The guy and girl on the motorcycle pass by me, and I notice he’s quite a bit older than her with graying hair and a scruffy beard. I do a double-take, recognizing him.
Is that…?
He looks at me, and I look away.Shit, that’s Nate Dietrich. He was a rival of Madoc’s in school. Or of Jared’s. I guess Kade is keeping the legacy alive.
“Oh,” Isobel remarks before letting me go. “You have a date tonight. Do you want to cancel it yourself?”
I cut off my groan before it becomes audible. “I’ll take care of it.”
It’s tempting to let Isobel cancel what’s just become an appointment for two overworked people who need to blow off some steam, but it’s not a situation a good person puts their assistant in.
“I’ll get back to you when I have the files,” she tells me.
“Thanks.”
We hang up, and I walk toward Jax. Across the street, taking the steps up the hill to where he has electronics spread out under a tent.
“Hey,” I say, warm wind breezing through my hair.
He looks up. “Hi.”
“Need any help?”
“Nah, about done,” he tells me.
I nod, letting my eyes roam over the equipment and cords on the table, cases of drones underneath. I can’t go back to the Caruthers’ place. It’s too quiet.
I could go to Fallon’s shop, but Madoc’s car was there earlier, and I don’t have answers for questions he desperately wants to ask.
“You want to talk about it?” Jax offers.
I run my hand over the blade of a drone. “No.” I pause, then continue. “Just tell me I’m welcome in the Falls no matter what happens.”
“Why me?”
I meet his eyes. “Because you’ve been the worst places and you’re still here.”
I’m not supposed to know that he was severely abused as a child or that he killed his father’s girlfriend and their friend when he’d had enough. Madoc didn’t keep things from me, though, and he wanted me to understand that nothing is as it seems. It’s impossible to be aware of everything about every person, and we should always give the benefit of the doubt.
And there’s only one person we ever really know. If we’re lucky.
“Sometimes I was carried.” Jax gives me a soft smile. “Jared, Madoc… And by her.”
I don’t have to ask to know he’s talking about his wife.
“When my heart couldn’t stand me anymore, I just gave it to her,” he states.
I clench my jaw, watching him close a case, and I move my hand off a box of security cameras as he covers the table with a tarp.
Who do I give my shit to?
I’m a bad guy, and I’m putting everyone around me in danger. Who do I let see that?
Hours later, Jared and Jax take the front line while Madoc slams the racquetball, and I try to keep my eye on the damn game.
“Senator?” I shout.
“I think I can do it!” Madoc boasts back at me.
