“Maybe. It’s been a while since I’ve slept and today was… a lot.”
“I’m not staying if you’re sleeping, Evie. I’m not having you wake up and look at me like I’m a monster again.”
“I won’t,” she says.
“You will, and you won’t be able to help the questions that run through your head. I get that, but I can’t see it,” I admit.
“Can you just stay until I fall asleep then?”
“That I can do.” I lie on the bed, and Evie curls up into my arms. My lips press onto the top of her head.
“E? I don’t like fighting with you,” Evie says.
“I fucking hate it when you do too.” I chuckle. “I love you. I don’t care what you throw at me, Evie. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Can you lock the door when you leave so no one can get in?”
“I will make sure no one comes in here,” I tell her. “Promise.”
“Get Alejandro here,” I tell Paz. We’ve been sitting in my office for the past three hours, searching through every database we could get our hands on. I haven’t found him yet. But Enrique cannot outrun me. I will find him and show the fucking world what happens to rat bastards.
“Anyone else?” Paz asks.
“No.” I’ve been over every question the agents asked Paz, the things they claimed to know, and he was right. There is no possible way they knew it unless they have Enrique. “That agent, he wants Evie to turn.”
“You worried she will?” Paz lifts a curious brow.
“No.” I shut that idea down real fucking quick. “But he doesn’t know that.”
“What are you suggesting?”
“He’s going to try to contact her again. He just has to think she’s alone,” I say.
“You’re going to use your wife as bait?” Paz attempts to clarify.
“No. She’s also not my wife. Yet,” I remind him.
“But she will be. Might as well get used to the term now.” He shrugs. “So what’s your plan?”
“Evie’s going to go back and start writing up ideas for that retail space. She’ll take Charlotte withher, and when I have Louie drag Charlotte away, the dirty fucking cop will show his face again.”
“And let me guess… you’ll be there?” Paz says. “Bad idea, jefe. It’s you he wants to pin.”
I laugh. “If he had anything concrete, I’d already be in cuffs.” We can do this and have a couple of guys tail him when he leaves.
“Let me dig through the night. If I can’t come up with the asshole’s home address, we go with your plan,” Paz says.
I raise a brow at him.
“I’m not using our queen if we don’t have to,” he adds.
I smile. He likes Evie. Good. It means he’ll do whatever it takes to protect her. “Fine, you find him before morning, and we follow him from there. If not, we draw him out,” I tell Paz. “I need to go find Lailani.”
“Good luck.” Paz sighs. “By the way, I see our little queen isn’t a fan either. She has great instincts. We should get rid of Lailani.”
“We’re not getting rid of Lailani. And Evie likes her just fine,”I lie.
I’m in the garage when Lailani walks in. I heard her arguing with Sammie and knew she’d be looking for a quick escape.
