The Traitor ✓ (Book Six)

Chapter Thirty Two

  Still staring at the fabric- I hesitate. Once I do this there is no going back, and despite how hard it is to admit to myself- I do care about Maria. I'm not one hundred percent sure how yet, but I won't be able to figure that out if I have no contact with her. She is smarter than anybody else- any politician or world renowned scientist I've ever met.

  Like Emily, she is indescribably beautiful at times. When I look into her eyes I don't feel the same thing, though I think that's just the protectee-bodyguard mindset taking over. It's still engrained into me how we're actively supposed to avoid relationships with protectees- even friendships. The secret service director had a chat with me after Kyle and Marisol's assassination attempt (Lauren was just there and got caught in the crossfire)- because even though ours was just an acquaintanceship, I'd insisted on staying in the hospital out of guilt.

  I don't want us to get so far into a relationship that I fall head over heels in love with her, and have to decide between our baby or her.

  I jerk my head back. That is how I know I'm too far in the deep end to return- might as well swim to the bottom.

  I take a deep breath, and for what feels like minutes (though it's probably only a few seconds) I pull my shirt up. When it reaches my chest, I hesitate again. There is truly no going back now. I fully yank it over my head, my bare chest now on full display along with the scars that dot every inch of it.

  Some of them are still left over from the bullet training, yes- but there's so much more. On my upper chest, there's a large patch slightly darker than the rest of my skin- from when I was on a run and scraped it badly. Another from where Princess Ariyah burned me so I'd know what it felt like. Then on my shoulders, there are a few from...,that assassination attempt. But there are still a few that she hasn't seen.....

  Regardless, she audibly gasps. Her eyes widen. Her mouth opens, then closes again- and that repeats for almost a minute before she gets the balls to ask.

  "What.... What happened?" She asks.

  I purse my lips together. I could pick and choose what I tell her. She doesn't have to know the most painful details, nobody  does . There are a few incidents in particular that I refuse to think about? Let alone say out loud.

  "I.... Do you know what the secret service are?"

  "Yeah they.... They protect U.S politicians. Wha.... What does that have to do with anything?" She furrows her eyebrows in confusion. With a shaking hand, I grab hers. She does not protest, but the look in her eyes is now a terrified one. Regardless, I press on.

  "Do you..... know the name James García?"

  "It.... Sounds familiar." She replies. "What are you... what are you saying?"

  Here goes nothing, i think to myself.

  "Maria..... that is my real name. I'm not Damon. I never have been. The... life story I've told you for weeks is a lie too. I created it with the help of.... Some people to protect me from my past. Maria?"

  She stares past me like she doesn't even see me. Then, when I lift her chin so I can read her- she pulls away. She is already angry. Oh no.

  "So you lied to me about who you were since you started working for my dad?"

  "I.... Yeah."

  "What. the. FUCK!!!!"

  "Maria-"

  "No, just..." She sighs. "Fine. So you lied to me. Whatever. Tell me your real life story. Were you a confidential informant in the mafia or something? Is that why you're here? Where did you come from?"

  I cannot look at her for the next part.

  "Maria just...... I was at Guantanamo Bay." I close my eyes, bracing for what is to come, what I'm not ready for. "To this day I... refuse to believe I belonged there."

  "James-" She angrily says my real name for the first time. "I'll ask again. Why were you there of all places?"

  So she really doesn't know. I hit the jackpot here.... And I just ruined it. Good job, genius.

  "It would be easier on both of us if you just googled me and.... Read the article out loud so you could process it. Maybe look up the 2023 incident.... Along side my name."

  She glares at me and slowly reaches for her phone. A single tear rolls down my cheek.

  After she's clicked through to one with a picture of my face displayed, she's even angrier. Then she starts reading.

  "James García was a secret service agent and one of the....most major components in the 2023 kidnapping of First Lady Lauren Wells( Amber Garland, the prime minister at the time's son, was also a target). A few years prior, he was forced into the organization by then kidnapping his.... Girlfriend Emily( the sister of the most prolific American serial killer of all time)."

  She looks at me, a little bit of sympathy in her eyes but not enough, and continues.

  "His entire life turned upside down when a bystander caught him.... Kidnapping the First Lady on tape after he blew up nearly a quarter of the White House. Later on, he had some sort of mental breakdown and finally decided saving his girlfriend's life was not worth it. He decided to threaten the lives of the entire organization- leaders included( which was the only way they would listen to him) by placing his finger on a device capable of exploding the entire facility. This facility was considered a historic site for a very short time but has been shut down the British government for maintenance. James García faces trial along with everybody else involved, and ended up with life in prison. Because of his high profile terrorist status, he was sent to Guantanamo bay. Almost ten years later- or just weeks ago, he died there."

   Maria almost throws up when she gets to the part about what exactly happened to the First Lady. She then slowly backs away like she's afraid of me. I don't blame her.

"Maria-"

  "NO! Just.... No. I need some time to think."