I was going to do anything and everything necessary to keep him safe and to give him a happy life. If Lupe was deep into the cartel, that meant she couldn't be a part of it. Maybe that was why she brought Mo here.
She'd chosen power and money over motherhood. I supposed I needed to be thankful that she’d handed him to me instead of putting him up for adoption.
I looked down at Mo, brushing my finger over the back of his soft hand. His fingers flexed and then wrapped around my finger holding on tight.
I leaned over and kissed his head. "That's right, Mo. It's you and me against the world. I'm going to keep you safe." It was a promise I'd made before and failed at when Bastion died. This time I vowed I would succeed.
Mo would be safe even if it meant giving up my own life.
CHAPTERTWENTY
Harper
I needed to talk to somebody about my situation with Noel, but I decided that Anne couldn't be that person. There was too much risk that it would create tension between her and Bran, especially since I believed she would support me, whereas Bran wouldn't. I felt certain he’d take issue with Noel touching me.
The next friendly confidant would have been Kate except that she was single, and I needed someone with experience with relationships. The perfect friend for that was Lane.
Lane and my friendship was born out of trauma when my stalker Kerby kidnapped her thinking it was me. She was now happily married to Archer, Noel’s partner, but I knew it had taken some work for her and Archer to find their happily ever after.
I suppose there was some risk in her telling Archer about my issue with Noel, but Lane had a reputation of being great at honoring people’s secrets.
So, after leaving Bran's office, I called her to make arrangements to meet with her at lunch. I had a little time to kill, so I decided to do some shopping. I visited several home décor stores and bought a few items for my home. When it was lunch time, I met Lane at a bistro not far from the office of MacLeod Capital Investment where she worked.
When I saw her, I gave her a hug noting the small baby bump she sported. “My goodness you're showing already."
She radiated happiness as she ran a hand over her belly. "I know. I'm showing sooner than I did with Emery. It makes it seem all the more real."
"I bet you Archer is excited."
"The guy is incandescent."
I could say the same about her.
We sat at a table and ordered sandwiches. I ordered roast beef with cheese on a baguette. Normally I might've ordered turkey or vegetarian, but all of a sudden, I was craving beef. It must've been from all the stress.
"How's the new house?" she asked when our server left to turn in our orders.
"The house is fantastic. But I am having some issues with my neighbor." I figured I’d go right into the reason I’d invited her to lunch.
"Noel?"
I nodded. "How well do you know him?"
She shrugged. "Not that well as a person. I know more about him than I do of him. I know he has a past that might be questionable, but he left that behind and seems committed to living a good life. In fact, Archer told me he recently retired. Or sort of. Apparently, he’s been sending in bugs and cameras for the tech team and Dax is off in Mexico on a secret mission."
Tech items? I thought back to one of our contentious discussions in which he seemed to accuse me of invading his privacy.
Had he found something on his property and assumed I’d planted it? It was ridiculous. I didn’t know the first thing about spy work. Then again, I’d accused him of the same thing.
And what was going on in Mexico? Did that have to do with Mo?
Lane leaned forward looking side to side as if she was checking to see who might overhear us. "Since he is your neighbor, I imagine this is no secret, but apparently he's a father."
"Yes." I wanted to ask her more about Mo. For example, was he really Noel's son, but that wasn’t why we were here. "He has his hands full.”
“So, what's the problem?"
I took a sip of water. "You know that I've taken issue with the way my brother tries to protect me. Poor Archer suffered a great deal from that, but I know that Noel was a part of it as well."