Cuffed by His Charm (Dirty Little Secrets 4)

Silence falls between us, and I take a minute to absorb it all. Both Ryder and Alex are good people. Good in ways that make me so damn angry at Evan. He’s sold stories about Ryder, made him look bad in the tabloids, and these people are the ones trying to save him. It makes me want to protect them . . . protect them from the damage that my brother caused.

/> “Once we have these guys’ names,” Alex says, dragging me out of my thoughts, “we’ll know exactly who we’re dealing with and what they could want from your brother.” She pauses, considers, then shrugs. “Plus, who their inner circle is and stuff like that.”

“Which will lead us to Evan?”

She nods, and her smile speaks of hope. “For as long as I’ve worked with Ryder, we’ve never not found anyone. Whether he’ll be in good condition is another story.”

I glance back at the on-screen reminder that even if Alex is nice and helping find my brother, her loyalty is to Ryder, not me. I can’t forget that, and I also don’t blame her. “Tell me from your experience,” I say, glancing back at her, “what do you think these people will do to my brother?”

“Honestly?”

I nod. “Give it to me.”

She turns in her swivel chair, facing me, her long ponytail hanging over her shoulder. Her expression is both firm and sympathetic. “If Evan’s not already dead, he will be soon. We need to find him as quick as we can.”

“Why do you think that?” I barely manage, my insides turning to ice.

She points to the screen, voice strong. “Because these guys are professionals. I can tell by the way they’re handling him. When you see them leave the hotel, they are calm and steady, and that’s their experience showing. Even his injuries speak of experience, they hit where he’d hurt, but didn’t overdo it either. They wanted his injuries to make a statement, and as you saw, they did.”

My stomach roils, and I’m trying to catch up.

“But,” she adds gently, “don’t get too far ahead of yourself either. If they wanted him dead, he would be. And he’s not dead yet, so we keep forging ahead, thinking that he’s alive.”

“I have to agree with her.”

I spin in my chair and find Ryder and Gabe entering the room. Gabe’s eyes are on me, soft and strong, and exactly what I need right now. The world suddenly feels warm again, and somehow, I’m better now that he’s back.

“What have you got?” Ryder asks, settling in behind Alex, as Gabe resumes his place beside me, taking my hand, his other hand sliding over my nape, bringing forth the heat I need.

“Nothing yet,” Alex replies with a long sigh. “We’ve cleared . . . ah . . . certain databases, but I’m going in deeper now.” Her fingers fly over her keyboard then she hits “enter.”

Ryder nods at her then looks at Gabe. “Go home and sleep. We’ll keep on this tonight.”

I pipe up. “But . . .”

“He’s right,” Gabe interjects, voice firm, as is the squeeze of his fingers around my nape. “We’re of no use to Evan if we’re exhausted. We won’t be thinking straight. As soon as Ryder and his team have something, he’ll call.”

I glance at Ryder, and he nods and says, “No matter the time, I’ll wake you if we have a lead that will bring us to Evan.” At my long sigh, he gently adds, “I know this is frustrating, sitting around waiting for us to get the intel we need, but this is simply how this works. Believe me, when everything comes together, and it will come together, things will move fast.”

Good and all, but . . . “You still won’t involve the police?”

“Oh, I will involve them,” Ryder explains, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “But not until we’ve got the situation under control and your brother is safe. You don’t want him to get arrested, so I need to take that into consideration.”

I stare into the kindness of Ryder’s eyes and say, “What about you guys? Are you not worried they’ll arrest you for interfering?”

Alex chuckles softly.

Ryder’s mouth twitches before he replies, “No, McKenna, that’s not a concern. Like I told you before, we work together with the SFPD. More often than not, they look better because of my team’s effectiveness, not hurt by it.”

“Okay.” I need to be sure, so I have one last question. “What will we do if you can’t identify the men from the hotel?”

“That’s not a question we need to answer right now,” Ryder retorts, placing a hand on the back of Alex’s chair. “We take this one step at a time. We don’t stop until we find your brother. That’s the endgame here.”

“Thank you,” I whisper, emotion in my throat. “Thank you so much.”

As Gabe wraps me in his arms, taking me in all his strength, Ryder gives a smile, extending more warmth than I think I deserve right now, and says, “We’re in this together, McKenna. Don’t forget that.”

Chapter 9