Page 85 of Hold Back
Kit’s expression darkened but he muttered something incomprehensible and stomped over to the kitchen cabinets.
Red looked at Mo. “Kit has a point. He needs to know what’s going on.”
“I’m not sure he’s gonna want this information,” Mo said grimly.
“We’ll handle it together,” Red assured him.
There was a pause in the stomping and plate clacking behind him. He didn’t need to look at Kit to know he was listening closely to what Red said. But his Daddy had just said they’d deal with it together. Red hoped that eased some of his tension even for the impending bad news.
Ten minutes later, they sat at the table, four cups on the table, Kit next to Red and the other two opposite them.
Red took a slow breath. The room suddenly felt too small. “Talk to us.”
Across the table, Mo's expression was grim. Not the look of a man delivering good news. The look of a man deciding how much damage the truth was about to do.
“Well,” Mo began, rubbing a hand over his jaw, “the good news is Angel Securities finally reported back. There is no cartel or club or gang after Kit.”
For a second, nobody spoke.
Kit frowned. “What?”
“The intelligence was bad,” Mo said quietly. “All the chatter Angel Securities intercepted has been verified. Your name was never on their radar.”
Kit blinked. “But...”
He looked Mo to Jace, then to Red.
Red saw confusion give way to cautious hope.
“I don't understand,” Kit said. “Aren't they the ones who said the cartel was after me?”
“They believed it at the time.”
A nervous laugh escaped Kit. “So that's it? We're done? I can go home.” He grimaced. “Or what’s left of it.”
Nobody answered quickly enough. Kit either didn't notice or chose not to.
“Does that mean I can go home?” he asked again. “Does Tony know?”
“He knows,” Mo said.
Kit grinned. For the first time in days, he looked happy, that look of fear and confusion erased from his expression.
Red wondered if this was it. Kit would move on with his life instead of being part of Red’s. Had Red done it again? Given his heart to someone who didn’t need it now? Red wanted to rub the sudden pain in his chest.
“That's amazing.” Kit pushed back from the table. “We can rebuild the clubhouse. Tony will be freaking out. God, he's probably been blaming himself this whole time?—”
“Kit.” Mo's voice cut through the excitement.
His boy’s smile faded.
Red felt his stomach drop because he knew that tone. Knew he wasn’t going to like what came next.
Kit slowly sat back down. “What?”
Mo didn’t answer immediately.
And suddenly Kit wasn't smiling anymore. “What's wrong?” he demanded.
