Page 41 of Dead Drift

So that’s why Luke trusted Mack so much. He’d saved Mack’s life.

“You know,” Mack said, taking a seat on the tan microfiber sofa, “Luke loves you. He doesn’t say it outright, but I see the hope in his eyes when he looks at you.”

“Hope?”

“For a different life. One at your side.”

Kate exhaled.

“He checks in just to know you all and his family are safe, and I update him on anything I notice.”

“Such as?”

“I check in monthly or whenever I’m in the Fell’s Point area with Declan. I observe things, like that your investigation firm is doing well, or when Griffin married Finley. . . .”

“Dude, you’ve got to admit that’s kind of shifty.”

“How is it any different from the people you’re hired to observe?”

“That’s different.”

He lifted his chin. “How?”

“Because I’m doing my job.”

“So am I. I’m doing my job for a colleague who saved my life.”

When he put it that way . . .

“I know it feels like an invasion of privacy”—at her smirk, he had the decency to look a bit sheepish—“and it is. I apologize for that, but I can’t say no to Luke. He is fiercely protective of the people who are important to him—of you, in particular.”

“Yeah, I got that.”

“It’s because he loves you so much. I heard the fear in his voice when he said Lauren was with you, and I’ve never heard that kind of fear in his voice before.”

“So she’s pretty awful?”

“She makes Black Widow look like a saint.”

And she was coming after her. Lovely.

Luke banged on Malcolm’s locked office door, knowing he was inside. He’d spotted him through the window as he stood over the couch. Was he talking with someone?

He banged harder.

Malcolm opened the door, and Luke rushed in, closing the door behind him.

“Why’d you do it?” he asked, getting straight to the reason for his visit.

Malcolm frowned. “Do what?”

“Have Lauren introduce herself, or rather Margaret Anderson, to Kate.”

Malcolm’s eyes flickered. His “tell” said he had no idea. “What are you talking about?”

Luke exhaled, now wishing Malcolm had ordered her to make contact. It was the less dangerous option.

“I didn’t order her to meet Kate.”