I fill him in on what happened earlier.
“No way. Jeez.”
“She doesn’t want me involved.”
“Too late for that, huh?”
“Way too late. I had to talk her into coming here.”
My phone rings, and I take the call from my friend Miguel. “Hey.”
“Hey, I thought you’d want to know we picked up Diego and the others. They had unregistered weapons on them that’ll allow us to hold them until they can be arraigned.”
“Can we request a protective order that covers them, too?”
“Already in the works, but you know… Sometimes they’re not worth the paper they’re written on.”
“It’s making me crazy that she and her son are in danger from these people when she hasn’t done anything but leave a man who was abusive toward her. He’s the one who violated the protective order and got himself arrested.”
“Logic doesn’t work in these situations,” Miguel says, promising to call me with an update in the morning.
I update my brother on what Miguel said. “I feel like I’m coming out of my skin. Is that normal?” Milo may be six years younger than me, but he’s what Nona calls an “old soul.” He’s wiser than his years, and I often turn to him for advice.
“It’s because you care about them.”
“I really do. I’m crazy about them.”
“Damn,” Milo says with a teasing glint in his eyes. “I need a minute to wrap my head around this development.”
“I’m not joking about this.”
“That doesn’t mean the rest of us can’t joke about it.”
“I’m trying to be serious here, M.”
“I know, and that’s what’s so amazing. You’re never serious about women. They’re serious about you—not the other way around.”
“Is it normal to feel like your head and everything else is going to explode?”
Milo laughs, that bastard. “I think it’s normal to feel like your whole world has been turned upside down.”
“Yeah, that’s it exactly.”
“It’s a good feeling, though, right?”
“It’s the best feeling ever, but I can’t stand that these guys are blaming her for what her ex did. They threatened her life and Mateo’s. It’s unbearable.”
“You’ve got them in the best possible place. Doug and the other security people won’t let anyone in here who doesn’t belong.”
“I probably ought to text him, so he knows what’s going on.”
“Not a bad idea.”
“She doesn’t want me involved. She told me to go home and let her deal with it.”
“Because she’s afraid for you. Not because she doesn’t care about you. She probably cares too much.”
“You think she does?”