He lowers his phone from his ear and slides it into his pocket. When his gaze lifts to me, I feel the color in my cheeks drain. I hate the look he’s giving me, but it doesn’t stop me from saying, “I need to talk to you—”
“Can it wait?” His clipped tone has me recoiling. “They’ve taken Isabelle.” The knocks keep coming when he adds on, “I need you to call Alex and request his assistance. Brandon said you’d be the best person to ask for his help. I don’t know what your history is with him, and at the moment, I don’t fucking care. My only concern is making sure Isabelle is safe and getting her home, so I need you to do this for me, Regan.”
The urgency in his tone dries my lips. After a quick lick to replenish them with moisture, I whimper, “Okay.”
He watches me remove my phone from my pocket while he dials a known number into his cell. I feel like I’ve been cast in a horribly scripted crime show when he tells his caller Hugo has been shot. “The EMTs have been instructed to take him to your hospital. His ETA should be around. . .” He checks the time on his watch. “. . .Ten minutes, maybe fifteen.”
While begging for Alex to pick up, I overhear Isaac’s conversation. “I told you everything I know.” His chest rises and falls in rhythm with Alex’s ringing cell before he pleads, “Jae, Hugo is like family to me.”
His desolate tone nearly has me coming undone. Hugo can be more frustrating than helpful, but he’s an integral part of my dysfunctional family. If he’s been hurt or worse. . . I can’t say it. He has to be okay. He’s strong and highly annoying, so he’ll bounce back. Only the good die young. Right? Luca’s short life is proof of that.
I pull my phone away from my ear at the same time as Isaac. His contact was more successful than mine. This is the first time the past two weeks that Alex hasn’t answered my call in a timely manner. This fills me with dread more than frustration.
“Not now, Regan,” Isaac begs upon spotting the shine in my eyes. “We need to keep it together until we bring Isabelle home. Jae will look after Hugo.”
I suck in a big breath before nodding. Jae is a gifted surgeon. She’s the reason Raquel requested to do her first year internship at Ravenshoe, so I can be assured everything he is saying is true.
Isaac shoves his hands into his pocket to hide their quiver before asking, “Did you get ahold of Alex?”
I shake my head. “He isn’t answering his phone.” Even knowing I’m digging myself into a hole I’ll never get out of, I say, “But I know where to find him.”
* * *
The suspicion in Isaac’s eyes grows for every step we take between his nightclub and the office building next door. I want to explain myself, but with both fear and worry clutching my throat, I can’t produce any words.
When we enter the office I confronted Alex in weeks ago, the hum of activity dulls to barely a whisper. The number of agents milling about the space on a weekend is shocking, but it has nothing on the stunned expression their faces hold from seeing Isaac in person. They’re so accustomed to viewing him from afar, they stare at him like he’s a ghost.
After shimmying my shoulders, I guide Isaac toward Alex’s office. The closer we approach, the harder the butterflies in my stomach flutter. This scenario never came up when I pictured ways of confessing my involvement in his case to Isaac. I thought it would occur in Isaac’s office, not in the space a man was awarded after he stole confidential documents from my computer.
That changes some of my anguish to anger. Good. I work better when my veins are thickened with fury. That’s why I took up boxing during law school, because I wanted to smash boys more than textbooks. Isaac assured me punching a bag would give me the same relief. He was right—for the most part.
While approaching Alex’s glass office, I scan my surroundings. Alex is standing behind his desk, peering out of a large window that faces the nightclub I cofounded with Isaac. Before my eyes finish absorbing the defined lines of his back, he spins around to face me.
I forget the urgency of my visit when a broad grin spreads across his face. He rakes his eyes down my body, taking it in as he does every time I’m in his presence. His avid stare quickens my pulse; I’m just not sure if it’s a good boost or a bad flutter.
I go with the latter when his smile becomes a snarl. He’s spotted Isaac and Hunter behind me, and he’s not happy. His manly scent intensifies when his hands ball. He’s preparing for battle, ready to take down any alpha game enough to enter his realm without an invitation. It’s a pity he has his sight set on the wrong target. He should be watching me as closely as he is Isaac.
I don’t wait to be invited in. Bad move. Alex’s virile scent is even more potent in the confines of his office. It also proves I read his signals wrong. His back isn’t up because he’s preparing to defend his kingdom. There’s only one possession he’s striving to keep after our unexpected raid: me.
I swish my tongue around my mouth to soothe the dryness inside before introducing three extremely influential men in my life. “Alex Rogers, this is Isaac Holt and Hunter Kane.” I wave my hand between Isaac and Hunter.
My earlier comment is proven truthful when Alex snarls, “I thought you said you didn’t know Isaac Holt.”
“I said I didn’t know him sexually.” I glare at him, warning him now isnotthe time to have this conversation. “You, like always, chose only to hear the words you want to hear.”
He attempts a rebuttal, but Isaac cuts him off. “You can finish your lovers’ quarrel later. We have more important issues to address.” His brimming-with-panic eyes shift to Alex. “Isabelle was kidnapped this afternoon.”
Alex balks as strongly as I do. Usually, I appreciate Isaac’s directness, but today, having it spelled out like that didn’t make it any easier to stomach.
“We have an image of the assailant, but we’ve been unable to identify him using the police facial recognition software.”
The urgency in Isaac’s tone makes him miss the quick work of Alex’s jaw. He’s not happy about his underhanded confession that he’s using police sources illegally, but he’s beginning to understand why I brought Isaac here.
“Brandon advised me to contact you. He said you would have access to better facial recognition software,” Isaac continues.
Alex mumbles under his breath while running his hand over his hair. Although I can’t see his eyes, I know he’s looking at me. I can feel the heat of his gaze boring into my face as he contemplates what to do. I hope for both Isabelle and Isaac’s sakes he is the man I once thought he was, because if he refuses to help us, and Isabelle has been taken by the man Isaac believes is holding her captive, we have a matter of hours before she’s found floating in the ocean.
I exhale the breath I’m holding in when Alex says, “For Isabelle, I’ll call it a truce, but once she is safe, all bets are off.”
