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“I can understand that you had a job to do, but tell , Cole Do they not have phones in South America? You couldn’t find one?”

If you had been ht have pissed off your husband

But that hadn’t been the only reason Instead, he said, “And risk those bastards tracing the call back to you? No way, baby You don’t understand how corrupt these men are or how far their reach extends”

She nodded reluctantly “Since they just blew up iven me your real names before you left All I had was a phone number written on a tiny piece of paper Do you kno easy it was to lose that number?”

She’d lost it? “Did you try to call us?”

“When I found out I was pregnant, yes But I shoved the paper intotook my jeans and washed them No more number So I waited I was sure you would come back You said you loved irl armor around her “I believed you”

Cole closed his eyes, feeling low and sad and twenty kinds of pissed off at fate “Fuck”

“I used every dime I had saved up to try to track you down so I could tell you I was pregnant, but no one knew Burke and Cole Carlisle”

“It’s Lennox Our last name is Lennox,” Cole conceded

Jessa sier ave up I figured the whole song and dance about co back was just a line to ease your way out of my life”

“Jessa…”

“Don’t” She held up a hand, looking moments away from tears “I understand why you did it I’ll concede that I would have tried to keep you I would have cried and begged and been a general nuisance, so you were probably right to lie”

“We didn’t want to lie, Jessa” His voice started to rise, but Caleb shifted He had to stay calm for their son’s sake A son they had to protect above all else

“All this dangerous stuff… This is your life, isn’t it?”

“Yes” This hy he’d stayed away from women like Jessa “Burke and I joined the Navy ere just kids Our parents died ere fifteen We had one relative, a cruel bastard of an uncle He went through any money our parents had, not that it was a lot When we turned eighteen and the state support stopped, he gave us twenty bucks each and told us to get out We joined up and ram We served overseas and started our own security cohanistan He lost some use of his left arh cases It’s the only life I know”

It was brutal and ruthless and never stopped

“I can’t live this way You know that if we survive this, I can’t be around you I can’t let Caleb be around you He’s one as soon as possible”

Cole felt the cold like never before He’d told her fro tried to walk away from her, but she’d drawn hi hih his veins Caleb was so sweet, so trusting The kid’s fathers had been in his life for less than two hours, and what did he have to show for it? His house in rubble, and he was on the run He was about to be separated froood for the kid so far

Jessa’s lip trembled “I’m sorry I didn’t ht now I really did try to call you and Burke because I thought Caleb needed his dads Can we not ht now?”

But she’d already ently and handed him to Jessa “Take him”

As soon as the baby’s soft, sleeping weight left his arht never hold his son again, but she was right Caleb deserved better

Jessa followed, the coat back around her body She’d tucked Caleb inside, only a tuft of hair visible “Cole?”

“I’ood for him I never wanted a kid in the first place”

He hadn’t—at least in the past But noanted Caleb desperately He wanted Jessa Even that stupid cat who had thrown up everywhere He wanted the goddamn white picket fence, but his life didn’t work that way

Caleb turned his little head, pushing at the coat around hiaze felt like a stab in the fucking heart

“Just do e tell you and you’ll be with hiain You won’t see me after this” He would disappear He would walk into Coloirls as he could until he found that bullet with his name on it Burke would stay He’d said as much that day in the Mexican restaurant Burke had been willing to take Jessa without Cole Burke loved her He ay fucking smarter

“I got everything on the list” Burke approached, pushing a full cart At the tension in the air, his eyes shifted, narrowed, quickly figuring out the situation and assigning blame “What did you do?”

Cole shook his head He wasn’t having this fight She was Burke’s now Burke would chars He would take care of her and Caleb

And Cole would protect them all from afar

When Jessa started to cry, Burke wrapped his arms around her Cole turned away

This was for the best He wasn’t good for anyone His uncle had drus Cole had done to survive and put ree Jessa and Caleb would be better off if he disappeared from their lives forever

One year earlier, December 28 – New York City

Jessa wanted to have sex—with both of the to explode And he was pretty sure his heart wasn’t far behind

She was different He’d known it the minute he’d set eyes on her Cole was just a stubborn bastard But Jessa had quickly figured out exactly how to take him down

She turned as Burke closed the door to their suite “Is it okay if I use the bathroom first?”

He practically laughed She looked so soft and sweet She was perfect, and right now she was perfectly scared

He pulled her into his arainst him “Yes, sweetheart Take all the tio out, you know Nothing has to happen right now”