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“It had to be hard to leave all those memories. You’re truly not happy living there any longer?”
I tilted my head, taking in his larger-than-life presence with the arctic background of the semifrozen lake and dense white clouds overhead. He walked beside me like a force, and the power emanating from him only heated my blood more. “No. I don’t want to live there anymore. I should have moved out a long time ago.”
A sensual grin curved his lips. “Stay here with me.”
I tripped over my own feet, and his arm tightened on mine, steadying me. I must have misheard him. “Are you asking me to move in with you?”
“I am.”
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. “Shock” was an understatement.
“Look. You’re here now. Just stay. You can look for a place on your own time, but it’s better than living somewhere you don’t feel welcome anymore.”
Oh… so a temporary situation.That, I could get on board with. It felt more like a friend helping a friend out, aside from the seductive grin that I refused to read into. A shiver racked my body, and Trey promptly turned us around, and we headed back to the townhome.
“Okay. I’ll stay here until I figure something else out.” Just saying it lifted a huge weight from my shoulders, and I laughed.
“Then it’s settled.” He tugged me so that I was in front of him.
He pulled me close, his mouth dipping toward mine as his phone rang. Reluctantly, he eased back, withdrew it from his pocket, then looked at the screen just as mine chimed. I vaguely heard Trey answer, but my gaze was riveted on my phone. The text was from Justin and simply said, “I’m sorry.”
I tore off my gloves, and my fingers flew over the keys. The longer I typed, the more the cold seeped in and made them stiff and harder for the keyboard to register. After I tapped send, I waited. There weren’t any dots indicating Justin was typing. Nothing. Impatient, I hit the button to call him, pressing the phone to my ear as I slid the gloves back on my frozen fingers.
It rang until his voicemail picked up. Shocked, I didn’t leave a message and hung up instead. Emotions ping-ponged through me—I was confused, upset, and angry. I didn’t understand why he was acting that way. It was like Darrengate all over again—Justin had been dumped by a very hot but pretentious Wall Street guy he’d been dating for six months. He’d fallen into a pit of despair, and it’d taken me practically breaking down his door then forcing him to talk to get him out of his funk.
Did telling Allen send Justin into a tailspin?Intense worry broke through the anger of being ignored. I needed to know he was okay and not curled up in a depressed ball on his bed while reruns ofThe OfficeorSupernaturalplayed on his TV. I could envision the floor strewn with empty pizza boxes and wine cooler bottles.
Trey’s growl snapped me out of my thoughts, and my gaze shot to his irate one. I’d forgotten he’d answered a call.Who is he talking to? Could it be Allen?The ransom was due that day—not that I was under any illusion that he would follow through, knowing I was with Trey.
My ears strained to make out what was being said. Fortunately, I could hear because both sides of the conversation. Allen screamed that I’d made a mess, and he wasn’t going to lift a finger to help get me out of. I wasn’t his problem.
“But I am your problem.” Trey disconnected the call then shoved his phone into his pocket. He urged me to move with a hand on the small of my back.
I quickened my pace as we went back to his place. Trey’s features were granite, and if I hadn’t known him, I would have been terrified. I didn’t question what was going on or why he was so angry. The fact that Allen didn’t care about my well-being was no shock, but it had set Trey off. We passed his security then went through the door on the first floor and straight to the elevator. It wasn’t until we reached the top and had piled our coats on the back of the couch that he turned to me.
“Allen isn’t going to get away with how he treats you.”
I closed the distance between us, my chilly hands clasping his. “And he won’t. We’re going to find out what he’s doing with that money then take it from him. I just need a laptop.”
Dark promise swam in his brown eyes. “Nico dropped a laptop off while we were gone. It’s in the office.”
A thrill raced through me at the prospect of digging deeper into whatever trail Allen had left. “Is Nico searching too?” It would have been fun to work with another hacker, who might have a few tricks I didn’t already know about.
“He’ll have more time at night. Give me your phone. I’ll put his number in there.”
I handed it over, and he added Nico to my contacts. “Thanks.” My body was buzzing with the need to get on the computer, but in the back of my mind, the issue with Justin kept hammering away like an angry woodpecker. “I need to check on Justin.” I tapped the messages app and showed Trey the single apologetic line.
Trey’s expression became guarded. “He responded, so you know he’s okay. There’s no way you can go to him. Allen probably has someone watching.”
“What does that matter?” I took a step back, frustration making my voice increase in volume. “Allen won’t do anything. He refuses to pay the ransom and has washed his hands of all of it. Why would he care if I was at Justin’s?”
“I don’t trust him, and I won’t take a chance on anything happening to you.”
I braced myself for the fight that was brewing. I was coming to know that fierce expression and what it meant, but I was equally as stubborn. “I’m going. He’s my best and oldest friend.”
“Please, Hailey. I’m asking you to hold off. Keep trying to get Justin to open up over text or call him. I’ll have one of my security guys drive by his place and get a visual, so you’ll know he’s okay. In the meantime, I’m going to pay Allen a little visit at the hospital.”
“When you say you’re paying him a visit, do you mean to kill him?”
