Page 49 of Velvet Vaughn

She gave him the short version. Concise and direct, with the facts in the necessary order. She told him about the dossier and the fundraiser, then about the photographs that had arrived at Leo’s building tonight.

The silence on his end lasted long enough for her to count it. “Kayne?”

“I’m here.”

“Leo’s going to call her, but I wanted you to hear it first.”

“How is Leo?”

“He’s okay,” she responded.

“That’s not what I asked.”

She considered deflecting but decided against it. “He’s holding up better than he should be. He’ll hit a wall at some point.”

“And you’ll be there when he does.”

It wasn’t a question. “I’m not going anywhere,” she assured him. “Not until this is done.”

The quality of his silence shifted, and when he spoke again, the flat control in his voice was gone. The ice remained, but it was banked now. He was putting himself in the box he’d built for himself over the years of being the most dangerous person in the room who also happened to love people. “Good. Then stay. What do you need from me?”

“I don’t need to tell you to watch Chloe, but watch Chloe. Don’t let her leave the compound alone until we can figure out what’s going on.”

“She’s not going to love that, but done.”

“I’ll keep you posted.”

“I’ll have my phone on.”

She ended the call, then heard Leo’s footsteps in the hallway.

He came in wearing a T-shirt and dark sweats, holding two mugs of tea, one of which he handed to her.

She thanked him and took a sip of the hot brew. “Luke and Logan have been looped in. They’re sending an operative to help and setting up safe houses for us and for Devonte’s family.”

“And Kayne?”

“Briefed. Chloe doesn’t leave the compound without coverage.”

“In less than fifteen minutes, you mobilized an entire team.”

“It’s what I do.”

“I know.” He paused. “I enjoy watching you do it.”

She took a sip of her tea. Two people who had already crossed every professional line once sat on opposite sides of a guest room and carefully avoided everything neither of them was ready to say.

It was, she thought, a very loud kind of silence.

“We should sleep. We’re going to need it.”

Leo nodded, but didn’t move right away. Then he took her empty cup and paused in the doorway. “Goodnight, Anja.”

“Goodnight, Leo.”

Anja heard him move down the hall. Heard the door close, not fully. She glanced out the window. Somewhere out there, the person who’d built that dossier and mailed those photographs and put a red circle around a twenty-two-year-old girl’s head was presumably sleeping.

That was all right.

They would run out of sleep soon enough.