Page 109 of Possession

“You won’t.” I bite and try to reach for her hand. She pulls away from me, stands, and stalks to the other side of the room. “I know what I’m doing. This is different.”

“You’re right. This is different. So damn different, Brax.” She shakes her head, dragging her fingers violently through her hair as she stares out the window. “You’re marching into the lion’s den willingly. One wrong move and—”

“I won’t make a wrong move. I’ve got the DEA and the CIA at my back. This is different. Brian was hunted. I’ll be on the offense the whole time. My contact at the CIA will make sure I’m one step ahead.”

When she turns to face me, her expression might as well be a dagger to my chest. Pained tears streak her face.

And just like that, it all comes back to me with a force.

The day we got the call. In the days after we found out Brian died, I unofficially moved home, and I hadn’t lived here since before I left for college. But I was here with her, day and night. Reporters camped in front of my childhood home for days. It was impossible to come and go without someone wanting a piece of us.

My mom. My sisters. Me. There was no way I could leave them here alone.

“Don’t do it,” she begs. “You can change your mind. It doesn’t matter what you promised anyone. They can’t make you do this.”

I take the three steps that separate us and pull her into my arms. With everything life has thrown at her—first losing Dad and then Brian—Mom seems like she’s a fraction of herself, and it has nothing to do with her naturally small frame.

I keep talking. “No one is making me do anything. I need to do this. I need to find out who and why. It’s time to uncover the truth. It affected all of us differently, but that doesn’t mean we’re not all paralyzed in some way. I want to put an end to that.”

She shakes her head against my chest. “I’m afraid.”

I put my hands to her shoulders, push her back, and look into her green eyes. The girls and I took after dad. Dark hair, eyes, and skin. You’d never know by looking at our family that our Hispanic father, who moved to Queens when he was ten, met and married an Irish beauty when he was still in high school. Brian, on the other hand, looked just like mom. Had he not been built like a brick shit house, just like Dad, you’d never know we were related.

I lean far enough to look into her eyes, the ones that remind me of my older brother every single time I look into them. “I’m not afraid. This is why I changed careers. The opportunity presented itself, and the time is right. This was meant to happen.”

She shakes her head. “No. Don’t say that.”

I lower my voice. “I’m going to find out who did it. Swear to you. And you’ll be able to sleep at night knowing that the people who took your son from you paid the price.”

“And what price is that?” she bites.

“You know the price, Mom. An eye for an eye.”

She cradles her face. “I already lost your father and Brian. This is too dangerous. Let it go. I can’t lose you too.”

I shake my head and pull her to my chest again. “Not a chance. I’ll be back. It’ll be like I wasn’t even gone. I’ll get in, do what they want me to do, poke around, and get out. I’ll be back before Christmas.”

“Promise me, Brax. Promise you’ll come back to me.”

“Do you think I want to get popped on the side of the head with a wooden spoon for lying to you? I learned my lesson a long time ago.”

“You were always the cunning one—naughty and sneaky,” she snaps. “Which worries me more.”

I try for the grin that usually wins her over, even though I can tell she’s not in the mood. “You have my word. I’ll get in and get out. My goal is to fly under the radar. It’s not like I’m going to report to the head of the Marino family. They’ll barely give me a glance.”

She finally realizes that there’s no way she’ll win this battle and wraps her arms around my chest. “If you’re not back for Christmas, consider yourself grounded.”

Shit.

That hurts more than telling her about the operation. I have a feeling there’s no way I’ll be back by next Christmas, let alone this one.

But she can’t know that.

She can’t know anything.

“I’ll be here.”

Her arms tighten around me in a way I’ll have to pry her off to catch my flight.

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