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I felt lighter as I headed upstairs for my classes. Once they were done for the day, I headed to my room and called Analise, filling her in on how my first week had gone.
She picked up on the first ring. “Mariah! How was your first week? Do you like your classes? Do you have any hot professors? Girl, tell me everything!”
“Hello to you, too.” I said, laughing as I settled into a comfortable spot on the couch. I could always count on Analise to make me laugh, and to want every detail of my life. “It's been great so far, challenging, but in a good way. I’m figuring out how it works and learning a lot.”
“I’m so happy for you, truly.” She’d always known about my dreams. “Not to mention how proud. Oh! Don’t let me forget about the hot professors, but I wanted to ask while I’m thinking of it. Mason mentioned he's going to be gone next week. I assume he's coming to Texas?”
I frowned. Evan hadn't mentioned anything about Mason coming to town. “I don't know, actually. Evan hasn't said anything.”
“Maybe it's a surprise?” Analise said, but something told me she didn't believe that, either.
“Maybe,” I said half-heartedly, making a mental note to ask Evan later. Mason wouldn’t leave his post watching over the clubs without talking to his business partner about it first. Maybe he’d just forgotten to mention it. “What exactly did Mason say?”
“It’s not so much what he said, but the evasive way he said it,” Ana said. “And then there are the scary guys.”
“Scary guys?” I said sharply. “What are you talking about?”
“Strange men I’ve never seen before, coming and going from the club. It’s weird. They give me the creeps. Has something else happened since the last time we talked?”
I hesitated a second too long.
“What aren’t you telling me, Mariah?”
“Nothing. I’m fine. I’ve been right here the entire time, safe and sound with the Careys.” I bit back a sigh. I didn’t think I was in danger, not anymore, and worrying Analise by telling her about Jax and Porter would accomplish nothing. In fact, the less she knew about this, the better.
Ana still sounded worried. “If you’re sure. I just don’t want to think about anything happening to you again.”
“It won’t,” I assured her. “There’s no way Tomas would be crazy enough to try to kidnap me twice.”
“Well, either way, you need to be careful.”
I smiled, touched by her concern. “I promise, Analise.”
“Okay, so enough about that,” she said abruptly. “Let’s get back to talking about those hot professors…”
We chatted for a bit longer, and it just made me miss my best friend. Maybe she could come down for a visit soon. Once we hung up, however, my mind went straight back to what she’d said about Mason. I couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. Why hadn't Evan told me about Mason's visit?
“Time to get some answers,” I murmured to myself as I stood up and went in search of Evan.
I found him standing by the window in the living room, staring out into the front yard. His tall, muscular frame was tense, and he seemed deep in thought.
“Hey,” I said softly, coming to his side. “I just got off the phone with Analise. Is Mason coming to town?”
Evan turned to face me, his dark eyes meeting mine. “Yeah, he got a tip on where Tomas might be hiding, so he's taking a team to check it out.”
“Is it safe?” While the tip was great news, I felt concerned. “I mean, Mason's human.”
Evan's jaw clenched, and a flash of irritation crossed his face. “Mason is more than capable of taking care of himself,” he said, his tone clipped. “He’ll be fine.”
I was taken aback. “Are you kidding me right now? You seriously have an attitude about me asking about Mason? Your best friend and business partner? Evan, come on.”
He sighed. “No, I don’t. I'm sorry if it seemed that way. It's just…there are a lot of things on my mind right now.”
“Like this tip you haven’t told me about?” I tried to keep the frustration out of my voice. I knew he was busy, and a lot of things were going on, but this was pretty big news.
“Rosalind still hasn't dropped the lawsuit,” Evan said, grinding his teeth together as his hands balled into fists. His words made my stomach drop, and all my irritation vanished.
“What do you think is going on? Is she having trouble getting what she needs on the island?”
