Page 6 of Tango

Scorpion sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “How about if he stands back ten feet?” Scorpion asked me.

I glowered at him. “You fuckin’ hard of hearing?” I snarled.

“That’s enough!” Chase barked, glaring at both of us before settling his eyes on me. “I don’t fucking trust him either, Tango, but he’s here offering us his help. He’s here, giving us a warning so we can take the necessary steps to help you protect your boy.”

I stayed silent, stewing in my rage. Chase looked at Alejandro. “If he agrees, you stay ten feet back, and you are un-fucking-armed, and all of your men are outside. Clear? The boy can’t handle the fucking army you take with you everywhere you go, and it is under Johnston’s orders that we protect him. So, you empty your fucking person of every weapon on you and lay it on this table, and you go order your men outside.” Chase looked at me. “On those conditions, will you let Alejandro meet him?”

“I’m armed the entire time,” I warned him. Alejandro had a dark history, and while some people believed he’d truly changed his ways, I wasn’t one of them. I didn’t give a fuck that he had a woman, that he had a kid, that he was no longer dealing in the skin trade. I didn’t give a fuck that he was sharing a bed with one of the most ruthless presidents to ever grace this earth, Joey Dirks.

Alejandro was poison.

“I agree to those terms,” Alejandro said, already pulling knives and two pistols from the hiding spots on his body.

I stood from my chair, rolling my jaw around. “You try anything fucking stupid, and I’ll put a bullet between your eyes.”

He inclined his head to me. “Understood.”

I looked at Chase. “Out there,” I told him. “Not in here. Gabriel doesn’t like this room.”

Chase nodded once and stood as well.

Gabriel looked up when I opened the door. Immediately, he grabbed his bookmark and placed it in the crease of the book before closing it and setting it aside. “That was fast.”

I blew out a soft breath and took a seat in front of him on the bed. Reaching forward, I grabbed his hands in mine, brushing my thumbs back and forth across his skin. I didn’t miss the way he shivered or the way he licked his lips.

Fuck, it was those little things he did that made me want him so goddamn badly.

“I need to tell you something,” I began. He swallowed thickly, nerves showing in his gray eyes. His face paled a little, the freckles even more prominent against his skin now. I held his hands a little tighter, hoping to ground him. “Your father wants you back home, and the Russians are willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen so they can keep gaining access to that territory and move into Mexico.”

Gabriel shook his head, tears swimming in his eyes. I pulled him close, squeezing him to me. He shuddered, his breath fanning my neck as he burrowed against my chest. “Don’t send me back,” he sobbed, gripping my cut so tightly in his fists that his hands shook and his knuckles turned white. His tears were quickly dampening my skin. “Please don’t send me back.”

I pulled him onto my lap so he was straddling me and gently rocked him, my hands running up and down his back, my arms banded tight around him. “I’m not sending you anywhere,” I swore. “Anyone trying to take you from me will have to pry your body from my cold, dead hands.” I grasped his teary face in my hands and gently stroked my thumbs over his freckles, hating the way the tears hid them. “I won’t let anyone hurt you again, Gabriel. I swear I won’t. And I won’t let anyone take you from me either,” I promised.

He sniffled, tugging on my cut to pull me closer. My heart skipped a beat in my chest. “You swear it?” he croaked.

I nodded. “I swear on my life, baby boy.”

He nodded and slowly uncurled his fingers from the edges of my cut before wiping his tears away. I pressed kisses to both cheeks, loving those freckles now that I could see them clearly again. “Alejandro wants to meet you.” He shook his head immediately. I sighed. “I know, baby. I don’t like it either, but he’s offering us his help in protecting you.” I stroked a hand down his back. “You don’t have to say a word to him, you hear me? You don’t have to answer him if he asks you any questions, either.”

“Okay,” he said softly. “You’ll be with me?”

I softly smiled at him, nodding my head. “I’ll always be with you, Gabe.”

He sniffled and then crawled off my lap. I watched as he tugged on his sneakers, and once they were on, I stood from the bed and grabbed his hand in mine, leading him out of the room. My body remained ahead of his, my bulky frame blocking the view of his smaller, slimmer one.

We were halfway down the stairs when he suddenly froze, his hand tightening around mine and going clammy. Immediately, I turned to face him. He shook his head at me, opening his mouth to speak but unable to make his tongue work so he could form the words.

“I’ve got you,” I soothed, pulling him to me. Gripping the back of his slim thighs, I lifted him, and he wrapped his arms and legs tight around me. With one arm beneath his ass to keep him up, I cradled the back of his head with my other, finishing the walk down the stairs.

Alejandro was standing in the middle of the room. His men were outside, and Mark and Elias were on either side of the door. My pistol was still at the small of my back, but seeing my brothers ready to kill Alejandro if need be left me feeling a bit more at ease.

“This is him?” Alejandro asked as I gently set my boy in a chair at a table. I stroked my hand over his hair, standing at his side with his shoulder pressed to my abdomen.

“His name is Gabriel,” I told him. “He’s under my protection, as well as the protection of both the mother and this charter.”

Alejandro ran his eyes over Gabriel, but he didn’t move forward. He remained standing where he was, barely moving anything but his lips as he spoke. “Makes sense now why they are willing to cause a bloodbath over him,” Alejandro murmured more to himself than to anyone else. I knew why; one of their toys was gone—a moneymaker. Not to mention, they knew without a shadow of a doubt that Gabriel had run his mouth to us. Alejandro looked at me. “I’ve got ears to the ground. When I hear something, I’ll let you know.”

I nodded once at him. With that, he turned on his heel, heading back into the chapel. I lifted Gabriel and took him back upstairs without a word.

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