Page 61 of Stay for Me

“You called him?” he assumed.

“I called Denver.”

His brow raised. “And he sent Mags?”

“Well, no,” I began, clearing my throat as heat began to crawl up my neck, spreading over my jaw and up my cheeks like a dang plague. “I called Denver’s cell because you didn’t answer, and Mags—”

“—I’m so fucking sorry I didn’t,” he said, cutting me off.

I shook my head. “Chase, you’re allowed to be human.”

“Being human doesn’t protect the people I care about,” he returned, his voice low.

God, this man. My next words were gentle. “I only called Denver because I didn’t know what else to do. Lucas wasn’t going to stop, and Denver is the only other man I trust to handle something like this.”

“Do you trust Mags?”

I blinked, taken aback by his question—-his tone. My brows came together slowly. “Do you not trust him?”

Chase stared at me for a long time, the silence between us deafening. The only thing to be heard in his office was the steady tick of the standard issue clock nailed to the wall. Minutes dragged on, his eyes holding mine, and outside his office door, the police station rumbled. I shifted in my seat, anxiety swirling around me like a tornado, ready and willing to destroy everything in its path.

“Chase,” I whispered, my nails digging into my knees now.

His head tilted to the side, his eyes narrowing. “Why did Mags leave Hallow Ranch last night, Diana?”

A lump formed in my throat. “For me,” I rasped.

“Do you trust him?”

The truth spilled from my lips without a second thought. “Yes.”

Chase bent his head, inhaling a deep breath.

My voice cracked with my next question. “Do you know something I don’t?”

My friend’s eyes met mine again, shimmering with warning. “I’ve been around that man just as long as you have, Di, and after trying to look into him, I’ve found nothing. Mags, according to the US government, doesn’t exist.”

I said nothing.

“Last year, I met a friend of his. Grayson.”

“Grayson?” I parroted.

Chase nodded. “Joseph Grayson is the owner of Red Snake Investigations and served in the Marines with Mags.”

It clicked then. “Grayson is the bounty hunter Denver hired to get a message to Mason,” I said, thinking out loud.

“I looked into Grayson, hoping to find something—anything--on Mags.” My gaze lifted, colliding with his as he gave it to me. “I found something, but I couldn’t confirm if it was Mags. All records around what I found were sealed.”

I twisted my fingers together. “That still doesn’t answer my question, Chase.”

He leaned down. “How am I supposed to trust a man I know nothing about?”

“Mags is a good man,” I murmured.

“Even good men have dark sides, Diana.”

Breaking our gaze, I looked over to the painting on the wall. “Denver is a good man—the best man—and you trust him.” I twisted my head, looking back at Chase. “What makes Mags any different?” He said nothing, folding his arms over his chest. “Mags came to me last night because he thought I was in danger.” I let my words settle for a second before delivering the final blow. “MagsleftHallow Ranch.”

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