Page 14 of The Fix

“No, Leo. He’s not okay, but he’s not throwing things.” His stress-filled sigh nearly cuts me off, but I continue, “He needs to stay like this until we get wherever we’re going. I’m not going to be in a moving vehicle with him while he rages. You’ve seen him, how he gets. This is not the place for that.”

“You’re such a dick.”

It takes me a moment of blinking my mind into focus to realize the words came from beside me and not from the phone.

“I can fucking hear you.” The words are growled, and when I look in Toby’s direction, I’m met with such ferocity in his chocolate-colored eyes that I’m taken aback. He’s not just mad at me or my words. He’s downright feral.

I’m already leaning against the car door, but the handle digs in further.

“Well,” I state and quirk a brow in his direction, despite my body’s natural reaction to retract. “I’m the one who’s gotten you out of trouble.”

A literal growl reverberates from him, something I’d equate to a cornered wolf, and I grip the phone just a little harder.

“Fuck you, Anna,” Toby spits.

“And you, as well, Jeffers.”

Toby looks away, breaking the stare down and taking with him most of the intensity he’s emitting into the small space. I will the little hairs on the back of my neck to settle and my breath to slow.

“Anna.” Leo’s voice draws my attention away from the beast sharing my seat back to the immediate problem. “I don’t wanna do this.”

“I already don’t like it if that’s how you’re starting it.”

“We gotta get him away from here,” Leo continues, saying words like clearing the air and waiting it out, but I already know what he’s going to suggest.

The cabin.

It’s a place in the middle of the mountains with minimal service, no neighbors for miles, and a tiny house that he had plans to fix up in his free time.

He’s had so much of that.

When he first bought it, I thought he’s crazy. The lot didn’t even have a driveway; one had to drive through the brush to reach it. Or a housing structure I’d consider anything beyond a shack.

It’s a place of nightmares for city girls like myself.

“No.” I cut off his justifications with a tightness to my chest. “No way.”

“I know it’s not ideal, but we’re out of options—”

“Bull. We can figure something out here.”

“Anna, listen. We don’t have another choice. You said it yourself, we need to act fast.”

“Send Lugh. He’s the one that’s supposed to be keeping—” I flick my sight to Toby, who’s staring out the window, and dampen my comments. “It’s his job.”

“I need boots here. You can do what I need you to do from there.”

“Le—”

“Pack a bag, Anna.” His determination is unwavering. I sigh out my defeat, knowing deep down he’s right. Keep Toby out of trouble by keeping him the hell away from everything. Especially other people. “You’re going to a retreat.”

“I swear, Leo …”

“You’ll be fine. The internet was upgraded last week.”

“I hate you.”

“Oh, I know.” He almost chuckles, and my cheeks heat at the prospect of becoming a babysitter until this all blows over. My stomach twists, and my brow prickles with sweat. “But it’s the only way.”

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