skin, anchoring myself to him, holding him closer through the storm building around us. I feel the tension in him, the way his body is coiled tight like a predator ready to strike.
His blue eyes flick to mine, searching, stormy. “We’ll handle it.”
I nod because I know he means it. Because Farris isn’t the kind of man to say shit just to make me feel better. If he says we’re handling it, then it’s already decided.
But that doesn’t mean I don’t feel the weight of the battle coming. It doesn’t mean I don’t ache for something to hold onto before the war starts.
