21. Chapter 21

Icouldn't believe it. I don't even remember hanging up on Jason, none of it made sense. From the moment Colt and I had arrived at the foster home, they had always been so welcoming toward me.

I would even go so far as to say that I thought they loved me. The emotion in Uncle Simon's voice when I called them for help six years before couldn't have been faked. Right?

"Any chance someone can give me a little background here?" Kacey's voice jolts me back to reality.

The guys all share concerned looks and I honestly can't blame them, but something close to hurt crosses Kacey's face. "Look, I have already said this to Ash, but I will put this out there for everyone so that we are all clear here. I am all in. There is no part of me that wants to go back to a life where any of you aren't in it. The moment I stepped into that warehouse and met all of you, that badge became nothing but decoration."

Beck and Rick are both looking between the other two men, and I can see a hint of hopefulness in their eyes. It seems it"s not only my heart that Kacey has won over. Fuck. My heart. Somehow, over such a short time, he has dug his way into my heart to take up residence with the guys.

I look back to Nix to find him studying me and whatever he sees there has him giving a nod and turning back to Kacey. "I'm not sure how much you know, so I'll try to hopefully cover everything, and if you still have questions after, we will try to answer them if we can. All of us were in the same foster home together."

Kacey nods because this is information he already knows.

"Uncle Matty and Uncle Simon are the brothers of our foster mother. They were a lot younger than her, kids from a second marriage later in life, and she helped raise them when their parents were murdered while traveling overseas, and that"s what got her into taking on foster kids," Nix continues, his eyes intense and focused completely on Kacey. "They were only just finishing school when I moved in as an emergency placement."

He clears his throat and my heart aches for him. I already knew the story behind all of their placements in that home, just as they knew mine. A drunk driver had sped through a red light as his parents were crossing the road, hitting and killing them instantly. Right in front of a ten year old Nix who had been dawdling behind because he had been arguing with them that day and told them he didn't want to go out to dinner. He spent years blaming himself, convinced that if he hadn't argued with them they would have left earlier and not been on the road.

After taking a deep breath, he continues. "For the brief amount of time they were still there while I was there, it became clear how obsessed they were with tracking down who killed their parents. To a point of planning and starting the organization they now run today. We are only one of the many teams that make up their organization. I would say we are one of their favorites though. They convinced us to join them when Ash left, wanting to expand on skills they already saw in us from being so close to us as teenagers. They wanted to build on my leadership and tactical skills, they helped Beck become one of the best hackers I knew of, they helped focus Rick's explosive energy into developing actual explosives."

Kacey frowns and tilts his head. "Did they find the people who killed their parents?" he asks.

Nix nods in response. "It was only about a year after Ash left. We had been sent to find a target and when we did, the uncles joined us to personally take care of them. They were vicious and brutal. You might think we are from what you have seen, but they are the ones that taught us. But even on that trip, and any time we saw or spoke to them in those early years, they would always ask if we had heard from Ash, if we knew where she was and if she was safe."

Sighing, he tilts his head back. "I had assumed it was because they cared, that they were just as worried about her as we were. But now…" He shakes his head and looks back toward me. "Now, I realize they just wanted to make sure she had stayed away from us."

"But why? It still doesn't make sense to me. Why get rid of me, and why try to kill you?" I say in frustration, my hands tugging on my hair, the small bites of pain helping me focus. "They tried to kill you, Nix, they consciously set up a bomb on your car, why?"

Nix is shaking his head and even that is frustrating me because I don't understand why he's shaking his head. "It wouldn't have killed me though. Beck and I looked into it after I got out of the hospital. It was set at the back of the car, and it was triggered on an empty stretch of road. They knew I was good at driving that car, they had made several comments about it. It was big enough to cause a lot of damage to the car, but small enough that I should have had no issues keeping control or stopping. But I was rushing home and I wasn't concentrating, I was thinking about your graduation the next day. We had all planned to speak to you the night of your graduation, of talking you into finding our own place together and making what we all had with you official."

My heart is breaking at that admission. The one thing I wanted at the time and it was taken away from us, by people we thought were family.

"We need to confront them, we need to ask them why," Beck says with a scowl.

Rick nods in agreement as he crosses his arms across his chest. "In person though, not over the phone. I want to watch their fucking faces when we ask. I need to see for myself the expression on their faces when we show up together and ask them why they stole twelve years from us," he growls softly.

"Meaning we can't do it until tomorrow morning," Nix states plainly and I already know the reasons, but Kacey doesn't, so Nix automatically starts to explain for him. "No one knows where they live. Trust me we have tried to find out, but the only place we have ever seen them is at the office, at the foster home or out in the field while on a job. Which means we need to confront them at the office in the morning; it's not too far from here."

"I tried and had Elsa try also, it was a fun challenge to throw at her, but even with her skills she couldn't find them from the moment they left the office until the moment they returned to it," I say with a sigh of my own. Even after all these years, being told I had to wait for morning was almost impossible, and I know I'm probably not going to get much more sleep.

The stress makes me start to pace; I'm agitated now and wanting to do something productive. Or reckless.

But something else also keeps playing over and over in my mind. If we leave the safety of the apartment as a group and confront the uncles in the morning, are we risking the FBI following? Could we mistakenly give them something that could be used against us all?

They all look at me, concerned, when I slow to a stop at the table, their conversation going silent. "I need to go do something and you can't come with me," I say with my eyes trained on Nix.

He frowns, both confusion and concern stretching across his face. His eyes flick in Beck's direction and I interrupt him before he even says what I know he will say.

"No, Nix, not you, not Beck and not Rick either," I reiterate, and I know he won't like that but it's the way it has to be.

His eyes are searching my face and I know deep down he is wondering if I'm going to run. It's ingrained in him now, but I hope that one day soon that won't be where his mind goes automatically. After a moment he says, "Then take Kacey with you."

I smile and move to stand next to where he is sitting, leaning down to brush my lips against his cheek, murmuring softly, "I didn't think you trusted Kacey."

His lips twitch at the reminder of what he said before the charity ball. "He proved I can trust him with you."

I swear my heart explodes in my chest, and I can't help but press my lips to his. He takes control, his hand coming up to cradle the back of my head as he kisses me back, the kiss brief but intense.

As I pull away, Nix gives me a small, reassuring smile before turning his attention back to Kacey. "You keep her safe," he instructs, his tone serious.

Kacey nods, his expression determined. "I"ve got her."

Nix looks back at me, staring into my eyes for a moment, and I hope he can see the love I feel for him there, the love I feel for all of them. "Make sure you come back to us, Mon Ange," he says softly.

"Always, Mon Loupe," I reply, my voice barely above a whisper. "It"s where I belong."

His lip twitches, but instead of saying something, he brushes his lips against mine again before releasing me. Grabbing a jacket, I look toward Beck. "I need you to find an address for me," I request, hoping he won"t refuse in an attempt to keep me safe.

Frowning he opens the laptop in front of him again. "For who, little rabbit?" he asks and I have to restrain myself from making a comment about not running away.

"Jessica."