Page 23 of Overstaying His Welcome

He drummed his fingers on the desk.

“I do. Same company as always.”

That did not give me any reassurance. Those idiots were useless compared to my guys, but we couldn't risk it. Not even now when we knew that part of our truth was out in the open.

Sure, it could be a coincidence, but Diestro was a Gilded One.

And if I learned anything in the months that we had been working on this, it was that the Gilded Ones didn’t do anything without some form of intent behind it. Even kidnapping Archie had a purpose.

Chance stood and moved around the desk. He approached me, moving until his body was lined up with mine. He tugged me to standing, then pressed his forehead against mine.

"I'll miss you," he said.

I took a deep breath in, allowing his scent to fill my nostrils and seep deep inside me. I wanted to stay wrapped up in it forever. If I could carry around a handkerchief and sniff it every once in a while to remind me of him, I would.

But that wasn't something men did these days.

People would think something was wrong with me, both mentally and physically. Instead, I savored the moments I had with him.

"I'll miss you too," I told him fiercely. "You keep your phone on you. Call me if anything changes."

"You call me too. This is a two-way street, Tank."

Rather than answer him, I kissed his lips. It was soft compared to before yet filled with just as much emotion.

I loved him more than I had ever loved anyone else in this world.

I adored Chance Sheppard.

He was the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. And though it wasn't really an option, I still kept him in my life for as much time as I could.

He returned the kiss, then pulled away before I was ready. We both knew any longer, and we'd be tearing at each other's clothes. While that had been my original intent of coming over, since it had been far too long, I knew it wasn't the time. I had stuff to investigate, a new lead to follow.

I took off, waving at Marten as I left. He could tell from my expression that things didn't go as planned, therefore he didn't stop me to chat.

I kept my eyes peeled as I left the building. I wondered if Diestro had eyes on Chance. If he saw me showing up here and knew about the connection, would he know that I now knew about his donation? Had he planned this? Was I falling into a trap?

I wouldn't know, not until I had more intel.

Memphis was my next destination. I took off straight for the office.

When I walked in, the guys were joking around, clearly having a minute of down-time between Gilded One’s research.

I hated to be the person to break it up, but I didn't have time to waste. I stormed over to Memphis's desk and ripped the paper from my pocket. Unfolding it, I slammed it to the table.

“I need you to investigate this. Now.”

The room silenced at my tone. My men gathered as Memphis picked up the page and read over it.

"Holy fucking shit, you got to be kidding me." He dropped the page as if it was on fire, then took to his keyboard.

The internet was Memphis's playground. He could wade through it like a superhero did through bad guys. It was nothing for him to find information that others either overlooked or couldn't access.

"I can't believe he donated something so publicly. And with his name," Memphis said as he went to work doing what I asked.

I leaned on the side of his cubicle. The men around me murmured to one another, so I spun to give them the details as Memphis kept working. He would get lost in his process and not answer anyone else for a while.

But I knew these guys. They weren't just going to stand by.

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