Page 168 of Bang

As I gazed at him from the passenger's seat, I couldn’t help but marvel at his easy demeanor. With mock suspicion, I said, "Who are you, and what have you done with Mason Blastoviak?"

"Me? I didn't do anything." With a smile, he said, "It was all you – with some help from your friend."

"You mean Livia?" This was the obvious guess. In the ladies room, Livia had also confessed that she'd invited me out for New Year's Eve as a special favor to Mason, who'd been determined to surprise me.

And boy, had he succeeded.

Livia, too.

I smiled with fondness for both of them. Even with their quirks, life was so much better with both of them in it, especially Mason.

In the driver's seat, Mason shook his head. "Not Livia," he said. "Arden."

Nowthatsurprised me. "Arden? How so?"

"Let's just say she got me thinking."

"About what?" I asked.

"Family," he said. "Meaning my own."

"Oh?"

"Listen, there's something I want to tell you. But it stays between us, alright?"

I nodded. "Sure."

"About Willow – and my brothers, too – the fact we've got no parents. Well…the thing is, some of it's my fault."

That didn't make any sense. "But how could it beyourfault?" I said. "You're the one who kept the family together."

"Sure, when I wasn't tearing it apart."

As I listened, he went on to tell me that just before his mom announced she was pregnant with Willow, Mason had caught her cheating on his dad.

I stared from the passenger's seat. "You don't mean in the act, do you?"

"No. But pretty damn close. I mean, shit, I caught the guy yanking up his pants coming out of my parent's bedroom."

I shuddered at the image. "Gosh, I'm so sorry. So, what happened? Did you confront her about it?"

"Herandhim," Mason said. "As far as the guy, I told him if Ievercaught him around the house again, I'd kick his ass.And worse.And you can guess how my mom lovedthat."

I bristled with outrage on Mason's behalf. "Yeah, but she was married – toyourdad. What did she expect?"

"I'll tell you what she expected – to not get caught." He gave me a long, meaningful glance."Orto get pregnant."

And just like that, the pieces slid into place. "Oh, my God. You don't mean Willow has a different dad? Does she know?"

Mason gave a bitter laugh. "Hell, you don't even know."

I hesitated. "Sorry, I'm not following."

"Lemme back up," he said. "My parents. They had this love-hate sort of thing. My mom – she had a real wild streak. And my dad – he had a temper, not all the time, but it would build up, you know?"

I knew the type, not from myownfamily, thank goodness. With real sympathy, I said, "That soundsreallyexplosive."

"Got that right," he said. "Anyway, they'd get together, split up, and do it again a few months later. But thelasttime they got together – maybe a year before Willow was born – they seemed to be making a real go of it."