Page 98 of The Big Fix

“Is he still alive?” Owen asked.

I turned to look at Dante and everyone else followed suit.

He was quiet.

“Well?” Owen prodded him.

Dante waved his hand dismissively. “Some say yes, some say no. Darius heard from a mutual friend that he was dead, but I don’t know. Personally, I think he’s retired and living in Turks and Caicos, because I keep getting really ugly mugs from there that we use in the dining room at the B and B. The thing is, to know for certain, I’d have to go check, and I don’t really want to disturb him if he’s there and retired.”

“No,” I agreed quickly. “If he’s there, just let him be. Sleeping dogs and all that.”

“He’s scary, huh?” Owen teased me.

“Yeah, he’s ex Bratva, so more than scary, but also just the nicest guy…in his way.”

Dante scoffed. “In his way. That’s a delicate way of putting it.”

I shrugged.

“Finish the story, please,” Jing told Owen.

“Okay, so after everyone else got on the bus—and I remember it was so loud with all the police cars and emergency vehicles and the crazy traffic… Anyway, in the midst of it all, Jared stopped, looked me in the eyes, and said everything would be all right.”

I nodded.

“And then he hugged me, and at that exact moment, I stopped being scared.”

I took a deep breath. “I’m sorry you were scared again.”

“I wasn’t scared,” he snapped at me, scowling. “As I said before, I knew you’d save me. I only freaked out when you started getting the crap beaten out of you.”

All eyes on me.

“Okay?” Owen pressed me. “Are we clear?”

I grunted.

“How come you didn’t go live with your grandparents?” Jing asked Owen.

“Oh, I did. Until I was eighteen.”

“Did you check on him?” Jing asked me, sounding indignant, evidently upset for Owen.

“Of course I checked on him. I made certain he wasn’t in any danger.”

“Oh,” Arden said. “So you didn’t show up there and have heart-to-hearts? You just looked in and made sure he was physically safe?”

“Yes. Exactly. His grandparents didn’t want him to have anything to do with me, or any of Ronan’s friends. We were all banned.”

“That’s true,” Dante chimed in. “I went once and was turned away at the door.”

“I’m sorry,” Owen said softly. “When I was a kid, my grandparents were very protective.”

“They had every right to be,” Dante said. “Your mother left instructions with them to contact Jared if you didn’t make it back,” Dante reminded him. “It took three months and nearly every resource at Jared’s disposal to find you in Macau. They were terrified.”

“Yes, but they shouldn’t have cut everyone out of my life.” He turned to me. “I know I’ve said it hundreds of times, but thank you for coming for me.”

During that time, I had indiscriminately killed dozens of people to retrieve Owen. It now seemed one of them—from either the mess Ronan had created that should have ended with his death or the mess I made when I retrieved Owen—wanted revenge. I was both dreading and looking forward to the following day. It would be sad to know the truth, but good as well. I needed an end to all this.