Lying on my bed, my body spent and numb after Carson made love to me a second time, the same overwhelming feeling crashes over me as when we made love for the first time.
I try to breathe through it, but then Carson pulls me to him and wraps his arms around me. He cradles me as if I’m his greatest treasure, and his eyes roam my face with love shining from his eyes.
Lifting a hand to my cheek, he brushes over the scar with the pad of his finger. Regret creeps into his eyes, making them look almost black.
“I’m okay,” I whisper.
“Never again.” I know he means it will never happen again.
I nod. “I know. You and MJ proved it to me today.”
My stomach growls and Carson’s eyes snap down, then back up. “Let’s get some food in you.”
Getting up, Carson walks to the kitchen, and I take a moment to admire his ass before I dart into the bathroom.
I relieve myself and then pull a brush through my wild sex hair that’s all over the place. When I come out of the bathroom, Carson’s watching something on his phone, a dark frown on his forehead.
“What’s wrong?”
I walk closer, but he locks the screen and shakes his head at me. “Just work.”
Stopping in front of him, I place my hand against his jaw. “You can talk to me about your work. It must be heavy to carry all of it alone.”
He stares at me for a while, then says, “I’m worried about Dimpo.”
“Why?”
“She doesn’t have a good life.” He picks up his jeans and steps into them. “I just need to figure out a way to help her.”
“Tell me about it. Maybe I can come up with something,” I say as I begin to get dressed as well.
When Carson has all his clothes on, he unlocks his phone, and then he turns it so I can see. There’s a video of a girl running to her mom. I can feel the happiness and relief pouring from them as they fall into each other’s arms.
Seeing what Carson did with my own eyes makes tears instantly rush to the surface. “Oh my, God, Carson,” I breathe as I glance up at him. “You did that. How can you not see how amazing you are?”
The worry doesn’t leave his face as he looks at his phone to bring up another video. I move in next to him and what I see makes me grimace.
Dimpo carries a huge bucket with water from a dirty steam.
“That’s their drinking water.” The worry on Carson’s face deepens as we watch her carry the bucket into a structure that looks like it’s been put together with scrap metals and boards.
“We need to do something,” I say, my heart squeezing painfully because Dimpo has to live like that. “You can’t bring her here?”
Carson’s eyes dart to me. “No, I can’t have her close to me. It will put her in danger.”
“What about something like a sponsorship so she can go to a boarding school? I can see if there are any near her home.”
Carson actually looks surprised by my idea. “That could work, and she’ll get a good education. I’ll look into it.”
“I don’t mind,” I offer.
Carson shakes his head. “I don’t want you involved.”
His phone vibrates, and I see the message.
Contract: Nezir Albu
Business: Arms dealer
Time Sensitive: 72 hours
Location: Romania
Fee: €6 000 000.00
My eyes zoom in on ‘arms dealer’ and ‘€6 000 000.00’, and then the screen goes black. Carson shoves the phone into his pocket.
When I glance up at him, his eyes are locked on my face, as if he’s expecting me to lose my shit.
“It’s okay,” I try to put him at ease, “If you need to check things and answer whoever sent it, MJ and I can go get something to eat.”
He shakes his head. “I need to take care of Dimpo before I take another contract.” Placing his hand on the side of my neck, he asks, “Are you really okay with what I do?”
I nod. “I am. You can really answer the message.”
Taking his phone out again, he responds.
Contract: Decline
“Someone else can take care of it,” Carson says. “Dimpo is my priority right now.” The corner of his mouth lifts. “And feeding you.”
“MJ’s paying,” I mutter as we walk to the front door. “She owes me for a month’s worth of food.”
When I open the door, MJ gets up from where she’s sitting on the stairs near my apartment. “Finally. I’m starving.”
“Oh hush, you had a big lunch while I was working.”
“And then I fought it all off.” She grins at me.
Carson shuts the door behind us, and we take the stairs down to the lobby. When we walk out of the building, Carson takes hold of my hand and weaves his fingers through mine while MJ falls in on my right.
They both keep glancing around us until I say, “I feel like a VIP with the way the two of you keep checking around us. I just need to get you matching suits and earpieces.”
Carson lets go of my hand, and wrapping his arm around my neck, he tugs me into his side. He presses a kiss to my temple then says, “Just making sure you’re safe.”
I wrap my arm around his lower back and grin up at him. “My badass boyfriend.”
CARSON
Thanks to Hailey’s idea, I got Dimpo into a private boarding school and arranged work for her mother on the premises, so they’re together.
I’ve just met the headmistress of the boarding school to make sure everything’s ready for Dimpo and her mother.
Lekgari told me everything there’s to know about Thandi and Dimpo. They’re Xhoza speaking, and since Thandi’s husband passed away, things have been hard for them. Work is scarce, and there are random bursts of violence where they live.
Driving to the address Lekgari gave me, the area becomes more littered with shacks as I enter what the locals call a squatter camp.
I search for the shack, which feels like an impossible task because they’re all stacked close together, and then I see Lekgari waving at me where he’s standing outside one. I bring the car to a stop, and getting out, I walk toward him.
I take his hand, and while we shake, I hear, “Mister! Mister!” Glancing over my shoulder, I watch as Dimpo comes running toward me. She slams into me, giving me a hug. Then she glances up at me with her bright smile. “You’re back.”
“Oooo… oooooh,” a woman cries, and my eyes snap toward her. I recognize her as Thandi, Dimpo’s mother.
“I told her you were the one who saved her daughter, so she would trust you,” Lekgari quickly explains.
Thandi comes to take hold of my hand, her features tight with gratefulness. “Thank you. Oh, thank you.”
Feeling uncomfortable with the attention, I say, “Don’t worry about it.”
“You brought my daughter back to me. I’m so happy,” Thandi says, her accent thick. “She’s all I have left.”
“Are you okay with me moving you to a safer place?” I ask.
“Yes,” Thandi smiles, her eyes welling with tears. “Oh, it’s been so bad. There’s no work. The Tsotsis are everywhere.”
“Tsotsis are bad people,” Lekgari explains.
“Are you ready?” I ask, glancing around at all the people gathering to watch.
“Yes.” He says something to Thandi in their native language, and she rushes into the shack. A couple of seconds later, she comes out carrying only one bag.
“Is that everything?” I ask.
“Yes, mister,” Thandi answers. “We can go.”
She seems to be in more of a hurry than I am. Dimpo sticks to my side as I open the back door of the car for them. I take the bag from Thandi and wait for her and Dimpo to get into the car, then I place it in the trunk.
Lekgari climbs into the passenger’s seat, and as I slide behind the steering wheel, he casually says, “Up ahead. Two men. The one has a soccer ball. They’re scouts for the trafficking people.”
I start the engine, and then only do I glance up. I take in the dead expressions the two men have while staring at us.
Reversing away from them, I say, “Get me everything you can on them. I’ll take care of it.”
When I drive away from the squatter camp, Dimpo says, “Mister has a nice car.”
“Call me Carson, Dimpo,” I say.
“Okay, Mr. Carson.”
The corner of my mouth lifts as I steer the car toward the boarding school.
When we pull up to the campus, Dimpo presses her face to the window. “Whhhaaa… look, Ma.”
“Eish, it’s too much. Thank you,” Thandi says, still looking overcome with emotion.
We get out, and I watch as Dimpo takes in everything with a look of pure wonder.
“Let’s get you settled,” I say, and they follow me to the office.
The headmistress leads us to the room they’ll be staying in, and walking inside, I set their bag down. “Unpack. I need to talk to the headmistress,” I say to Thandi and Dimpo.
Indicating to Lekgari to come with, I step outside the room, then turning to the headmistress, I say, “Thank you for all the help.”
“Oh no, thank you. I’ll take good care of them,” she replies.
She better. I paid a small fortune to the school to make this happen.
When the headmistress walks into the room, I lock eyes with Lekgari. “I need you to make sure everything goes well for them. Let me know what your fee is.”
“I will.”
“Also, let me know if they need anything.”
Lekgari nods. “Don’t worry about them. I’ll make sure they’re safe. If anything happens, I’ll let you know immediately.”
“Please.”
Lekgari grins at me. “You’re doing a good thing. They won’t forget it.”
Dimpo comes out of the room and gives me another hug. “Thank you, Mr. Carson.” She looks at me as if I’m her hero. “I knew you were a good man.”
Placing my hand on her shoulder, I give it a squeeze. “Let Mr. Lekgari know if you need anything.”
“Are you leaving again?” she asks.
“Yes, I can’t stay long.”
I just wanted to make sure they’re safe and taken care of, but I need to get back to Hailey.
Thandi comes out, a wide grin on her face. I’m bombarded with more thank yous and hugs, and then they walk me to the car.
“Take care of them,” I tell Lekgari again.
“I will. Don’t worry.”
“Send me that info,” I remind him.
“It will take a while.”
I get another hug from Dimpo, and crouching down, I lock eyes with her. “Study hard, Dimpo.”
“Yes, Mr. Carson.”
“And have fun.”
“I will, Mr. Carson.”
When I get into the car and start the engine, I take a last look at Dimpo’s smile, and then I leave them in the care of Lekgari.
