Cuffed by His Charm (Dirty Little Secrets 4)

My brother might not have told me everything, but some things he does tell me, and girlfriends fall into that category. “He never mentioned you to me.”

“I’m not really that surprised to hear that,” she says with a half-shrug. “What we had was very casual, more fun than anything else.” She pauses, her eyes narrowing on me. “I’m sorry, but who are you to Evan?”

“I’m his sister,” I reply.

“His sister?” Sally uncrosses her legs, only to cross them again. “How strange, he never told me about a sister. Do you live in the city?”

I nod. “I do.”

Gabe turns to me and offers, “He may have not wanted to share this part of his life with you.” To Sally, he then asks, “Is there a reason you look so surprised that he has family in the city?”

“I’m just surprised that he didn’t tell me,” is her reply, which seems truthful. “He really wasn’t the type of guy to stay tight-lipped about things.”

“Or maybe everything he told you was fictitious,” I offer, and that’s my anger rising. Friend of his or not, this woman does not know my brother better than I do.

Her gaze quickly casts downward. “I suppose that’s possible.”

I sigh, reining in my emotions. She doesn’t deserve them. “You said you two were close, so how close is close?”

“Very close in friendship terms,” she says, looking at me again. “There just wasn’t that romantic spark that kept the relationship going. We both knew that, but we see each other all the time still.”

Good. That’s exactly what we need. Gabe didn’t miss the opportunity either, asking her, “Did he seem unsettled lately at all? Any sort of trouble following him?”

“No, nothing like that,” she says.

I can’t give up yet. She must know something. “Did he talk about enemies or anything like that?”

She shakes her head. “No, I’m sorry.”

“No financial trouble?” Gabe asks.

“Again, no.” She grabs the front of the blanket with one hand, tucks her hair behind her ear. “The last time I talked to him, he was totally fine and actually sounded happier than I’d heard him sound in a while.”

Not what I want to hear. Having a name would make this all too easy, but when was anything in my life easy? I turn to Gabe and state the obvious. “Maybe what we found at that hotel . . . maybe that had nothing to do with Evan.”

Gabe nods in agreement then turns to Sally. “You said you talked to Evan recently. When was that?”

Sally’s lips purse, her gaze lifts to the ceiling. “I think about two nights ago.” She pauses, brows drawn together. “You know, I wonder . . .”

“Now is the time to speak up,” Trevor states.

Sally nods at him, and then says to me, “I’m not sure if it matters or not, but he did tell me that night on the phone that he was going to a poker game.”

Gabe’s fingers freeze mid-stroke on my nape. “Do you know with whom?”

“Sadly, I don’t,” Sally replies.

While Gabe sat up and took notice, I sank down in my chair feeling somehow defeated, even if I’m beginning to think maybe that blood doesn’t belong to Evan. But if it’s not his blood, where is my brother? I reach up, rubbing the side of my temple, not letting this situation get the better of me.

Just as the throbbing intensifies, Gabe squeezes my nape comfortingly, and he presses on. “Did you get the feeling this was a personal game of poker or something bigger?” he asks Sally.

Sally pauses. Then, “It seemed bigger, like the stakes were high. Evan told me that he’d come into a lot of money recently and that he was excited for the game.”

On one hand, part of me wants to keep my mouth shut, watching Gabe’s jaw muscles clench, but I can never avoid that truth. It’s the elephant in the room. That money was earned by spilling Gabe’s dirty little secrets to the world. And no matter how much Gabe wants to overlook that someone in my family did this to him, I can’t. It’s there, the guilt of that, every second, every minute, every hour. And until I find Evan and he somehow rights this wrong, that will still be the truth.

On the other hand, this is my brother, my only family. And I’m beginning to wonder if Evan has gotten involved with a loan shark.

In my heart, no matter how angry I am at Evan—and if he is safe I will then consider all the ways to beat some sense into him—I know a part of me will forever be broken without him. “Just one last thing,” I say to Sally. “Did Evan ever mention where these games were held?”