Page 45 of Yours on the Canvas

“He… threatened… you?” His words are deadly. No one threatens Deck’s little one.

Big mistake.

But then again, no one threatens my dove.

Finn nods and his tears start again. He shifts until he straddles Deck, and Deck’s large arms wrap around his back, swallowing the kid completely in his hold.

“I told him he wasn’t allowed to come back. Clearly he didn’t listen.” Finn’s words are muffled against Deck’s chest. “They want him back.”

Like fuck…

I look at CJ. “We need to find them. Find everything out about them.”

He nods. “I’ll get the team onto it now.”

CJ pushes himself off the floor, already pulling out his phone. He starts speaking as he walks to the front door. He stands there watching, eyes constantly moving, scanning for any danger.

Pulling my eyes back to Jack, I notice he is watching me. His mouth is slightly open, his breath warm against my skin. I wrap my fingers around his throat, my fingers settling over his pulse. Relief loosens my chest when I feel it beating calm beneath my hand, steady and warm.

I kiss him gently. “Okay, baby?”

He nods. “Yeah.” Wriggling in my lap as he tries to pull himself even closer, and I laugh quietly because my boy is already tight up against my body.

Finn sits there in Deck’s arms and starts to tell us about Jack and his upbringing. His dad sounds like Father of the fucking Year.

We all knew Jack and Finn had met when Jack was eight and Finn was nine, but what Finn hadn’t told us was what happened after.

Jack was never forthcoming about his past outside of the ring with me. I knew he had been trained in an national underground fighting ring since he was eight, and that he had fought for Gabriel and Finns’ father. He and Finn had been been transported throughout America, and across the border into Canada to fight as well.

His mother died when he was young. She apparently had an accident at home, something about falling down stairs if I recall.

Outside of that, he never told me about his father, except that he is a complete “fuckwit.”

My lips find Jack’s temple and I hold them there, feeling the heat of his skin under them. His scent wraps around me as I breathe him in.

By the time Finn finishes, my boy is back to some kind of normality, and I know it is time to get him home.

“Come on, baby. Let’s get you home, okay?”

He starts to get up, and Finn moves quickly to help him. Jack lets Finn pull him into a hug. Jack lets Finn hold him and I watch as the two boys—raised with such brutal, unrelenting violence—hold each other with unexpected care, whispering to each other like they’re sharing secrets.

CJ has been leaning over the counter listening to Finn, and with every story of abuse Jack suffered, his body tightened. CJ doesn’t stand for abuse of any kind. His fiance Eli suffered at the hands of a violent manipulative man who had ended up kidnapping him and Finn.

CJ had taken back what was his.

We had gone to Port Angeles to get Eli back and had burnt Adrian’s house to the ground with him inside.

We get Jack to the car, and I climb into the driver’s side, starting the truck. Jack winds the window down, and Finn leans in, laying a hand on Jack’s shoulder.

“You’ll be okay, Jack. Just for once, do what Silas says. Please.” Finns’ voice is begging.

Jack nods as Finn steps back from the car, and I press my foot to the gas, pointing the truck toward home.

11

Jack

I look up and all I see is the bottom of my mattress, and feel the hardwood of the floor pressing cold into my back. But it’s the smell that hits me the most. It’s old and musty, and my nose itches from the dust and the air feels too tight, like the space is shrinking around me.