Page 7 of The Pretender

Harris wasn’t exactly sure what they were talking about, so he jumped topics again. “Back to the reason for my visit. You left a message. I’m here, Wren. Talk.”

“For the record, you’re welcome in our home anytime, but for the next visit use the front door or I’ll shoot you.” Wren yawned as he took a seat across from Harris.

“A totally boring way to enter, but fine.” Harris appreciated the offer because he knew Wren meant it. He didn’t throw out words to be nice. There was a pledge behind every sentence.

Wren rolled his eyes. “You have a serious problem.”

Harris decided to stand. He felt more in control with his hands balanced on the back of the chair. Watching and waiting. “So you’ve been saying for years.”

“Gabby Wright.” Wren leaned back in the chair but didn’t say anything else.

He didn’t have to. The name vibrated through Harris. He could feel it spin inside him, crashing through every defense he’d built up over the months. Through every ounce of fake casual indifference he tried to wear as he moved through the day.

“What about her?” Harris asked, struggling to keep his voice even.

Emery pulled out the chair next to Wren. “Wait, you’re talking about the woman who killed her sister?”

“She didn’t.” Harris didn’t know what happened that day, but he knew that much was true.

Emery sat down hard. “I almost hate to ask how you’re so sure.”

“He knows because he was there,” Wren said.

“Damn it,Wren.”

“Get used to her knowing stuff.” Wren shrugged. “You can trust her.”

Easy for him to say. “Not that you’re giving me a choice.”

For a second Wren didn’t respond. He glanced down to where his hands rested on top of the table. When he finally looked up again, all amusement had disappeared from his face. A clear and determined intensity radiated off him. “I called because there’s movement in Gabby’s case. The uncle is on a rampage. He wants her arrested before the next estate hearing a month from now and is hiring experts to make it happen.”

Harris felt the life drain out of him and struggled to keep his voice even. “Shit.”

He’d spent so much time thinking about Gabby. So many hours planning what he would do if anyone tried to put her in jail. He’d watched over her from a distance, ready to step in and hoping he’d never need to. He’d called on Wren to divert attention away from her more than once over the last fourteen months when the rumors turned wild. It was Harris’s way of protecting her from afar—not good enough but it was something.

“She’s in real trouble, Harris. Her uncle isn’t backing down and he has the resources to make her life miserable in a way even I can’t stop.”

That serious tone. Wren brought that out more than once during their discussions over the years. The last time was when he told Harris to get his head out of his ass and find a legitimate job. Harris had the same answer this time. “I get it.”

“Lucky for you, I created a reason for you to be on the island. A legitimate and legal one.”

Harris was pretty sure he’d missed a jump in the conversation. “Wait, what?”

“You need to step in. Get to that house and control the uncle while you still can.”

The day had arrived but Harris wasn’t ready. He started shaking his head before Wren finished his sentence. “I’m not going back to that island.”

He already spent too much time on the island in his head. Sometimes he’d hear Gabby’s voice. That pained and desperate screaming as she begged Tabitha to wake up.

Fucking hell. He’d do almost anything to protect Gabby from being charged with a crime she didn’t commit, but he could not willingly step back into that nightmare. Not when he hadn’t recovered from the last round.

Wren exhaled. “You’ll have help there with you.”

“Garrett?” He and Wren were almost inseparable. Garrett basically had been adopted by the Quint group. He was also on the verge of getting married thanks to a quick dating-to-engagement move on his part around Christmas.

“No.” Wren didn’t offer anything else.

Leave it to Wren to pick that moment to become even more secretive than usual. Harris looked at Emery but she didn’t say anything. She just sat there with a mix of concern and frustration showing in her frown. She clearly didn’t know the background of this discussion, but Harris knew she would before she went back to sleep tonight.

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