Page 96 of Dual Surrender

“Good.” With that, Foster finally relaxed and Sage settled.

“So.” Ronan took the chair beside me. “To what do we owe this pleasure?”

“This interruption,” I corrected.

“I wanted to apologize,” Foster said. “To you both.”

“And we wanted to explain what happened,” Sage added.

“Alright.” Ronan folded his arms over his chest. “Go for it.”

“Carmen is a woman scorned,” Foster said. “My boss…my friend Sharp. He’s her ex.”

“Savino-Sharp,” I muttered.

“Right. They’ve been split up for years, but apparently she’s been planning how to get back at him for quite some time.”

“Is she a child?” Ronan snapped.

“She acts it,” Foster agreed. “She wanted to weaken him before going for him, but her surveillance was a bit flawed. She knew I was close to him, but she thought there was more between Sage and I than there was.”

“There’s always been more here,” Sage grumbled and Foster rolled his eyes.

“She thought going after him would compromise me, which would leave Sharp open,” Foster explained.

“That’s when you involved me,” Ronan supplied and Foster nodded.

“She made some more assumptions about how integral you were, and I mean…” Foster trailed off, scratching the back of his neck.

“Calling me at two in the morning to come stitch up a stab wound does look a little pre-meditated.”

“You’re like a mob doctor,” I said with a laugh.

“I’m not in the mob,” Foster corrected.

“Is he?” Ronan pointed at Sage, who said nothing.

“She tried to get me to off you and Sage, which clearly didn’t work. But she tried to get Sharp to take me out, which also didn’t go according to plan.”

“Go on.”

“Your contractor, the one who is missing? He’s dead.”

“I assumed.” I swallowed back the sickness that statement made me feel. The casual way that Foster shared the news about a man who may not have been a friend, but someone I knew just the same.

“He tried to kill me. Sharp…handled it.”

“Handled it,” I muttered, running my fingers through my hair and casting a quick look at Ronan, who watched Foster intently.

“There were some rats in my house,” Sage interjected, drawing Ronan’s attention to the other end of the couch. “She’d found them. I took care of them.”

“That sounds a lot more succinct than the bullshit Foster is telling us.”

“I’m telling you what led up to yesterday,” Foster snapped. “I thought when Sage cleaned up that we’d gotten it under control. We’d shown her that she couldn’t get to any of us through each other. Sharp said he’d taken care of it.”

“You told me now that Sharphastaken care of it,” Ronan said.

“He shot her,” Foster interrupted. “I watched him. I heard it. He called an ambulance for me and took her away.”