Page 99 of Hold the Line

Hold the line.

He’d explain. Any second now, he’d make this right—offer an easy answer for why he’d left our bed to take another woman into his apartment.

This was such a strange feeling—alarmed, scared, thoroughly bewildered, while stubbornly hanging on to hope everything would be okay in a minute or two.

Deacon was quiet as a mouse entering the bedroom. Through slits in my eyelids, I watched him shuck off his T-shirt and kick off his sweatpants, leaving him in his briefs. He went to his side of the bed, carefully peeled back the blankets, and slid in.

For a long moment, he didn’t move.

I kept still, my breathing steady, my body frozen.

I could have said something. Could have told him I saw. But I kept my mouth shut.

This was his choice.

I wanted his honesty freely given, not because I forced it out of him.

Finally, he rolled toward me, his arm circling my middle, pulling me close. His skin was warm, his scent familiar. Relief rushed through me. He smelled the same as when we’d fallen asleep. Not fresh. Not like another woman. Just…Deacon.

He’d give me the truth.

Or he wouldn’t.

If he didn’t…well, that was answer enough.

Chapter Forty-one

Phoebe

Somehow,Ifellasleep.

And in the morning, I woke up and moved through my routine like everything was normal.

Deacon watched me the entire time.

I wasn’t much of a talker first thing in the morning—he knew that—but something in my silence must have set off alarms. His eyes never left me as I dressed, got ready, made coffee—not once.

When we sat down to eat a quick breakfast, he finally spoke. “Something happened last night.”

I lifted my gaze to his. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” He dragged his fingers through his hair, his expression tight, troubled.

My stomach dropped as I braced. “What happened?”

He averted his focus to his plate. “My phone woke me up. Don’t know how long it’d been blowing up, but I had all these texts from an unknown number, telling me it was urgent, they were outside my apartment, and we needed to talk. I figured it was a prank, but I didn’t want you waking up, so I went out to check.”

Oh god, I could barely breathe. My pulse pounded. “Was it a prank?”

“Nope.” He raised his eyes to meet mine. “That woman who was with Richie, Jennifer, she was out there waiting for me. Her friend knows Joy, and she passed along the information that I’m renting this place from her. She didn’t know which one was mine, but she got my number from Richie’s phone.” He shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. Fact is, she was freaking out, and I didn’t want her anywhere near you, so I took her up to my place to find out why she was here.”

I swallowed hard. “What did she say?”

“I don’t know this woman, but she was genuinely scared. Said she’d left Richie and wasn’t going back. He’s gotten mixed up with someone connected to a drug cartel and owes this guy money. A lot of money. She wanted me to know he’s getting desperate, and she was afraid of what he might do.”

I released a shuddering breath. “To you? Does she think he’ll come after you?”

“She didn’t know his plans, but if I had to guess, yeah. She’s worried about that, but more so that he’s gonna get himself killed. Don’t know why, but the woman really loves my brother, and I guess she was hoping there was some way I could help him.”

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