Page 57 of Dear John

He shook his head at me in disappointment. “Man, you’re going to lose her if you lie to her again.”

“I won’t keep it from her if I find something concrete. But I can’t fuck with her head like that when I don’t know a damn thing. And technically, I’m not keeping anything from her because I don’t know anything.”

“That sounds like arguing semantics to me,” Red snorted.

“Maybe it is.” I sighed heavily, feeling like I was on the verge of making another critical error. “I don’t know. There’s too much shit going on right now. She just started sleeping through the night again, and now she has this client out of town. I just…Idon’t want to fuck with her head when things are finally going right again.”

“I get it,” Eli said carefully. “But you’d better be really fucking sure because if she finds out, she might end things for good.”

Fuck, I knew that. But how the hell was I supposed to tell her I had a sinking feeling in my gut about her ex? I had no fucking proof. Hell, the guy was still laid up in the hospital. If I told her my gut was telling me something was off, she would want details. And then what would I do? Tell her that I was worried the asshole put a hit on her? No, there was no way I would pile that stress on her right now. Not until I had more information.

“That’s a risk I’m going to have to take.”

Neither of them looked very convinced, but they knew I was between a rock and a hard place. I glanced back at the building, an aching feeling rushing through me, knowing I would never walk through those doors again. I never thought I would be exiled from the company, or that the men I worked with for so many years would suddenly become people I saw around town. But here we were. I made my choices and I didn’t regret them. I just wished the cost wasn’t so fucking high.

“Listen, Isla and I are heading out of town tomorrow. Bowie is still with Riley. Maybe stop by and check on them from time to time.”

“Sure,” Eli nodded.

“Maybe we could send Fox along with you.”

I winced at the thought of having Fox hanging around. I didn’t like the sound of it, but I also didn’t like the idea of being alone with Isla in New York City. That churning in my gut was growing by the second.

“Do you think he could get away from Cash?”

Red snorted. “It’s Fox. If anyone can get away with it, it’s him.”

“Yeah, alright. But tell him I want him to be a ghost. Isla can’t know he’s there.”

“The secrets are stacking up, man,” Eli said.

“Not secrets. Additional security. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“I’m sure she’ll see it that way,” Eli retorted. “Let me see if I can find anything out from Knight. Maybe you could contact IKE.”

I gritted my teeth, remembering the things I said to Isla not that long ago. “Yeah, I’ll get ahold of him.”

As I turned to walk away, Red called out, “Don’t get dead.”

21

ISLA

“Did you weigh your bags?”Kavanaugh asked as I wheeled my bag through the airport.

“Yes,” I gritted out for the tenth time.

“Because you’ll get overcharged if?—”

I spun around before he could finish, glaring at my boyfriend, who was soon to be buried in my suitcase and sent on a plane to Japan. “Look, I know you’re trying to be helpful, but you’re driving me crazy. Yes, I checked my bags. Yes, I made sure that all items in my overhead bag are in line with airline requirements. I’m aware of the fact that we are two minutes later than we wanted to be, but that’s only because you made me stop five times since we left the house to triple check all my bags. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to catch this flight instead of the next one.”

He quirked an eyebrow at me, slinging his arm around my shoulder. “Maybe we should get you a drink before you get on the plane. You seem a little tense.”

I gritted my teeth, doing my best not to snap at him. It really wasn’t his fault. He was trying to be helpful, but I was so on edge I was getting angry over the smallest things. I really needed this job to go well. It was the first decent-sized job I’d had in ages,and it would help me pay off some of those student loans I was so close to getting rid of.

“Maybe a drink wouldn’t hurt,” I agreed.

He grinned at me, squeezing me tighter. “I’m sorry I’m being a pain in the ass.”