“Did you know that your mom’s…your mom’s husband…did you know he wasn’t your dad?”
“Yeah,” Alex said without looking up.
“How did you know that?”
“Mom and Ian yelled at each other a lot,” Alex explained. “When she was mad at him, she’d say he wasn’t my real dad. I didn’t know who my real dad was until Raine told me about you.”
The idea that Jillian had picked fights with her husband didn’t surprise me in the least—that woman could be a hellcat. I was a little pissed she had obviously fought in front of Alex but not necessarily shocked by it.
“What did Raine tell you?” I asked.
“She said you were strong,” Alex said. “She said you had big muscles to always keep us safe. She said even though you weren’t here yet, that’s what you were doing. That’s why we had to stay here, so you could make us safe again.”
I looked Alex over carefully, trying to determine any signs of distress, but I couldn’t see any. His words were matter-of-fact, like he’d practiced saying them or at least had been thinking about them frequently. I couldn’t figure out if he was scared or not, and that bothered me. I wanted him to know that he would be okay.
“That’s exactly what I’m going to do,” I said definitively. “Just like Raine said—I’m going to make sure both of you are safe, and then maybe we’ll find a house we can all live in together. What do you think of that?”
“That would be okay,” Alex said. “Raine said we were going to find a house on the internet, but there isn’t a computer here.”
“Well, when we find a house for all of us,” I said, “I’ll make sure you have the best computer out there. You can play games and do your homework on it.”
“Ugh!” Alex cried out, startling me. He arched his back halfway over the chair and splayed out his arms. A couple crayons fell to the floor. “I hate homework!”
I grinned as I looked around the room at the books, action figures, and stuffed animals all over the floor.
“I bet you don’t like cleaning up your toys either, do you?”
He rolled his head to the side, keeping himself bent backwards over the chair.
“Of course not!”
I laughed at his display.
“I bet Raine makes you clean them up though, doesn’t she?”
He took in a big breath and let it out in a huff.
“Yeah.”
I grinned.
“I’ll tell you a secret,” I said as I leaned closer to him.
“What?” he asked, his interest piqued.
“She makes me clean up my stuff, too.”
I was rewarded with a smile.
“I’m going to go talk to Raine,” I said to Alex. “Will you show me the picture when it’s done?”
“Sure.” Alex righted himself in the chair and went back to his work.
When I came back into the main living area, Raine was in the kitchen with bread and peanut butter on the counter in front of her. She stopped and looked at me as I came out.
“You were right,” I said. I couldn’t stop the smile on my face. “He’s awesome.”
“He really is.” Raine’s expression mirrored my own. “I see more and more of you in him every day.”
“What does he know?” I asked. “I mean, he said a little, and you must have told him I was his father…”
“I didn’t tell him; Landon did,” Raine informed me. “When he brought me here, and Alex came out of his room, Landon told him I was going to take care of him until his dad got here.”
“Fuck,” I muttered. “How did he react?”
“I think he already knew Jillian’s husband wasn’t his father,” Raine said. “He didn’t seem surprised, just took it all in stride. I tried to talk to him about his mother a little, but he doesn’t say much. He knows they’re both dead, but I can’t get much of a reaction out of him. I kind of think he’s in shock about it all.”
“Why don’t you know who your parents are?”
“I don’t remember them.”
“How can you not remember your own parents?”
“I just don’t, okay?”
“Everyone remembers their parents. Are yours dead?”
“I don’t know.”
“How can you not know that?”
“Just shut the fuck up!”
I tried to shake the memory from my head, but it lingered a while. If anything, it solidified my resolve to win this tournament and give Raine and Alex some kind of normal life—the kind of life I never had. There was no way I’d let Alex be bombarded with the kinds of questions I always had to deal with as a child.
No fucking way was that going to happen to my kid.
“Bastian? You okay?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Just thinking. I don’t want him to grow up like I did.”
Raine lowered the knife full of peanut butter and walked over to me. She coiled her arms around my back and held me against her. I brought my arms up and returned the embrace.
“He’s so smart,” Raine said quietly. “You won’t believe how smart he is. I think as long as he knows we’re going to take care of him, he’ll be just fine.”
I wasn’t sure if it was going to be that simple or not, but I was willing to believe it. I wanted to believe it. I wanted to know he was going to be all right when all this was over.
Assuming any of us were all right.
I heard the sound of the lock at the door and turned to find Landon motioning me outside. I told Raine I’d be right back and went out into the bitter wind to speak with him.
“It’s set,” Landon said. “The tournament will begin the day after tomorrow.”
“What’s the plan?”
“Stay here tonight,” he said. “In the morning, we’ll get on the plane and head up there. The usual pre-tournament party for the elite is tomorrow night, and then it’s on.”
I nodded.
“I’m staying with her.”
“I figured as much,” Landon responded. “Don’t let it distract you.”
I ignored his tone.
“Give me your phone,” I said to Landon.
“Why?” he asked with narrowed eyes.
“This little party has fucked up Raine’s semester at school,” I said simply, “and I’m going to fix it.”
He debated only a few seconds before handing me the phone.
“I don’t have to tell you to use caution, do I?”
“Nope,” I responded.
I browsed the university website on the tiny screen until I figured out how to reach the first of Raine’s professors.
“Doctor Michaels?”
“Speaking.”
“This is Detective Masterson from Miami Dade,” I said smoothly. “I’m calling regarding one of your students, Miss Raine Gayle.”
“Yes, sir,” he replied. I could hear from his voice that he was already intrigued. “Is she in some kind of trouble?”
“I’m afraid I can’t discuss the details with you at this time,” I replied. “I just need your understanding and cooperation. Miss Gayle will be in protective custody for the next few weeks pending an important trial out of state. Needless to say, she won’t be finishing her semester, but she’s concerned about the hard work she’s already done in your class specifically.”
“Of course!” Michaels said. “Anything I can do to help. Miss Gayle is an excellent student. I’ve been wondering what happened to her.”
“She’s perfectly fine,” I said. “We just need to do what we can for her right now. Would you be willing to collect all her remaining schoolwork for the class and forward it on?”
He agreed completely, as I figured he would. Her remaining professors did the same, and Landon helped me arrange to have her work picked up at the university student center by a courier under Franks’ control. She’d have it all within a few days and had until the first of May to complete and return it. That gave her plenty of time.