Page 72 of Hushed

“Took you long enough to get back here.”

His fists clenched, and he stalked toward her. “What the fuck are you doing here, Evie? Do we need to add stalking to your list of crimes?”

She scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not trying to cause you grief.”

Gage raised an eyebrow as he mentally reminded himself that he wasn’t allowed to kill her. “No? What the fuck are you doing?”

“I need your help.”

Was she serious? He didn’t have any reason to trust her, but the tone in her voice told him to at least hear her out.

“Get your ass in the car,” he ordered as he jerked the driver’s side open.

As he started the car, she climbed in and put a hand on his arm. “Thank you.”

“You have five minutes to talk. After that, I’m dropping you at the next subway station and you can find your own way home.”

She didn’t argue, just pulled her seatbelt across her and took a deep breath.

“Jake runs a trafficking ring out of The Cage.”

He shut the car off again. “Don’t say another word.”

She looked at him with wide eyes as he pulled his phone out.

“Please don’t call the cops. I’m not ready to involve them yet.”

He ignored her as he punched a name on his contact list. “Can you meet me somewhere?”

“I just fuckin’ left you,” Jax grumbled.

“Well, I had a surprise visitor when I got back to my car. The very subject of our meeting. But now it sounds like she might be intersecting with something I’m doing for the boss.” There was no way he was mentioning the White House in front of Evie. “I’m going to see if Austin has a conference room we can use. I don’t want to take her back to Kenzie’s place.”

Jax snorted. “Smart man. Yeah, I can be there in half an hour.”

Next, he called Austin, and she agreed to clear out the conference room for him.

“What are you doing with me?” Evie asked as he eased out of the parking garage and headed in the direction of Austin’s office.

“I’m not calling the police. That’s all you should be concerned about.”

Evie huffed and folded her arms. It never did take her long to go back to spoiled brat.

A half hour later, they parked in another parking garage and walked to Austin’s offices. She’d expanded her firm in recent years and was doing well for herself.

They met Jax in the elevator up to her floor. Austin was waiting for them, and she hugged Gage tight. “Seems I’m seeing a lot of you these days. I like it.”

Gage kissed her cheek. “I don’t mind it so much myself. Thanks for letting us invade your space.”

Austin waved a hand. “I have more room than I’ll ever need. Always happy to help a friend. Do you want me to have coffee or water sent in?”

He looked at Jax and Evie who both shook their heads.

“Right this way. Let me know if you change your mind. We can have dinner brought in if you’re going to be here that long.”

Gage shook his head. “God, I hope not. I just needed a neutral place to chat for a few minutes.”

Austin hugged Jax outside the office door but didn’t say anything to Evie. At first Gage thought it was odd, but then he realized she’d seen the pictures and would have recognized her. The snub was on purpose.

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