He went to the phone on his desk after making a mental note to send his assistant out to purchase another cell phone. He was about to pick up the phone to call Evangeline when the door to his office opened.
His head went up, a reprimand for disturbing him when he’d left clear orders for the opposite poised to fly off his tongue, when he saw who was standing in the doorway of his office.
Evangeline?
He dropped the phone and strode around the front of his desk and over to where she stood, visibly shaken and pale.
“Evangeline, what’s wrong?” he asked sharply.
Despite the fact that he was looking at a suspected betrayer, his concern for her temporarily edged out all other thoughts and emotions. She looked frightened. Hell, she looked terrified. And she was shaking from head to toe.
She’d never even been to any of his offices other than the one he kept at the club. Though he’d never forbidden her access, it was an unspoken agreement that she was kept separate from work.
What would cause her to break that tacit agreement now? Then his eyes narrowed sharply and a black frown took over his face.
“Where the hell are the men who are supposed to be protecting you?” he asked in a dangerously low tone.
“Z-Zander came with me,” she stammered out. “I’m so sorry, Drake. I don’t mean to disturb you, but I had to come right away, so I asked Zander if he would bring me. Please don’t be angry with him. I didn’t give him a choice. I’m sorry for just barging in on you like this, but I had to talk to you.”
Puzzled by her panic, Drake guided her toward the couch in front of his desk. “It’s all right, Evangeline,” he said in a soothing voice. “Sit down.”
He took her hands, shocked by how cold they were and how hard they were shaking. Once settled beside her, he studied her features even more closely than before. Anger and a keen sense of protectiveness surged within him when he took in just how pale, scared and shaken she was. Despite his initial anger over her meeting with the cop, he pushed those black thoughts aside for the moment.
“Did someone try to hurt you?” he demanded. “Did someone threaten you in any way?”
“No,” she whispered, the sound nearly a sob. “But someone intends to hurt you.”
He reared back in surprise because that was the very last thing he’d expected her to say. Certain he’d heard wrong, he put both of his hands on her shoulders and forced her to look directly into his eyes.
“What are you talking about? Tell me everything that has happened and especially tell me why you think someone is trying to hurt me.”
She took in a deep, steadying breath and when she lifted her gaze to his, tears sparkled on her lashes. “Zander, Thane and Hatcher were going to take me shopping today, but first, we went to eat lunch. While we were waiting for our food, I went to the bathroom and when I came out, there was a man blocking the hallway. When I tried to step around him, he wouldn’t let me pass. He showed me . . . He showed me his badge and he was wearing a gun too. Then he called me by name and told me he needed to speak to me about police business.
“I was confused. I mean, why would the police need to speak to me about anything?” she asked in a bewildered voice.
Oh, Drake could well imagine, and the picture was finally starting to form. Fucking bastards using an innocent woman to try to get to him. It shouldn’t surprise him. Little did.
“When I said as much, he said—not asked—that you were my boyfriend. And I told him that I didn’t see how my personal life could possibly be any sort of police business.”
Good girl. He mentally applauded her.
“Then he said, and again it wasn’t in the form of a question, did I know what all you were into.” She shook her head, anger sparking in her eyes, removing the trace of tears from moments earlier. “I told him you had several businesses, one of which was the club. He called me naïve and told me that you would take me down with him. Then . . .”
Her voice cracked and she shuddered, lifting her hands to rub up and down her arms as though she were freezing to death.
“What then, Angel?” he asked gently.
“He gave me this.”
She dug into her purse and drew out a business card, holding it out to him with a look of utter distaste as if she couldn’t bear to touch it.
“He asked if I’d be willing to pass them information about you. If I would spy on you,” she said in a horrified voice. “I told him no. Never. He told me that he would make sure I had police protection and that you would never be able to harm me.”