Page 41 of Paradise

“I get that,” Jonah agreed, and he really did. Before Cody, he had lived a very different life, a wild life, one where he was angry and insecure and often desperate. Cody had taken all of that chaos and focused it into a burning desire to do right by him.

“He’s going to feel awful when he wakes up,” Miles predicted. “He won’t blame you, he’ll blame himself. However you respond is up to you, but if I might make a suggestion?”

Jonah nodded.

“Be kind to both of you. Don’t let him wallow, but don’t try to take all the responsibility onto yourself either. He won’t accept that. I assume you’re still planning on going through with the marriage?”

“’Course,” Jonah said, surprised Miles even bothered to ask.

“Good. Then with that in mind, and with the emotional health of all your family in mind, demand honesty from each other. Make a plan. Be prepared to forgive and to ask for forgiveness but follow it up with action. Intent only counts for so much in life.”

“Good advice,” Jonah murmured.

“I’ve been around the ’verse a time or two by this point,” Miles said. “I’ve got a decent working knowledge of how to get results out of people, and promises are only worthwhile if they come true.” He patted Garrett’s hand, then got up and moved aroundthe bed. “I need to go prep for tomorrow. I’ll make sure someone remembers to bring in a meal for you.”

“Thank you,” Jonah told him sincerely. Miles squeezed his shoulder on the way out. Jonah looked down at Garrett and tried, very briefly, to imagine a life without him. It was as painful and impossible as imagining life without Cody, and he shied away from it almost immediately.

“Okay, then,” he told himself firmly. “Definitely not an option. And if you even bring it up,” he said to Garrett, “we’re gonna have words, darlin’.”

Garrett’s hand twitched under his. Jonah just held it tighter. They would figure this out. Nothing else was acceptable.

Chapter twenty-one

Jonah

An hour before meeting with Jack and his lawyer the next afternoon, Robbie pulled Jonah aside and into his office. When Jonah asked why, Robbie was uncharacteristically solemn, not even a hint of humor or camaraderie in his demeanor. “Did Garrett get a chance to talk to you about the bug before he went under?”

Jonah was confused. “What bug?”

“That’s a no, then.” Robbie’s shoulders stiffened a little. “I’ve got something you need to listen to. Listen all the way through before you say anything and don’t leave before I can explain. Agreed?”

“What’s this about?” Jonah asked. Robbie just stared at him, hands folded on one knee where he sat on the edge of his desk. Jonah was in a regular chair, his head a couple feet lower down, and he had to stifle the urge to stand up so Robbie wouldn’t be able to look down at him. The man was a friend of Garrett’s,hell, of his whole family. He wasn’t being threatening. Jonah just wished he didn’t loom quite so competently. “Fine.”

“Good.” Robbie reached behind himself and fiddled with something on his desk for a moment, and then sound filled the air. It took Jonah a moment to realize that he was hearing his own voice.

“Kilroy.”

“Jonah! Sit, sit.”The sound of a chair scraping across a rough floor.“I’m glad you could spare some time away from your Alliance man to see me, lad.”

“My fiancé isn’t a soldier.”

“Sure he is, Jonah. Just because he’s not a part of the government machine doesn’t mean he isn’t an Alli.”

“Where’s Charlotte?”

“Oh, keepin’ an eye on things.”A faint voice asks what Jonah wants to drink. There’s a long pause.“I didn’t invite you here just to scowl at me while I drank alone, lad. Order something. My treat.”

Another pause.“Fine.”

Jonah looked up at Robbie. “How did you get this?”

“A slimdisc set in the hem of your shirt.” The voices keep going in the background, replaying a conversation that Jonah would be more than happy to forget.

“How the hell did it get there?”

Robbie didn’t pull any punches. “Garrett put it there just before you left.”

Jonah was dumbfounded. “Why? Why would he do that?” A chill gripped his heart. “Did he think I was gonna side with Kilroy? What, he thought that I was gonna agree to helpspyon his family?” The idea that Garrett didn’t trust Jonah to do the right thing was almost paralyzing.

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