Page 89 of Silver Secrets

“If it’s ever too much, being around us, don’t feel like you have to hide it. I know,” her voice hitched. “I know Mikey’s birthday is coming up soon. Gunner wasn’t sure if I should say anything, but I would love to get together to celebrate him. And Melody. She became a mom that day, and made you a dad.”

Gage closed his eyes and breathed in deeply.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

“Lily, no. I’m just blown away that you would think of doing that for me. I’d love to celebrate his birthday. To celebrate Mel, too, that day.” He opened his arms and Lily leaned into his side for a hug.

“That settles it, then. I’ll ask Sloane if she wants to help me. And of course, your input is welcome. We can make his favorite food? I remember Gunner told me he loved ice cream, so I was planning on ordering an ice cream cake.”

Gage cleared his throat, trying to speak past the lump that was forming.

“That sounds amazing. Thank you.”

“Of course. All of our family deserves to be celebrated, even those who aren’t here with us anymore.” She sighed, and Gage watched as her brows pulled together. “How’s Sloane holding up? Every time Mae or I try to talk to her about things, she just shrugs and changes the subject.”

“She’s okay. Getting restless. Maybe going a little stir-crazy. But I’d rather that than her being in a dangerous situation. I feel like we’re in this insane race to see who can get to the finish line first. And his finish line scares the hell out of me, so the only answer is that we beat him there.”

“Have you thought anymore about what she asked?”

“Lily. No. I haven’t given one more second of thought to it because it’s the worst goddamn idea I’ve ever heard before. It kills me that she doesn’t want me to know that she asked, and it’s also killing me that I can’t tell her how reckless that type of thinking is. Anything, and I mean anything, can go wrong when you use someone as bait. We know almost nothing about this man, except that he is bound and determined to get to Sloane. He’s obsessed with her. To him, she’s the one who got away. Everything in his profile is just an educated guess by some FBI nerd who sits behind a desk and pushes these psychological evaluations of cases out like there aren’t real people attached to the words in them. Real victims. She’s already been a victim once. I never want to read her name in another report like that again. I can’t. So, no. We aren’t using her as bait.”

“I understand. And I agree with you one thousand percent.” Gage watched as her eyes drifted over his shoulder, locking onto Sloane. “But she’s going to want control. We need to give her something before she tries to take matters into her own hands.”

His skin went cold. A shiver rippled through him at the thought of Sloane planning something and not telling someone about it.

“You think she would do something…”

Lily nodded. “I saw a different side of Sloane when we were in that basement together. If she’s pushed hard enough, if things stall out and she convinces herself that her plan is the only way to move forward, then yes. I think she might just try something crazy.”

Twenty-Two

Sloane chewed on the end of her pen. It was a terrible habit, but when hyper focused on something, like she was currently doing with her client notes, it happened without her even noticing sometimes.

“Man, what’s a guy gotta do to get his girlfriend’s attention?” Gage waved at her from the sofa in her office.

“Sorry, were you trying to tell me something? I’m up to my eyeballs in admin tasks over here.”

He smiled. “I was asking if you wanted to take a break. You’ve been at it for hours now, and the guys are going to head over to your house later this afternoon to get some more work done on the security system. We could go over with them if you wanted to?”

“I’m not even there any more. Does it make sense for them to be doing that?”

“If he ever finds out your identity, he’ll likely go to your house first. And if that’s the case, we want every opportunity to catch him.”

She sighed. “I guess you’re right. But I don’t have time to leave the office right now. I need to?—”

“Hey, Lily! Is Sloane around?” Courtney’s voice drifted into Sloane’s office from the reception area.

Perfect timing.Sloane stood up from her desk, walking towards the door.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“Courtney’s here. I’ll be just a sec. Gotta grab my keys back from her.”

Sloane walked out to Lily and Courtney chatting, a concerned looking Lily glancing over at Sage’s door.

“Hey, Court. Everything okay, Lily?” Sloane asked.

“Oh, yeah. I’m just waiting for Sage to cry. She was super fussy going down for her nap. Not sure what’s going on with her lately.”

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