Defending Raven (Mountain Mercenaries #7)(27)

He hadn’t been able to find her.

He hadn’t been able to give her a child.

It seemed she’d been mostly getting along just fine without him.

It was all too much.

“Dave?” Ball said softly. “I’m headed to the barrio. If you need anything, call Gray, okay?”

Dave nodded, but he wasn’t really paying attention to his friend. He was still trying to process what he’d just learned.

He’d been so arrogant when he’d told his wife that he understood what she’d been through. He didn’t know a goddamn thing.

Intellectually, he knew what had happened to her. That she’d been used and abused. But emotionally, he had no clue. She’d willingly allowed herself to be used in order to save the life of her baby. She’d probably been terrified when she’d been locked in a room to have her child alone. But she’d done it. She’d done what had been necessary, just as she’d been doing every day since she’d been taken.

She didn’t need him to look after her. To protect her. She’d done a hell of an amazing job all by herself.

A kid. Fuck.

Four and a half. Her son was four and a half. He’d be talking, and was at a very impressionable age. Were the other women taking care of him properly when Raven couldn’t be with him? And why was del Rio holding on to him? What was his ultimate plan? Was he doing it just to torture Raven? That was possible, but for some reason, Dave didn’t think so.

He’d done a lot of research into del Rio, and knew others like him. The man didn’t do anything out of the goodness of his heart. He was keeping Raven’s son for a reason. And knowing that del Rio had no problem trafficking children as well as women didn’t bode well for the child.

Raven’s son.

David.

Dave sat straight up in bed, his wide eyes staring forward, not seeing a thing.

She’d named her son after him.

He hadn’t been there to save her. Hadn’t been able to find her. And yet, she’d still named the most important thing in her life after him.

The fog Dave had been lost in since hearing his wife had borne a child fathered by another man slowly started to lift. He’d been in shock, hadn’t been thinking clearly.

He winced. He’d simply turned and left the hut when she’d told him about her son. He should’ve taken his wife in his arms and told her everything would be all right. Yes, he’d needed to process what she’d told him, but he should’ve done that there, with her. He’d made a lot of mistakes in his life, but leaving her when she’d finally opened up to him was the absolute biggest.

Standing up, Dave went over to the table and grabbed his laptop. He needed to go back to Raven and make things right with her, if that was even possible, but first he had a lot of work to do. He needed even more information on del Rio.

And he needed to get in touch with his contacts to see about getting another passport prepared.

This one would be harder, since the baby hadn’t been born in the United States and there probably wasn’t even a birth certificate.

The reason why Raven didn’t want to leave Peru was crystal clear now. He had no doubt she would’ve found her way out of the country and back to him if it wasn’t for her son. There was no way Raven would leave an innocent child in del Rio’s clutches, especially her own child.

Dave was an ass. He didn’t deserve Raven, but he’d work hard for the rest of his life to make sure she, and David, never wanted for anything.

He couldn’t help but think that he and Raven had wasted a lot of time, but that was done. She had her reasons for keeping David’s existence from him, but now that he knew about him, knew why she didn’t want to leave Peru, he’d move heaven and earth to get mother and son home.

The team had already been in the country for longer than he’d planned. Dave had thought they’d arrive, he’d be reunited with Raven, and they’d leave. Things were more complicated now, but Dave wasn’t the handler of the Mountain Mercenaries for nothing. He’d be able to figure this out too.

His first job was getting David Crawford Justice a passport.

The second was getting the child away from del Rio.

The third was doing everything in his power to make his wife love him again.

Dave paused and took a deep breath.

David Justice.

He’d been an insensitive ass when he’d learned about Raven’s child. He’d been stunned, he couldn’t deny it. He’d wanted to be the one to give his wife a baby. He’d acted like a petulant brat who didn’t get a piece of candy after dinner. But now that he’d had a little time to get used to the news, he understood that David was a fucking miracle.

Dave didn’t care who the biological father was—he would be the boy’s father from here on out.

Thinking about a child with Raven’s DNA out there in the world made him protective and more than a little obsessive. No one and nothing would hurt him. Because hurting the boy would hurt Raven, and that was unacceptable. She’d been through enough hell in her life, and he’d be damned if she spent one more minute worrying about her child’s future.

Dave longed to go straight back to the barrio and reassure Raven that he’d get not only her out of Peru, but David as well. He couldn’t. Not yet. Ball, Ro, and Arrow would keep the women safe as he took care of what needed to be done for their son.