Absolving His Sins: Trident Security Book 7

by Samantha A. Cole

  Gotta love adrenaline.

  Chapter 22

  Striding out of the elevator, Carter squeezed Jordyn’s hand. His shoulder still hurt like a bitch and would for a few more days, but he’d declined the pain meds Ramona had tried to get him to take. With Diaz flapping in the wind, he needed to stay alert—they were still trying to find where the bastard had disappeared to with his family, but so far they were coming up empty. Brody had assured him the cartel boss’s computer system had been fried from the virus the geek had planted after downloading a shitload of information from it.

  After Jordyn had notified Gene McDaniel, Deimos agents and a cleanup team had been flown in to go through the now unoccupied compound with a fine tooth comb. The only other place the NOC list had been found was in an office safe Jordyn had cracked into. Hopefully that meant the remaining agents were protected once again. The support techs had been busy making sure an additional firewall was in place to prevent any further hackings, despite figuring out how Aldridge had managed to bypass the other ones. They were also burying Carter, Jordyn, and the others’ NOC list information even deeper, adding several more layers of protection for them. Carter was confident they would do their best.

  Arriving at the transplant ward’s waiting room, they found Vicki and Joe having coffee while Foster and Mancini were on guard duty. When Vicki saw them, she ran over and hugged her foster brother before pulling Jordyn into an embrace. “Thank God you’re okay. I know you said so over the phone, but I wasn’t going to believe it until I saw you.”

  She hadn’t been given the details of what had happened and had missed Carter’s grimace when she’d squeezed his upper arm. Her husband had noticed but wisely kept his mouth shut—Vicki had enough to worry about.

  “How’s Justin doing?” Carter asked.

  “He’s doing well,” Joe answered, shaking his hand. “My folks are in with him now. It’s the first time the doctors let someone other than Vicki and I in, so that’s a good sign. You’ll have to wait an hour before going in though.”

  Vicki turned back to Carter and took his hands in hers. Concern filled her face which made his gut churn. She licked her lips as she stared into his eyes. “You should know, I went to see him this morning . . . Osbourne.”

  His eyebrows shot up. That had been the last thing he’d expected her to say. Taking a deep breath, he glanced at Joe and then back at Vicki. Not wanting her to think he was passing judgement, he tried to keep his voice neutral. “Okay. And?”

  “I told him I forgave him.”

  Now Carter couldn’t keep the anger inside. “You what!”

  Jordyn placed her hand on his arm in a not so subtle warning that he’d crossed the line. “Let her talk . . . Sir.”

  At that last word, Vicki gaped while Joe grinned. “I told you, little one. You owe me an item off your yellow limit list tonight.” To Carter and Jordyn he added, “My bet was Jordyn would be calling you Sir by the time you got back from the mission; Vicki said it would be at least a week after you got back.”

  “Nice to know you were betting on my love life, but right now I want to know what the hell you were doing letting her talk to Osbourne,” Carter said with a growl.

  Joe’s eyes hardened slightly at his brother-in-law. “She’s your sister, T., but she’s my wife and submissive. This was something she told me she needed to do, and I was right there while she did it.”

  Taking a cleansing breath, he nodded and got his anger under control again. He’d stepped on the other man’s toes big time. “You’re right, Joe. Sorry. It’s all right, Vicki, you just caught me off guard. What did Osbourne say?”

  “Nothing,” she answered quietly, clearly trying not to upset him further. “I told him I had to say my peace and didn’t want to hear anything from him. I told him I forgave him, but would never forget what he did to me.” Her eyes were pleading with him to understand. “How can I not forgive him when because of him I have Justin? And now my son has a chance at a healthy life again. I thanked him for saving Justin and then I walked out.”

  Carter swallowed hard. He always knew Vicki was a strong woman, but once again he was in awe of that strength. Some woman would have aborted the baby or given it up, not being able to acknowledge the product of rape. But his sister had chosen to claim her son as her own and raised him to the best of her ability. And Carter could not imagine a life without Justin in it. He pulled Vicki into a warm embrace. “You’re right, sweetheart. I never thought of it that way.”

  An hour later, he brought Jordyn in with him to visit Justin and introduced the love of his life to his nephew. The kid looked well, despite being hooked up to every monitor possible. His color was good, and his eyes were bright. Seeing the vibrant young man returning to normal, Carter completely understood why Vicki had felt she needed to see Osbourne.

  They couldn’t stay long, just ten minutes, but it was long enough for Carter to feel confident the boy would make a complete recovery. It would be a few weeks before he’d be released, but as soon as he was able to leave the ICU and transfer to a regular room, visiting hours wouldn’t be so restricted. His friends would be allowed to visit, which would really help his spirits.

  “Uncle T.?”

  “Yeah, buddy?”

  “Can you thank Mr. Osgood for me? Mom said he was discharged already and went back to California. I don’t know how to contact him.”

  Carter cleared his throat. Joe had told him Justin wanted to get in touch with Osbourne after he was feeling better, something they hadn’t thought of before this—they’d been too worried about the operation. Usually recipients didn’t learn who their donors were for a full year, but this case was far different from most. Vicki, Joe, and Carter had come to a decision about it while talking in the waiting room, and Carter had asked them to let him tell the kid if the subject came up. Vicki would’ve been too emotional for the conversation, and Joe hadn’t been there all those years ago. It was in Carter’s dominant nature to want to deal with it, and he hated doing it now, but they’d lied to Justin long enough. Things would just get worse if they kept it going, because whether they liked it or not, they were almost certain he would find out someday. “Yeah, about that, kiddo.” He pulled one of the two chairs in the room closer to the bed and sat so he was on eye level with his nephew. Jordyn placed her hand on his shoulder in support. “I . . . um . . . kind of lied about Mr. Osgood.”

  Justin’s eyes narrowed at him. “Lied? What do you mean?”

  Taking a deep breath, he let it out. “Osgood isn’t a guard at the prison. He’s an inmate. When you got sick in the beginning, and we were all getting tested to see if we could donate, I made some inquiries, just in case, and found someone who could donate.”

  Silence filled the room as the young man processed that. “What . . . what’s he in prison for?”

  “Assaulting several women . . . including your mom.”

  Several emotions ranging from confusion to understanding passed across his nephew’s face. He was old enough and smart enough to figure it out without hearing the word rape. A flash of anger and horror appeared in his eyes. “Holy fuck! That’s why mom never wanted to talk about my real father. She just always said she barely knew the guy, and he was gone from her life before I was born.”

  “Yeah. Please, don’t be mad at your mom and watch your language around women—Joe and I taught you better than that.”

  Although the young man was clearly annoyed, he still apologized, “Sorry, Jordyn.”

  When she gave Justin a forgiving smile, Carter continued. “Look, kiddo, we just never knew how to explain it to you while you were young, and then as you got older, I guess we kept trying to sweep it under the rug. It’s not exactly dinner conversation. There’s a lot more to it, but none of it is close to the bombshell I just lobbed at you so we can talk about it more after you’re out of here. But know this . . . your mom loves you more than you’ll ever know. She had the strength and courage to give birth to you and raise you herself. She is one of t
he very few amazing women I know, and everything she’s done for the past twenty years has been for you. This morning, your mom went to see Osbourne . . . his real name . . . and she forgave him.”

  Justin’s mouth dropped open, and he shook his head. “Forgave him? Why the hell—heck would she do that?”

  “Because of you. If it hadn’t happened, she never would have had the son she loves more than anyone else on this earth.”

  Silence once again hung in the air, and a bell rang from the nurses’ desk. Carter stood. “It’s time for us to go. Are you going to be okay?”

  “I-I think so.” His gaze flicked to the ceiling and then back to Carter’s face. “Uncle T.? I love my mom. I could never be mad at her for protecting me. And she’s right; no matter what happened back then, she still raised me to be the best person I could be. So, can you do me that favor and thank Mr. Osgood . . . I mean, Osbourne for me? I never want to see him again or have any contact with him, but I do want him to know, despite being my birth father and giving me his kidney, I’ll never be like him.”

  After leaving the transplant ward, he left Jordyn visiting with Vicki and Joe, and drove to the cabin they were using as a temporary safe house for Osbourne while he finished recovering. Jake and RJ were sitting in the living room area of the two-bedroom structure, and the former shook his hand. “Ian called me and gave me the update. Glad you’re all back in one piece, and don’t worry, we’ll nail Diaz soon, I’m sure.”

  “So am I.” He nodded to the closed door. “How’s he doing?”

  “Doctor said he’ll be released from his care in another five days if he remains stable. A nurse comes once a day and to monitor his vitals and take blood and urine samples. We’ve been with him every time someone had to be in the room with him, and he’s only been allowed the DVR, no live TV. If he found out where we are, it’s been through osmosis.”

  “Good. I’m going to talk to him.”

  Jake raised an eyebrow at him and smirked. “Talk, not kill, right?”

  “Ha! Yeah, my intention is to talk, but you may want to keep an ear open for me killing him, just in case.”

  As the other man laughed, Carter pushed the door open and stepped inside before shutting out the rest of the world. Osbourne lay on the only bed in the room. One of the Jason Bourne movies was playing on the TV, but the volume was barely audible. The man was doing a crossword puzzle in a paperback book of them and he looked up as Carter approached. One corner of his mouth ticked up slightly. His voice sounded tired as he spoke. “You here to kill me now that you got what you wanted?”

  Carter stopped a foot away from the bed, crossed his arms and set his feet shoulder-width apart. “Thought about it. And until I spoke to Vicki a little while ago, it was still a crapshoot whether or not I would when I got here.”

  Osbourne nodded, and a somberness fell over his face. “She was here. Said she forgave me. Why, I don’t know.”

  “Because she’s one hell of a woman, and even though you assaulted her in a way no woman should be, you also gave her Justin. And by the way, he knows who you really are and never wants to see you again, but asked me to thank you for going through with the surgery.”

  “Humph. He’s a good kid.” The man’s eyes flickered toward the window. “I was a bastard. I could try to make excuses about why, but they’d just be lame attempts to cover up the fact I was a selfish bastard. She didn’t deserve that; none of them did.” He paused. “If it makes you feel better, I now know what I put them through. The first few years in Folsom weren’t pretty for me.”

  If Osbourne was looking for sympathy or absolution for his sins, he wasn’t going to get it from his former foster child. “I didn’t think they would be. Most prisoners find rape, especially of a minor, the vilest crime you can commit.” He let out a long breath. “When the doctor gives the okay for you to go back, you’ll be going to Avenal.” The level two security prison was halfway between Los Angeles and Sacramento. While there were still armed guards and a secure perimeter, the inmates had more freedom and programs to take part in. As long as he stayed out of trouble, Osbourne would finish out his life sentence in a little more comfort than before.

  The older man’s gaze returned to Carter’s. “Thanks. I know it was hard for you to keep up your end of the bargain.”

  He wouldn’t deny it, but after talking with Vicki, he felt better about having Gene arrange the transfer. “This’ll be the last time you’ll see me on one condition. If you ever try to contact Vicki or Justin, you’ll be dead within forty-eight hours. Understood?”

  A smirk spread across the Osbourne’s face, and he let out a soft snort. “Forty-eight? Why do I get the feeling it would be more like twelve?”

  Turning on his heel, Carter headed for the door. “Probably because you’re right.”

  * * *

  Later that night, Carter had Jordyn strip where she stood in his kitchen. After they’d dinner, she’d cleaned up while he went to his bedroom—actually now it was their bedroom—to prep for the scene he wanted to do with her. Although they still had to go through her limit list, he’d cleared all but one part of the scene with her. There was one thing he wanted to surprise her with and he highly doubted she’d object. He hadn’t come across a single submissive that hadn’t enjoyed a suspension play scene. There was a range of what could be added to it, but until she did more research and club observation, he’d keep it to a simple sex swing.

  While he’d never brought another woman to his house for play or any other reason, other than Vicki, he’d hoped one day he would. But the woman had to be special—she had to belong to him for her to be allowed into his sanctuary—and Jordyn was exactly that woman. In anticipation of finding his other half one day, he’d instructed Joe to make sure a few things were added into the design of the house. The feature he’d be using tonight was the hidden hooks for the suspension swing.

  “What are you waiting for . . . Sir?”

  Carter hadn’t realized he was just standing in the kitchen, staring at his submissive’s scrumptious body. “Why do you always pause before you say ‘Sir,’ my little subbie?”

  Shrugging, Jordyn responded, “Just a little reminder of who’s really in charge . . . Sir.”

  The corners of his mouth ticked up in amusement, but he used his annoyed Dom voice to respond. “Brat.”

  “You wouldn’t have me any other way.”

  She was one hundred percent right about that, but he wasn’t going to tell her that now. “It’s about time for you to learn what happens to bratty submissives who want to push their Masters’ buttons. Turn around.”

  When she did as he ordered, he stepped closer and put a blindfold over her eyes and tied it behind her head. After it was in place, he reached down and gave her a swift slap on her right ass cheek, which caused her to yelp. He chuckled at her grumbling that followed. “What was that, my sweet Jordy?”

  “De nada . . . Señor.”

  He loved that she wanted to play. Bratty subs had always been his favorite because it meant he could get inventive with their scenes. “I think you need a bit of discipline before pleasure tonight. Bend over and hold onto the counter.”

  Jordyn hesitated only a moment before following his orders. He knew she was still scared of the unknown, and as a result he would continue to take it easy on her until she became more accustomed to the lifestyle. But that didn’t mean he would let her top from the bottom. Pulling open a utensil drawer, he grabbed a wooden spatula and ran it up the back of her bare thigh. “I think five smacks will remind you that I’m your Dom, and you’re my submissive. What’s your safeword?”

  “R-red.”

  “If you say it, I’ll stop, but then we won’t scene tonight at all, ¿comprendes?” When she responded she understood, he added, “Count for me out loud, my love.”

  Without waiting for an answer, he pulled the spatula back and, with a flick of his wrist, let it land on her right buttock with a resounding slap. Jordyn squeaked and went up on her toes. “¡M
ierda!”

  Her hand reached back to protect her flesh, but Carter grabbed her by the wrist and put it back where it belonged. “Hands on the counter, baby. Concentrate on the heat that follows the pain. Breathe deeply.”

  When her fingers gripped the granite countertop again, he let go of her wrist and covered the spot he’d struck with the palm of his hand. Squeezing gently, he asked, “Are you green, baby, or do you want to use your safeword?”

  She took several deep breaths, then said, “I-I’m green . . . Sir.”

  Shaking his head, he flicked the spatula against her left cheek. Again she cursed and went up on her toes, but this time she kept her hands where they were. “You’re supposed to be counting, Jordy. I’ve been accused of failing math before, so you may want to make sure I stop at five.”

  “Two! That was two, Sir.”

  He couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face because she hadn’t paused that time before using his title. “Good girl.”

  The next two smacks were in rapid succession on her sit spots, where her thighs met her ass cheeks. “¡Mierda! Three! Four!”

  Carter was hard as a rock, needing to move this along so he could get his cock inside her. No other woman had ever sent his control spiraling before Jordyn, but she tested his limits without even knowing it—and that made him want to test her limits, too. He made contact with the utensil against her skin one more time, hitting both cheeks simultaneously, then tossed it onto the counter. His hands gently rubbed her pink skin, then he dipped the fingers of one between her legs, thrilled at what he found there. She was soaked for him. Gathering up some of her juices, he grabbed her hair and tugged her head up. His wet fingers went to her mouth and ran over her lips. “This is what my discipline did to you, my love. Your body craves and responds to it. Lick my fingers and taste yourself.”