“Don’t start giving me shit about what I spend my money on, Gage Allard. That’s not your place. Now, why are you here?”
He motioned for the table that had two chairs in front of it, both piled with clothes. “Let’s sit.”
Reluctantly, she moved the piles of clothes to the mountain on the bed and sat in one of the chairs. He lowered himself into the other one and looked around the room one more time before he sucked in a deep breath.
“It’s Reggie.”
“What’s wrong? Is he hurt? Did he go missing again?”
Gage swallowed hard. How the fuck did he get the words out? Maybe he should have let the police tell her. They were trained for death notifications.
“It’s worse than that this time, Kenzie. He got shot. He… he didn’t make it. They tried to save him with surgery, but he’d lost too much blood.”
Her face fell, and Gage braced himself for the tears that were about to fall.
The tears didn’t come. Instead, she jumped up and jerked open her door. “You’re lying. Get the fuck out of my apartment.”
He should have expected a reaction like this. Kenzie had always been temperamental and prone to mood swings. But there was no way he was leaving her at a time like this.
“I can’t do that, Kenzie. Not until you hear me out. Reggie is dead. I don’t want you alone when it finally hits you. He made me promise to look after you if something happened to him.”
“He can’t be dead,” she whispered, still standing in front of her open door. “We had plans.”
Gage stood and moved to her, gently closing the door then opening his arms for a hug. “I know. It’s killing me. But it’s true. I’m so sorry we didn’t keep him safe.”
“How. Where? Why did he get shot?” she asked, staring at his open arms.
“Someone kidnapped one of our former teammates, and he went out to help rescue him.”
“He promised to retire for real this year. He fucking promised.” Her voice cracked, and she finally stepped into his arms. Gage held her tight, trying to keep his own tears in check so he could be there for her as the sobs he’d been expecting took over.
They didn’t last long, but he held her until she was done. She pulled away and wiped her eyes, taking deep breaths. “Can I see him? Where’s his body?”
He steered her back toward the table as he answered. “He’s in D.C. This all just happened early this morning. I came straight here almost as soon as I found out. We’ll figure out all the arrangements together, but nothing has to be done for tonight. He had me listed as next of kin, and executor of his living trust, but you’ll have full say in what we do for his service.”
“Why did he have you listed and not me?”
Gage dragged a hand through his hair. It was the question he’d been asking himself since Reggie told him about it years ago. At the time, Reggie insisted that Kenzie not be told, saying it was pointless to worry her with something that wasn’t going to be an issue for a long time.
“I think it’s because he didn’t want you to have to be responsible for everything. He was so proud of you for what you’re doing here in the city. It was important that if anything ever happened to him you would be able to keep living your life without too much disruption.”
“Fat chance of that. How do I keep living when he’s gone? He was my biggest fan, my biggest supporter. After our parents died, he raised me.” Her voice trembled, and tears glistened in the corners of her eyes, but she held them back as she stared at him with pleading eyes. It killed him that this was a problem with no fix other than to face it head on and plan a fucking funeral.
“You’re going to keep living because that’s what he would have wanted. Everything Reggie did was with your wellbeing in mind.”
Something shifted on her face, and she shook her head, her expression read like disgust, but he wasn’t sure. Without another word, she turned her back on him and walked to her computer desk and sat down, pulling her headphones up again.
Gage shoved his hands in his pockets, unsure of what to do next. Was she really going to sit there and work at a time like this? Music blared from the headphones, and he cringed at the thought of what she must be doing to her hearing. Unsure of what else to do, he leaned against her front door and stared at the back of her head while he made a mental list of everything that had to be done. He’d watched her grieve her parents, but she’d had Reggie then, and even though he was grieving too, he was there for her the way a brother should be. Now Gage stood watching Kenzie’s heartbreak for her big brother, and he couldn’t do a damn thing to fix it, other than step in and play the role that Reggie played when her parents died.
He had no idea if he was up for the task, but he was determined to give it his all, and keep the promise he made almost a decade ago to take care of his best friend’s little sister.
Chapter 3
Kenzie
Kenzie’s brain refused to process Reggie being gone. It was such a foreign concept that it seemed impossible to wrap her head around. Even when he spent most of his time out of the country, he never failed to show up for her. His job meant he didn’t get to come home very often, but he called her whenever he got the chance, and he always made sure she had anything she needed.
As a freelance graphic designer and DJ, there were times when she didn’t have enough clients on deck to pay the bills. Reggie always picked up the slack and never said an unkind word about her inability to make ends meet.
