“Absolutely not,” I reply, a hint of anger in my voice. “I do not traffic people. Ever. But your involvement . . . the first ripple in the pond was at my encouragement. That night we first met, you left after dinner, upset. I knew why, and it wasn’t just me. So I reached out to Zallow, asking him to have a drink with a fellow soldier. My desire was to keep you busy, admittedly, to lessen your influence over Allie, but also for you to truly have support in your time of need. It appears that your friendship with Mr. Chambers developed from there. Though I may have thrown the stone, may even be responsible for the first wave, your choices from there were your own.”
I can see that he’s searching for a way out of this, but he’s a true man, and in the end, he sags, accepting the blame for his actions and at the same time, accepting that he may not be able to rescue Allie from me, though it is only in his mind that she needs a savior.
He’s a good brother. He wants to simply grab Allie and leave, but he knows as well as I do that she won’t stand for that. She won’t leave with him any more than she’ll stay with me simply because we want that.
I just wish I knew which way she was leaning, but her expression gives nothing away, her beautiful face a mask as she processes tonight’s events and fills in blanks on the past couple of weeks that have now become clear.
My phone rings, and I know I need to answer it. I don’t want to leave them alone, don’t want to give TJ the advantage of free influence with Allie’s mind, but if she can be so easily swayed, then perhaps it’s for the best.
“Excuse me. I need to take this.”
I stand, giving TJ a glance, and despite his obvious fury at my liberties, I lean down to press a kiss to Allison’s temple, breathing her in. She sighs softly at my touch, relaxing even as she presses up to me.
I’d wager she’s unaware she’s done so, but both TJ and I realize it and recognize what it means.
She is mine.
Chapter 26
Allie
As soon as Dominick is out of the room, TJ turns to me, struggling to keep his voice down. “What the fuck, Allie? Did you know he was the leader of the Mob?”
The unbridled anger in his voice makes me cringe a little, but arguing with TJ is the most familiar thing I’ve had happen to me tonight, and the steel at my core springs quickly to life.
“What the fuck to you, TJ?”
He looks at me like I’ve lost my mind, so I reform what I’m saying and try again. “I’m serious, what the fuck? What part of this is where you get to give me a hard time for who I’m dating after what you got your dumb ass mixed up in? He’s the one who rescued you from some really shady shit tonight, TJ.”
“I—”
I growl, popping him in the chest. “You’re fucked mentally from what Janine did, I get that. But you told me you’ve still got a career in the Army. What happened tonight was your best-case scenario! Option one was that you’d get caught by some patrol car and end up dishonorably discharged and in prison for human trafficking. Option two was that you actually delivered those women and children into hell. But no, thanks to Dominick, those people are safe, you’re not in prison, and you’re also not dead. So wipe that look off your face. I think I’m the one who gets to ask you ‘What the fuck?’ this time.”
TJ jumps up from the couch, pacing and tugging at his hair in frustration. “I didn’t know! I met Tony and Robbie at the bar, and yeah, I hung out with Tony a bit. He said he understood. He got Jodie’d by his girl while he was in Iraq himself. So we talked about tours and shit. At dinner a couple of weeks ago, he told me he was working with an underground group, running missions to smuggle people to safety. He knew a couple of guys from Central America, and he said that whatever you see on the news, the reality is even worse. So I thought I was helping. I thought maybe, just maybe, I could do something good, be something good.”
My voice softens at the vehemence of his confession, and I get up, still pissed but understanding that he’d acted with good intentions.
“But you ended up almost getting those people sold into God knows what! TJ, you are good. A good man, a good soldier, a good brother, but this is messed up.”
He can’t hear me over the thoughts in his own head, a trait that seems to run in the family. He mutters to himself, “Not a good man if I almost fucked those people over like that. Not a good brother if I’ve let you get tangled up with whatever Mob boss shit Dominick is doing! Sure as hell not a good husband, judging by the way Janine tossed me away.”