Page 72 of Romeo

“We heard that.I’m glad she survived.I ran into Odie Landers last week at the club,” she adds.“He told me everything.”

“You spoke to Odie last week?”Dodger chuckles.“Seems my wife is more in contact with the outside world than I am.”

She smiles warmly at him.“That’s what happens when you’re trying to save the world, my love.”

I want to vomit.

“What did you and Odie talk about?”Bradyn asks.

“Just pleasantries.I hadn’t seen him since the wedding, and?—”

“Wedding?”Dylan asks.

“Mine and Glen’s.We got married eight years ago.”

“So you hadn’t seen him in eight years?”

“No.The Landers family kept pretty low profiles, given what happened with Jules Landers.”

It’s all I can take.Standing here, breathing the same oxygen as the monster who destroyed Jules, and listening to his wife dote on him as though he’s the greatest man alive.“Thank you so much for your help.Can we reach out if we have any other questions?”

“Absolutely,” Dodger says.“Here’s my card.My cell number is listed, and you can almost always find me there.”He offers it to me, so I shove it into my pocket.

“Thank you.”

“Of course.That family has suffered immensely.I’d like to see them find peace.”

I force my attention from him before I kill him where he stands.Helena steps into my path, her smile sympathetic.“Please tell Jules how sorry we are for her loss.And have her call if she needs anything.”

“Please tell me it’s working,”I say to Tucker as I walk into the kitchen.Elliot and Jules are at the grocery store, getting stuff for dinner since she insisted on cooking rather than ordering pizza again.Romeo is sleeping soundly beside Tucker’s chair, though when he sees me, he jumps up and happily trots toward me.I gently pet the top of his head.

“It’s working.”Tucker offers me the headphones, so I hold one over my ear and listen in.

“No, the gala has to happen this month,”Glen Dodger says to whoever he’s talking to.His voice comes through as crisp as though we’re in the room with him.I offer the headphones back to Tucker.

“I’ve got it running through a script that analyzes the audio for critical words.I’m recording everything, but that way we’ll know where to start looking right away if something pops.”

“Thanks.”

“Yeah.”He crosses his arms.“How you doing?”

“Fine.”

“Nah, you haven’t crackednearlyenough jokes to be doing fine.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”I ask, taking a seat at the table too.

“You’re normally the guy who lightens the mood if things get too tense.Lately, though, you’re closer to exploding than Dylan is.And that, dear brother, is rare for you.”

“I wanted to kill him.”I’ll never pull punches when it comes to talking to my brothers.They’re the ones I trust most in this world.

“We all did.I’m seriously surprised the man was still standing after what he said about Jules.”

“I don’t understand how someone could do what he did in the first place, then stand there—nearly emotionless—as he places the blame right back onto her.”

“A good man cannot rationalize evil,” he says.

“I’m just ready to get back to the ranch.I need my routine to keep my head.”

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