I hadn’t fully had a chance to mentally prepare myself for how these men were going to react. Granted, to them, I was just Cardinal’s friend, but the words Jake had said to me in Rossy’s last week stuck with me.
You mean something to Carrie. She means a whole lot to Grayson, and she is basically family to us—which makes you, Sarah, and the Brit family.
“When?”
My attention was back on Grayson, who was staring at me again. His gaze was softer, but his voice still possessed a cold sharpness that struck my soul. “When did this happen, Margo?”
Clasping my hands at my front, I dug my nails into the skin at the tops of my hands. “The night before last,” I answered, my voice cracking.
Grayson’s eyes turned cold once more as they swung over to Hayes. “You shitting me?” he barked.
Hayes’ face held no expression, his mask firmly in place. “I took care of her.”
“My woman’s best friend is standing in my office with a bruise on her face, shaking in her fucking Docs, and you fucking knew?” he pressed, pushing off the desk.
Hayes refused to yield. “I took care of her.”
“Mitchell, look at her!” he roared, rounding his desk.
I stumbled back at his outburst, watching in stunned horror as Grayson charged for Hayes. “You should have fucking called me the moment—”
“He kicked down my door!” I shouted.
Grayson froze, looking at me now.
Shit.
Shit.
Damn.
Fuck.
Quickly, I moved to Hayes and tried to get in front of him, but Hayes being Hayes, wasn’t having none of that. He pulled me back and nestled me into his side. I clung to his warmth, needing it after Grayson’s cold assessment. “Hayes came to me yesterday and kicked down my door because he thought I was in trouble,” I rambled. “I wasn’t then. I was just trying to shut the world out because of everything that happened And Hayes…” I trailed off, looking up at his profile. He was still staring straight ahead, and I knew there was nothing that could break his gaze with Grayson. There was too much history between them. “For what it’s worth, he and Ash replaced my door.”
“Ash knew?” Grayson quipped.
Oh no.
“Well, he stopped by to drop my car off and saw that my door was kicked in,” I rushed out before adding, “Please don’t fire Hayes.”
“He can’t fire me, Margo. I own 50 percent of Red Snake,” Hayes deadpanned.
“Oh, right. Well, then please don’t beat Hayes up.”
“Gray isn’t stupid enough to try that shit, Temper.”
Grayson’s eyes bounced back and forth between Hayes and me. Then he pinched the bridge of his nose and tipped his head back to the ceiling. “Fucking hell. A man takes a few days off and everything goes to shit.”
Sucking my bottom lip between my teeth, I watched as the big man tried to gather himself.
“We need a debrief, Gray,” Hayes finally said.
My stomach lurched, knowing just how well that was going to go based on Grayson’s reaction.
Then he muttered something else under his breath that also scared the living shit out of me. “My woman is gonna fucking kill me.”
I shot forward then, panic shooting through my veins. “No!”