Noah had been Lucy’s trainer before she entered the academy, and he’d been very supportive of her career. Yet even though Noah hadn’t made any blatant moves on Lucy, Sean knew he was attracted to her. Hell, Noah had admitted it to Sean. But Noah was too honorable to go after another man’s girl.
Still, Sean was more than a little happy that now that Noah was in San Antonio—even temporarily—there was an engagement ring on Lucy’s finger.
Of course, Lucy was oblivious to Noah’s feelings. For a woman who could see and understand the smallest detail at a crime scene, a woman who studied criminal psychology and was a shark in interviews, she was clueless when it came to how men viewed her. It wasn’t even her looks, it was the package. The way she moved, the way she played with her hair, how she frowned when studying a complex problem. To Sean, she glowed. He wasn’t naturally a jealous lover, but with Lucy he got the pang. Sometimes. Especially around Noah Armstrong. Okay, only around Noah Armstrong.
Maybe because Sean sometimes felt he wasn’t good enough for her.
Sean shook the thought from his head. He prepared everything for omelets, but didn’t cook. His phone rang as he covered the vegetables.
He answered, “Rogan.”
“It’s Kane. I just talked to JT.”
Sean was relieved to speak to his brother. He was glad he didn’t have to repeat everything. “I’ll send you what I sent him.”
“He already did.”
“I can’t do this without you.”
Kane didn’t say anything for a long minute and Sean thought he’d been disconnected. Then Kane said, “How old is Madison’s kid?”
“Twelve.”
“It’s yours.”
His stomach flipped. “I didn’t know until tonight.”
“Of course you didn’t. I know Madison’s type. I knew it thirteen years ago. I have a plane. I’ll be in San Antonio at dawn.”
“Thank you.”
“He’s a Rogan. We’re going to bring him home. I need to make some calls about this Spade. I know a security guy in Acapulco who can help.”
“I confirmed that they flew into Mexico City, then transferred to Acapulco on Thursday night. They had return tickets direct from Acapulco to Los Angeles for Sunday, but never used them. Madison said the hotel manager told her they checked out Saturday evening, even though their flight wasn’t until the morning.”
“I’ll have more answers tomorrow. Watch yourself with that woman—she’s lied to you for thirteen years, there’s no reason she isn’t keeping something else from you now.”
“I asked Jaye to run a deep background.”
“I know.” Kane hung up.
Sean sat down and put his head in his hands. He felt a deep loss inside that he couldn’t explain. He’d missed the first twelve years of his son’s life. He hadn’t raised him. He wasn’t there for his birth. He wasn’t there to teach him to ride a bike or skateboard or play baseball or video games. He didn’t even know if Jesse liked any of those things. What was the kid going to think when Sean showed up? How was he going to tell him? Because Jesse had to know the truth—that if Sean had known about him, Jesse would have been a part of his life.
How was Lucy going to take this news? She was a rock … but she’d gone through so much in her life. Sean would make sure that she knew there was nothing between him and Madison—Lucy trusted him, but more than that, Sean trusted Lucy. She would understand; she would support him. They’d get through this—together. Because with Lucy, he could get through anything. Do anything. Face his son, tell him the truth.
I’m your father, Jesse. If I had known about you, I would have been there.
Would he have? He hoped so. He’d been young and wild, he’d partied hard and dated lots of women and never wanted to settled down, until Lucy. Yet … he would have taken responsibility. He would have been there for the important events. Talked to him. Traveled with him. Insisted on joint custody. Jesse had a right to know who the Rogans were, what his grandparents had accomplished in their short lives, what RCK did and what his legacy was. Sean would never have forced any one path on his kid—he might have even discouraged it—but Jesse needed to know that he had options, that he had heroes for uncles and a noble background of family who always fought for the right thing, even when it wasn’t easy. Even when it was dangerous.
Sean’s son was being raised by a criminal. Money laundering meant one of three things: drugs, human trafficking, or organized crime. Southern California? Sean was betting drugs, but he couldn’t count on it. Any of the big three would put Jesse in danger.
It put Madison in danger as well … but Sean couldn’t concern himself with Madison right now. Once he found Jesse, brought him back along with Carson Spade—whom he would turn over to law enforcement—he would think about Madison and Jesse’s future security.
And Madison had better damn well listen to him.
A beep told him that someone was on the front porch accessing the keypad. It must be Lucy. Sean went to meet Lucy at the door as she opened it. Noah wasn’t with them, and Sean was relieved. He didn’t know why.
Both Siobhan and Lucy looked exhausted.