Page 20 of Redeeming Violet

“Not to someone you’re not,” Jaxon said.

“Huh? There’s no one who cares about me, trust me. My birth parents died when I was three. My adoptive parents have both passed. I have no siblings.”

“But you do. You have a brother. And he’s the end game,” Zane concluded.

“That doesn’t make sense. Timothy and Manuel knew where he was. They don’t need me to find him.”

The look that passed between Jaxon and Zane scared me to death. I swallowed the lump in my throat and tried to muster what was left of my courage and asked, “Why does Manuel want me?”

Chapter Ten

Jaxon

There were a multitude of reasons why I didn’t want to answer Violet’s question, the biggest one was, I’d already been an asshole to her earlier when I told her she was being stupid. My intention was not to call her names, and I took no pleasure in providing her with an education on the seedier side of Clandestine Services. I liked that she worked for the CIA; yet amazingly she still held on to some innocence. Only her naïveté was what was going to get her killed if she didn’t open her eyes.

Like now, she couldn’t understand the value of Manuel taking her. There are things far worse than death and knowing your sister had been sold into the sex trade would be one of those things. Nothing would drive a man like Declan crazier than knowing his sister was being raped and there’d be nothing he could do about it. Then again, it was a risk on Manuel’s part. There was no predicting what Declan would do; I doubted he would roll and give in to Manuel’s demands. A man like Declan would more than likely go ballistic and paint the town red with his enemy’s blood.

“You should get some rest,” I told her.

“Why would he want me?” she asked again.

“To use you against Declan,” Zane told her.

I had to hand it to her, she was trying her hardest to stay strong, but the weight of day had finally knocked her on her ass. She slumped back in her seat and lowered her head in defeat.

“You’ll hide me, right?”

“He won’t get to you,” I vowed.

And in a moment of stupidity I pulled her into me, wrapping my arms around her small frame. I shouldn’t have been touching her, there was a certain amount of distance that was necessary when dealing with a someone you were in charge of protecting, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. And now that she was in my arms, I realized the depth of my lapse in judgement, only it was too late. Violet’s body had relaxed, and she snuggled into my side, pushing her face into my chest.

“Promise you won’t let Manuel use me to get to Declan?”

“I promise.”

I dreaded looking up from the top of Violet’s head. I knew the smirk that would be on Zane’s face would piss me off. Only when my gaze lifted, he was staring at Violet and a look of contemplation weighed heavy on his features. Zane Lewis was a hard man to figure out; he rarely did what one expected him to do. Years of having to make hard decisions that more times than not led to loss of life, even if it was the enemy, had hardened him. He covered most of his deep-seated issues with sarcasm and a devil may care attitude. But we all knew it was an act. Not that any of us would call him on it; he’d earned the right to his privacy and his pain.

He finally nodded and lifted his chin before he walked back toward the others, leaving me alone with Violet.

“I’m sorry I pulled you all into this mess.”

“I’m not. I wish you would’ve come to us sooner, but there’s nothing we can do about that now. Let’s concentrate on moving forward and finding Declan.”

It was hard to stay mad at her when, under no fault of her own, she became another piece in Manuel’s fucked-up game.

When her breathing evened out and she gave me the rest of her weight, I closed my eyes. I was bone tired and I’d need a clear head when we reached the states.

***

Hours later the jet landed in DC. Wolf and his team said their goodbyes but not before he pulled me aside and told me if I needed anything to give them a call. He also expressed his gratitude to Violet. Even if the platoon didn’t actually need the help, at the time Violet didn’t know that. There may’ve been an ulterior motive, but we all believed she would’ve helped whether or not she’d wanted the chip.

With the SEAL team on their way back to San Diego, we were now left with what to do with Violet. She looked worn down and small, not to mention even though she’d slept on the plane, she looked like she needed a week’s worth of rest.

“You can take her to my cabin,” Jasmin offered.

Jasmin had inherited a cabin in Claiborne, Maryland. It was located on the beautiful shores of the Chesapeake Bay. For some unexpected reason I wanted nothing more than to take Violet out there and surround her with the peace and tranquility the cabin offered, but I knew that wasn’t smart.

“I don’t want to be that far from the rest of the team.” It was a forgone conclusion Violet would be staying with me, the question was where.