Page 75 of Erik's Salvation
He frowned. “Okay. Good. I’ll see you at the restaurant. He should be there in a few minutes.”
Crap. Quickly, she grabbed the keys she needed—including the one for Angelo’s home—and closed the safe, then rushed to her desk to shut down her laptop. She’d almost forgotten about the dinner, but there was no way she would have told Reuben that. It was with some client with big money who wanted to meet with Reuben and an agent to see what properties they could offer.
She dropped the keys into her bag, popped the last bit of strudel into her mouth, and rushed out. She’d parked on the street today, so she ran out the front. She locked the door and turned—then gasped at the sight of two large men in front of her.
Her heart thumped in her chest. Where the hell had they come from? She tried to force calm into her voice, but God, they screamed danger. “Can I help you?”
“We’re looking for Paley.”
Every hair on her arms stood on end. “James hasn’t been in this week.”
The guy stepped toward her, and her heart took off at a gallop. She wanted to step back, but there was nowhere to go. “Then we need you to do something for us.”
Did she have a choice? “Okay.”
“Tell him Vincent is looking for him, and the longer he hides, the worse it’ll be for him.”
The ice that slid over her skin was so sudden that she almost shuddered. Her nod was more of a jerk, and it was only when they turned and walked away that she finally breathed again.
It took her a few long seconds to finally force her legs to move. To unlock her car and slide behind the wheel. Immediately, she hit the lock button. Her fingers clenched the wheel tightly during the short drive to the restaurant, and her gaze kept darting to the rearview mirror.
Before getting out, she pulled out her phone to text Brigid.
Hannah: Hey. I just need to let you know that two not-so-friendly-looking men were waiting outside the office just now, looking for James. Stay safe, Brig. X
If they’d gone to the office to look for him, they’d definitely already gone to his home—where Brigid also lived. God, she hoped her friend was okay. She sent a text to Henry too, letting him know what had happened and that Brigid might need a place to stay.
Once that was done, she felt better…kind of. After this meeting with the client, she’d also tell Reuben. She hadn’t told him about the phone call or the drugs because she’d had no way of confirming if the suspicions were true. But he needed to know about this visit. It wasn’t nothing. Having big, intimidating men block her path to her car was most definitely notnothing.
Quickly, she layered on some lipstick and a touch of foundation. Argh. Was it the lighting, or were the bags under her eyes as dark as they looked? Who the heck cared? How she looked was at the bottom of her problems list. Like absolutely last on the list.
Grabbing her bag, she climbed out of the car and walked into the Italian restaurant. It was busy, with almost every table taken, and most definitely fine dining—not anything she would choose herself.
She was approaching the hostess stand when someone lightly touched her arm. She bit back a groan at the sight of Ezra. “Hi.”
The guy lifted a brow. “Hannah. What are you doing here?”
“Meeting a client. You?”
“A client?”
“Yes. So excuse me.” She felt the guy’s gaze on her the entire way to the stand. Creep.
A hostess appeared in front of her. “Good evening, ma’am. Do you have a reservation?”
“Reuben Caster made our reservation. He should already be here.”
“Right this way.”
Hannah followed the woman to a small table. She could only see the back of the man who sat opposite Reuben, but even sitting, there was no missing how tall and broad he was.
“Hi, I hope I haven’t missed anything,” she said as she reached the table. She smiled at Reuben, then turned to the man opposite—and the air in her lungs ground to a halt.
Marco Salvatore. He was the client?
Marco stood.
“Hannah, this is Marco Salvatore,” Reuben said, oblivious to her shock. “Mr. Salvatore, this is Hannah Jacobs, one of my agents.”
