Page 50 of Jett in Jeopardy

“I am going to kill you, you know,” Simon said, his voice calm, as if his anger had leached out of him over the course of the beating. “And no one will even give a shit that you’re gone.”

My chest ached. He wasn’t wrong, after all. I squeezed my eyes closed, willing myself to pass out before the inevitable.

Voices, distant but definitely coming our way, rose over the high-pitched whine filling my ears. I would have tried to call out, but I couldn’t seem to make myself move.

Vaguely, I heard Simon’s boots pounding the pavement as he bolted away from the voices, and me.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Brody

Iftherewasonething I knew about life, it was that it could turn on a dime. Having spent the bulk of my preteen and teenage years in foster care, I’d grown up living as if there was nothing solid underfoot, as if I was standing on shifting sands and forever having to catch my balance and find my footing over and over.

After aging out of the system, not much had changed for me. I spent the early years of my twenties traveling across the country and hooking up with men who didn’t give a shit about me. God knew there was nothing stable in any of that, and at the time, I didn’t think I really even cared about stability. After all, how can you miss something you never had?

Then I met Ryan, and for the first time in my life, I felt like I had found my footing. Everything solidified, and my life suddenly had a foundation. We shared a home and a business, and we loved each other—deeply.

Only, my life with Ryan was all too perfect. The other shoe had to drop. It wasn’t until the accident and Ryan was gone that my foundation shifted and crumbled beneath me.

I should have known better than to rely on anything or anyone, and I definitely should have known better now. But I had taken too much for granted and let my guard down, and dropped my defenses.

After last night, I’d let myself believe that maybe I could have something with Jett. I’m not saying I thought we’d get married or anything—Jett was still more than a decade younger than me—but maybe we could be together for a while, and I didn’t have to feel like shit for caring about the guy.

As I was giving the bar a serious cleaning, I was in a surprisingly good mood about the whole me-and-Jett thing, at least until I heard the front door open. It was odd since it had been locked and it was Cilla’s day off.

I stood up from where I’d been scrubbing a shelf behind the bar and got my first look at Daniel making his way over to me, his expression unusually somber. Behind him, Alistair followed. His face was paler than normal, his expression equally bleak.

Something was wrong.

My stomach sank like a stone, and I could feel the blood draining from my face.

All I needed now was for two police officers, looking both serious and sympathetic at the same time, winding their way past the tables toward me to make it my worst nightmare come true.

“What’s wrong?” I croaked, despite my throat feeling like it had shriveled in size.

“He’sokay,” Daniel said meaningfully, his gaze catching mine and holding it. “He’s going to be okay.”

Going to be?“What the fuck does that mean?”

I tore my gaze from Daniel and glanced at Alistair, but he was staring down at the floor as if he’d never seen it before. I looked at Daniel again. “Tell me.”

He nodded and swallowed hard. “Jett is in the hospital. He’s pretty banged up, but he’s going to be okay.”

A distant buzzing hummed in my ears, and my legs felt soft and tingling. I gripped the bar top as if it were the only thing keeping me upright. Maybe it was.

“Did you hear me?” Daniel asked, dragging my attention from my white-knuckled grip to his intent expression. “He’s going to beokay.”

I swallowed and nodded. “What happened?”

“Someone beat the shit out of him in the university parking lot,” Alistair said. It was the first time he’d said anything since he walked in, the first time I’d got a good look at his expression. His eyes were glassy, but they glinted like green glass. He was upset, but he was furious too.

Who?The word danced on the tip of my tongue, but I was fairly sure I had an idea already. Whoever the hell Jett had spent the past month staying at my place to avoid. I’d asked him to stay with me because I wanted to protect him. For all the good it did. He’d been out there, getting the shit beat out of him while I’d been here oblivious.

“How bad is he?” I asked, instead.

“He’s pretty banged up, but stable,” Alistair said. “Grier and Sawyer are at the hospital with him.” He blew out a trembling sigh. “I just don’t understand why someone would do this to him.”

Daniel gripped Alistair’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze before turning his attention to me. “We’re going to the hospital now. Get your coat and come with us.”

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