And he had, until he’d pretty much closed a door in my face, in what felt like him also shutting me out of his life. Shutting the door on anyafter-anything happening.
“Hey, sorry to always be intruding.” I looked over to see Hollis standing in the doorway, waiting for an invite in, so I waved her over. “I came to tell you Echo Three managed to snap an image of one of the men at the house. We were able to ID him pretty easily since he’s a veteran employed by none other than Helix.”
“Helix?” Ryder stood, his tone sharpening. “I thought they were Mitch’s enemy. And now ours, too.”
“Didn’t Mitch want us to clean up his mess so he could ride off into the sunset with me and his millions?” A shiver ran through me at that thought.
“Mitch must’ve turned him. Some of those other guys might be Helix, too.” She jerked a thumb toward the hallway. “Gwen’s updating Reed and running an idea by him as well. Maybe grab Alex, too, while I have a quick word with Audrey?”
“Sure.” Ryder nodded and quietly left, closing the door behind him.
“I feel like we might need to have a heart-to-heart, but give me a minute to transition back from 007 to Hollis Avery.” She smirked. “See, still the same me. I can joke and have fun.”
“I’m starting to believe you are reallyyouyou. You know, beneath the badassery and all.”
“Good, and you should know I’ll always be on your side no matter what. Need a body buried? I’m your girl. Finish a bottle or two of wine and watch sappy movies I secretly can’t stand but you love? Anything for you, babe.” She smiled. “Team Trevor? Got your back.”
Well, that was quite the jarring transition.
“Team Alex? Count me in. Team Kill Mitch?” She leaned in. “Already on that mission.” Her expression softened. “You’re my bestfriend. My ride-or-die. It just so happens I’m good at the second part a little more than you realized.”
Seeing as though I really did miss my best friend and needed her, I went ahead and bulldozed my way through the hurt her lies had caused me and blurted out, “Alex and I kissed. In Colorado. Actually, we did a little more than that.”
Her eyes widened. “You had sex?”
“No, but he, uh, got me off. Against a piano.” My cheeks heated. “And I think he gave me more than an orgasm—he gave me hope. Made me feel alive and myself for the first time in so long, even with everything going on.” I swallowed. “Like I could play the piano again in front of an audience. And I wouldn’t even need lace to combat my nerves if he was there to watch me.”
“I’m happy for you but also confused, based on what I thought I walked in on happening between you and Trevor.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You two, in each other’s arms, heads together. Looked like a post-kiss moment.”
“No. We weren’t kissing. It was a friendly, heartwarming kind of thing.”
She frowned. “Well, shit.” Her gaze dropped to the floor. “I thought that’s what I saw. Alex must’ve thought so, too. Ryder sent him to get you two; then he returned looking like he’d seen a ghost and asked me to grab you instead.”
“He thought I was kissing Trevor?” I bent forward, hands on my thighs, everything clicking into place.No wonder he shut me out. “After everything Beth put him through, he must hate me.”
“It’s going to be okay. An easy explanation.” She gently rubbed my back. “He obviously has genuine feelings for you, or he wouldn’t be so broken up about it.”
“So hurt he can’t even look at me,” I whispered. “I need to go out there. Clear the air.” I took off, hating myself for not having been on my feet and moving five seconds earlier. “Where is he?”
“Alex?” Ryder looked up from his laptop. “He’s gone.”
“Wait, what? Why?”
“Gwen identified more Helix agents in Queenstown. Alex offered to go have a look. See what they’re up to, since they’re not far from the hotel where the auction’s being held.” He set aside his computer and stood.
I started for the door, hoping to catch up with him.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked, stopping me in my tracks.
“He needs to know how I feel.” I pulled the burner phone from my pocket, fingers trembling as I tried to figure out how to tell him that what he thought he saw was wrong.
“You really want to text that?” Hollis asked, coming up behind me.
“No.” My shoulders collapsed. “But maybe I could ask him to come back to the suite? Tell him I have something important to say.” I opened our last text thread, prepared to type.
