Uncovering His SECRET (11 page)

God, but I can actually
hear him saying that to her. Telling her to help others. Of course he
knows how loved he is. I may be feeling angry, hurt, and a host of
other feelings about this situation, but I know without a doubt that
my son has been raised better than the majority of children in the
world ever will be. Tegan and her friends have taught him—and shown
him—real love, compassion, and acceptance. He’s had some of the
best and brightest minds in the world teaching him about anything he
could possibly want to know. And athletes, that guys I grew up with
would kill to meet, teaching him every sport imaginable.

I’m feeling like a
royal ass now, and she’s not even done with me yet. “Don’t you
fucking dare ever try to say that I haven’t tried to put him first.
Until you, I’ve only taken on short missions while I’ve been
here. Ones that lasted only a few days to a week. My friends picked
up the slack with longer assignments, so I could go back to Chicago
for at least one full week a month, as well as 2-3 weekends.

“I’ve been to
almost every one of his school plays, and as many sports games as I
could manage. When I couldn’t be there, Cyndi or Brad made sure
they were, so he always had someone who was there for him. Since he’s
been here, he’s had a whole cheering section at everything he
does.”

“I shouldn’t have
implied that you were a bad mother.” Especially when I know she’s
not.

“No, you shouldn’t
have. As for partying, and sleeping around, that’s really none of
your business. Did I try to erase every trace of you by sleeping with
nameless guys? Yeah, I did. Did it work? Did hearing them call me
sexy, and beautiful, and say all kinds of pretty things to me erase
the ugly words you said to me? No. But I have come to realize that no
matter how hard I tried to live up to those names you and your
friends called me, I’m never going to be what you said I was. Not
unless I call myself them, and I’ll never do that. Our son will
never do that, either. He’ll never make a girl, or woman, feel like
she’s less because she has a healthy sex life.”

He’s already a better
man than me, and he’s not yet a man. “You’re not those things,
Teeg. I was hurting so badly when I called you them, I could barely
see straight, much less think about what I was saying.”

“You said them to me
again less than two weeks ago. You weren’t hurt then.”

“The hell I wasn’t.
You were in that sexy dress, and it wasn’t for me. That’s no
excuse, though.”

“You’re right. It
isn’t.”

“I keep screwing this
up.”

“Wow. You’re right
twice in one day. That has to be some kind of record,” she says,
punching me lightly on the arm.

I stand up and pull her
to the edge of the table. She still has her legs folded, as I wrap my
arms around her and hold her tight. At first she just sits there, but
after about a minute, she hugs me back, resting her head on top of
mine.

“Will you be my
girlfriend again, Tegan Kelly? I promise to try and be a better man.”

“I think I’d like
that, Caleb Hall. And I promise to always put you in your place when
you act like an ass. Oh, and to wear that black dress again, just for
you.”

“I’m going to do
lots of fun things to you while you’re wearing that dress,” I
tell her as I pull her t-shirt down a little to suck on the swells of
her tits.

“I’m counting on
that.” She moves back a little, displacing my mouth as she tilts my
head up. “Seriously, though. I know this whole situation is hard
for you. I was living with a broken heart, but I had that beautiful
boy with me. I can’t give you back those years, but I’ll share
him with you from now on.”

“Thank you for that.
He’s the best gift I’ve ever been given. I just wish I could
teach him something. He knows so much about everything already.”

“Not everything, Cal.
No one’s ever taught him to ride a horse, or work on a ranch.”

“Really?” I’m
truly shocked. “You and Uncle Brad never did that?”

She shakes her head.
“No. I think somewhere in the back of my mind I was hoping that
you’d come back into my life. I refused to let Brad teach him, and
I wouldn’t either. Ethan was actually pretty angry at me for a
little while over it.”

“You have no idea how
much that means to me. When this is all cleared up, we can stay in
your blue house, and I can show him everything about being a cowboy.”

“He’d love that.
Speaking of getting this cleared up, I need to get back on that. You
go create things with your science brain, and I’ll see you tonight
for dinner.”

She hops off the
counter, but I press her against it as I take her mouth. I know she’s
right about us both needing to work, but I also need a little
make-out session to tide me over until I have her in my bed again
tonight. With that dress on, and then off.

* * *

Tegan

I’m smiling as I walk
into the Corrigan & Co. Foundation offices after my epic make-out
session with Cal in his lab. I could’ve stayed there with him all
day. If he didn’t have a formula to test and re-test before its
release, and I didn’t have a bad guy to find and punish for hurting
him and my friends, I would’ve. But he does, and I do, so here I
am.

Alex holds up her
finger, silently asking me to wait while she finishes the call she’s
on. “Thanks for waiting, Teeg. I just wanted to let you know that
Cyndi’s here.”

“Is she in her
office?”

“She was talking to
Reina, but she may be done.”

“Thanks. I’ll look
for her.”

I skip down the
hall—yes, I’m literally skipping—towards Reina’s office. I
just made out with the man of my dreams, and now the woman who’s
been a surrogate mother to me for years is here. Plus, I have the
best kid ever. I’d be lying if I even tried to pretend that I’m
not happier than I’ve been in years.

I knock on the door and
enter when it opens. “Cyndi,” I say while running over to hug
her.

“Hi, Teeg. I see a
certain man we’re protecting is agreeing with you.”

“I don’t know what
you mean.”

“You look happy. It’s
good to see you this way.”

“I
am
happy, but I’ll be even better once we figure out who’s behind
all this madness.”

“We actually have
some information. I don’t know what you did to that woman we
captured, but it didn’t take much effort on my part to find out
what was going on.”

Reina’s official
expertise is languages, but she has a knack for torture as well. A
scary, nightmare inducing knack that works well for all of us when
we’re trying to get the information we need from the bad guys.

“I just messed with
her a little.”

“Well, it scared the
hell out of her. She thinks you’re crazy.”

“And you don’t?”

“No. I think you like
to test my patience, and break the rules from time to time, but
you’re not crazy.”

“I’m sorry, Rei.”

“It’s fine. Well,
I’m saying that now, but when you step out of line again, I’ll
have to be the big, bad boss again.”

“I know. You do it
well, by the way.” My talk with Cal earlier makes me admit
something to her that I haven’t ever done before. “I also need to
apologize for when we were teenagers.”

“Because you didn’t
like me? We’re past that. At least I am.”

“I never told you why
I acted that way.”

“No, you didn’t. I
just figured it had to do with me seeming to have a carefree life
while you were a teenage mother.”

“It actually had to
do with you being allowed to join the Society before college, while I
was told I had to graduate first.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah.”

She looks at Cyndi
then. “Why wouldn’t you let her join?”

“Honestly, Jane and I
thought that she might change her mind because of Ethan. We wanted
her to have a degree to fall back on.”

“You never told me
that,” I say, expressing more than a little shock at this
revelation. “I thought you just didn’t want me.”

“If we hadn’t
wanted you, you wouldn’t be here now. We didn’t tell you because
we never wanted our fears to cloud your decisions.”

“Thank you for that,
and again Rei, I’m sorry for treating you badly.”

“I’ll admit it’s
nice to know that you didn’t just dislike me. I would’ve been
pissed if I would’ve been forced to wait, too.”

“I think you’re one
of the cooler, more kick-ass chicks I know. I don’t think I could
ever dislike you. I love you.”

“I love you, too. Now
before this evolves into a Hallmark moment, I’m going to call
Ainsley and Isa in so we can all come up with a plan.”

I laugh and then turn
back to Cyndi while Reina makes the calls. “How are things in
Chicago?”

“Good. But we need to
talk about you. And Caleb.”

“We could just not,
and say we did.”

“Tegan.”

“Fine. Go ahead and
give me the lecture about how he hurt me, and I should take things
slow this time around.”

“I was there when
your life fell apart.”

“I know, and I don’t
know that I’d even be alive if it wasn’t for you. But Caleb…he’s
just it for me. You know, ‘it.’ You found your guy.”

“I did, and I know
what it’s like to love for life. I also know that you would’ve
survived, even without me. You’re a survivor.”

“Not if they’d
taken Ethan from me. I would never have survived that.”

She nods. “Your son
is the greatest testament to the love and strength you possess, my
dear.”

“And now his father
is here, wanting to make a life with us.”

“So he’s staying.”

“Maybe? Honestly,
we’ve been more focused on the two of them getting to know each
other, and everything else that’s going on. We haven’t talked
about what’s going to happen after.”

“I’ll ask him that
tonight, then.”

“Tonight?”

“You’re not having
me over for dinner tonight?”

Of course I am. She
always comes over when she’s in town. “You know the offer’s
always open. Just try not to scare him too much.”

“Would you really
want to be with a man I could scare away?”

“Don’t pretend that
you’re not a bad-ass like the rest of us. I know better.”

“That’s not an
answer.”

“No, I would not want
to be with a man you could scare away,” I admit.

“I knew that, I just
wanted to hear you say it.”

I roll my eyes and
stick out my tongue at her as she laughs. I stop laughing once Reina
tells me what she learned, and who exactly the Beauty Queen is. Once
she gives Ainsley that information, it takes less than five minutes
for us to have all the information we need to know. When the
information is revealed, Cyndi and I both know I’m the best one for
the job. I still haven’t spilled all my secrets to everyone else,
but Reina is intuitive enough to give me a choice. There really is
none, though. I need to face the Devil and hope that I come back with
my soul still intact.

Caleb

I was getting ready to
ask Jade if she could watch Ethan for me tonight, when Wayne arrived
for another guitar lesson. Is it bad that I still hate him, even
after Tegan told me they’re just friends now? I can’t erase the
sight of him holding her or how she hugged him back. It’s looking
like I’ll have a repeat performance tonight. Plus one.

Tegan just called to
say that Cyndi Evans is in town, and they’re coming by once they
stop in at the hospital too see Liv and Luke’s baby and check on
Yasmin. I met Tegan’s parents years ago, but I have a feeling the
interrogation tonight is going to be even worse. Good thing I cooked
extra food. I was planning on lunch for me and Teeg tomorrow, but
Cyndi is welcome to some of it.

“Dad, can Wayne stay
for dinner?” Ethan asks me as they walk into the open great room.
Oh yeah, my day is just getting better and better.

I turn to see the
bastard in question smirking at me. We both know what an ass I’d
look like if I say no. “Of course he can.”

“It’s so nice of
you to cook for me, Caleb.”

“Anytime, Wayne.”

“Maybe you can come
visit us in Texas,” Ethan tells him.

“You’re moving to
Texas?”

“No, but Mama said my
dad’s going to teach me all about being a cowboy on my
grandparents’ ranch once it’s safe. We’ll stay in her house
which is right above it. I can’t wait.”

“Me either. We’re
going to have fun, but it’s hard work, too.”

“I can work hard.
I’ve been cleaning up after myself like you said I had to.”

“I know. You’ve
been doing great.”

“I’m going to do my
homework, so I can spend more time with Gram when she gets here.”

“Sounds like a plan.
Let me know if you need any help.”

“You’re really good
with him,” Wayne tells me once he’s gone up to his room.

“He’s a great kid,
so it’s easy.”

“That’s all Tegan,
you know.”

“No. It’s all of
you. Thank you for being around for him.”

“You hate me being
around.”

“Yeah, but he
doesn’t. So what I think isn’t important.”

“I’d take her from
you in a second if I thought I had a chance.”

“I wouldn’t blame
you.”

The front door opens,
and Tegan comes in with Cyndi. She runs over to me and pulls me into
a passionate kiss. “I’m sorry in advance, Cal,” she says in my
ear when we come up for air.

“I can handle them.”

“You say that now,
but…wait, them?”

“Ethan asked me if
Wayne could join us. I would’ve looked like an ass if I’d said
no.”

“I’m going to have
to blow you at least twice for this dinner.”

“Nah, just don’t
let anyone stab me when I answer something wrong.”

“Deal, but I’m
still having your cock in my mouth later.”

“I’m not going to
keep actively discouraging that.”