TAG HQ
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Twenty Days till Christmas
“Yes, Daddy,” Connor shouted. “Just like that.”
I stood on the other side of Connor and Asbjørn’s bedroom door, holding a tray with a carafe full of coffee and mugs with all the accouterments as I did every morning.
Connor moaned again and then I heard kissing, which was my queue. I opened the door and put the tray on a side table by the door.
“Good Morning.” I poured coffee into the mugs, adding cream only for Connor’s and cream with a dash of cinnamon and cardamom for Asbjørn’s. They ignored me in favor of their faces, which was fine with me. Asbjørn had already been up for several hours supervising the cooking of breakfast for the family and the agents. Once his duties were done, he woke Connor in a most spectacular fashion every day.
It’d become our routine these last several months. I left the mugs on the tray and started the shower for Connor. Water running, I exited their room and waited in the living room for Connor, who would be another thirty minutes. Some of the other staff and agents looked down on how I waited on Connor.
They didn’t understand, and I didn’t expect them to, nor did it bother me when they whispered behind my back. I’d been alive far too long for any of their pettiness to bother me. That boy owned me whether he wanted to or not. I was glad our lives were more mundane than some of the agents. He was safe here and safer still with me by his side.
I was lucky that the rest of the family understood and respected my decision. Asbjørn had finally relaxed around me, and while at times he got frustrated with how close I remained to Connor, he was accepting.
I’d grown rather fond of Connor. He was a constant source of amusement. His high energy and joy were refreshing. I looked forward to spending many years by his side. Thinking about how many years he luckily had left turned my mind to the conversation I’d had with The Haitian upon my arrival.
Emerald eyes flashed in the dim hall as I stood sentry outside of Connor’s room. I’d heard of The Haitian, but I’d never met him. I knew that’s who stalked toward me in a seemingly relaxed fashion. My nose twitched as his scent wafted toward me.
His silent approach revealed the deadly creature under his skin that lived in his heart just as much as his scent.
“GorÅ Shinoda.” The Haitian’s low, deep voice crept across my skin as my true name passed his lips, one that had not been breathed into the air for many decades. I met his stare with my unflinching one. The round emerald orbs bore into me as if seeking something I knew not. For all I knew of The Haitian, I was not surprised he could find out who I was.
The Haitian inclined his head ever so slightly and broke eye contact like he had found what he sought. “You pledged your life to a human?” The Haitian’s faint eyebrow raised. “Not that Connor isn’t worthy, but you know the repercussions this may cause?”
“Yes. I do.” I was all too aware of what I put on the line. “They will lead this clan soon, and with that leadership comes the knowledge that will absolve me of my decision.”
“It will, but in the meantime, try not to get hurt again. You’re lousy at playing the injured guard.” The Haitian smirked as I realized I had been standing perfectly straight as if I hadn’t been injured just the week before. I had been lucky that everything was computerized these days. It had to have been The Haitian that switched out the images taken of me to show injuries that were no longer there.
The Haitian started to turn but stopped. “If you ever need anything, anything at all, you know how to find me.”
I bowed low in respect. I knew how special it was to have the ear of The Haitian.
* * *
The jiggling bedroom handle broke my reverie. Asbjørn came out and headed out of their suite.
“Have a good day, Bob.” He waved as he exited, carrying their coffee tray down with him. While Asbjørn was no longer as hands-on in the kitchens as before, supervising the meal organization for how many were here was a full-time job and one that I didn’t envy. Exceptionally good at his job, Asbjørn ensured that everyone’s dietary needs were taken care of.
Connor stepped out of their room with a smile. The t-shirt he wore revealed some of the scars from his multiple surgeries to correct all the damage done by the bullet meant for me. It hurt my heart that so much pain was endured by one so young, but he did it with dignity and not an ounce of blame to the one who had shot him or me. I carried enough guilt for the two of us since the shot would not have killed me. But Connor didn’t know that. That made his sacrifice even more special to me.
“Good morning, Bob.” Connor smiled as brightly as his hair.
“I see Asbjørn’s tongue was especially talented this morning,” I teased nonchalantly.
“Yes, yes, it was.” He just about skipped out the door and I followed in his wake. “I will never get tired of waking up with him.”
Instead of going to his office, Connor went to his father’s. Enrique smiled at me as we entered the reception area. The Latin beauty was worming his way under my skin. Besides being sexy, he was intelligent. I had not been surprised to find out he used to be a professor at a university. I’d hoped his intelligence had had better uses than organizing TAG, which in its own right, was a delicate affair that needed those brains of his. But it made me glad that he had lived more than just in these walls.
These walls weren’t stifling by any means, but this business wasn’t the brightest there was, and Enrique’s soul was pure, unlike the rest of us. He was like Connor in that way, too good and too innocent for this business. But Enrique was happy here so I couldn’t begrudge him that.
I inclined my head toward him as Connor opened his father’s door without knocking. Luckily for us all, Aleksei was alone, unlike the last time when they walked in unannounced. The sight was something I was not going to forget.
“Hey, Dad.” Connor plopped into one of the chairs in front of Aleksei’s desk, and I remained standing by the door.
“How’s my favorite son?”
“You have no favorite. You call Yosh your favorite too.”
Aleksei shrugged. “So? I can still call you my favorite. Would you rather not be my favorite?” Aleksei feigned a sternness I had no problem seeing him do seriously. I’d seen him get angry a time or two, and it was not something you wanted to be the focus of. I didn’t envy Yoshi the shoes he had to fill when he took over the organization. I honestly didn’t see him being as ruthless as his father, but Dmitry was cut from the same cloth as Aleksei, so there was that.
Connor huffed. “Fine.”
Aleksei broke into a deep laugh. “What has brought you to me, my son?”
“I want snow for Christmas.”
“I’m afraid that would be near impossible here. How about we go somewhere with snow?”
“Yes, that’s what I mean.”
“Da, how about northern France? It snows but it’s not too cold,” Aleksei suggested.
“Paris?”
“Da.”
“Can we go to The Happiest Place on Earth?” Connor just about jumped out of his seat.
“If you wish.” Aleksei smiled with affection and love at Connor. I saw it in the way his eyes crinkled at the edges and how Connor’s excitement had eased the tension that was in his face when we walked in.