Chapter 25 #2
He shakes his head. ‘I know my ASL isn’t the best, but I’ve been using it a long time. Nico taught me, and he’s a great teacher.’
I try not to grimace. Normally, I don’t advocate for random CODAs to teach ASL, especially when they’re not trained as educators, but all the brothers and their dad have a good grasp of it.
And the fact that it’s proper ASL and not signed English speaks to Nico’s fluency and to the family’s dedication to using it at home and not just as some kind of fun, quirky hobby.
Of course, my momentary pulse of irritation is mostly my brain trying to distract me from Jasper’s question, but I need to pull up my big-boy panties and help him because he needs information if he’s going to help me, and apart from Thorne, I’m the only one who knows anything.
‘What would you like to know?’
Jasper strokes his fingers over his chin for a moment, his brows furrowed in thought, and then he drops his hands.
‘I looked over the information your former FBI friend gave me, along with the papers that Archie got from your apartment. Is there anything else in there I should know? Any details that were left out?’
I drag my lower lip between my teeth and bite down, shaking my head. ‘I wish there was, but the whole thing was kind of a blur when it all happened. Whatever the cops found was more than I ever knew about him.’ Byron, but I won’t even think his name most of the time, let alone sign it.
Jasper nods, looking a little disappointed. ‘There’s not a lot to go on. They didn’t do a very good job taking care of it the first time.’
At that, I laugh. He’s not wrong. It felt like the investigation and even the conviction had been half-assed.
Like they didn’t really care if some Deaf drag queen was going to get justice.
In fact, the only satisfaction I had was through my friendship with Thorne, who was the only person who made me feel safe back then.
‘You’re not wrong,’ I tell him. ‘I think Thorne felt sorry for me when he was investigating. And I think he was put on the case because he’d been diagnosed with hearing loss, and they were trying to shuffle him off to unimportant cases.’
Jasper must read some of this on my face because his expression softens. ‘I didn’t know that about him. You must have bonded right away.’
I don’t know if this is a trick question or not, but I nod anyway because we did.
‘He stayed in town for a while after the case wrapped up and took my ASL class. We became friends.’ Jasper’s eyes flash at that, so I lean toward him.
‘Trust. Thorne is a good guy, and his loyalty is not to law enforcement.’
Jasper studies me for another long beat, and then his lips turn up at the corners. ‘I know. I spoke to a couple of my contacts with the FBI. He’s not well-liked.’
I suppose for someone like Jasper, that’s a good thing.
He reaches across the table and squeezes my wrist, then pulls back and holds my gaze. ‘I don’t want you to worry, okay? We will take care of this. Permanently.’
I know exactly what that means.
‘Why?’ I ask before I can stop myself. As grateful as I am, I also don’t understand why they’d take a risk like this over someone like me. ‘You don’t even know me. Archie and I have only been…whatever we are for a short time. I don’t know why this matters to you.’
He blinks slowly at me before he answers.
When he does, his hands move slowly and with purpose.
‘It matters to me because it matters to Archie.’ He hesitates for a second and looks almost sad.
‘I don’t think I’ve done a good job being a father to Archie.
I haven’t given him enough credit over the years.
But I do know him. And I know that anyone he deems worthy of his time is a person worthy of mine.
Nico was the first, and you are the second. But you are different.’
I feel heat crawling up my neck. What does that mean? ‘He and Nico were in love?’ I’ve been too afraid to ask that question until now.
Jasper laughs and shakes his head. ‘No. Nico is not Archie’s type. But he understands Archie better than I do sometimes. And he’s a good person. Archie knows this. He knows that people who get him are rare.’
I hate that it’s true, but it is. I feel the urge to tell Jasper that I love his son. That Archie has been the best thing that has ever happened to me. But I should probably tell Archie that first.
‘You care about him,’ Jasper points out. ‘You know that he’ll never hurt you, yes?’
Not on purpose, he won’t, and never in a way I don’t ask for. ‘Yes. And I will never hurt him.’
Jasper holds my gaze as he nods. ‘I know. Thank you.’ He reaches over and lays a firm palm against the side of my neck and squeezes gently. ‘I will protect you like I protect my sons. I know this is scary, but we will keep you safe.’
‘And I will keep you safe,’ I echo back at him. What I mean is keep their secret, but I think Jasper gets it because something flashes in his eyes, and then he squeezes my shoulder a little too hard before letting go.
‘Good. Now I have some calls to make. Archie is out in his garden if you want to see him.’
I do. Of course I do. I have classes soon, and I know he’s going to come with me, but I’d like a moment with him before the chaos of the day.
I wait for Jasper to leave the room, and then I finish my coffee and snag two apples from the basket on the counter before making my way out the back door and toward the little coffin garden.
Archie is standing over his little greenhouse, spritzing his seedlings with a mister, and his lips are moving in a soft murmur.
I know the timbre of his voice and the way it vibrates against my palm when I touch his throat or lips.
I know he can be dangerous, but he can also be tender, and that’s one of the reasons I know I’m falling head over heels for him.
I must make a noise because his gaze darts up, and he drops the mister the second he sees me. His steps are longer and more sure than mine, and it’s not long before he’s sweeping me into his arms and pressing me against the wall of the shed to kiss the breath from my lungs.
‘Hello,’ he mouths when he pulls back. ‘You’re awake,’ he adds in sign.
‘Classes,’ I remind him. He pulls a face, but only because he knows he’ll have to go sit with Fayid during my office hours, and he’ll have to behave himself during my lectures.
Luckily, it’s the last day of revisions before finals week, so this won’t last long. ‘Only a little while more.’
He nods, then kisses me before signing, ‘And then we put him in the ground.’
He doesn’t have to tell me who, and the fact that he wants to murder someone for me shouldn’t be this romantic.
But fuck. It really, really is.