As far as everyone at Hamilton’s knew, Carson was still Andy, and we were not friends or colleagues. He didn’t come to my table to chat. The only acknowledgement of me was if he came to take my empty glass or a chin lift when I arrived. The usual greeting that any man would give another man at a bar. That was how it had to be until we worked out what the hell was going on.

“Hey, Ben.” I looked up from the menu to find Shelley standing next to me with a nervous smile and holding the note pad, ready to take my order. “Sorry to hear about you and Sasha. I heard today.”

Fuck, news travelled fast around this place. Exactly what she had heard was what I wanted to know. We’d made it clear to Sasha and Missy that no one outside of who was at my house could know what was going on. That included their friends, our families, and staff at both Sass and the diner. After some resistance, we’d made it clear that it was for everyone’s safety that the less people that knew the better. Until we figured out what was going on, it needed to be kept in house.

“Thanks, Shelley. All is good.” I looked back at the menu, before looking back at her when she didn’t leave.

“Do you want to order something? I’m clocking off in ten and heading to Sasha’s for an impromptu girls night, so you can order with me or wait till Andy clocks on in fifteen.”

“Still deciding. So, I’ll wait for Andy.”

She nodded. “Sounds good. See you around.”

As soon as she left, I unlocked my phone and tapped into my messages.

BEN: I hear you are having a girl’s night

SASHA: You really need to learn how to greet someone.

SASHA: Missy told the girls that there is no longer a Ben and Sasha. So, that’s why the girls are coming here. Unlike the men in my life, I find it hard to lie, so it’s really shitty to have to keep all of this from my friends. So, if you can speed things up, that would be fan-freaking-tastic. Also, you need to tell Andy, damn it, Carson that he needs to take care of the girls at work, and extra care of Paige. She has a little girl and I don’t like her being there when Edward is doing whatever it is Edward is doing. Tell Drew as well. Oh, and thank you for the cake.

I smirked at my phone. Fuck me, even through text she was sassy.

BEN: There is still a Ben and Sasha.

SASHA: That’s the only thing you got out of that rant?

BEN: I find that the most important part, but I’ve taken everything else on board. Your girl is going to be fine. No need to fire her. And I’ll be sure to speed things up. That way, you and I can also speed things up.

SASHA: Uh Ben . . . there is no you and me. And if there was, it would be at a snail’s pace.

BEN: A snail is still moving forward, so I’ll take it.

SASHA: Pizza is here. Gotta go.

I locked my phone and went back to looking at the menu with a smile on my face. Shit was getting thick around us, but she could still bring a smile to my face, even when she was talking about there not being an us. I thought she would have realized by now that I always got what I wanted, and her telling me we were done just made me want to work even harder for it. I was stubborn, but she had no idea just how stubborn I could become. I’d give her the space she needed, but there were some things I wouldn’t give her.

“Come to my office in ten minutes,” Drew said, stopping briefly beside my table. “Carson will be here in five.”

“Right.”

Austin had left for the East Coast earlier today to visit his sister, Ashlyn, so I was flying solo for a couple of days. I’d already received a call from Ashlyn, and most of the call was her screeching that I had kept Sasha a secret. She threatened to get on a plane, and it was only thanks to her boyfriend that she moved on from flying here and started on about me finding Austin a woman, like I was some sort of matchmaker. Seriously, she was the best kind of ridiculous at times, and her craziness reminded me a lot of Sasha. I looked forward to the day when they would meet each other.

True to Drew’s word, five minutes later, Carson strolled in dressed for a shift. He scanned the room, gave me a chin lift, and moved to the bar. For the next five minutes, I sat, drinking my beer yet still alert. Hamilton’s was a town favorite. The only place you went if you wanted good beer, better food, and even better hospitality. My grandfather was a regular, my father comes on occasion, and now that Sasha was in my life, I knew this place would be in my life, so that meant something to me. It was pissing me off that I couldn’t figure out what was happening and why O’Leary was focused on this place. I wanted to drag him in and do what I needed to do to get the information on him, but at the moment we had nothing concrete, and if we did anything in the grey, we’d fuck up the case. That was why the motherfucker was on top of my Fucker of the Century list. Having to be in the same town as him, and not be able to do what I wanted to him, really pissed me off.

All I could hope was that one day he’d do something stupid, and I’d be waiting in the wings to put his ass away for the rest of his pitiful life.

Five minutes were up.

I downed the rest of my beer, carried the glass to the bar, and focused on Shelley. “Is Drew free?”

She smiled. “Let me check.”

She disappeared into the office, and I tapped the top of the bar while I waited. I knew he was free, but I had to keep up appearance in case someone was watching. I clocked Carson talking to the Mayor and his family by the jukebox, several tables toward the stage were occupied by Monroe University’s football team, and they were in the beginning stages of getting rowdy, something I knew would infuriate Carson because he’d have to be the one to look after them when he’d prefer to be concentrating on other people, and a few tables sporadically located around the edges had people enjoying a few drinks.

The door opened and Shelley ushered me inside. Before she left, she stopped beside me, leaned in, and whispered, “He is in a mood.”

As soon as the door closed, I took a seat on the opposite side of the desk and looked at Drew.

“I’m going to organize a meeting with O’Leary. I need this bullshit to stop before it completely ruins this place and fucks up Sasha’s reputation. I can deal with that bullshit hanging over my head, but I’m not letting it taint Sasha.”

I clenched my jaw and stared at him. He was losing patience, and I was already teetering on the edge. That was a bad combination. If this had been any other case, I’d tell him that there was no way, but this was different.

“When?” I asked, my voice dropping low.

Surprise crossed his face. “As soon as I can.”

“Answer me this one question.” I leaned forward, my elbows resting on the table and my hands clasped in front of me. “Why didn’t you come to us when this first started happening?”

“I’ve been taking care of Sasha since she was fifteen. Our dad tried his best, but when our mother left, he crumbled. I watched the strongest man I’d known get fucked over by someone who was meant to be his forever. She left her husband and her fucking kids, for what? Dad never got those answers. He felt like he wasn’t worth jack shit, and wasn’t enough to stick around for. Now, Sasha deals with those feelings. You ever wonder why someone as beautiful, kind, and loving as her hasn’t been snapped up? It’s because she is so tightly shut that it would take someone with the patience of a saint, or in your case the stubbornness of a bull, to penetrate her walls. My job is to protect her. I protected her from this for as long as I could. That’s why I kept it to myself. I thought O’Leary was just a hothead with big plans. Then Jacqueline walked through those doors, and suddenly he was someone entirely different. Things changed.”

That was all I needed to hear. My decision was made. Consequences be damned.

“I’m there if you organize this meeting.”

His brow rose. “How’s that going to sit with Captain?”

“At this point in time, I don’t give a fuck about my career. I’m thinking about your sister, who’s become something to me. The longer O’Leary is out there, the longer Sasha keeps building those walls. I’m a strong man, but fuck, those walls are tough to get through, so I don’t want them getting any higher. O’Leary has pissed me off. He destroyed the life of a good woman, and in the process fucked with my cousin’s head, and now he is doing the same here. But now it’s really fucking personal. The sooner he is dealt with, the sooner I can get started healing your sister’s hurt.”

He observed me for two beats before his hand shot out.

We shook hands, and an unspoken agreement was made.