by Cara Carnes
Though exhaustion plagued him, the boy had yet to sleep. If anyone was near his little brother, he was sentry. Watching. Protecting. Dallas’s chest swelled. “Proud of you, TJ.”
The boy’s head snapped up. His drowsy eyes focused on him via the rearview mirror, then shifted over to Jesse, who sat on the boy’s other side in the back seat. Kamren was in the front seat beside Dallas, quiet but astute—as she’d been since they landed in Texas.
“I had lots of big brothers growing up, so I know a thing or two about what a great one is. I lucked out, had a lot of good ones. Gotta say, you’re the best big brother DJ could’ve ever gotten. The way you took care of him, kept him safe—I’m proud of you, we all are.” Dallas waited for the little boy’s weary brain to take in all he’d said. The doctors had all mentioned that neither boy was used to lots of conversation. They were significantly behind where they should be in many ways yet accelerated in others.
“You aren’t alone anymore,” Jesse added. “You have a huge family now, by blood and by brotherhood. Whatever you and DJ need, we’re all here. You aren’t alone anymore.”
“I know.” The boy’s cautious voice filled the cab. His gaze slid up to the front, focused on Kamren, and remained locked on her, as if willing her to hear his unspoken question.
Kamren. Dallas reached over and squeezed her hand. She’d been amazing, after she’d gotten over her initial concerns about meeting with Mrs. Mendez. TJ had spoken about Kamren with enough curiosity, interest, and reverence the advocate had wanted to meet someone who had made such a profound impact on the young boy so quickly.
There were many similarities between his boys and Kamren, the way they were raised, living off the land. Fending for themselves. Jesus. He hadn’t realized some of the shit she’d gone through until he heard the conversation she had with Mrs. Mendez. Her father had forced her to hunt to eat, even when she was as young as DJ. Rachelle and Cliff didn’t go through it, mainly because he’d already had Kamren beneath his thumb.
It was the questions she’d refused to answer about her mother that concerned Dallas. Although she’d shared a lot about her father and the things they’d endured at his hand, very little had come out about their mom so far. Why? It was one of the million things he intended to find out about the woman who’d become important to him and the two boys in the back seat.
“You know your dad and uncles were all soldiers, right? Most everyone here was at one point.” Kamren’s voice filled the cab. She looked back at TJ and smiled. “They do things as a team. Everyone has a strength, but they also have weaknesses. Like me? I can shoot and hunt with the best of them, but I’m not good with numbers and book-learning stuff. But Mary and Vi? Rhea and Bree? Those four are really, really smart. But they can’t shoot worth a damn.”
TJ snickered, like he couldn’t imagine someone not knowing how to shoot.
“So alone, we aren’t as good as we are when we help one another. A team.”
“DJ and I are a team,” the boy said.
“Yeah, you are,” Jesse said. “But all the rest of us are part that team now, too.”
“That means we trust one another,” Dallas said. He hoped the kid understood what they were saying. “We have each other’s backs. When one of us has problems or needs to tap out, to rest and recover from being in protective mode too long, we flag someone in to take our place. Past few days have been scary, but it’s okay to rest now. We’re tagged in. You can rest. Nothing’s gonna happen to you or DJ, not here.”
The little boy’s lips thinned. Gaze narrowed, he sat up higher in his seat when Dallas parked the truck in front of the ranch house. He turned it off, slid out of the front of the cab, and opened the back door. He looked back at Jesse. “You get TJ, and I’ll take DJ.”
“Right.” Jesse held out his hands to TJ. “You ready for a pony ride, little man?”
Little man. Lilly had told them it was a nickname the boy liked. She was still wrangled with red tape. Her recovery would be slow, and one which was not suited for the facilities they had at The Arsenal. She needed something more private, secure. At Kamren’s suggestion, Tanner had offered the woman a spot in one of his remote cabins. He had therapists who worked with the people out there. The woman had agreed quickly, as if realizing it was the best option.
For now, she was simply a victim they’d rescued. Nothing aside from that mattered, especially since her identity was as much a mystery as TJ’s. But Dallas wasn’t taking chances that it wasn’t an elaborate ruse. Marshall and his team would be wheels down tomorrow to Tanner’s facility, providing security and helping out with an ongoing issue they had.
Dallas waited until TJ was situated on Jesse’s back before he took DJ out. Kamren smiled at them as she remained nearby, but distant enough to give the boys the space they needed. He kept each movement slow and visible to the protective older brother. He glanced at the porch as his mom walked out. She was dabbing at her eyes and smiling big.
Some of the pain and fear within him vanished. His son was home.
No. His sons.
He didn’t know the first thing about healing them or raising them. But he had the best damn family and friends around. Together they could do anything.
“Get the door, Mom,” Dallas whispered as he carried an exhausted DJ toward his childhood home.
A sleepy but ever-watchful TJ tightened his lock on Jesse a few steps away. The older boy’s gaze slid to Dallas’s mom and widened slightly as the woman reached out and clasped his head in her hands. Before Dallas could stop her, she leaned in and kissed his little forehead.
“You poor, sweet dear. Welcome home, baby,” she whispered through watery tears.
TJ’s gaze darted to Dallas, then swung to Jesse. “I didn’t do it.”
“Do what?” Jesse asked.
“Make her cry,” he said softly.
“Oh, baby.” Mom yanked the boy from Jesse and wrapped him into a big hug as she headed into the house. “We’ve been looking for you ever since we found out about you.”
“That’s DJ.” TJ pointed at his little brother. “I’m not nobody.”
“You’re God’s gift to me, you and your little brother both. My babies are all home, and now our family’s growing.” Her voice softened. “I made up the room Dallas used to share with Cord. You haven’t met him yet, but you will. There’s lot of people here who love you both. You won’t ever be alone or scared again, baby. Never, ever again.”
Jesus.
Dallas glanced at Jesse. Kamren’s eyes shimmered with unshed tears. She nodded, as if assuring him things were okay and headed where they needed to go. His sons were home. He and his brothers had discussed their mom’s involvement with the boys at length from the moment they undertook the mission of finding him. Doctor Sinclair was adamant she would be a tremendous asset. While Dallas had no doubt that was true, their mother didn’t have a filter on her mother-hen syndrome to the point it bled into everything within a one-hundred-mile radius of her nest. She’d mothered everyone within the Warrior’s Path Project and all the Arsenal operatives, despite numerous attempts by them all to get her to ease off on the mothering. Not everyone could handle the level of attention she doled out.
“I called Ray Burton. He’s got two boys about your age, and he assured me I couldn’t go wrong with superheroes for the bedding. I wasn’t sure which ones you’d want, so I got them all. You don’t want Spiderman, say the word and I’ll switch them out.” Dallas’s mother set TJ down, then glanced back at him. “Set him on the bed, dear. The poor thing was so tuckered out he hasn’t even moved.”
Dallas settled DJ onto the bed and smirked as his mother flitted to a dresser. She opened the top drawer. Pajamas spilled out, enough to outfit all of Resino.
“Ma,” Jesse said, his eyebrows lifted.
“Hush. These are my grandbabies. I’ve waited too long to spoil them as rotten as I can, so I figure I’ve got loads of making up to do.” She handed over a pair of pale blue pajamas with red Spiderman images
on them, her eyes watery. She handed another pair to TJ. “The bathroom’s down the hall and to the right. You change, and we’ll get your brother changed.”
TJ tightened. He gripped the clothing in his arms, but his gaze latched onto Dallas, then slid down to DJ. A century of wariness exploded within his little eyes. “I’ll help, then I’ll change.”
“Okay,” Dallas said quickly, knowing the big brother wasn’t about to leave them alone with his little brother. “Appreciated.”
Dallas didn’t know a damn thing about changing little boys so asleep they resembled comatose patients, but between him and TJ they had his tiny clothes shucked off quickly. TJ’s widened gaze slid to Dallas when they got to his wet pants.
“He was scared,” TJ defended.
“It’s okay, bud,” Dallas said. “I was pretty scared, too.”
“We’ve never been in a plane before, or in the city, or any of it. And all those people were nosing around, asking things. He doesn’t like strangers. Or noise.” TJ took a step away when Dallas’s mom appeared with a package of wipes.
By the time they had DJ pajama’d and tucked into the bed, Dallas could tell TJ was about to pass out, but the little boy stood beside the bed, a sentry looking out over his little brother. Emotion welled in his chest at the protectiveness.
How many times had one of his brothers done the same thing when he’d woken them because of a nightmare? He glanced back at Jesse.
“You know, when I was DJ’s age, I used to have nightmares just about every night,” Dallas said.
“What?” His mom’s eyes widened. “I don’t remember that.”
“That’s because he’d come in and wake me or Nolan, sometimes Marshall,” Jesse said. “We took turns coming in and checking under the bed and in the closet for the monsters. Then we’d crawl into the bed with him. Safety in numbers.”
TJ looked at Dallas, then Jesse. His little lips twisted as he knelt and peeked under the bed. Jesse helped, whispering as he pointed out potential hiding spots behind the dresser and around the bed. Behind the curtains.
The sweep was thorough and extensive. By the time TJ walked to the closet and opened it, the fear in his eyes had been bolstered into big-brother confidence. He spent a good three minutes looking through everything. He glanced about the room and nodded his approval.
“I’ll sleep with him,” TJ said. “I’ll keep him quiet if he wakes up yelling. He won’t know where we are.”
Why would a little boy wake up yelling? Dallas bit back the question. “You need anything, I’ll be across the hall. We’ll leave the lamp on low for you,” he said.
“Good. Then he’ll know we aren’t in the pit,” TJ commented as he crawled in.
“The pit?” Jesse asked. “The one Lilly was in?”
The boy’s body tightened once again. His gaze darted from Jesse, to Dallas, then to their mother. “Doesn’t matter. Forget I said anything. Don’t mention it to DJ or the lady. She’ll ask him. Doesn’t matter.”
Dallas settled on his haunches and waited for the boy’s gaze to slide to him. “Everything about you and DJ matters to me, to Jesse, to Mom, and everyone else here. I know you don’t know us yet, but we’ll listen. We won’t ever judge or get angry. There’s nothing you can’t tell us, any of us.”
The boy’s head bobbed as he drew the sheet and blanket over himself and his brother. Conversation over. Dallas smiled down at the two boys. TJ’s gaze tracked him and Jesse to the door. Dallas’s mom leaned down and kissed the boy’s forehead and whispered something in his ear.
They left the door half open and headed downstairs to the living room. Riley and Cord stood at the bottom of the stairs.
“They’re asleep?” Riley asked, disappointment heavy in her voice.
“Just about,” Dallas said. He braced as she vaulted into him. He took the impact with one step back and a grunt. She squeezed him tight enough to force breath from his lungs. “They’re okay, Riles. They’re home.”
“Damn straight they are,” she muttered into his body. “You good?” Her voice was soft, gentle like it’d been back when he’d first returned from The Collective.
“I’m getting there,” he admitted.
“Good. Good.” She looked at their mom. “I know you want a big family breakfast, but it’s up to Dallas. He’ll know if the kids are ready for the crazy that is a family breakfast.”
Riley shuffled off, leaving Dallas, their mom, and Jesse. And Kamren, who hovered nearby. Warmth resonated in his chest when his mom put her hand there and peered up at him with a teary expression, then beamed a smile. She did the same with Jesse, her other hand on his chest. “Proud. He would’ve been so proud of you boys.”
Jesus.
Jesse beat him to the hug Mom needed. Dallas waited his turn, then drew her into a tight, long one that’d let her give them whatever tidal wave of loss had stricken her. They were fewer and farther between, but recent events had activated them frequently. Dylan getting married. Mary being pregnant.
Now Dallas bringing his sons home. He looked over at Kamren and her teary-eyed expression. Had she ever had moments like this with her family? Doubtful. “Wish he was here giving advice on how to be a good dad. He was the best.”
“We’ll figure it out.” Jesse reached over, grabbed Dallas’s neck, and squeezed hard. “Together. Practice for Dylan’s kid. You know it’ll be a brilliant hellion, those two’s genes running through him.”
“Or her,” their mom supplied with a sniffle. “I’m hoping for a granddaughter, seeing how I already have two grandsons now.”
There it was, affirmation she’d already brought TJ into the fold.
“Go. Get Kamren fed. Jesse and I’ll sit with the boys. That thing Cord put in makes me nervous.”
That thing? Dallas looked at Jesse, who shrugged.
“He said Doc Sinclair suggested it, said we’d know if one of the boys got up, or was restless. A drone in the house seems a bit much.” His mom’s gaze was on the stairs. “Suppose I’ll go up to my room. Love you.”
“Love you, too,” Dallas said as he kissed her cheek. Jesse did the same.
A drone in the house. Made sense. Dallas wished to hell he’d thought of it. He dragged Kamren closer, cupped her face, and kissed her. Blood surged southward when she melted into him without hesitation.
“Go. I’ve got this,” Jesse said.
Dallas chuckled and took Kamren’s hand. “Come on, sweetheart.”
21
The shower was sublime, the latest word Bree had taught her. She couldn’t believe Dallas had actually left the ranch house. She’d expected to fend for herself tonight, but if she was being perfectly honest, she was glad they were going to spend some time alone. As selfish as it might seem, she needed time with the man who’d snared her in a way that she knew she’d never be the same.
The past few days hadn’t been celebratory. They’d been beyond stressful in so many ways. With all the government agencies crawling through every crevice of Dallas’s life, his family, and questioning the boys, the sheer stress of not knowing what was going to happen, she’d been a wreck just observing it all happen. Most was centered around The Collective from what Kamren understood. Very little had to do with either of the boys.
The boys. They were a mess. They’d gone from quiet and downright terrified some moments to insolent and demanding in others. They both missed Lilly terribly. They both wanted to go back to the cabin, where they weren’t watched by so many people.
Translation—they were confused and terrified.
Then she’d gotten dragged into it somehow.
At first, she’d been worried. Dallas and his brothers didn’t need her anymore. Heck, they hadn’t ever truly needed her help, but she was glad she’d been there to help find the boys. She’d expected to be ignored or even forgotten once the authorities swarmed like a pissed off wasp’s nest.
But Dallas and his brothers, all the team, had remained at her side. She hadn’t been alone the entire time they’
d been back from the woods. No matter what went down, they’d kept her within their central core, apprised of everything.
As if she mattered.
Warmth spread within her.
Dallas was a good man. The Masons were good people. She could see why Rache was so drawn to them.
Rachelle. Kamren squeezed her eyes shut and willed thoughts of her sister and the troubles she’d left back in Marville away. For tonight, she wanted to pretend there weren’t problems awaiting her on the horizon. Tonight, she’d spend what time she could with Dallas and celebrate the fact they’d found his son.
She shut off the water, toweled dry, and donned the T-shirt and drawstring shorts. Both swallowed her, but she didn’t care. She peered into the mirror long enough to finger-comb the worst of the snags out, and then headed down the hallway into the living area. Dallas was returning from the kitchen, a plate in his hand. He wore a matching pair of drawstring shorts, but they definitely weren’t swallowing him.
He hadn’t bothered with a shirt, which left the broad sweep of his shoulders, muscled chest and arms, and the steely ridges along his stomach on prominent display. It was a visual feast spotlighted by what little material he did wear, since it clung to his body in all the right places and ended in a soft hug of his thick thighs. The distinctive bulge in the cotton made her entire body warm as his gaze raked over her with the same hungered appreciation.
He set the food down on the coffee table and headed toward her.
Anticipation drummed within her, a steady, rapid beat that pattered wildly beneath her skin as he drew her into his arms. The kiss was demanding and uncontrolled, much like her emotions for Dallas. She wrapped her arms around him and deepened the fusion of tongues, the taunting of lips. His damp hair brought forward images of him wet in the shower. She couldn’t help but imagine being in there with him. A shiver rolled through her body.
“What are you thinking?” he asked, his voice husky with arousal.
