Page 20 of Hurry Up And Wait
“It’s been more than that,” she jeered.
“And?”
“I could ask you the same thing. You’re nothing like I remember.”
“Well, I couldn’t stay the nerdy kid forever,” I chuckled, avoiding the perceived question. “So, this husband…”
“Out of the picture,” she said flippantly.
“And why’s that?”
Her eyes narrowed on me. Yes, I was refusing to answer her questions, but I demanded answers from her. I hated discussing my family, and I knew that’s where she wanted to venture.
“He changed.”
“People tend to do that.”
“Not this drastically. I hardly knew him anymore, and I didn’t want to live with a stranger who hated me.”
I tensed at how she described the fucker. Her tone was flippant, but I could see the pain in her eyes. She might be pushing herself past it, but it was under the surface, trying to claw its way out.
“Then it’s good you left him.”
“Well, the divorce isn’t finalized yet, but?—”
“Are you talking about that douchebag?” Riley asked, plopping down across from us and ruining my scheme to garner information. “In the past, right?”
Isla nodded, grinning at her sister, and just like that, the conversation switched to flea markets and garage sale pickings. My chance at finding out the details of why their marriage fell apart was gone, and I’d have to wait until a better time to pull it out of her.
My phone buzzed and I yanked it out of my pocket, my good mood vanishing as soon as I opened the text from the senator.
You’ll need a protection team for events. We can’t have you unprotected. After all, I can’t give the information to you if you’re dead.
I stormed into OPS,my feet pounding on the concrete floors as I made my way to the conference room where I’d called an emergency meeting. Even to my own ears, I sounded like T-Rex. But I was pissed, and there was no point in trying to tiptoe around my anger.
Red swiveled toward me in his chair as I shoved the door open. “Who pissed in your Wheaties?”
“Nope, it’s dinner time. Someone stole his food,” Eli retorted.
“It doesn’t really have the same meaning.”
“Yes, it does. Why do you have to argue with me all the time? Have you been hanging out with Fox?”
“He’s over at the house every fucking day,” Red sighed. “I swear to God, he talks to Zoe’s belly more than I do.”
“Well…maybe try to fix that. You don’t want the kid coming out talking about knives.”
Red snorted in amusement and turned back to me, quirking an eyebrow. “Are you gonna stand there all fucking day or tell us why you called us in?”
I ground my teeth together, still trying to get my anger under control. “I got a message from the senator. He has a stipulation about me attending his events.”
“Okay,” Eli said slowly. “And what would that be?”
“I need to bring a protection team along with me.”
Red looked to Eli, then back to me and burst out laughing. “And he wants us? I don’t think so.”
I slid my phone across the table into Red’s hand. “It’s not a request. It’s the only way he’ll give us the information we need.”