Page 138 of Hushed

“I like the sound of that even better.”

He grinned. “Me too. I was planning to ask how you felt about New Orleans once we wrapped all of this up.”

It made her so happy to realize they were on the same page without ever having discussed it.

Gage’s phone buzzed on the night stand, and Kenzie stiffened.

“This is Gage.”

There was a pause, and Kenzie strained to hear what was on the other end.

“We’re on our way.”

Gage rolled out of bed and Kenzie scrambled after him.

“Get dressed as quick as you can.”

“What’s wrong?” Her heart was in her throat, and it felt like she couldn’t get enough air.

“I’m not sure yet. Samuel just told us to meet him at the hospital. And I don’t have any more details than that, pet, so let’s not waste time.”

Fuck.

Tears brimmed in her eyes, as every worst possible scenario tumbled through her brain at once. Was she about to lose her brother all over again? She didn’t know how she would be able to process that grief.

“Set the thoughts aside, Kenz,” Gage said lovingly. “We don’t know anything, and you’re not doing Reggie or yourself any good obsessing over the possibilities. I’m scared too. But we’re going to get dressed and we’re going to get down there.”

He nudged her toward the closet where her suitcase had magically been unpacked. When she didn’t grab clothes for her self, Gage lept into action and picked out pants, a shirt, and underwear for her to put on.

When he knelt to have her step into panties, she snapped out of her haze.

“I can do the rest,” she whispered as he pulled them up over her hips.

He kissed her nose and handed her the clothes. “Good girl.”

When he saw that she was dressing herself, he grabbed his own clothes, and two minutes later they were half walking half jogging down the stairs. Patrick and Austin were still at work, so mercifully no one stopped them to ask questions. Gage led her to the garage where they jumped into an SUV.

She touched the screen on the dash, and punched in the name of the hospital for him and set the GPS to give directions, and they were on their way.

As they drove, Gage kept both hands on the wheel and stared straight ahead. She wanted to ask him to hold her hand or something, but he seemed distant, and she didn’t want to distract him from getting to the hospital as quickly as possible.

He was probably reliving the day her brother died even more than she was. He’d been in the hospital when word came that Reggie was dead.

Her heart constricted, and she leaned across the console and put a hand on his thigh.

“You’re obsessing just like you told me not to.”

He glanced at her with a tight smile. “Yeah.” The one word was thick with so much emotion it broke her heart. This man gave somuch to the people he loved. Who took care of him? She vowed to take care of him as well as he took care of her as long as he would let her.

Squeezing his thigh, she inhaled deeply. “We’re facing this together this time. Even if it’s the worst news, we have each other.”

He took one hand off the wheel and picked up her hand and kissed it. “Thank you.” He cleared his throat and shook his head. “God damn it. I hate being emotional.”

Kenzie squeezed his hand. “In this case it’s warranted. And your emotions are safe with me. I promise.”

Gage punched something on the dash and the sound of a phone ringing filled the car’s speakers.

“I still don’t know anything,” Samuel said in lieu of a greeting.

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