“Who do you need me to be in there?” she asked. “You need me to be bad cop? The heavy? Need me to threaten Emily and let her know her grandson will not be staying with his harebrained mother? Or would you like me to be gentle and say, ‘Asher, calm down, we can work this out’? Or I could—”
His lips closed over hers for a brief but thorough kiss, trapping the rest of what she was going to say in her throat. When he pulled back, he kept his eyes on hers and his hand on her nape.
“I need you to stand next to me and keep me from freaking the fuck out,” he said. “Jordan has my son and they’re missing and I hope to God nothing bad has happened.”
“Me too,” Gloria whispered.
He kissed her again. “I know.”
“I won’t let Emily get to me. I promise.”
“I’m not worried.” He let her go, opened his car door, and got out. Gloria did the same and when she met him on the driveway, she slipped her hand into his.
Chapter 22
Emily Trudeau opened her front door, saw Asher, and her shoulders and face crumpled. She reached for him and he embraced her.
“It’ll be okay, Em,” he said.
Then her eyes opened and she caught sight of Gloria, and her face transformed. “What’s she doing here?” she clipped.
“She wants to help.”
“I think she’s helped enough.”
Gloria felt like shrinking, or maybe crawling into the azalea bush over there. Emily didn’t like her, and that she could handle, but being partially responsible for Jordan’s disappearance…well, Gloria couldn’t blame the other woman. If she were Emily, she’d be pissed, too.
Gloria pulled in a breath but it was Asher who spoke.
“We’re not doing this, Emily.”
Her eyes rounded in surprise. “Doing what?”
“You know what.”
The standoff was short. Emily looked from Asher to Gloria, then gave her a curt nod and stepped aside to let them both in.
Gloria entered a massive foyer, opening to a large, posh living room filled with expensive furniture and antiques. The exact opposite of how Gloria grew up. Hers had been a world of frayed, stained carpet and hand-me-down everything—usually from her grandmother. Her foster parents’ homes were nice, middle-class, and stank of maxed out credit cards. Jordan’s mother’s home was the real deal. Wealth and country-club class.
“I’ll get us some coffee,” Emily said, taking a step toward the kitchen. She stopped, half turned. “Gloria? Coffee?”
“Make mine a double,” she joked, but her smile felt brittle. At least Emily had called her Gloria instead of Ms. Shields.
“I’ll bring the pot,” Emily said, missing the joke entirely. For a second, Gloria felt sympathy for Jordan having to grow up in such an arid, humorless house.
Asher’s hand slipped around her back and he put his lips to her ear. “Sarge, you okay?”
She should be asking him that. This was about Hawk and Asher being okay. Gloria straightened her shoulders, mentally digging out her big-girl panties yet again. There was no room to think of anything but the most important thing: finding Asher’s son.
“I’m great. Don’t worry about me.”
“Lean, Sarge,” he said simply, a smile playing on his tired face. Then he put his arm around her and pulled her close, and she did just that. Wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned. And Asher…he took her weight.
*
Em served coffee, and later lunch, and frankly, Asher was impressed she did it herself and didn’t have her house staff do it for her. Then again, she probably called and told them not to come in because who would want the embarrassment of losing her daughter?
She was niceish to Glo, too, which he appreciated. He wasn’t all that surprised. Once they’d formulated a plan, everyone got to work, and there wasn’t a lot of room for petty arguments.
After last night, Asher understood more about Gloria than ever. Her world used to be a tiny sphere occupied by her and a few other people. When she was a kid, it was her parents and grandmother. Then just her mom, then just her. She’d opened a little to allow Kimber in, but then Kimber became Kimber and Landon and Caleb. Like Evan became Evan and Lyon and Charlie. And then Asher had come along, and Sofie and Faith crept in, and now? Hell, Gloria’s world was packed like a too-tight elevator. Asher came with Hawk—who came with Jordan and Emily. Not even counting his band, his parents…
For a girl who flew solo, Gloria had taken on a lot of people. And her meltdown in her apartment was more about her not knowing what the fuck to do with it all.
But in the clutch and when it counted, Gloria was at her best. Asher may have had an air of calm and collected, but inside he was mess. All he could think about was Hawk and his safety. There was an incredibly creative part of his brain that made up scenario after scenario where Jordan harmed or abandoned their son, but he quickly suffocated each and every thought.