Page 97 of Hushed

“Reggie, no. It’s not what you…” But he’d already pocketed the pregnancy tests and didn’t hear her. There was no stopping him from stalking out the door, which he slammed behind him.

Fuck fuck fuck.

She had to warn Gage.

As she pulled on her shoes, she dialed his number, but it sent her straight to voicemail. Why wasn’t his phone on?

She looked at the clock. Her flight back to D.C. didn’t take off for another five hours, but if she hurried, she could get there by train before her flight was even scheduled to leave New York.

Without another thought, she grabbed her backpack and overnight bag and ran out the door.

Reggie was long gone by the time she got downstairs, and catching up to him would be impossible, but she suspected she knew exactly where he was going.

She tried Gage again while she took a cab to the train station, where the train she wanted was already boarding.

When she was in her seat, she pulled out her phone to call Gage again.

Shit.

The battery glared at her with only ten percent charge left. The charger must not have been plugged in last night.

She dug through her bag and couldn’t find the charger that usually lived there. Then she remembered she’d pulled it out for Maggie to borrow.

Fuck.

How could she be so stupid as to run out without her charger?

She sent Gage a text telling him she’d changed her plans, and was on a train, but didn’t tell him why. Hopefully, she’d managed to get on a train faster than Reggie could drive or get on a plane.

As the train pulled away from the platform, she powered the phone off and did her best not to stress about what Reggie might do if he found Gage. By the time she got to D.C., she was convinced she’d hallucinated the entire thing.

Because that’s how her luck had been going, the train she took turned out to be the one with a million stops, and there were delays at several of them, so the trip ended up taking longer than she’d anticipated. If Reggie beat her to D.C. maybe she could still beat him to the club. Did he even know about it?

She powered the phone back on long enough to text Gage again and smiled at the one he’d sent her.

GAGE:Can’t wait to finish your grand tour.

KENZIE:I accidentally got on a train with nine million stops. I’m going to be late. Please don’t be mad. Phone dying. Turning it off to save battery.

She powered the phone off and closed her eyes, praying Reggie didn’t do anything stupid.

Cabs weren’t supposed to drive up to Exposure according to the rules, but she had to get there, so when she got off the train,she took one anyway. Traffic was awful, and she worried she wouldn’t get there in time.

As she pulled into the parking lot, a figure stalked into the club that looked suspiciously like her ghost of a brother.

Fucking hell.

She ran in after paying the taxi driver, but the man working the reception desk wouldn’t let her through.

A commotion caught both their attention, and her eyes grew wide.

“Please?” She begged. “That’s my brother in there, and I’m afraid he’s going to kill Gage for something he didn’t do.”

The man raised an eyebrow and got on a radio.

“Is everything OK in there? I’ve got a woman out here claiming to be someone’s sister. The man who just stormed in. His name was on the permanent membership list, but he hasn’t been in more than five years. I’m confused.”

Kenzie raised an eyebrow. Reggie had been a member here? She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to make of that.

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