Page 149 of With Us

She gestured to her couch. “Don’t be silly, I’m glad you’re here. Want a coffee?”

“Please.”

She came back in and handed me a mug, holding her own as she sat. “What happened?”

“How much do you know? About Theo and his… work.”

“I don’t know the specifics of his every day dealings. But I know what he does.” She paused, gauging my reaction as she added, “Who he is.”

Chewing at my bottom lip, I nodded. “I spent weeks and weeks wanting answers. Begging for them. Now I finally know the truth, and I wish I could erase it from my head.”

“What happened?”

Through two cups of coffee and half a box of tissues, I recapped my conversation with Theo. I left out some details, like the men from the hospital and Senator Larson, but I shared pretty much everything else.

As I spoke, my mind sorting through my feelings, my shame grew. Already unloading my feelings, I shared that, too. “And you know what the most fucked up part is?”

“What?”

“I’m not livid about what he does. I mean, maybe I’m in shock or something. But I’m not freaking out about him ki… hurting people as much as I should be. I should be flipping out about that, but I’m more upset he lied. Because he kept secrets and only told me because I made him. Otherwise he admitted he’d have waited years.Yearsof lies and deceit. But what he does? Who heis? Shouldn’t I be flipping out about that instead?”

“Hold on,” Julie said, heading for the kitchen. I’d assumed she was refilling her coffee, but she came back a minute later with a book, a bottle of vodka, and two shot glasses. “Kat is going to a friend’s for the night, and the rest of this discussion requires alcohol.”

Pouring us each a shot, we tipped them back before repeating the process.

Once the warmth hit my brain, I said, “Vodka is definitely better than coffee right now.”

“Exactly.” Inhaling deeply, she flipped open the photo book and turned it so I could see.

Julie was beaming into the camera, her makeup beautifully done and her white dress fairy tale perfect. A dark-haired man in a tux had her pulled tight against his tall, lean body as he looked down at her. There was so much love in the picture, so much joy, my heart hurt for her seeing what she’d lost.

“Marc worked for Theo.”

My eyes shot to hers, widening as I remembered Theo’s words about Marc dying in an accident. “For Amaric?”

She shook her head. “On paper, yes. But not technically.”

“I didn’t know.”

“Theo doesn’t like to talk about Marc. I think he wants to protect me, but I don’t mind. It isn’t like I’ve forgotten about him. He died when she was only a year old, so Kat deserves to know who her dad was. And Marc deserves to be remembered.”

“Why don’t you tell him that?”

“Because Marc’s death put Theo in a dark place for a while. They were cousins, but closer than brothers. The guilt still weighs on him, even though Theo did nothing wrong.”

I wanted to ask, but wasn’t sure if I should. I tried to put myself in Julie’s place, but couldn’t understand how she could be so close to Theo and his family, knowing that her husband died because of his involvement in their world.

Julie must have been able to tell, because her lips tipped up in a small smile. “Wondering what happened?”

Nodding, I poured us each a shot. “If you don’t want to talk about it—”

She waved her hand dismissively. “It’s fine. Theo told you about the service he offers businesses?”

“Protection?”

“Yes. Marc was kind of like the head of security. He helped decide who watched which areas. If someone was causing a lot of trouble, he was… an enforcer. There were other steps before it got to him, but yeah. Anyway, there was a little mom and pop mart near the commons with the nicest owners in the world. The woman had been battling breast cancer for years, but she had such positive attitude and was so sweet. They did tons for the community despite how sick she was. She worked when she could, but her husband shouldered most of it. They had a teenage daughter who helped, but they wanted her to focus on school.”

My stomach sank as tears brimmed her eyes.

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