Jet (Marked Men, #2)(80)

I had about a thousand unsent text messages on my phone that I battled day in and day out not to send to him. I wanted to tell him that I missed him, that I loved him, and that no one would ever be to me what he was. Instead, I listened to sad country songs (new ones, not old ones) and told myself over and over again that it was all for the best.

By the time week three rolled around, I was faking being okay like a pro. Shaw wasn’t giving me the eye anymore, and Cora was talking about Jet like it didn’t cut me open every time she said his name. I had even agreed to have a couple strictly platonic coffee dates with Adam, just to reinforce to him that I wasn’t interested, and that while I thought he was a super guy, my heart just simply belonged to someone else. He took it with a grain of salt, but continued to call, and as long as I had everyone watching for cracks in my facade of indifference, I decided it didn’t hurt to keep him around.

I was getting used to the absent feeling I was carrying around, getting used to the idea that this is what my life was going to look like now, because there was no replacing someone like Jet. There was no getting around that he was what my future was supposed to be when my past decided it wasn’t done toying with me yet.

I was getting ready for work, standing in the bathroom subconsciously looking for all the junk Jet used to leave lying around, when that same odd number from Kentucky that had been calling for weeks popped back up on my phone. I was going to ignore it, but then I figured it was just Asa, and since I hadn’t heard from him in more than a month, I decided it would be best to answer and let him check in, or ask for money, which was more likely. I propped the phone between my ear and shoulder while I fussed with my hair, and answered.

“Hello?”

It wasn’t Asa. It wasn’t Silas. It wasn’t my mom. It wasn’t anyone who I would have ever expected to hear from again.

“Hello, Ayden.”

I blinked for a second and stared in shock at my own reflection in the bathroom mirror.

“Mr. Kelly?” There was no mistaking that kind voice with the familiar Southern drawl. It was the voice that had broken me free from Woodward. It was the voice that had convinced me I was better than all the things I was doing wrong.

“I’m sure this is a surprise, but I had to call to tell you about Asa.”

I could see my own bewilderment reflected back at me.

“Asa?” I was sure I sounded as confused as I felt, but I was having a hard time putting two and two together.

There was a sigh on the other end of the phone.

“You know I always believed in karma. I thought that by helping you, getting you out of that trailer park and out from under your brother’s thumb, my universe would be in alignment, and for a while it was.”

“Have you been calling me the last month or so?”

“I have. I knew they were going to send Silas after Asa, so I wanted to check in on you. I figured as long as you answered, you were okay.”

I leaned against the sink because my knees were suddenly weak.

“What’s going on with my brother, Mr. Kelly?”

There was another sigh, and this one I could almost feel the heaviness of. I owed this man my life, but I had a sudden, sneaking suspicion he was about to move to the category of “no good things come out of Woodward.”

“Asa didn’t give you the entire book when you paid him off. There were a couple of pages missing from it and the motorcycle club isn’t happy.”

That was just like Asa. Leaving good enough alone was never his style and greed was just too powerful a motive.

“Asa is long gone, Mr. Kelly. I gave him enough money to sit on a beach and sip margaritas for as long as he wants. I can’t get those pages back.”

“Oh, I know that, Ayden, and you don’t have to worry about the missing pages. The club already retrieved them, and that’s why I’m calling.”

My stomach rolled and I felt the blackness start to swirl.

“Is my brother dead?”

There was a lot of silence on the other end of the phone and I thought I was going to pass out.

“No, but you might want to come home, because I honestly don’t know how much time he has left. He’s in bad shape. He’s at the hospital in Louisville.”

I gagged a little and sank to the floor. The cold tile on the back of my legs brought a little clarity to my rapidly spinning mind.

“How are you involved in all of this?” One thing was clear to me now, this man had never helped me out of the pure goodness of his heart.

“I wish I wasn’t. I wish I could have just watched you drive away and never thought of you again, but that isn’t the case when you live in a small town like this.”

“Mr. Kelly, please just get to the point.”

“My name is in that book, has been for years.”

I coughed a laugh out that sounded more like a wounded animal dying.

“So you saved me, just to sacrifice me when it was convenient for you?”

“Your brother courts trouble, Ayden. Blame him, not me. When I decided to help you I had to get the money from somewhere and there was no way a teacher has those kinds of funds lying around. I gamble, I have for years, and sometimes my luck is better than others. I was on a hot streak when I helped you out and now . . .” There was a long drawn-out pause and I could almost feel him struggling with the words to use to minimize the damage this call was creating in the fabric of my reality. “Now all that luck is gone and it was get Asa and the book or end up in a morgue. I’m so sorry you had to be involved Ayden.”