Page 26 of August

That answered her question about where they were going, but for how long? She didn’t dare ask him. At the end of the day, it wasn’t his problem. She wasn’t his problem.

“Gigi!” The front door flew open and her sister bounded down the steps. Her face was twisted with emotion and her eyes filled with tears. She threw her arms around Gigi and forced August to back up.

“Hey,” Gigi said with a chuckle, hugging her back. “I’m fine.”

Ivy pulled back a few inches and held her shoulders. “Your car sank in a river. You definitely are not fine. Come inside. I’ve got tea on and dinner cooking.”

“Two hours, tops,” August said softly.

Gigi nodded and let Ivy pull her toward the house. She should feel safe. She should feel protected and elated to see her sister.

Instead, without August, she felt as vulnerable as an exposed nerve.

CHAPTER 9

August waited in Rami’s kitchen while his friend fixed coffee and Ivy took Gigi into her bedroom to get cleaned up. Taschen would be arriving in fifteen minutes.

Ivy exited the bedroom and closed the door behind her. “She’s going to shower and borrow some of my clothes.” She folded her arms over her slight frame, an exact copy of Gigi’s. Still, despite how identical they were, down to their facial expressions, he’d be able to tell them apart in a lineup.

Ivy had a softer, gentler manner. Gigi was all brass balls and sex appeal, a combination that both fucked with his head and constricted his cock.

To say Ivy didn’t have the same effect on him was an understatement, though she was just as gorgeous, and sweet as hell. She simply wasn’t Gigi.

“Good.” He forced the syllable from his mouth.

“Sure you don’t want a cup of coffee?” Rami asked, as he poured the addicting brew into a white mug.

“No thanks. Just want to get Gigi to the safe house already. Taschen needs to hurry the fuck up.” He tapped his finger on the counter at his back. He forced his mind away from the urgency itching his feet and instead focused on the last case they’d talked about. “This might not be the time, but have you made any headway on Zain’s case?”

Before taking their client, Boyd Sommers, to Denver, August had been picking away at Rami’s missing brother’s file.

It was glaringly obvious that he was working toward a dead end, but August didn’t have the heart to tell Rami that. He’d looked hard, but finding a missing person across the world was next to impossible. They’d gotten the odd lead, but to find Zain’s body—because surely the dude wasn’t alive—they’d need to be there, boots on the ground.

And without an army, going into Afghanistan and poking around a terrorist group was a surefire way to get them killed. Nonetheless, August had vowed to help Rami obtain closure. Any answer was better than no answer. So, August had roped in Toth’s brother, Dare, asking him to use some of his government-level tech to find any trace of Rami’s brother, dead or alive.

He hadn’t heard back yet.

Rami’s face darkened and his eye twitched. He took a sip of his coffee and gave his head a slight shake. “Nah, nothing yet. I’ve gotta dedicate some more hours. Once things settle down with Gigi, I’ll stay at the office late more often.”

Ivy rose onto her tiptoes and kissed Rami’s cheek. “If anyone can find him, it’s you.” She squeezed his bicep then picked up one of the two steaming mugs of tea on the counter and carried it to the wooden kitchen table. Pulling out a chair, she sat and pinned August with her stare. “Which safe house are you going to?”

He chewed back a wad of annoyance. Far as he knew, information about the safe houses was top secret. Even wives and girlfriends weren’t supposed to know where they were unless they used them. But Rami was the boss—one of ’em anyway. August looked at his friend, who gave him a nod of permission.

“Probably downtown.”

Ivy’s head jerked back an inch. “Why? Wouldn’t it be better to get away from the city?”

“Not necessarily. If we leave town and they find us somehow, we’re without backup.” He’d just experienced what that was like at the river. “Besides, if we go to the woods, we’re just hiding.”

She tipped her head to the side. “That’s the point.”

“No. The point is to end this thing. Hiding will drag it out. If they didn’t stop looking for her when she was in witness protection, they’re not going to stop over the next few days and weeks.”

Ivy’s face turned solemn. “This isn’t going to end well.”

Rami came up behind her and smoothed his hand down her back. “It will for Gigi. Not for the cocksuckers after her.”

She sighed and wrapped her hands tighter around the mug. “What’s the plan then? Get to them before they get to her?”

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