Free End Game (Games Thriller Series) by J.E. Taylor

are different and they’re both wrong.”
    Chris nodded. “Yes they are, but protecting someone you love isn’t wrong.”
    CJ chewed his lip. I would protect my brother .
    Chris smiled at the simple thought. “Yes, you would protect Tommy, just like I would protect each and every one of you. Sometimes your daddy takes that a little too far though.”
    “Is that when Ty comes out?”
    “I told you, Ty was my brother and he died,” Chris lied easily this time.
    “Daddy, lying is wrong too.”
    Chris sat back on his ankles and measured what he was going to say next. “Christopher James, you are four years old. You aren’t ready to know about Ty yet,” he said, mimicking the words that Jessica said earlier.
    “But your name is Ty,” CJ replied. “Ty Aris.”
    Darkness passed over Chris’s face like a sheet of ice blanketing his soul and his jaw tightened, especially when CJ recoiled into the cushions of the couch away from him. “Where did you hear that name?”
    “Inside of you,” CJ answered, his eyes welling up with tears.
    Chris stood and walked out of the room, shaken to the core. If CJ could pull that name out of his subconscious, what else could he see about his dark past? The years he spent collecting people for his stepbrother’s black market porn business and each and every death he witnessed haunted his nightmares. He felt unworthy of happiness because of all the horror he had been an accessory to and he was terrified that his children would find out what a monster their father really was. He walked out the back door to the rock wall overlooking the bay. The cold bit at him, but he didn’t feel it.
    The snow crunched with her approaching footsteps and the warmth of her hand on his back did nothing to quell his turmoil. “He knows.”
    “No, he doesn’t,” Jessica replied.
    “He pulled my name out of my head. What else can he see?” Chris turned his gaze to hers.
    “He can’t see anything, Chris.”
    “He pulled my name out of my head , Jess.” He turned, grabbing her arms. “I had that locked up so deep...” He shook his head and released the tight grasp he had on her. “How can I teach them right from wrong if they know where I’ve been?”
    “It’s not where you’ve been , honey. It’s how you live your life now that matters. Showing that you know the difference goes a long way. Living up to the morals and values that you are teaching them matters.”
    A bark of a laugh escaped. “I should be in jail, or dead for that matter.”
    “Don’t you dare say that!”
    He rolled his eyes at her. “You know it’s true.”
    Jessica clamped her mouth shut and looked out at the ocean, shivering.
    The cold settled into his bones as well and he knew he had to talk to his son before the boy pirated more critical information locked away in his memory. “Let’s go in where it’s warm,” he said and led her back to the house.
    He walked to CJ and picked up his son and carried him into the kitchen. “My name once was Ty Aris. But I had it legally changed to Chris Ryan, so that’s my name now.”
    “Why did you change your name?” CJ asked.
    “That’s a really complicated story that I’ll tell you about one day but in the meantime, you shouldn’t repeat to anyone that your father’s real name is Ty Aris.”
    “Why?”
    He inhaled through his nose, trading a glance with Jessica before going on. “Because Ty Aris did some really bad things, things that if they catch up to me, could take me away from you and your brother for a very long time.”
    CJ’s jaw tightened and his eyes darkened. “I wouldn’t let that happen.”
    Chris allowed a strained smile to surface. “If the police ever come looking for me, you are not to interfere. Understand?”
    CJ pressed his lips together for a moment then he nodded.
    “Do you know where the name Chris, Christopher James comes from?”
    CJ shook his head.
    “Chris was my brother.” Chris smiled at CJ. “You’re named after my