His Hart's Command (Nothing Special 6)

Hart studied his slim fingers, his pulse spiking at the thought of what they could do. Free had removed his hoodie, leaving on a thin V-neck T-shirt underneath that showcased those toned forearms. Hart almost groaned again. Now is not the time.

It took Free a while, but he finally managed to utter a few words. He raised his head from the table's surface and gazed at Hart with dark eyes shielded by even darker lashes. “My life after MIT was difficult. My blessing actually a curse. My skills my downfall. I took to electronics when I was two. Was fixing our home appliances by six. Stealing cable and any other utility for my father by ten. My dad quickly tapped in on what I could do naturally. He poured money into me going to the best technical schools. Not because he wanted his kid to be something great…no.” Free frowned as if his thoughts were cutting deep. “He just wanted to be rich by any means necessary. He was a cop, but the filthiest kind. The kind in the back pocket of the worst criminals. And I was terrified of all of them.”

Hart reached for one of Free’s hands. He needed to touch him. He didn’t have to go on if he didn’t want to. But, he wanted to know Free frontwards and backwards. The good and the bad. “It’s okay, Len. You don’t have—”

“No. It’s fine,” Free cut in, squeezing his hand back. “I trust you, Ivan. I mean look at you. I wouldn’t be here alone with you if I didn’t trust you one hundred percent. It’s crazy, that we’re still getting to know each other, but I know you won’t hurt me.”

“Never,” Hart hurried to say. He hoped Free saw the sincerity that he felt inside. Who’s hurt him? Fuckin’ who? “Are you in any trouble, Len?”

“No. Not anymore.” Free’s look was so serious, Hart’s rhythm skipped a beat. He knew whatever Free was about to confess was going to be big. But, he was ready to support him no matter what. Unless Free was a pedophile, murderer—which he was pretty sure he wasn’t—Hart was committed and all in. If Free was in some kind of legal trouble or danger, he was sure that between his team and God’s, they could put their heads together to get him out of it.

“That’s good, then.”

“Sure is. Now that my mother and I are in the witness protection program, no one will ever find us again. Not even my father and all his connections. My mom teaches art at an elementary school on a naval base in Virginia,” Free said casually.

Hart could’ve caught a whole gang of flies with his wide-open trap. Picking his lip up off the table he sputtered, “Len! You’re not supposed to tell anyone that. No one! How do you…?”

“Calm down.” Free’s smile was relaxed.

Why does he think this is funny? Has he told anyone else? “I’m serious. If you’re in witness protection you’re not supposed to—”

“The government didn’t put my mother and me in the program,” Free added easily. “Tech did.”

“What?” Hart gasped. “Detective Murphy?”

“Yes. He hacked into the Federal Witness Security Program. He got my mother and I in with new identities, homes, jobs, everything. Me and Tech had both already dropped out of MIT. There was nothing else for them to teach us. My senior year, my father started to constantly harass me about helping this big London crime family move a lot of money. Meaning steal someone else’s money and move it into their own bank.”

Hart listened in horror.

“I think my dad got in over his head. He got in way too deep with them and when he wanted out, they wouldn’t let him…and went after his family. Since I was all the way across the ocean, they targeted my mom.” Free’s hands shook slightly in Hart’s grasp. “Tech and I barely got there in time to save her.”

Hart picked Free’s hand up and kissed his knuckles. It felt like the absolute most natural and right thing to do. He was pleasantly surprised when Free took a long, calming breath and settled back into the chair. After he gave Hart a reassuring smile, he said, “I’ve only told you. I’ve never told a soul. Tech knows, of course, but when he was arrested he didn’t tell the Feds who he added to the list, and they couldn’t figure out what, if anything, that he’d done.

“The DOJ has some of the best computer specialists in the world, but they couldn’t see what Tech did differently. So the charges was reduced to tampering, which is still a serious federal offense. Tech would’ve done a lot of time if it wasn’t for God and Day stepping in. I owe Tech so much. I was trapped in Peterborough. I thought I was going to have to help the Glasgow family. I was terrified and they were sending goons left and right. They let me know that anywhere I went, they’d be there watching. The federal program was the only way to be free. So Tech changed my name to Freeman and got us the hell out of England.”