Page 85 of Discretion at Its Finest

I could feel the panic rise again.

If this baby was his—

Then I was trapped. Again. Trapped in a life I couldn’t run from this time. This wouldn’t just be another secret I could bury. This wouldn’t just be Eugene all over again. If Gregory ever found out the truth, about me and Reid, about the baby—

Tears welled in my eyes. I couldn’t think straight.

“Genevieve?”

Reid

She was standing at the bathroom sink when I found her, pale and trembling, staring at me like a deer in headlights. Toothbrush half used, forgotten on the edge of the counter, hands pressed flat against her thighs, fingers white-knuckled.

I was already in front of her before I realized I’d moved.

Crouching low, my hands came up to her face out of instinct. “Genevieve,” I said again, her face growing more pale.

Her breathing was shallow, her body trembling so subtly I wouldn’t have seen it if I hadn’t been this close. My thumbs brushed along her cheekbones as I leaned closer.

“Hey.” I softened my voice further. “Breathe.” She blinked once, then twice before she breathed in deeply, letting it out with a shaky breath. “Talk to me,mon amour. What’s wrong?”

She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. My heart pounded harder in my ears. This woman, this proud, stubborn, reckless woman only broke likethiswhen something was really wrong.

I had the sudden urge to scan her body for injuries, blood, something that would give me an answer, but I ignored it. All I wanted to do was focus on her and keep her grounded. My hands slid down to her arms, steadying her gently.

Eventually her fingers that were curled at her sides loosened, knuckles less pale, breath still shallow. She finally went to speak, but then—

My cell buzzed in my pocket. I didn’t want to notice it, but Genevieve had retracted before I could stop her, her eyes hardening as she let out a soft sigh. She was close to telling me something, but the sound had broken the moment. Whatever she was about to say was gone now.

I cursed under my breath and pulled the phone out, answering while my hand still brushed down her arm, trying to keep her calm.

“Kaufman speaking.”

“Reid.”Alexander’s voice crackled through the receiver, nervous and panicked.“The Feds are here.”

My eyebrows furrowed. “What?” My voice came out rough as I stood. Genevieve stood after me, looking at me in concern. Easing her worries, my hand slipped into hers as I listened.

“I don’t know how they got access. But they’re walking the floors right now, halting all operations, seizing what they deem as evidence.”

“With a warrant?” I snapped, and there was a beat of silence.

“…I don’t think the Department of Treasury is concerned with warrants right now.”

The fucking Treasury?I tried to keep my composure. I knew something like this was coming. Everything looked too clean. It was bound to crash at some point.

“I’ll be there soon. If they ask you anything, don’t say a word to them,” I said, and ended the call before he could stammer anything else.

Genevieve’s fingers curled tighter in mine. “…Reid?”

She was still pale and shaken from whatever she’d been about to tell me before the phone interrupted us. My thumb brushed along her knuckles, gentler than I meant to be.

“We need to leave. Get ready. Cara will be here in fifteen.”

She didn’t answer. Her eyes were unfocused, somewhere between fear and whatever spiral she’d fallen into minutes before.

I could practically hear her heart sprinting.

I slid my hand into her hair and I pulled her close to me, my hand still locked onto hers, not wanting to let her go for even a second.