I’d called Angie and Sloane, but neither they nor the other knights had seen him.
I’d slept for a few hours, but not well. Now it was past seven and I still couldn’t track him down. My closing was at ten and I was going a little bit out of my mind.
I knew that I’d end up making Angie late for work, but I needed company and reassurance, and so I headed to her condo, stopping for donuts along the way.
I wasn’t worried that he was hurt or injured. Instead, I was worried that something inside him had broken—something I didn’t understand but knew that I had to soothe or else risk losing this man forever.
“Hey,” Angie said, once she’d buzzed me up. “You look like shit.”
“And hello to you, too.”
“Still no word?”
I shook my head. “No. He hasn’t checked in with you guys, either?”
“Not as far as I know. Evan went out for a run. You can ask when he gets back, but he knows you’re worried. He would have told me—or just called you—if he’d heard something.”
“Shit,” I said, then ran my fingers through my hair, because I really didn’t know what else to do.
“Do you want to tell me what happened?”
“What I want is to just wish it away. But the bottom line is that he thinks he went too far. He thinks he hurt me.”
“Did he?”
“No,” I said. “No, he really didn’t. But before this thing started he told me that there couldn’t be anything between us. Because he was certain that he’d cross a line and somehow injure me. Honestly, Angie, it really worried him.”
“Self-fulfilling prophecy.”
“He’s an idiot. I swear he has more self-control than I do. I don’t see why he can’t see it.”
She shrugged. “Sometimes it’s hard to see yourself, you know?” She glanced over me. “Speaking of seeing yourself, I’m guessing you haven’t changed clothes since yesterday.”
I glanced down, saw that she was right, and shrugged.
“Go take a quick shower. Then find something in my closet. You don’t want to look wrecked when you see him, even if you are. He’s the one who’s wrecked, right? You’re the one who’s supposed to be strong.”
“You sure?”
“Positive. And I’ll go make some coffee for when you get out. You look like you need the jolt.”
“I don’t want to make you late for work.”
She waved my words away. “What’s the point of being the director if you don’t go in late from time to time? Besides, I want to be here when Evan gets back. Just in case he’s heard something.”
“You think he has?”
“I don’t know. But maybe Cole called during his run. Those three are in each other’s pockets, so maybe.” She glanced at her watch. “What time is your closing?”
“Ten.”
“You have time,” she said, then waved toward her bedroom. “Go. I’ll meet you in the kitchen.”
When I emerged fifteen minutes later, I did feel better. Not by much, though. And Evan still hadn’t come home.
I forced myself to push it away. I told myself to take deep breaths, de-stress, and trust that it would all work out. It had to. Because I needed Cole in my life, and damn the man, I was certain he needed me, too.
“It’s going to be fine,” Angie said when I slid onto one of the chairs at her breakfast table.
“Keep saying that,” I said. “Maybe the universe will listen.” I devoured a donut, then licked the sugar off my fingers. “Listen. There’s something else I want to talk to you about.”
Her brow furrowed, and she sat down beside me. “Is something wrong?”
“No. No, it’s just—” I sucked in a breath. “It’s just that I’ve got this secret, and—oh, shit,” I said. “I’m not exactly who you think I am.”
“Oh, really?” Her brows lifted as she leaned back in her chair, and to my relief she looked more intrigued than pissed. “I’m listening.”
“Right,” I said, then told her everything. How I’d grown up. The mess my dad was now in. Even the Big Truth about how I’d originally tagged her as a mark.
“Oh my god, seriously?”