Page 80 of Hearts and Hidden Secrets
JONAH
“Samsonite?” Tanner sat behind a desk, leaning back. “Crowler? Carlster? They told me about Bubs and Babs. What kind of friends do you have?”
“We’re big on nicknames.” I shrugged, scanning the room for where he might keep some painkillers. Or alcohol. Either would help.
He rolled his chair back, pulled open a drawer, and set something on the desk. “There.”
He had put two Advil on the desk for me.
I snagged a bottle of whiskey, popped the pills in my mouth, and took a drink. I swallowed them with a nice burn afterwards.
Tanner frowned as I retreated to a couch in the corner, easing myself down. This office had the same setup as the connected other room I’d come to in. One wall was tinted glass, and I was able to look down, watch the people on the dance floor below.
“How’s your head?”
Pounding . “It’s fine.”
He snorted. “You’re such a liar. Why don’t you tell me the truth? Remember what that’s like? Been so long since you told us the truth. Maybe you don’t remember anymore.”
I elaborated on the nicknames, ignoring the other bite from him.
“Crowler’s name is Gabe. Samsonsite’s real name is Hailey.
Carlster is actually Ayush. Bubs is Mitch.
Babs is Catherine. We don’t like real names because when we’re all together, we like to get away from the pressure of being doctors.
Nicknames help with that, for some reason. ”
“That guy called you JoBro.”
I laughed. “That’s not a special nickname or anything. I told him today to call me that instead of yelling out Bennett every other minute. Until this weekend, I’d been avoiding them as well. And like you all, they’re fed up with it.”
Tanner wore a slight smile now. “Good. Because if anyone nicknames you, it should be me.”
I grunted, taking another sip of whiskey. “Noted for future reference.”
He laughed. “Good.”
I turned to watch the dancers. Tanner kept watching me.
After a bit, he said, “You going to lose your shit again? Or is that drama done for the night?”
A sour taste filled my throat—the memory of her. I couldn’t get her out of my head. I took another swallow of whiskey, but the burn didn’t help. “I don’t know.”
I was a mess.
It’d been nine months since Melissa died. When was grief finished? Was it ever? I hated this, all of it.
“I just miss her.”
“I know.”
I hung my head, holding on to that whiskey. It was a lifeline right now. “She died because of me. I can never make that right. Ever.”
“You can kill him…”
“You haven’t found him!” I snapped, looking up.
Tanner eyed me evenly. “We haven’t found him , but we know his name.
He’s a contract killer, and he only comes out to do work once every two years.
He disappears right after a hit. Whoever paid him, paid him a lot to hit your girl.
The guy won’t accept another job for a year, at least, and wherever he hides, he does it extremely well.
Kai is handling negotiations to get a location for him in a week.
I didn’t come to check on you. I came to ask if you want to be there when we get him. ”
His words hung between us for a moment. I needed to process what he was telling me.
“Why the fuck didn’t you lead with that ?”
Tanner chuckled. “What? And miss not being bored and getting to chase my little brother to Kansas City, eight hours from where he was supposed to be, and finding him in one of our businesses?”
I had to smile at that. “Since when do we own nightclubs?”
“For a while, actually. When Kai sent me down here, he wanted to be half legit. This is a legitimate one.”
“You’re partners with that hockey guy?”
Tanner laughed. “Kai’s the one who vetted him first.”
“Right,” I mocked. Man . It felt good to be with family again, felt right. “When I’m with you guys, there’s no holding back. I…” This was hard to explain.
Tanner got quiet, but I couldn’t look at him—not when I explained this.
A part of me was ashamed.
I looked out at the dancing crowd, not really seeing them. “I feel secure with family, but when you guys aren’t around, I have to handle life. Everything in my head gets pushed back. You know?” I looked to see if he understood me. “I can push her back.”
He shuddered before he nodded. “Jo, we get it, but we love you. We’re always going to worry about you and want to check on you. That’s our job. You’d do the same for us, and you know it.”
He was right. If the situation was reversed, I’d be so far up his ass it’d almost be incestuous.
I went back to watching the dancers. “I love you, brother.”
“Love you, too.”
Then I saw her, smack in the middle of the dancers, the light flashing over her every third second.
Not Melissa—never her again—but the other one from that night.
Carson . Her name was Carson, and she was here.
I cursed, shoving up and heading for the door.
“What’s going on?” Tanner called after me.
“The lab chick is down there.”
In an instant he was up and following me, and I knew he’d call in the guards, because he was like me.
In our world, there were no coincidences.