Page 136 of The Lost and the Found

Logan

I came homearound late afternoon.

It was an exhausting day. And most of it had to do with the restless energy Gage put out. I knew he was impatient to get back at Benjamin Hastings, but this was on a whole other level.

What was worse was we were committing a crime to get it done.

Technically Benjamin Hastings and Hastings Enterprise Holdings were our firm’s clients. I didn’t know why Gage had been so insistent on taking them on at first, considering their reputation was sketchy at best, even in the corporate world filled with sharks, until I realized he was using privileged information to take down the entire corporation… to take down Benjamin.

The sort of information we came across was nothing but pure luck and was enough to send Benjamin to federal prison for the next twenty years or so.

And yet, he was hesitating. I still didn’t know why, but he was, and he was making me feel fucking restless.

I hated what we had to do to get it, but we were acting smart to make sure the repercussion of disclosing such information wouldn’t fall on our heads.

Even still, it wasn’t fun, and I didn’t know what Gage planned on doing next. He was obviously caught up in something that was making him hesitate. A guilty conscience, perhaps?

I almost laughed at the thought.

Gage didn’t know the meaning of the word conscience.

I noted Hayden’s car was parked in her spot in the parking garage and smiled a little at the thought that she was here, waiting for me. She probably had to get to work soon, but that meant I had at least an hour with my girl before she had to leave.

And I planned on spending that hour wisely.

The elevator door opened to an empty living room.

I dropped my briefcase off by the couch and went in search of Hayden. I found her in my office, behind my desk. She had a textbook open, and it looked like she was in the middle of studying for her final exams, which were coming up in a couple of weeks. Only, she wasn’t looking down at the textbook but out the window, taking in the dreary gray sky, her eyes far away.

“Hayden?” I called out, but she didn’t react, so lost in her thoughts.

I walked over to her, making sure to make as much noise as possible as not to scare her. Even still, she jumped back when she caught my shadow looming over her.

“Jesus! You scared the shit out of me.”

“I called your name, but you didn’t respond. What’s got you thinking so hard?” I asked.

Her eyes shifted a bit, and she lost some of her expression, as if she was putting on a mask. “Nothing. I was thinking of nothing important.”

I tried to keep my expression and tone neutral when I said, “Are you sure? You seemed pretty lost in your head there.”

She nodded and smiled, and I finally saw my girl in that smile again. Whatever was bothering her, I could only hope she would tell me about it when she was ready. I knew better than to push for the answers, even if that was what I wanted to do.

She wrapped her arms around my waist and pulled me in close, her sitting position making it so her face was aligned with my abdomen. She buried her face there, peeking up at me with those bright blue eyes of hers.

“How was work?”

“Long,” I answered.

“You work too much,” she said. “You would think they’d let you off on a Saturday.”

“Who is this ‘they’ you’re referring to?” I asked with a cheeky smile.

She pinched my sides. “Okay, fine. You would think being the boss means you could at least take Saturdays off, right?”

I ran a single finger down the side of her face, from her temple down to her soft cheek, and the delicate curve of her jawline. “I’m sorry for not being home these past couple of days,” I said. It had been over a week since I brought her to Mathew’s restaurant, and I hadn’t been able to be home with her much. Hayden was getting better at driving, and even though there was still snow on the ground, she hadn’t complained about driving herself. But I knew Hayden wasn’t one to complain. And I hadn’t been putting in enough time to take care of her.

“I’ve neglected you, haven’t I, baby?”

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