Page 82 of Taking What Was His

“I’ll try.” She stared at their reflection in the window and was amazed at the difference in their sizes. The top of her head stopped at his collarbone.

“What do you want to tell Jayden?” he asked against her ear.

“The truth, except leave out the part where Evan killed his father for now.”

“We can do that.”

He nuzzled the side of her head. “We’ll get through this.”

She nodded.

Jayden walked in less than thirty minutes later and dropped his backpack on the ground. He looked at both adults, went straight to his mom, and wrapped his arms around her.

“What happened?” he asked.

Roman cleared his throat. “How about we sit down, bud? Your mom is still a little shaky.”

Beth sat on the sofa, turned toward her son, and took his hand. “You know, Roman, the other guys, and I had that suspicion about Evan after the policemen found the stuff in the wall.”

“Yeah, that’s why we’re staying with Roman. Right?”

She nodded. “I stopped at the house to find my bank card, and he was there. He wanted to know where the money and drugs were. He was very agitated, and I couldn’t reason with him.”

She looked at Roman.

Roman cleared his throat. “Thankfully, we still had the cameras on downstairs, and they indicated someone was down in your basement. I saw Beth and Evan and raced over to your house. With the help of some of my guys, we got her away from him, and he’s now in jail.”

Beth waited for her son to analyze the information they’d given him. She could tell he was shocked, but she also saw anger in his eyes when he studied her face.

“Is that bruise on your cheek from him?” Jayden asked his mom.

She hesitated for a second and then nodded.

Jayden looked at Roman. “Did you hurt him?”

“Yeah. I knocked him out with the butt of my gun, and one of the others shot him in the leg.”

“Good,” Jayden said.

Beth gasped.

Jayden looked at his mom. “No, Mom. He hurt you, and he’s been using us for a long time. He deserves everything he’s getting.”

She smoothed the hair off her son’s face and nodded. “I agree.”

Roman stood when the doorbell rang. “That’s the pizza.”

“I’m starved,” Jayden said. “I’m going to go shower quickly.”

“It’ll be waiting,” Roman said.

Jayden hugged his mom. “Everything is going to be okay.”

“Yes, I know. I just hate that you have to deal with this. You’re too young for this type of drama.”

Jayden chuckled. “Hey, I’m not. I’ve got an awesome story to tell my friends when you guys tell me it’s okay to talk about it. I’ll look so cool.”

Beth rolled her eyes and then kissed his forehead. “Go shower.”