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Dominik doesn’t answer, just gestures for me to follow him. Reluctantly, I disentangle myself from my wife and follow him out into the hallway.
The lights are all dimmed, so I know it’s late. I can’t have slept for more than a couple hours, and I feel every single hour I’m lacking. I drag a hand down my face. “What is it?”
“I found Jasper. Actually, I didn’t have to.” Dom points towards the windows. “He’s scaling the walls as we speak. I was going to have security take him out, but I figured I’d let you know first.”
Before Dominik has even finished, I’m running through the house towards where I know I’ll find Jasper.
It’s not the first time he’s tried to break in. There used to be a gap in security camera coverage. Apparently, the idiot thinks nothing has changed.
When I cross the lawn and spot the ivy-covered wall to the west, I also see a dark silhouette using the creepers to shimmy down.
I tread softly so Jasper won’t hear us coming. When he drops down to the grass and turns around to see me waiting, he falls back against the wall hard enough that he bangs his head on the brick. The reek of alcohol and sweat is like a dense fog around him.
“Fuck,” he mutters.
“Nice of you to visit, Jas. But the front gate would have worked just as well.”
He clears his throat, avoiding my eyes. “I didn’t think they’d let me in.”
“You don’t seem to understand that this is already your second fucking chance, Jasper.” I advance on him, forcing him back against the bricks. “A second chance you never should’ve gotten in the first place.”
“I never meant for any of this to happen.” His gaze veers from me to Dominik and back again. “I got in over my head.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time. What was the stumbling block this time: cocaine or heroin?”
“Arsen—“
“Answer the fucking question.”
His eyes are dark and bloodshot. A mottled purple bruise covers half his face. “I want to get clean, man. I just… I need some help.”
I grit my teeth. “How much trouble are you in?”
He’s twitchy, his head sitting on his shoulders like a bobblehead. “If you pay them what I owe, I’ll be square. Then they’ll leave me alone, and I’ll be free. I’ll get clean and pay you back.”
“Who do you owe?”
“Just these… these guys,” he answers vaguely. “I built up a bit of a tab, but I swear, I’ll pay you back, Arsen. It’s just, these guys are adamant about being paid tonight. If you just give them what they want—” His eyes flick back over his shoulder, towards the wall. “—they’ll leave.”
In a second, I snatch him up by the front of his shirt and pin him to the wall. “You brought the dealers you owe to my house? Where my family is sleeping? Have you lost your fucking mind?!”
He cringes back as far as he can in my hold. “They’re tailing me. They won’t let me out of their sight. They’re threatening to break my?—”
“Whatever they threatened, you’ll get worse from me,” I snarl. “You put my family at risk.” Jasper’s eyes teeter from side to side, never focusing on anything for long. “Andyou’re high as a fucking kite.”
“Coming down fast, though,” he mutters. “I wouldn’t have come if I wasn’t desperate.”
I drop him to the ground, shaking my head in disgust. “You’re a coward.”
Jasper flushes, but he doesn’t argue. “I’ll turn things around, I will. Just… please back me up here.”
I turn my back on Jasper and face Dominik, who looks like he’d love nothing more than to chuck Jasper over the wall and let his enemies have their way with him. He might as well have a giantI-told-you-sosticker plastered on his forehead.
“Dominik, keep an eye on him.”
Dom nods as Jasper croaks, “Where are you going?”
“I’m going to go fix your mess.” I keep walking, not bothering to look back. “As per fucking usual.”
