account to Gabe. Though my Spidey Senses are still tingling so I’m not clear on that.”
“Zane!” Ivy hissed again. “For the love of sweet baby Jesus, stop freaking her out. Please excuse my husband, he’s not housebroken.”
“Are you freaked out?”
Um. Was he talking to me? Since I was the only other “her” in the room I assumed he was but I was unclear why he was asking—as noted Zane was a watcher and there was no possible way he could miss just how freaked out I was.
However, he seemed to want verbal communication so I gave it to him.
“Uh, no. I was freaked out back in California when I had a gun to my head. I was pretty damn freaked out when I got away. I was seriously freaked when I got on the airplane to come here. Now? Now, I’m fucking beside myself with guilt because I knew better than to do what I did. But I did it anyway and now Anaya, Piper, and Kalee are all in danger. So I don’t know what you’re talking about and what your gut is telling you or about expense reports, but I am really interested in your Spidey Senses and if they can tell me if I’ll be alive when all of this is over because I’m really damn tired of almost dying.”
Zane’s eyes narrowed and those blue eyes of his that couldn’t have been described as warm and friendly but neither cold went hard.
A growl came from my right and I thought I should’ve perhaps pulled Kyle aside to explain to him in private that I’d screwed up and put his wife in danger. Not on purpose, of course; I’d never, ever do that. But my stupid, stupid need to uncover the truth had led me astray. I should’ve given up weeks ago. I should’ve left it alone for a plethora of reasons. But arguably the most important reason was my friend Kalee. She’d spent months in the jungles of Timor-Leste, held captive by rebels and forced to commit heinous acts or be murdered. Now she was home and settled with her fiancé Forest Dalton—better known as Phantom.
I couldn’t think about the horrors Kalee, Piper, and Anaya had gone through in Timor-Leste without my blood boiling and my stomach knotting. I couldn’t sleep at night knowing my friend had been held by rebels for months—left to die in the jungle. She’d been violated in the worst way and none of the men responsible had been brought to justice. My logical mind understood why Phantom had snuck into Timor-Leste and in the dead of night had rescued Kalee without exacting vengeance. There was one of him and too many rebels. His priority had been Kalee. However much trouble it got me into, I couldn’t stand knowing the men who had hurt Kalee were free to do it again. To kill more people. Rape more women. Terrorize the good people of Timor-Leste. I simply couldn’t stand for it—they had to pay.
So I started digging.
Big mistake.
Now I knew more—and the more I knew, the deadlier it got.
The commotion in the room pulled me from my vicious thoughts of inflicting pain and suffering on every man who had touched my friend, to the men shuffling around the room.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“You had a gun to your head?” Kyle snarled, now standing.
Okay, so maybe I should’ve had a quiet word with him about that, too.
“Kyle—”
“You had a gun to your head?” he roared.
It was a silly time to allow my mind to wander to Anaya, but seeing the anger flash in Kyle’s eyes and hearing the fierce tone I couldn’t help it. I loved knowing my friend had Kyle. No, I adored she’d found a man who worshiped the ground she walked on. Seeing him pissed-off was a reminder of how protective Kyle was, even of his wife’s friend.
Yeah, I absolutely shouldn’t’ve blurted out I’d had a gun to my head.
“Yes.”
“Jesus Christ, Evette. Did you call the police?”
Shit. This was where the story got complicated. The part that was going to turn Kyle’s ire in my direction instead of on the gunman.
“No,” I muttered.
“Come again?”
“Can we please allow her to sit?” That question came from Ivy who was still standing next to Zane, as were the other men in the room. “And possibly introduce her to everyone before the interrogation begins?”
My heart rate ticked up hearing the word interrogation. Was that what this was? It wasn’t supposed to be. I came here to