Page 73 of The Saint

“Traitor,” Mateo mumbled as Jet shook my hand.

“Good to see you, brother.”

“You, too. You getting along okay?”

I shrugged, my gaze drifting over the crowd as I looked for Jael. I offered up the easiest explanation I could, even though it was mostly a lie. “I’m back at work at the docks, but not quite up to full strength. Still got some work to do.”

Zee had seen to it that work wasn’t an option, barring me from going back and making sure my boss knew I wasn’t cleared to even sit behind a desk. Because that was something I couldn’t do. I needed to be able to move around, which is exactly what got me into this trouble in the first place. And though my two-month break was coming to an end, I’d been avoiding seeing Zeno or answering his calls.

I wasn’t sure I wanted to go back. Not with this dream of mine so close to coming true. The ability to make art day to day, and even better, to make a living off of it.

It wasn’t for the family, and that might be the biggest problem.

Jet brought me out of my thoughts, drawing my attention back from the crowd as I searched for Jael. “Let me know if you need anything.”

The look on his face froze my breath in my chest.

He knew.

Of course, he knew.

Jet was the only one in the family who had ever really known Jael and I were together as more than friends. We’d hidden it, because it was a scary thing, being in love in the world we lived in. But Jet was Zio’s fixer, a man who took care of things that needed taking care of, often before my uncle knew it needed to be done. There was no hiding something like this from him.

After Jael had left years ago, it was Jet who understood my downward spiral into a darkness so profound I wasn’t sure I’d ever want to come out. It was Jet who confirmed she’d joined the IDF and wasn’t coming back.

And it was Jet who took care of me, making sure I didn’t follow through on the thoughts of harming myself.

One look at him now, and I could see all those old concerns flickering under the happiness that somehow seemed to consume him. He gave a small tilt of his head, and my gaze darted across the crowd, zeroing in on the sunburned beauty who had always owned my heart.

It was just the escape I needed, and I was sure Jet understood when I clapped him on the shoulder again. “Will do. Hey, I gotta run. Catch up later?”

“Of course.” His happiness caught me off guard for a moment, but it wasn’t enough to tame my desperate need to escape from his presence.

Because while I loved Jael with everything I was, what we had was still a secret. I guessed old habits were hard to break.

I pushed through the crowd, dodging behind people and keeping my gaze locked on Jael, not making eye contact with anyone I passed. Finally, I arrived near the pool, only to find her being lifted from the ground in a giant bearhug.

For a moment, jealousy washed over me like a wave. Surrounding her were the men she’d lived with, out at the farm in Kansas, for the past two years. I knew she’d turned to one of them for comfort, and my gaze darted over the circle of men around her, cataloging and sorting them, looking for the one I’d seen her with the night she got her stars.

The one she’d confirmed she’d slept with.

But he was there, standing across the circle, and that wave subsided, only to come back as I realized I didn’t know who was hugging her.

By the time I reached her, the man was setting her back on the ground. And though she was struggling to get out of his arms, it wasn’t the kind of battle it would be if she didn’t want to be there.

Then relief hit me as he turned his head, laughing as he looked at the man on his right. The profile was one I’d know anywhere, as it matched Jael’s so closely.

“Avi.” His name came out on a breath. I hadn’t meant to say it, but the tightness that wound around my chest let up so quickly when I saw it was him and not someone else, that I couldn’t keep it in.

He turned to me, smiled when he saw me, and immediately he was extending his hand to me. Pulling me in for a hug. Squeezing me like he always did, as if seeing me somehow made his day. “Rolando Giordano! I haven’t seen you in ages!”

“Hey, man.” I patted him on the back, waiting for him to let me go. I’d realized over the years, Aviram David wasn’t like the other men in his family. Or the men I’d grown up around. He was the spitting image of his mother, with all the gentleness of a rampaging bull in a China shop. And he was a hugger.

When Avi finally let me go, he turned to the men gathered around in the circle. “I was just telling these guys how nice it was of them to return my baby sister in one piece.”

Jael peered up at me, and whatever Avi was talking about floated away to nothing. I tugged the pine needles out of her hair, then held them up so she could see. That blush I loved so much colored her sunburned cheeks as she smiled and ducked her head.

“Have you guys met Rolly here?” Avi asked, dragging my attention back to him. The men around the circle shook their heads, then stepped forward one by one as Avi introduced them.