Page 110 of Hushed

Gage clenched his fists. “Let’s not make jokes about that day. It was one of the worst days of my life. Hers too.”

Reggie sobered. “I know. And I’m sorry I had to keep you in the dark about that.”

“Did anyone in our circle know?”

Reggie rubbed the back of his neck, and Gage had the answer. “Who?” He almost didn’t ask, for fear of the answer.

“Sam Carter. He was actually my handler until he got out of the business.”

“Bastard did a good job keeping it a secret. Has anyone told him you’ve risen from the dead?”

Reggie shook his head. “He wants to be out completely. Trying to respect that. Wouldn’t mind seeing him again, though.”

Gage respected Samuel Carter and was glad he was Reggie’s handler instead of one of the men he saw regularly. He would have been pissed if Ripley or Peter were in on the secret this whole time.

“What’s your next move?”

“Not sure yet. I fucked up, barging into Kenzie’s apartment that way. But it sounds like I need to talk to her friend.”

Gage absently tapped his cellphone screen. “As long as it’s safe, we’ll go back to New York tomorrow so you can do just that.”

Reggie’s shoulders sagged. “I fuckin hate New York. I’ve been there for two years, and I don’t understand how Kenzie does it.”

Gage didn’t exactly disagree with his friend, but that didn’t stop him from fantasizing about moving to the city to be with Kenzie. “Where will you go when you’re done?”

Reggie’s gaze got wistful. He had a place in mind, and if Gage had to guess based on the expression, there was a woman there.

“New Orleans, if I can get it approved.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Who’s there?”

“Maybe no one. Didn’t exactly leave things on the best terms when I had to leave two years ago.”

Gage nodded. It was easy to fuck up relationships in their line of work.

“I’m sure if she’s right for you, you’ll make it work.”

“Like you and Kenz?”

An alert caught Gage’s attention on his phone, but he tucked it back in his pocket and fixed Reggie with a glare. “Don’t be an ass about this, please. I didn’t intend to fall in love with her, but I did, and I have no intention of changing it.”

Reggie held up his hands. “I’m done giving you grief. It’s clear you make her happy. No way in hell I’m taking that from her after what I’ve put her through. But it’s still hard to get used to.”

Gage leaned forward. “You can take all the time you need to get used to it. But don’t ever make your sister feel bad about being with me or we’re going to have a problem.”

Reggie nodded and dragged a hand uncomfortably through his hair. “Yeah. I’ll make things better with her today.”

“Good. You want some coffee?”

“Please.”

Gage stood and rounded the desk, clapping Reggie on the shoulder before brushing past him into the hall. In the kitchen, he started the coffee and opened the fridge to pull out stuff for breakfast.

“I need to take care of something today. Can you keep an eye on Kenz while I’m out?” The alert on his phone had been a summons from the White House, but he wasn’t ready to broadcast that yet.

Reggie leaned against the counter and looked at him. “What’s going on?”

Gage shook his head. “Can’t talk about it. But I don’t want her worrying about me.”

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