“I am,” he answered then directed his next statement to Stephen. “Don’t you dare do something stupid.”
He nodded, unable to speak because he couldn’t guarantee he wouldn’t do anything to protect his son.
Mayson sighed. “Promise me you will do everything I tell you, no playing the hero shit. Because if something happens to you and the baby, Brenden would never forgive me.”
“I promise,” he vowed then hopped into the truck and scooted over for Mayson to get in.
“You’re making him come with us?” Baker asked from the driver seat. Mayson nodded. “Your head,” he mumbled and started the truck and drove off. They didn’t turn on the sirens as they drove. They didn’t want to tip Paige off of their presence. Not until it was too late for her to try and run with Nicholas. Stephen sat in the back seat on pins and needles wishing Baker would drive faster. He would get his son back, and that was all that mattered.
** ** ** ** **
Brenden looked at Jaxson as they pulled up a block from the address they got from the trace. He was right in thinking Paige wouldn’t have taken Nicholas to her house, it would have made things too easy. It had taken one hour to get to Paige’s location. Brenden’s job while Jaxson drove was to try and keep her on the line the entire time, but she figured out what he was trying to do and hung up that was fifteen minutes earlier and each time he tried to call her back it went to voicemail. He and Jaxson were the first ones to arrive. He tried one more time. Jaxson was on the phone with the team who were supposed to meet them. Finally, Paige picked up.
“Do you want me to kill him, Brenden?” Paige asked answering the phone.
“What are you talking about?” Brenden asked her back.
“Don’t lie to me,” she told him.
“What do you want me to say, Paige?”
“The truth,” she snapped.
She was getting agitated, and the quick change in her attitude made him worry more for his son.
“I told you the truth,” he defended.
“I know you don’t love me, Brenden. I can hear it in your voice.”
Brenden did not confirm her words.
“God, I’m so stupid,” she said.
“Why, Paige?” He was doing his best to keep her calm, and the only way to do that was to keep her talking. The more she talked, the less she would want to do something dangerous. “Why are you stupid?”
“You found me, didn’t you?”
“No,” he lied, but she picked up on it.
“I will kill the little bastard if you don’t tell me the truth,” she said to him. “I thought you would understand we belonged together, that’s why I took the kid. But you tricked me.”
“I didn’t trick you, Paige,” he said quickly.How in the hell did she think he would want to be with her after taking his child?
“Yes, you did!”
Brenden looked in the rearview mirror and saw the other FBI issued vehicles pulling up. They would cover the front and the back of the entrances. They wanted to make sure that Paige didn’t have a chance to get away. “No, Paige, sweetie, talk to me. Tell me more of what you want to do,” he cajoled hoping somewhere in her crazy mind she would believe him. He watched as Mayson and a few of the other agents got out and whispered a curse when he saw Stephen get out of one of the vehicles.
Paige sighed bringing him back to their conversation. “Brenden,” she whined. “I didn’t want to do it this way, but you didn’t give me or us a chance," she murmured. “I knew you would find me, I’ve always thought of myself as a smart woman. Someone who would never let another man get the best of me. But I fell for your charms.”
Stephen walked up to the SUV he was in, and Brenden stared at him out the window. He should be angry that his lover was there, but Brenden knew begging Stephen to stay put was asking for the impossible. Brenden rested his forehead against the window.
“I’m sorry, Paige, I never meant to hurt you.”
“Did you feel anything for me when we were together?” She sounded vulnerable, and Brenden almost felt sorry for her. “I take your silence as no,” she said. “I wished you could have loved me the way I loved you. I fell for you hard.” She sniffled, and he could tell she was crying.
Brenden opened the door and got out of the SUV and pulled Stephen in his arms. He couldn’t lie to her, not this time. He couldn’t give her the answer she was looking for. “Paige, I’m not going to lie to you.”
“You should have. Just one time I would have liked to hear you tell me you wanted me.”
