Carrie’s face changed, realization hitting her. “Jake hacked into that jackass’s accounts?” She didn’t wait for an answer and started laughing. “God, I love him.”
I sputtered my disbelief. “W-wait, what? Jake did this?”
Grayson gave me a nod. “I gave him the green light while we were outside.”
“Didn’t take him long,” Hayes muttered. “Which means he’s been foaming at the mouth to do this.”
My eyes bounced back and forth between the two men. “What do you mean? Like after we left Portland.”
“Yeah, Red Snake has been moving, Margo,” Grayson said, his voice soft, sure, promising.
“B-but Gordon,” I stammered, feeling the chill of fear at my neck, its fangs scraping against the skin there. “This is only going to piss him off.”
“Well, now that we know you’re on his radar,” Hayes began, leaning back against the wall, “we end this sooner.”
My brow came together. “Him searching for me is a good thing?”
“He had no motive to come after you. Your brother has been buying drugs from him for years and he didn’t care,” Grayson tacked on. “You going to Marcus put you back on Gordon’s radar. Dominic theorizes that Gordon came into town yesterday not to harm you, but to use the money as a way to lure you back into a relationship with him.”
My Superman spoke then, soft and rough. “He had power over you and we took it away from him.” He moved then, coming to me, and with each step, my apartment by the sea faded around us. When he stopped in front of me, his hand cupped my face and he leaned down. “That bastard will never have power over you again. You have my word.”
More tears.
More trembles.
More heart pounding.
“Hayes,” I croaked.
His forehead was against mine then, his free arms snaking around my waist. “I’m right here. I’ll always be right here, Margo.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Margo
My eyes opened to find the sun streaming in from my sheer sage curtains, the ends of them shifting back and forthgently, my ceiling fan whirring above. A small moan left me as I lifted my arms over my head, stretching and rolling over. My eyes rolled back as my body arched, my muscles sighing.
Last night, after I’d gone into my student portal to pay my tuition bill, Carrie and Grayson had left. I’d promised her I would come to work today on the condition she would let me talk to Sarah. Michael, of course, would get involved, but Hayes told me not to worry about that. He and Grayson also said Ash was on the ground, hunting down Gordon’s drug houses with the help of the Portland and Seattle FBI field offices.
After we left yesterday, as Grayson said, the boys got to work. The FBI got a call from Grayson, spoke to Agent Garner, and from there, the field offices were looped in. Gordon had been a person of interest and was on several “wanted” lists between the two states. Jake had hacked into his account, reverted the stolen money back to my account, and scrambled the code, making it look like a glitch instead of a hack. Marcus and Gordon had no idea who or what Red Snake Investigations was. He was running blind, and the plan was to keep it that way. At least until it became necessary for him to know that I was under the protection of Red Snake. Hayes said we hadn’t reached that point yet. Even though Hayes spoke to Marcus on the phone yesterday, the Red Snake guys weren’t too worried about it—meaning they didn’t believe Marcus was smart enough to investigate it.
I opened my eyes, letting out a sigh, my body feeling relaxed—at peace—for the first time in weeks. Movement in the corner of my eye caught my attention, I turned my head and found Hayes leaning against the doorjamb. He was wearing a pair of jeans, unbuttoned, and nothing else. His arms were folded over his bare chest, his golden skin bright and warm in the morning light. The long strands of hair at the top of his head were wild and his eyes were on me, alert and burning.
“Good morning,” I murmured, my mouth watering.
He slept on the couch again last night.
I hadn’t wanted him to.
I’d wanted him in my bed, but when I tried to lead him there, he’d put his hands on my hips, kissed me softly, and told me to get some rest.
“You sleep well?” he asked as my eyes trailed over the scruff growing along his strong jaw.
He looked messy—wild. Everything that Hayes wasn’t.
I nodded, sitting up on my elbows. “How about you?”
No response, just a jumping jaw.