Jardin's Gamble (Haven, Texas 9)

Both boys watched her with wide eyes. She waited tensely for their reaction.

“That. Is. So. Cool.” Ace grinned wide.

“We should change our clothes,” Keir said.

“What?”

“In the mall. We should change our clothes. Our uniform is too noticeable. We can change in a bathroom. You too. It will help.”

Why hadn’t she thought of that?

Then again, the two of them were far smarter than her.

“Good thinking. Thing is, I need the two of you to act like this is any other day, okay?” She wasn’t worried about Keir, but Ace was another story.

“We can do that!” Ace said cheerfully.

“We got this, Thea. Don’t worry about us.”

Thing was, she did little else, except when she was thinking about Jardin and Carrick. She winced as she thought of how angry Jardin was going to be with her.

But he’d get over it. He’d find a new assistan

t. They’d find someone to love together. They’d live happily ever after.

Right now, she just had to focus on keeping herself and her brothers alive.

Carrick answered his phone, smiling as he saw Jardin’s name. He’d only left him an hour ago. But he wasn’t complaining. After two years of being on his own, he wanted to spend every second he could with the other man.

“Forget something?” he answered.

“She’s gone!” Jardin’s frantic voice came through the phone.

“What? What do you mean she’s gone?”

There was only one she he could be talking about. Carrick’s heart started to race.

“She wasn’t here when I came in and when I checked my email there was one from her, tendering her resignation.”

“Fuck. Shit. Do you think we scared her off yesterday?”

“I don’t know. But we need to find her. What’s she going to do for money? What’s she thinking? Fuck.”

“All right. Let’s not panic.” It was a sign of how much Jardin truly did care about her. Because he was usually the calm one. “Have you tried calling her?”

“Yeah. It goes straight to voicemail.”

“Fuck. Okay. What about her address?”

“HR should have it on file. Let me check.”

“Pick me up on the way there. I’m going with you.”

Jardin was about to lose it. And it was going to be epic. He stared out at the dilapidated shack in front of him in horror.

“This is where she fucking lives? Here! How the fuck did I not know this!”

Goddamn him. He should have checked. He’d never have allowed her to continue living here if he’d known.