His kiss was urgent and chaotic. It made her entire body tremble with need. Her bones ached with desperation. Her lungs burned to breathe him in. She could have gotten so lost in him.
She pulled back. “Wish me luck.”
“Luck is rarely on your side, Little One.” He brushed back her hair. “ButIam on your side.”
“Even better.”
She managed to disentangle herself from him and stepped back into the hallway. Gabe gestured that they were ready. She grabbed the handle and pushed the door open.
There sat Everett, on a wooden chair in the center of the room. His hands were handcuffed in front of him, and it looked like someone had already tried the torture tactic on him. He glanced up, and his hazel eyes sparkled at the sight of her.
“You came,” he said earnestly.
She took a deep breath and stepped into the room.Here goes nothing.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“I didn’t think that you’d come,” Everett said.
She raised her chin an inch, taking him in. His boy-next-door good looks were bedraggled. His chestnut hair was mussed, one eye swollen, blood dribbling out of a cut on his lip. The clothes they’d given him didn’t quite fit. His frame was swallowed by the oversize T-shirt and sweats he wore instead of his crisp valet uniform.
And yet…he wasn’t downtrodden. His spirits were high. His smile was the same friendly grin she had known for so long. The one she had foolishly trusted.Thathad backfired in her face.
“Yes, you did,” she finally said.
His lips quirked downward. “I wasn’t sure.”
“Don’t try this act on me. I believe we’re past that.”
“It’s not an act.”
She laughed brusquely. “Everything about you is an act. So, let’s skip the pleasantries. I’m here. That’s what you wanted. Why don’t you tell me the information you’re withholding?”
Everett straightened in his seat. “Why don’t you take these handcuffs off me?” He held his hands out in front of him. “Then we’ll chat.”
“Yeah. Not happening.”
“You don’t have to be afraid of me.”
“I’m not afraid of you,” she spat. Her anger was fuel to a fire.
“If you’re not afraid of me, then I don’t need these.”
Reyna rolled her eyes. “Okay. So, you’re not going to tell me. I guess I don’t need to be here.”
She turned around and started toward the door. Her palm was on the handle before he called out, “Wait.”
She stilled. Forced herself to wait. To draw out his unease. Then she faced him once more. “I’m not here to play games with you. I’ve done that enough.”
“Okay,” he said evenly, leaning his elbows on his knees. “Can I start at the beginning?”
“Start wherever you like. Just get started.”
“Will you sit?” He gestured to the seat before him.
She wondered if Gabe had done the initial interrogating. She knew he was good with his hands. A fighter at heart. It couldn’t have been Beckham—he didn’t want Everett to know he was part of Elle. Plus, Everett wouldn’t just be bruised; he’d be bloody.
She swung the chair around on its rear legs and straddled it with the back as a barrier between them. Then she sat with her arms resting across the top. “I’m sitting. Get started.”
