Page 70 of A Simple Mistake
“We promised we’d keep them safe.You can’t tell me I didn’t fail them.”
“You didn’ fail them.Safety is an illusion.You protected them, listened to them, trained them to be resilient.Tha’s all any one of us can do.”
The words hit him harder than a punch.“I don’t want to get you in trouble,” he offered in apology.
“Where d’you leave your car?”Gareth pointed across the lot and Rio held out a hand for the keys.“Let me drive.We’ll go to mine and Ah’ll call Jack.”
Gareth didn’t argue, even though he rarely took the Range Rover’s passenger seat.
“An’ you aren’t gettin’ me into trouble.You’re family.Family fights together.”
Adrenaline was a bitch.When it drove him to fight, and even more when it buggered off and left him.Gareth shivered, let the evening’s events scroll through his mind, and couldn’t remember how he’d ended up at Purple Line.He said as much.
“You’re lettin’ yesterday take up too much of today,” Rio said.“It happens.”
“Rage is unreasonable?”
“Quite.Ask Jack if you don’ believe me.”
As if Gareth needed the reminder.Jack would have his hide, and he no doubt deserved it.He couldn’t forget the kids in the club, though.Or Daniel flinching at the sound of a dropped spatula.“You raised a good man.”
“You mean Jack?No’ on me, that one.Jack raised himself.He trusted no one.No’ even me.”
“He does now.”
“Let’s hope so.Or you’re sleepin’ on my couch.”
The flagstones’ chill seeped through the knees of Jack’s jeans; a negligible discomfort compared to the sharp ache shooting from his jaw to his temple.Jack knelt on the kitchen floor with his head in the freezer, investigating dinner options while he crunched a lemon-and-tonic flavoured ice cube.He’d found them by chance while hunting up a fresh bag of coffee beans, and the moment he’d read the label on the container, a taste test had been inevitable.
Jack approved of the bitterness of the tonic mingling with the bright notes of the lemon.A flavour for sunny days and holiday vibes, and Jack pictured himself, reclining on a sun lounger, a bottle of gin in easy reach, watching Gareth supervise the grill.The weather was perfect for a lazy dinner outside, only…none of them were feeling lazy.
Knowing how much visible signs of violence unbalanced the boys, Jack had made restoring the back hallway his priority.He’d scrubbed the flagstones and walls, patched the damaged plaster, and sanded the frame of the backdoor where the intruders had used a chisel to crack the lock.
Why they’d attacked the lock when they’d had eight panes of glass to choose from, Jack would never know, since they’d then smashed the glass anyway.Still, puzzling over Pavel Mitrovic’s stupidity was easier than worrying about Daniel and Nico or to feel hurt by their choice to stay with Aidan.
The passage of time didn’t erase the taste of fear.Jack knew that one for a fact.Jack had run when Rio found him in his basement.Rio would never have turned him out, but Jack had been too afraid to take that chance, and he still remembered the cold clutch on his gut and the metallic taste of it on his tongue.
Daniel and Nico were afraid right now.They’d realised their haven wasn’t as safe as they’d believed, and a realisation that big took time to sink in.Aidan—big, burly, and a barrister—gave the two boys that feeling of safety, and that was all Jack would let matter.
Gareth wouldn’t see it that way.Not right away.He’d feel as if he’d failed the boys… and Jack wanted to nip that guilt trip in the bud.If he pleaded jetlag—which required no effort on his part—and asked for a specific dinner, Gareth would feel needed.And once he’d calmed down, they could talk.
Jack dug for ingredients, humming along to Marley’s “Exodus”, and it took him a moment or three to realise his phone was ringing.
“Rio,” he greeted once he’d extricated himself and answered the call.“How’s it going?”
“Ah’m fine,” Rio drawled, “but you may wanna come and rescue your other half.”
“Is he hurt?”
“No’ to speak of.A bruised knuckle or two.”
Jack knew what that meant, even if it made no sense.“Where is he?”
“My house.”
“Right.”Jack pushed aside all thoughts of dinner.“I’ll be over directly.”He ended the call and left the kitchen to find his leathers.The taste of tonic and lemon was still on his lips, but his evening plans were fading while he wondered where and how Gareth had ended up in a fight.
In Your Corner
