Page 54 of The Reluctant Hero

Good question. A little history will verify her story or prove she’s a liability.

Why is Blake suddenly showing up while we’re here? Anothercoincidence?

“Everyone in the complex, man,” he gives us a disgusted look. “When she first got here, she was sad all the time. The angry version is a fuck ton better. She doesn’t act like she’s seen anything physical, though.”

“How long has she been here?” Ace butts in. Gabe gives him a glare for it that gets ignored.

“Uh, like four or five months?”

“That long?” Gabe asks and looks around at the barren wasteland of the apartment.

That’s an impressive length of time to portray a victim. And the highlighting might never have been brought to our attention. She certainly wouldn’t have planned to verbally abuse us as soon as she saw us. If she knew about us she would have known about Jake and Cade. She hasn’t been treating them any better.

“Well, well, well.”

Amanda’s voice comes clearly through the door. The ominous pitch sounds so offbeat it makes Manny’s eyes widen in delight.

“Please let her kick him in the dick,” he sends the prayer up in a mutter and presses his ear to the door.

My eyes meet Gabe’s. I can see that he’s on the same wavelength as I am. There’s no need to look at Ace. He’s already in. If this fucker tries something, we’re breaking him in half.

We can’t help but move closer to take in the argument.

The man evensoundslike a scumbag. How the hell did someone like Amanda marry that? She can do so much better. Say, any of us, for instance.

Ace’s vicious smile at her cutting the man down to size is disturbing. Gabe crosses his arms with a smirk, happy that someone else is getting her rage-filled venom.

When he tries to convince her to let him inside the apartment, I’m hoping she says yes. I want him in here with us. We can see how that conversation goes.

“You better fuckin’ beg, and I’ll still kill you,” Ace mutters, his stare firmly fixed on the wall as if he can see through it to the fucker outside. Manny slowly glances back at him with fear.

Or there won’t be a conversation at all. I’m good with it either way.

The more Blake speaks, the angrier Ace gets. He’s doing everything he can to convince her to give him a second chance as if he’s innocent.

A thought hits like a bolt of lightning.

He doesn’t know. He has no idea she’s seen what he’s been up to.

So who the fuck is sending her the photos?

I glance back at the drawer I left open. Could it be one of the women in the photos sending them as a warning? Are there even more out there?

Ace takes a stealthy step closer to the door, catching my attention. He’s gearing up, not that I blame him. But there’s a kid here, and despite Amanda’s assurances of wanting Blake dead, it’s another story to watch it happen in front of her.

Blake pleads with her to come home but she adamantly refuses. It isn’t until he starts insinuating she’s cheating as well that her anger breaks. Gabe’s arms drop and Ace begins scowling.

When we first got here, we thought she was sleeping with Manny, which led us all into anger before she opened the door. Finding out it was a kid soothed us. This doesn’t.

She sounds baffled as Blake starts getting angrier. His voice is dropping into a low threat that I don’t like. That’s a lot of rage for a man who’s slept with an entire town’s worth ofwomen. Gabe and Ace are too intent on getting information to pay attention to it.

“Who is the guy that’s calling youhisgirl?” Blake snaps, out of patience with her.

Gabe’s head turns to take in the surprised pleasure that covers Ace’s face. My brows furrow. Was Blake at the gym? That’s the only place Ace has said that other than just a second ago. And in the car. And in the office.

How didheknow?

A tiny niggle in the back of my brain has me turning back to the open drawer again. Before I can take two steps, Blake snaps something at Amanda, sending Ace over the edge.

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