It had seemed unnecessary at the time. She wasn’t supposed to be gone long. She would have a bodyguard with her the entire time. If anything happened, Jude would call.
Still, I would’ve felt ten times better if I could send her a text right now.
It irritated the hell out of me that I hadn’t done it.
A knock hit my office door, making me curse.
I reluctantly set my phone down on the desk, the live camera feed glowing on the screen, and went to the door.
When I opened it, Shawn stood on the other side.
“Well, look who it is.” He grinned. “Damian told me he saw you come in, but I didn’t believe him. What are you doing in the office so late?”
I shrugged and stepped back, letting him lean against the doorframe.
“Had some stuff to take care of.”
Shawn studied me for a second, clearly not buying it. “Weren’t you at the fundraiser tonight?”
“Yeah,” I said quickly. “I just decided to stop in on my way home.”
He tilted his head. “Boss,” he said carefully, “is there something you need to talk about?”
I sighed. Shawn was one of the few people I trusted. If anyone could keep their mouth shut, it was him. But there was too much that could go wrong right now. I didn’t have time or the energy to talk about it.
Before I could come up with some kind of excuse to get him out of my office, my phone rang.
My head snapped toward the desk. August’s name was on the screen. He wasn’t supposed to be calling me.
I crossed the room in two strides and answered before the second ring. “What is it?”
There was a pause on the other end of the line.
“There’s something wrong.” August’s voice was stiff and gruff.
My knees nearly gave out, and I gripped the edge of my desk. A cold wave of dread washed over me.
“What happened?” I demanded.
August made a frustrated noise under his breath. “I need you to stay calm when I tell you this, Roman.”
I felt anything but calm. “Tell me,” I snapped.
“I’m serious,” August said. “I need you to keep your head clear.”
“Goddamn it, August,” I growled. “Tell me what the fuck happened.”
After another pause, August said, “There was an incident at the cabin.”
The blood drained from my face.
“Jude was patrolling the perimeter of the cabin,” August continued in a rush. “Palmer was secured inside the house. He saw someone in the woods behind the property.”
It was hard to breathe through the tightness in my chest.
“Jude moved to subdue the intruder,” August explained. “But while he was in pursuit, someone came up behind him and knocked him out.”
My whole body started to shake, not only from the terror of Palmer getting hurt, but also from the pure rage.
