“Too much to explain and I don’t have much time.”
“I know,” Evan said quietly. He dropped his head and kicked at the gravel with the toe of his tennis shoe. “When will I see you again?”
He was fifteen now and always full of questions Ex had to ignore. “Hopefully not too long.”
“It’s been almost two years.”
“Did you get your present?” Ex switched gears. He had the skill of deflection but all his training went out the window when he was with his kid brother—the one who’d looked up to him and wanted to be just like him. Still did. Maybe that was why the director of the program insisted they sever all ties with family and friends. Love was a handicap.
“Yes! I loved the computer. It had to cost you a fortune, Xavier. Mom knows they’re coming from you. She always gets this slight smirk and pep in her step when I get a black package. I mean, she’s not an idiot.”
“I know you told her I was still alive a long time ago. I suspected you would. But she can’t see me,” Ex stressed.
“I know. So, where’s your partner?” Evan asked, scanning their surroundings. He’d never see Meridian unless the man wanted him to.
“He’s around.” Ex didn’t take his eyes off his brother but he could feel Meridian was close, most likely on the roof of the school building... watching.
“You two are some real badasses, aren’t you?” Evan smirked. “Like some secret, covert operatives.”
Ex whistled lightly and glanced away at nothing. “I didn’t say anything of the sort.”
His brother laughed and rushed him again, wrapping his gangly arms around his waist. “I miss you so much. And I promise. I won’t tell anyone.”
It took Ex a second to process he was being hugged, the sentiment almost foreign to him after so long. Then he slowly brought his hands up and draped them around Evan’s shoulders and squeezed him in return. It felt good. It felt really good and Evan hugged him tighter. If his handler saw this, he’d have Ex in front of the director explaining himself. But he couldn’t let go.
“Ex,” Meridian said roughly, breaking him from his memory.
“Make it happen,” he replied briskly. He kept his sights trained on the grave where his only brother now rested. He thought of all the times he’d gone without seeing Evan. Time he’d wasted. Now he’d see his mother for the first time in eight years.
Their driver was a retired Army drill sergeant who went by the nickname Slade. He was the owner of the car service that catered to high-end clients they’d hired for the short duration of their visit. A service that was known for superior driving skills, and most importantly anonymity. Slade followed the procession until they got onto the main road, heading towards Ex’s childhood home. When they were close to Lakewood Heights, he turned down a one-way street and Meridian tapped once on the black sound-proof divider to tell the driver where to let him out. Slade eased close to the curb in front of a Starbucks and kept the car in drive.
“I’ll text you where to meet me, Slade. Twenty-five minutes,” Meridian informed him. He took a quick glance to his right and Ex looked to his left, but he knew he’d find no danger here. Then Meridian was out of the car with the grace a man his size shouldn’t have, and opened a black umbrella, easily blending into the foot traffic heading east. Towards Ex’s mother’s home.
Ex never asked how his partner intended to pull this off but he had no doubt that he would. He’d let Meridian do this for him even if it could cost them their careers.
Slade had them idling in a church parking lot a couple of blocks from where he’d dropped Meridian off twenty-one minutes ago. Ex heard their driver’s phone ping with a notification, then they were moving again. This was it. He pressed his back into the seat and took a couple of calming breaths. He was surprised at the foreign fluttering in his stomach. He hadn’t felt anything resembling nervousness in years but he recognized the emotion nonetheless.
Meridian walked into the packed two-story town house, still not believing he’d offered to do this. He had no fucking business in his partner’s family home, about to approach his only parent. Their mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, all family were supposed to be eliminated from their minds. But the brain didn’t always work that way. Ex’s mind was special and Meridian knew that. It’d been easy for him to forget his past because it’d been such a shitty one. He was more than happy to extinguish his abusive parents from his life.
Ex was different. No one knew of the emotions he clung to tightly and hid under the iron-clad armor he wore on the outside. Regardless of the fact that Ex still felt deeply, it hadn’t made him any less effective at his job and Meridian was proud to be his partner. The two of them were well-known all over the world by corrupt leaders and organizations, and it was all because of Ex. Because he was one of the few of them who still had a goddamn soul... a conscience. Meridian would do anything to make sure Ex never lost it, that was why he was doing this.