And I was worriednextwasright then.
Just as Gray started looking my way, Briggs demanded, “The truth, Gray. Pretend Monroe isn’t sitting across from you.”
“I was planning on giving it to you,” Gray seethed.
“When you hesitate and look at your wifebeforeanswering, that’s an indication that you’re about to protect her,” Briggs informed him.
“As we already discussed in yesterday’s super fun meeting,” he drawled sarcastically, but there was an undertone of warning in his voice, “she’s painfully aware of everything I’ve done. There is no protecting her. That doesn’t mean I enjoy talking about this in front of her. That doesn’t mean I’ll stop checking on her to see how she’s handling everything.” Jerking his chin at Briggs, he added, “It’s been well over three years, maybe even closer to four.”
I didn’t look away from Gray, but from the silence that settled over the conference room, I knew Briggs was debating whether or not to question Gray’s answer before he finally loosed another sigh and said, “We need to check the apartment. She lives at the house her dad bought her, but the apartment she was in is still there, in her name.”
“And she was making sure the people around her thought she was being stalked by a guy in her building,” Rush cut in, picking up on Briggs’ thought process. “She might’ve been trying to leave hints because she knew it’d get back to Gray.”
Thatch held out his hand next to me. “What am I missing? The last I heard, she was hanging out with Daddy Dearest at the club. If that’s the case, why would she be trying to help us figure things out?”
“They were fighting,” Briggs and Rush answered at the same time, only for Briggs to continue. “Tessa might know what’s going on, but she might not agree because she was very obviously mad at her dad. She might’ve been trying to warn Gray because of their history.”
Pale green eyes flashed my way and held, searching my expression until Briggs called his name.
“Call your cousin, or whoever would have gotten the most information from Tessa. We need to hear it all again.”
Gray’s only response was to pull out his phone and tap on the screen. Within seconds, he had his phone on the table and the sound of ringing was filling the conference room.
“Did you find her?” a panicked, feminine voice asked in greeting, the sounds of multiple conversations and soft music drifting in from behind her.
Gray scratched at his temple before muttering, “Not yet, Em.”
A worried sound filled the line. “Hudson?—”
“We’ll find her,” Gray said over Emberly. “But I need to make sure I know everything Tessa told you. Do you have time to go over it?”
“Um...yeah. Yeah, let me get to my office.” Emberly whispered to someone before she asked Gray, “What all have I told you?”
“That the guy lives in her building and shows up wherever Tessa is, but you’ve never seen him at your shop,” Gray recalled as he dragged a hand over his face. “You said you thought she was being dramatic about the stalking because she’d told you multiple times that he was a really nice guy, and she doesn’t like nice or clingy?—”
Just as he had the day before, Gray cut himself off in the middle of describing the would-be stalker. But instead of looking at me like he was hating that I knew exactly what kind of guys Tessadidlike, awareness slowly spread across Gray’s expression before his panicked stare snapped to me.
“Nice or clingy guys,” he finally muttered. “You said he repeatedly asked Tessa out.”
Emberly had been humming affirmations as Gray spoke, then gave a defeated sound when he finished. “That’s really all I know. She never described him physically.”
“Em,” Gray began, then let his eyelids shut as he struggled to swallow. “Emberly, when did this begin?”
“Um...” Emberly drew in a deep breath as she thought before apologetically saying, “Hudson, I have no—oh! It was last fall.”
Gray’s eyes snapped open and focused on me, wrath and fear seeping from him and crawling to me as I finally realized exactly what he thought was happening.
What he was incorrectly putting together.
My head started shaking as Emberly continued.
“I only know that because we were setting up for Amber Fest, and I jokingly asked Tessa if we needed security for our booth.”
“Thanks, Em,” Gray muttered, his voice cold and chillingly lifeless. “I’ll keep you updated.”
Before they even hung up, Evans hissed a sharp, “Where are you?” startling me from my irritation over Gray’s obvious jealousy. I looked at Evans to see his own phone lifted to his ear,a look shockingly similar to Gray’s on his face. “If you ever listen to me, I need it to be now,” he ground out. “Do not go back to your apartment. Do you hear me?”
“Someone loop me in,” Briggs ordered.
