Page 147 of Incognito
“Let me do some digging, I’ll call you. And you do know I’ll call if Rika’s in any kind of trouble, right?”
“I know you will.”
“But, you want to make sure?” She nudged my shoulder with hers.
“She’s the reason why I lived even after dying, Tia.” I inhaled on a long ragged breath.
“Exactly.” She smiled. “You haven’t begun to live again. You need to.”
I glanced away, watching Ashrika hand her daughter an ice-cream. They laughed before she dotted the child’s nose with the treat. She moved around to feed Trent some as well and my heart staggered when he pulled her in for a kiss.
“He’s good for her, you know.”
I shifted my gaze back to Tia. “I do.” I wasn’t sure of the exact moment, Trent Shaw evolved from my enemy to a friend, but I was convinced he was the perfect man for her.
The inside pocket of my jacket buzzed. I frowned. Pulling out my phone—the one a select number of people had the number to and stared at the flashing number. I cursed, debating whether to answer the facetime call or not.
“Who is it?”
I showed her the call and she grinned. “Take it. You need to.” With a gentle squeeze to my shoulder, she walked away.
“What the fuck do you want?” I eventually answered as the face of a man I hadn’t seen in fuck knows how long, came into focus.
“Long time.” He offered me one of his tentative smiles.
“Not long enough,” I seethed.
“You’re a fucking hard man to find,” he replied, his tone just as firm.
“The fact that I’m looking at your face, I’m guessing it wasn’t that hard,” I scoffed, sarcasm dripping from my words.
“Fuck sakes, Gabriel, I—”
“It’s Zayne.” He knew why I had to change my name.
A long pause as he dragged a hand down his face and looked me straight in the eye, “Still incognito?” He cocked a brow, cheeky as shit. “Changing your name doesn’t change who you were—are,” he snapped out the last word then laughed. “You’re looking good in your old age.”
“Go fuck yourself. Call me when you’re an adult. Actually, don’t. Lose my number.” I moved my hand to cut the call and he called out.
“Zayne, wait.”
I hesitated. I never hesitated. “What the fuck do you want?”
“I need you—I mean I need you for a job. It’s a big one.”
“I’m not interested, Tanner. You of all people know I only work with people I trust.”
“Please, Gabe—Zayne,” he quickly corrected. “Meet me for a drink, so we can talk this shit out. I’m in New York.”
I blinked. “What the fuck are you doing here?” We’d agreed a long time ago to never meet—it was safer that way. The fewer people saw us together, the better.
“Meet me and I’ll tell you all about it. I’ll text you the address.” He cut the call before I could decline.
I stared at the blank screen for a moment longer, wondering where we’d gone wrong. I scrolled down the contacts list and found his name. My thumb hovered over delete and block before moving up to slide over his name. Declan Tanner, my good friend. My confidante, my spotter, my handler until he committed the ultimate betrayal.
He killed my wife.
And I had to walk away.
Then.
