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As I grab a glass from the dishrack and fill it with water, I hear him say, “We gotta talk anyway. Might as well be now.”
That has me tensing as I walk over to the counter and pull up a stool beside him.
He winces and pulls his hand from his heart, then turns his stool to face me head on.
“Are you okay?” I ask, gesturing at his chest.
He shrugs. “Gotta be, don’t I?”
“But—”
“It’s all good,” he says, making it clear he isn’t going to speak to it. He changes the subject in the next second, asking, “What’s keeping you up?”
“I don’t like waiting to act against a threat.”
“You and me both.”
“I’m sorry Roxana got caught up in it all. It was unprecedented. If Cal had possessed the slightest inkling that they’d go that route, he would’ve stopped it before it had started. His daughter is the most precious thing to him in the world.”
“That ain’t up for debate. I know that. But he could’ve handled it better than he did.”
“He didn’t want you and Black Thorns getting caught up in it all.”
“He should’ve known that was unavoidable, given how tightly connected he is to us.”
“I guess he didn’t want to believe the worst for once. He wanted to believe he could handle this without jeopardizing any of you. The last time a major threat came at him, nothing went to plan, and he lost everything. You all lost a lot. You all suffered. He couldn’t stomach letting himself believe that could happen again.”
He frowns. “You’re talking about him faking his death when Skinner and the Mavs were after him?”
“Yes.”
“He’s talked to you about all that?”
“He has. Why?”
“He don’t ever speak to it. It’s a strict no-go.”
“Maybe he’s found a way to now.”
“Nah,” Ax says, shaking his head. “It ain’t that. He’s in way deeper than I even thought.”
“In deeper with me, you mean?”
“Yeah.”
“And you don’t approve? Because of what happened with Kim, because of my involvement in her death?”
“Her murder,” he grinds out.
“If it hadn’t been that day, it would’ve been any other just as quickly. Her days were numbered the moment she allowed your father to pull her into his orbit, the moment she chose him over Cal.”
He holds up his hand. “I know. I know, all right? That ain’t the issue between us. In fact, I should’ve said it sooner, but… thanks for helping out Rox, for saving my wife back then and recently.”
“Of course. But about Kim, specifically—”
“No need to be going there. We’re good.”
“Are you sure? The animosity coming off you since I’ve been staying here would point to the opposite being true.”
