“Do you still speak it?”
“Not much anymore. No one around here speaks it, but I try. I don’t want to lose it.”
He nods. “Knowing more than one language is cool.”
“It is. Do you?”
“Shitty French. I tried to learn it for a long time. I always hoped I’d end up playing in Canada and my mom’s roots are from there, but I didn’t stick with it. Hockey took over everything.”
“Colson speaks French. He’s my new brother-in-law. He’s Specter’s husband.” I glance at him as we walk. “Maybe you could practice with him.”
He scrunches his face for a second and I realize my mistake. There’s no future here. Once this is resolved, I’ll never see this gorgeous man again. Which is fine. This was never gonna be more than a hookup anyway. I had hoped it would last a little longer though.
The door to Shadow’s office is open and he’s sitting behind his desk, his head bent as he reads over some documents. I knock softly so as not to startle him, and when he looks up, his face goes from neutral to confused.
“I need to talk to you, boss. It’s important.”
“Who is that?”
“Can we come in?”
He nods, gesturing for us to take a seat on the other side of his desk. I can feel the tension pouring off Pax, and I want to reach out and reassure him, but I can’t really do that yet. Not until I know how Shadow is going to react.
I close the door because this conversation shouldn’t be overheard. When I face Shadow again, I straighten my shoulders and summon the courage I need to get this out.
“Um, Shadow, this is Paxon Bouchard. He’s a hockey player for the Mistone Magnets.”
Shadow nods. “Hello.”
“Hi,” Paxon says, but his gaze shifts quickly to me.
“Why is he in my office, Wraith?”
Leave it to Shadow to get right to the point. “So, erm, the job I’m assigned, to find Patrick Gemelli, the person blackmailingthe client?”
“Yeah?”
“Paxon is Patrick’s brother.”
To an outsider, it would look like Shadow didn’t react at all, but I can see the vein in his temple pulse and the way he subtly clenches his jaw.
“Which doesn’t answer my question.”
“I’m getting to that.” I exhale slowly. “In a nutshell, I was stalking the target, ran into Pax, and we… well, we started hanging out, and then we all found out how we were connected to each other.”
“Fucking hell,” Shadow murmurs. “Are you fucking serious?”
“Unfortunately, yes, but there’s a reason I’m here and didn’t just…” I pause, avoiding Pax’s gaze. “Didn’t just handle things.”
“You have my attention.”
“Because of this discovery, I was able to find out more about what the target did and why he had a hit on him.”
Shadow’s eyes narrow. “Go on.”
I launch into the whole story Boone told us and produce the folder with all the evidence in it. While I’m speaking, Shadow flips through the folder. His face is a perfect neutral canvas at first, but then his expression morphs into barely contained rage.
When I finish the story, I wait silently for Shadow to speak. Paxon is practically vibrating with nerves next to me, but he’s otherwise as still as a statue. I can’t even hear his breathing.
