Page 121 of Family Bonds- Jarrett & Andi

“I did it for yourowngood,” Jarrett said.

“No!” she shouted. “That is what you’re just telling yourself now.”

One full week had gone by and she just listened to Jarrett come clean that Leo had been less than an hour from her and that they’d managed to keep him from coming to the island.

Jarrett even admitted that his brother and Jack had no idea that several names were on a watch list to even step foot on this island.

She was pissed off on one hand and relieved on the other.

“Andi,” he said, running his hands through his hair. “I did it as a precaution and it paid off.”

“You know how much I hated that Jack didn’t tell me everything. I made you even promise to tell me and you said you would. I’d understand if there were things you couldn’t, but this isn’t one of them. You did this on your own with your family. This wasn’t even through work.”

Tears ran down her cheeks and she hated that response.

She’d been beating herself up for not being able to completely let go and worried that Jarrett wasn’t telling her things. She’d been convinced it was in her head only to find out that he was hiding this from her.

She didn’t want to be an obligation to him. She wanted to be an equal.

And if that meant he had to tell her he was doing something to protect her, she’d rather know that than be left guessing all the time.

“No,” he said. “It wasn’t. But I hoped nothing would ever come about it. I didn’t expect it to now.”

“I want to know everything,” she said. “Every single thing that happened.”

“I can’t tell you all of it,” he said. “And I don’t even know it all because once they went to the Marshal Office I was left out of it. Jack isn’t saying much either.”

She ground her teeth but understood that.

“Tell me what you can,” she said. “I’m so pissed. This is my life that has been up in the air. I’m the one wondering and worrying all the time. You both kept telling me everything is fine and then you walk in and tell me Leo was in Boston, so everythingwasn’tfine. You’ve been lying to me this whole time.”

“No,” he said. “No one is lying to you. There was no sign or indication that anyone was coming after you. What Leo said he said before he got immunity and protection. At thatpointhe was just talking and trying to get a deal. You won’t say anything.”

“You’re damn straight I won’t. I just want to move on. I need to know if I was ever even in danger.”

“Listen, Andi. You were. And even Jack might not have known the extent of it so don’t blame him for what he did. From what Leo confessed, the reason he started to distance himself from you after your accident was because there werethreats against his sister and mother. Other guys’ girlfriends. Not threats that held merit but enough that he got a feeling in his spine over it.”

“I need more than that,” she said.

“After you became Andi, the FBI was looking into Leo.”

“I know all of that,” she said.

“There was one woman who was beaten and raped. It was a message sent to everyone to fall in line.”

She put her hand to her mouth. “How soon after I left?”

“A few months, maybe longer,” he said. “Not close enough. You already didn’t exist anymore. Leo even said, as sad as it was that you’d died, he was grateful to not worry anymore about that happening to you. He was more concerned about his sister and mother. When he was caught by the FBI it was almost a relief and he thought he was out. Losing his pharmacist license ruined his career, but he felt he could escape what he’d gotten mixed up in.”

“But he didn’t?” she asked.

“No. They blamed him for getting the FBI involved and them losing their sources and the time it’d take to get more. They said he owed them what they lost and he’s spent years trying to pay it back. They were never letting him out and the threats against his sister were getting worse.”

“I didn’t even know he had a sister,” she said. “He never talked about her.”

Could be he was trying to protect her and maybe whoever he was in bed with had found out.

None of that was her problem. Just like she and Jack talked, people make their own choices in life.

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