“Again, I can’t tell you that.”
“God dammit, Hayes!” she cried, charging toward me. “Margo is one of my best friends! If she is in danger, I have the right to know.”
I put my hands on her shoulders. “Go home, Carrie.”
My intention was to leave her with that, but as I headed toward the stairs, she huffed something under her breath behind me. A second later, she ran past me, climbing the stairs. I stood at the base of them, looking up and shaking my head. “Fucking hell,” I muttered.
At the top, I found the front door ajar, the heat seeping out into the cold winter night, Carrie’s voice flowing out along with it.
“What the hell is going on, Margo?” she screeched.
“Cardinal—”
“Don’t you dare lie to me.” Carrie’s voice cracked. “You have a bruise on your face and Grayson had to come here in the middle of the night!”
I pushed open the door, finding Grayson by the window where I’d left him. His dark eyes shot to me and then back to his woman, who was standing in front of the coffee table, waving her arms and demanding answers. Margo was standing behind the couch, her hair wet from the shower, her face makeup free and utterly horrified.
“Carrie, that’s enough,” I said, shutting the door softly behind me.
She whirled on me, cheeks red from her tears, her bottom lip trembling. “No offense, Hayes, but you can fuck off,” she whispered.
I did my best to conceal the hurt that came with her words, biting down and grinding my teeth. I tore my eyes from the back of Carrie’s head and focused on Margo. “I can kick them out.”
Carrie turned so she could look at both of us, her jaw hanging open, brow etched with hurt.
Margo said nothing, her hands on her chest, frozen.
“Say the word, Temper. Say the word and I’ll fucking do it,” I told her. “I made you a promise, and just because Carrie is here—and I respect and love the hell out of her—doesn’t mean I won’t honor that promise.”
“We’re leaving.” This came from Grayson, who was glaring at Carrie, his own version of betrayal glimmering in his eyes.
“What? No, we’re not. My friend has a bruise the size of a baseball on her face and hasn’t been to work in days, and she’s been ignoring everyone’s calls and texts,” Carrie bore down, shaking her head at Grayson.
“I told you I’d be home in two hours. I told you this was for a case. When have you ever followed me?” Grayson clipped, coming toward her.
“Gray—”
“My job is dangerous,” he talked over her. “Red Snake deals with bad fucking people. You know this.”
Carrie nodded.
He leaned in, ticking his head to the side. “Then tell me, my beautiful sunshine, why in the fuck did you leave our bed and follow me?” The question started on a deadly whisper but ended on a growl that had Margo flinching.
It seemed to snap her out of her frozen stupor. “Don’t talk to her that way,” she ordered, her voice rising with each word.
Grayson looked over to her. “What Carrie just did was stupid, and after everything…” He looked back down at his woman, gripping her chin. “I never thought she would do something like this.”
“I track your phone,” Carrie deadpanned, jerking out of his hold.
His brows came together. “Excuse me?”
“When you were in the hospital, I asked Jake if I could have access to the tracker on your phone,” she explained. Margo came around the couch, folding her arms around herself. She was in an oversized band tee, and PJ pants with key lime pies on them.
“Sunshine—”
“I knew you were here. That’s why I came. I would never break our promise,” she continued. “You saved my life more than once, and I have no intention of deliberately trying to throw it away.”
A few moments of strained silence and then…