Page 22 of The Secrets We Share

Divided - R3YAN, CLRBLND.

Imay have made her a promise, but the validity of it only stands when she keeps up her end of the bargain. She had orders to stay put, to not leave the fucking safe house. Yet, as the wheels hit the tarmac in New York, her little dot gets closer to the city. She’s lucky I’m already here. I have no clue where she’s headed, but if she’s not careful, she’ll walk straight into the clutches of the man we’ve spent months trying to locate and draw out.

The stairs from the plane creek under my weight as I descend toward the pavement where James is waiting in the blacked-out SUV. I called him when my phone pinged Keira’s location outside the twenty-mile radius I set for her. My little runner is back to her old ways, but this time, she’s easier prey.

“Any ideas yet?” he asks.

Slipping into the passenger seat, I throw my bag over my shoulder into the back seat. It lands with a thud and a smallsqueak. My eyes lift in the noise’s direction and land square on Stacey’s expectant one.

“Why is she here, James?”

“I keep a shorter leash on my toy. You could take a pointer or two from my book. Maybe we’d stop being in this position.”

His wicked gleam doesn’t leave the review mirror. I spin back to face forward and hear her harrumph as we speed off from the airport. That snide comment won’t earn him any favors later. However, something tells me Stacey’s slightly more malleable than my girl.

“She’s almost at the train station. You might as well get me close, and we can see if she takes a car or walks. I have no clue where she’s headed.” An idea pops into my head.

“Stacey,” I draw out her name, flipping the visor down and sliding the mirror panel open. “Text your slippery bestie and see what she’s up to, would you?”

I stare her down, curious to see if I have any sway with the woman or if her loyalty is strong enough to turn me down. When she pulls out her cell and starts tapping away, I know I was right about my earlier assumption, and I’m slightly disappointed she didn’t tell me to fuck off, for Keira’s sake. Then again, she’s been made aware of the situation. She knows the stakes of Keira deciding to go off on her own.

“She’s not answering my text.”

“Call her,” I snap, my anxiety taking the drivers seat before I notice James strangling my steering wheel out of the corner of my eye.

We’ve created quite the dynamic between the four of us. But he has more restraint than I do because, had he taken that tone with Keira, it wouldn’t have been the steering wheel my hands were wrapped around.

I keep the app on my phone pulled up as we near the train station. Keira’s here somewhere, but if I jump out now, I couldend up heading in the opposite direction. When the dot starts down the street at a slow enough pace, I know she’s on foot.

“Any idea what’s around here?” I throw out, hoping either of them might know what she’s up to. I should know, with all the background I pulled on her months ago, but I’m in the dark this time.

“You know how much shit’s around here. It could literally be anything!” Stacey says, exasperated at my question.

“Pull over,” I growl, annoyed by her high-pitched tone. He swerves the SUV through two lanes of traffic and double parks as I quickly slide from the passenger seat. “Stay close. I’ll text you,” I instruct before slamming the door.

The sidewalk is busy, with all sorts of people leaving the station. I don’t have eyes on Keira, but it’s unnecessary when the tracker keeps us within blocks of each other as I close the distance. After the fourth or fifth crosswalk, we’re finally close enough that I can see her short frame up ahead.

She’s smart, dressed casually in an oversized sweatshirt and beanie pulled tight over her dark, flowing hair. Nothing special to draw attention, she blends in seamlessly. We only make it about another twenty feet before she slows to a halt in front of an undistinguishable building, and I slide into a walk-up alcove. It throws me back to the night I followed her home from The Red Door. It hasn’t even been a year, yet it feels like a lifetime ago with everything that’s happened since.

The buzzing barely registers over the hustling crowd between us, drawing me quickly from my hiding spot to close my fingers around the door just in time. She doesn’t turn around when the door doesn’t latch, but I wait to see where she moves before following. If she turns around, there’s no escaping her or the wrath that will follow.

Three flights and two halls later, she knocks on an apartment door. I wait patiently around the corner, using the reflectivedome on the ceiling to watch her next move. I don’t expect the distorted frame to step out, wrap their arms around my girl, and plant their lips on hers.

“Baby girl, it’s been forever. Where have you been?” the voice of the next person I’m about to murder in broad daylight says.

The gun appears in my hand before I know it, and my body stalks around the corner. I’m no longer worried about her wrath, so I don’t creep; in fact, my footfalls must be loud as I charge in their direction because both turn toward me.

“Keira,” I grit out, and she jumps further from the person who spurred this adventurous outing.

We’re at a standstill, my body shaking with a crazed fury I haven’t felt since the men came after Keira at the cabin. Then it was shoot first, ask questions never, because it wasn’t important, but right now, I’m hanging on by a thread of sanity.

“Well, isn’t this interesting,” the interloper spouts while leaning against the door frame, looking unfazed and curious.

Keira approaches me, trying to block the death glare flying over her shoulder. Her slender fingers wrap around my wrist, and their cool touch breaks my focus, drawing my eyes down to hers. Though her full lips are pursed, I can’t quite read the expression on her face.

“I should have known better,” she whispers while rolling her eyes. “Put the gun away, Harkin. It’s not what you think.”

“Sweetness, if it were, she’d be dead.”

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