“Oh.”
“I’m going to order us some lunch.” My declaration was soft. “You gonna let me do that?”
Let me take care of you.
Let me look out for you.
Baby, fuck, just let me.
A slow nod. When it was accompanied by a small smile, I dropped my hand from her.
“When is Jake going to have information on Gordon?”
“Soon,” I answered, putting my hands in my pockets. I bit down, grinding my teeth as I walked to my desk, taking my seat.
“Really? Gordon…is…” She trailed off, uncertainty laced in her voice.
I was going to kill that motherfucker too.
“On a good day, Jake can hack into the Pentagon,” I told her, logging into my computer. “On a bad day, like today, Jake could probably find nuclear codes if he really wanted to.”
Those beautiful eyes nearly popped out of her head. If she hadn’t been in danger with a bruise on her face, I probably would’ve laughed. Seeing Margo in the conference room had rocked Jake. That was another load of guilt on my shoulders, given his past. But right now, I was just trying to make it to the next moment without losing my shit.
I pulled up the online ordering for an Italian joint down the street, adding two orders of Wedding soup to the cart, one of her favorites. “Make yourself at home. It’s going to be a bit before we can leave.”
Grayson was going to come through my door at any moment and demand privacy, which was something I had no intention of giving him unless Margo requested it. It was quiet for a few minutes as I completed the order and moved on to creating a file for Margo.
“Hayes?”
Not taking my eyes off the screen—off the contract Margo needed to sign—I said, “Yes?”
“Are you going to tell Grayson about us?”
The second my eyes met hers, there was a sharp knock at my office door. I stiffened. She looked to the door and then back to me, panic twisting her beauty.
“I promise it’s going to be okay,” I urged, rising from my chair.
My body burned as her eyes tracked my every step toward the door, each one heavier than the last. Gray and I had been through hell and back together. There was nothing we didn’t share. Secrets, in this business, got you killed. Neither of us was interested in dying. At least not now. Margo—what she gave me, how she made me feel—was the first secret between him and me. And I hadn’t realized how much it was eating at me until I saw the look on his face this morning.
Hand on the doorknob, I glanced at her over my shoulder. She was sitting back farther into the couch now, her legs tucked under her, with her hands folded in her lap, knuckles white as snow. A trembling plea left her lips then, searing through me. “Please don’t leave.”
“Never,” I vowed, opening the door and facing Grayson. “Gray.”
“You going to let me in so I can see to my friend? Or do you plan on blocking the door all afternoon?” he asked after I didn’t move.
I stepped to the side, and as he walked past, he muttered, “You and I also need to have a conversation.”
“Right.”
His dark eyes cut to Margo, the pain evident in the crease of his brow, the tight line of his lips. “Has Hayes gone over the legal paperwork with you yet?”
She did a double take to me. “Th-the what?”
I stepped up to stand beside Grayson. “It’s an NDA between you and Red Snake. We don’t share your information with anyone outside of law enforcement—and only if and when necessary—and you can’t do anything either. This protects both parties. No, I haven’t given it to her yet.”
She cleared her throat and tucked some hair behind her ear, dipping her chin so her butterfly was no longer visible. Hating that, I moved, taking a seat in the armchair across from her. Itwas a silent gesture to let her know I wasn’t going anywhere, and the slight sag of her shoulders gave me the reassurance that I’d done the right thing. “Okay,” she breathed, nodding. “Do you want me to sign that now?”
“We can after lunch,” I said softly, holding her eyes.