Page 87 of Kylie

“You’re tellin’ me you haven’t searched for me at all?”

That simple question sucked all the oxygen from the room.

I frowned. “Kylie, we thought you were dead. We buried you.”

Her eyebrows locked down. “Obviously, you didn’t.”

I glanced between them, not sure what to say. I hadn’t expected this reunion to be roses and rainbows, but I never anticipated I would be at war with Kylie so soon after getting her back.

Then again, it hadn’t been too long ago when the thought of her coming back was merely a dream.

Yet, here she was.

Her eyes laser-beamed my way. “If you weren’t lookin’ for me, how’d you end up at the safe house? Who were you lookin’ for?”

“Why don’t you sit?” Travis suggested. “We’ll tell you how we got to this point.”

Kylie’s jaw flexed, and I could tell she was grinding her teeth. She obviously didn’t want to sit, definitely didn’t want to listen. But for this to go anywhere, we had to be on the same page. And right now, we weren’t even reading from the same book, much less the same page.

Rather than sit, Kylie began to pace. “Who figured out I was alive?”

“Brantley and his team,” I answered.

Her gaze bounced between the two of us. “Then I guess I should be talkin’ to him.”

“Wait,” I called out when she turned toward the door. “Please.”

She turned slowly, exhaling on a sigh.

“I know you want to find Calloway. I do, too,” I added before she could blast me. “But we need to do this right.”

“Right?” Her eyes narrowed. “I wonder if someone told Martin that when he set out to punish Max Adorite by kidnappin’ me.”

I had a response on the tip of my tongue, but it died as soon as I heard Adorite. “What?”

Her gaze pinballed between Travis and me. Back and forth, again and again.

“You didn’t know?” she said in that acerbic tone.

I looked at Travis. He didn’t appear to have an answer, but he was rather good at hiding his reactions. However, I would give him the benefit of the doubt because he looked as shocked as I felt.

While I tried to come up with something to calm the situation, Travis came from behind his desk. He moved toward Kylie and reached for her hand. He didn’t grab it, but rather held his out, waiting for her to come to him.

She seemed indecisive, but after a few tense seconds, she reached out, placing her palm in his.

When he pulled her in, putting his arms around her, I stood there. I wasn’t sure what to say or do. Hell, at this point, I wasn’t even sure what to feel. I felt like someone had tossed me in a blender and churned my life into nothingness in a matter of hours. Everything I thought I knew was suddenly different.

Not in a bad way, but I was hoping for a few minutes to come to terms with what was happening before someone pushed that button and started churning it some more.

“We’re gonna take care of him,” Travis said, his tone soft. “I assure you of that. And we won’t do anything without you.” He pulled back, stared down into her face. “But we just got you back, Kylie, so can you give us some time?”

“How much?” she insisted, looking at me for an answer.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have one.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Kylie