done clean, they want this punted solely to them and I’m of a mind to agree.”
Mag opened his mouth.
Hawk lifted a hand.
Mag shut his mouth and ground his teeth.
“It’s theirs. This is their brother, think on that,” Hawk said quietly.
Fuck.
Again, he was right.
“That said, the cops are not gonna turn down some friendlies having their ears to the ground. And word has to get out that Evie has nothin’ to do with this. But Brock and Mitch don’t have to know how close to the ground we’re gonna get to have our ears to it.”
And finally, Mag’s bad mood started lifting.
Slowly, he grinned.
Hawk’s lips twitched and then he said, “Let’s get in there.”
Mag agreed by turning and walking down and into the conference room with his boss.
Evie
“Evie! Sunshine of my life! What’s shakin’?” Dad asked in my ear.
“Well, my apartment was tossed on Wednesday,” I replied conversationally while pacing Mag’s condo with my phone to my ear and six pairs of eyes following my movements. “I lost nearly everything. And that bag of drugs was stolen from my car, after someone jacked my trunk to get to it. Oh! And today, I was kidnapped and the man I’m seeing was shot.”
Dad was completely silent.
I let that last for several beats before I continued.
“You didn’t ask, but just so you know, Mag’s okay and so am I. I had to be rescued by a team of commandos who threw smoke bombs and also got shot at. But they saved me. After, you know, Snag tied me to a chair and hit me while he interrogated me.”
“Evie, my darlin’,” Dad murmured, and I had to give it to him, he sounded mortified.
But he said no more.
“And Snag had some fun things to share while we were enjoying our time together, Dad. Including you and Mick being in a competition to be the worst drug dealer in Denver. Which leads me to ask, does the dispensary know you’re still dealing, Dad?”
“Evan, now—”
“No!” I snapped. “I was kidnapped at gunpoint today!”
My father again fell silent.
I did not return the favor.
“Now, you get on your goddamned phone and you sit down with your loser friends and you share that I do not have that bag. I didn’t want that bag in the first place, but now it’s gone, and it’s got not one thing to do with me. You do that and you spread that wide and you ask them to keep that message rolling through the underbelly of Denver and I keep silent about your extracurricular activities so you can continue to hang with your brethren at the dispensary. You don’t do that, I’ve had occasion to meet a number of policemen during the Adventures of Evie this week. And I think they’ll be very intrigued to hear how my loving father makes his cash.”
He assumed his not-oft-used stern fatherly tone.
“Evan, listen to me—”
I didn’t listen to him.
I carried on lecturing.
“And one last important note, your line of credit at the Bank of Evan Gardiner is closed. I need a new mattress and a new couch and new plates, but I also need to ascertain if Mag actually is into women wearing high heels, because if that leads to sexy times, I’ll consider it.”
Before he could say a word, I disconnected.
I then blocked his number, after which I scrolled up to my mother and hit go.
She answered with, “I am not talking to you.”
“Good,” I retorted. “Because I’m no longer listening to your abuse, but I have a few things to say.”
“My what?” Her voice was rising.
“I was kidnapped at gunpoint today, Mother.”
Another moment of absolute silence.
“I was tied to a chair, interrogated and hit,” I shared. “The man I’m seeing, a man I’ve come to care about a lot in a short period of time, was shot. He’s fine. He then went on with his friends to rescue me. But that was my day, the culmination of a week of having to deal with the shit that Mick landed me in.”
“Jesus Christ,” she whispered.
“Your son is a drug dealer, and if you choose to champion him regardless of the ridiculous and felonious decisions he makes about how he’s going to lead his life, then fine. That’s your choice. But I’m no longer going to bail him out and I’m no longer going to bail you out when you overspend and use me to continue lying to your husband. It is truth that betraying the trust of intimacy between spouses is the worst betrayal