Page 59 of Ransom

Mav nods slowly. "That's... actually not a terrible idea."

"Don't sound so surprised," I grumble.

Jonas stands up. "Agreed. But if he is not back, we have to tell everyone else what's going on. Otherwise, they will worry."

Mav and I exchange a horrified look. "Absolutely not," we say at the same time.

"Why not?"

"Ransom asked us not to share," Mav says.

Jonas frowns. "That doesn't matter. You know he would expect you to share. We don't do secrets." I open my mouth toremind him about the car tampering thing, but he glares at me. "Not big ones anyway. And this is a very big one."

I can't help it. "That's what she said."

Mav groans, and Jonas gives me the finger again, making me laugh. "You're right," I admit. "He knew we wouldn't keep it a secret for long. We don't operate that way. But I'd like to give him a bit more time."

"We can get a bus or something," Jonas says, pulling out his phone.

"A bus? Why do we need a bus?"

Jonas looks at me like I'm the dumbest person on the planet. "Because they're far more comfortable. We can't fit everyone in the Minivan." He spins on his heel and exits. Mav and I trade glances.

"Oh fuck," he says, pressing a palm to his forehead. Then we jump up, racing after Jonas. "Everyone? Jonas, who's everyone?"

He just waves a hand at us and doesn't answer.

I stare after him, trying to picture Jonas behind the wheel of a bus. "Shit. Ransom better make it back tomorrow."

Maverick nods. "Or we're fucked. In several not very enjoyable ways."

"Maybe someone should phone him, give him a heads up?"

Mav's eyes widen, then he turns and sprints away. "Not it!" he yells over his shoulder.

My brothers are assholes.

And apparently, I have a phone call to make.

21

RANSOM

Iforgive you.

I forgive you.

That's what I came here for. That and to make sure Blair is okay. But she's made it pretty fucking clear that she's fine. That she's mostly happy.

And that Robert didn't know her as well as he thought he did. He set us on this collision course because he was projecting his shit all over Blair and this town. But she doesn't want to sell, and it's not because I'm the one making the offer. It's because she's happy in that garage and part of this community.

"Fuck!"

I slap my hands on the wheel and yank it to the side, pulling off on the shoulder. My heart is racing in my chest, so I roll the window down and focus on sucking in big breaths of the cold air. We talked. She's okay. She forgave me. And there's nothing she wants from me.

So why the fuck is my chest so tight? Why is every mile of distance I put between us making it so hard to breathe?

My phone ringing over the car speakers scares the shit out of me. Nick's face flashes on the screen. Before I can overthink anything, I hit the button to answer.

---