Page 36 of Cage

“Well, hello to you too, Cage,” Ruth snaps.

I smile, pleased that I’ve already irritated her. It’s almost as fun as irritating Ember. Not quite, though.

“Have you found out anything?” I ask.

Ruth sighs, and I can already tell the answer is no. Instead of being annoyed that she’s about to tell me she has nothing, I’m fucking thrilled. The longer we go without resolving this, the longer Ember stays. The Ranch is impenetrable, so she’s safe as long as she’s here.

“I haven’t got much. I believe the threat is coming from Europe, but I haven’t been able to narrow it down,” she says. “I have people working on it.”

Running a hand over my face, I stare out my office window at the courtyard that all our houses look over. One of the playground swings sways in the breeze. Ember would look so fucking cute playing out there, wearing an adorable outfit that I chose for her. Rowie would love it, too. As much as I hate to think it, maybe we aren’t enough for Rowie. Maybe she needs some Little friends.

The overcast skies have grown more angry since Ember and I walked over from my house. Looks like it’s going to storm tonight.

“See if Zeke can recall anything specific. Has he had any run-ins with someone based in Europe? And can you send me copies of the threats? I’ll have Cassian examine them, too.”

“Sending it over now.” Almost as soon as she says it, my encrypted email inbox sends an alert. Ruth might be a pain in the ass, but the woman is efficient as hell.

“Thanks. Keep me posted,” I say before I end the call.

After sliding my phone back into my pocket, I spin around to finish my conversation with Rowie. Except when I do, she’s gone.

Why doesn’t that surprise me?

“Hey, man.” Jasper strolls in with a folder in his hand.

I glance behind him. “Did you see Rowie out there?”

Jasper looks behind his shoulder and then back at me. “No. Was she supposed to be out there?”

Rolling my eyes, I shake my head. “No. The brat was supposed to keep her ass right in this chair while I took a call.”

“When has she ever stayed where she’s supposed to?” Jasper asks.

True.

“When did you get home?” I’ll have to corner Rowie later. If she’s lonely, I need to do something to fix it.

“Late last night.”

I study my brother. The circles under his eyes are darker than usual. Which means he didn’t sleep last night after he got home.

“The explosion in Mexico have anything to do with you?”

The corners of Jasper’s mouth twitch. “I don’t know why you automatically assume it was me.”

We grin at each other, both knowing full well that the explosion was all him. We’ve been on the trail of a sex trafficker for months, but every time we think we’ve got a pulse on his next move, he seems to be one step ahead. We still send him a friendly little explosive message every time. He’s only down to a dozen or so more properties to hide in that we know about.

“You need to sleep. You look like shit.”

My brother snorts. “Yeah, because sleep is what I excel at.”

I don’t argue with him because I can tell him he needs to rest until I’m blue in the face. Unfortunately, he’s the one who has to deal with the demons still torturing him when he closes his eyes.

“Then go get laid. That will help you pass out.”

Jasper smirks at me. “Maybeyouneed to get laid. Make you less grumpy.”

Narrowing my gaze, I flip him off. Getting laid sounds great. Except the idea of fucking some random woman makes me sick to my stomach. The only woman I want touching my dick is in the other room. And I’ve already been away from her for too long. Every second I’m not with her, it’s more difficult to breathe.

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