Page 64 of A Shared Mind

I turned to look at Justin, seeing him freeze. “Darlin’, just tell them what you found out from Mary Jane.” I squeezed his hand in support.

Justin cleared his throat and turned his gaze to meet mine. “I spoke to Ramon’s son, Nico, who said Ramon wasn’t around much when he and his sisters were growing up. I found out Marcy, one of Ramon’s girlfriends, knew about the other women, yet she still had multiple children with Ramon, as did some of the other girlfriends.

“Obviously, he had enough charm to maintain his relationships with those women, and all of his children knew each other. It seemed, according to Nico, that they all got along, but I didn’t have the time to try to find all of them and question them, nor did I have the desire.”

EZ chuckled next to me. “That just sounds like a manwhore, not someone redeemable.”

“Hey, I was a good guy. More importantly, Kid, did you find out who killed me?” Ramon stared at Justin, who swallowed hard.

“I have no proof, but it was told to me that Tino Gallo killed you and Johnny DeLuca. Sonny Russo killed Tino to avenge you.”

I turned to Ramon’s mirror and saw a look of anger on his face. “That son of a bitch. I’ll find him in Hell.”

Astral whistled loudly. “That’s inconsequential to our purpose here. I ask again. Did you find anything that would redeem the spirit of Ramon Blanco. The management team has better things to do.”

I squeezed Justin’s hand again. “Go ahead, darlin’.”

Justin sat up straighter and stared at Ramon’s image instead of me. “Look, if this is a nightmare, I want to know it right damn now. Ramon Blanco possessed me and took over my actions, making me do things that I wouldn’t ordinarily do. But in all of that, I found the man I love, and I don’t want to wake to find he was only a figment of my imagination.”

I leaned closer and kissed his temple. “I’m not a figment of your imagination. I’m here with you right now.”

“So, you found nothing redeeming about Ramon Blanco?” Astral asked.

“I didn’t say that. I think it’s unfair that I had to be inconvenienced and the fate of his spirit rests on my shoulders. Don’t you people have other means to find out these things yourself? It’s unfair to ask a human to make these kinds of judgment calls for the eternal spirit of another.” Justin was trembling with anger and I had to stifle my smile. He was quite the spitfire.

“Yeah, what the kid said,” Ramon piped up.

One of EZ’s hell hounds growled, so Ramon abruptly shut his mouth, which was pretty funny to witness. I was ready to get on with things myself.

“I found out from Tino’s ex-wife that Ramon was a good friend to many. He would do anything he could for the people in his orbit, and he was well respected for his compassion. The business Ramon conducted might have been dirty and required illegal activities to achieve success, but I believe MJ when she said that there wasn’t a more compassionate person than Ramon. He took care of a number of people in his neighborhood and I find that redeemable in anyone.”

The mirror with the shapes went dark, so all eyes turned to Astral, including EZ. “Got what you need, boss?”

“Yes, EZ. You may return to base. Thank you, human Justin. We appreciate your input. Blanco, do you have anything to say to the human who saved you from destruction? We’ll discuss next steps after this.” Astral’s mirror also went dark.

“Is that the farmer? You two do the deed yet?” Ramon asked.

My cheeks heated, and I was sure Justin’s did as well, but he whispered, “Yes. We have. Why did Madame Stella contact Kirk Dunston to reach out to me?”

Ramon actually laughed. “If the farmer didn’t come through, I was giving Dunston a second shot at ya. Thank you for everything, Kid. I know it was all unfair to you and you didn’t get much of a choice in the matter, but after the hounds chased me back, you continued to check into things, and I appreciate that. You’re an incredible man.”

“Nico works for Marco at the restaurant, but I don’t think he’s in the family like you worried. He’s a good guy, Ramon. Gina is lovely, too. I’m sorry I didn’t get to meet Ana or any of the others, but I think you can be very proud of your children,” Justin added before the third mirror went dark.

EZ let go of my hand and Justin released Madame Stella’s. We all stood from the table, and Justin stared at Madame Stella. “I hope we never meet again.”

The two women giggled before Madame Stella spoke. “I understand. You got the closure you came for. Have a wonderful life with your soulmate. Hunter gives his blessing.”

I stopped and turned around. “Hunter?”

The woman gave me a mysterious smile and turned to take the hand of the other woman, the two of them leaving through yet another door. I hoped I would wake up soon.

Jerking awake, I looked out my bedroom window to see the sun was just rising. A sharp pain shot through my head as I sat up and reached to turn on the light. When I glanced behind me, the bed was empty. “Justin! Fuck, that hurts.” I had no idea what the hell was going on.

I hopped up from bed and pulled on a pair of sleep pants I found on the floor. The house was cool since it was fall, and I liked to turn down the thermostat overnight, so the temperature tracked, but I had to figure out if all that shit floating through my brain had been a dream. How long had I been asleep?

Rushing down the hall, I saw the light on in the kitchen as pans rattled and the scent of bacon filtered through the air. When I rounded the corner, there stood the love of my life at the kitchen counter whisking a yellow mixture as he danced a little to a song in his head. Then I noticed the earbuds.

I walked over to my gorgeous man and kissed under his ear, gently removing the ear bud and whispering, “Why didn’t you wake me? What day is it. How did we get home?”