Page 17 of The Heiress

“Sam will!” Hazel said as she slipped into my running car, the air conditioning on blast.

“Hey,” I touched his arm, a weird sensation shooting up my arm and making me feel weird. “Thanks for your help today. I really appreciate it.”

He turned back to me with a smile. The smile I remembered, all soft and dimply. Boyish. “I’m happy to help. You don’t have to do all this alone. Call me next time you’re down? I’ll bring you dinner and organize your dad’s tools.”

Everyone wanted to feed me and I was okay with that. It was one less thing for me to worry about. “Yeah, deal. Hey, earlier when you said there was more that might release you from things...what did you mean?” The way he said it still haunted me a little. There was an emotional quality to his words that resonated down into my bones.

But Jace grinned. “Aw, don’t worry about it. I was just getting sentimental is all. Wouldn’t it be nice to really put it all behind me one day? You better get on the road before it gets any later.” He nodded toward the waiting car.

“You’re sure?” I hoped maybe he was going to say he could buy his way out of the club or something practical like that, but the time had passed and there was no way Jace was going to tell me now.

“There’s nothing more to say. I promise.” He plastered that fake smile all over his face.

“Okay. Well, have a good week, Jace. I’ll see you in a few days.” I made my way around to the driver’s side and opened the door. The cool air rushed past me and for a moment I shivered, but I realized as I drove away with Jace in my rearview mirror that I wasn’t shivering from the cold.

It was because Jace lied to me on purpose.

* * *

It was pretty muchstraight interstate from Calusa Key to Gainesville. Lots of six-lane traffic interrupted by the constant stream of Florida highway construction. Everything was flat for the first two hours of driving, followed by some random rolling hills, then back to the flat pancake of Payne’s Prairie. I ignored all of it.

“Earth to Samantha. Come in, Samantha,” Hazel cooed between slurps of her large slushie.

“Brain freeze?”

Hazel frowned at the cup. “No. I’m not seven. I know how to handle frozen beverages.” She shifted sideways in the seat to face me. “Are you still pretending you and Jace aren’t wildly attracted to each other?”

I almost veered off the road. When she said his name I pictured little Jace with his floppy hair and wicked smile. He was tan from days in the sun and barefoot like we always were. But, strangely, just as fast as that image flashed through my mind, another one replaced it.

Jace lifting his shirt to reveal his tattoo.

It made my mouth oddly dry and my heart beat faster. The man had abs for days. Sculpted masculine muscles. His jeans hung on his hips in a way that on any other man I would have imagined hooking my fingers through the loops and pulling his body flush against mine.

I forced the image away and made my mind completely blank. “There’s nothing between us and there never will be.” I shot Hazel a pointed look. “Right now I just want to repair our friendship.”

She studied me for several long seconds as I changed lanes to avoid the car with Ohio plates going ten miles under the speed limit in the left lane. Five cars followed me. The Ohio car didn’t move. “So tell me about Devil’s Wrath. You two acted like it was the end of the world or something.”

I grunted in reply, pretending traffic was just too intense to break my attention away from, but Hazel persisted. She stared me down until the interstate cleared up and I had no excuses left.

“His stepdad is the club president.” I glanced her way, not surprised to find I had her full attention. “At eighteen Jace didn’t feel like he had a lot of options. It was join the club or...I don’t even know. He made it seem like Todd would make his life hell until he joined one way or the other.” At the time I genuinely believed moving a few cities away would be enough to start over. Jace could find a job and use his scholarship to go to school. Todd would leave him alone.

“How bad is it?”

I shrugged. “As a kid I overheard my parents talking about them a few times. Mostly worried about me being near them because of Jace. When Jace started prospecting with them I got to see inside a little more. The men were...not nice. But they steered clear of me. Jace was too young for a concealed carry permit, but he started carrying when he was with them.” I remembered the nausea that hit me when I hugged him and felt the weapon under his clothes. “His nights started belonging to the club instead of high school sports. I never knew what he was doing.” I realized part of what bothered me so much, even now, was how much Ididn’tknow. I was a data jock. I loved knowing things so much it was what I did for a living.

Not at the level of Hazel’s position, but we essentially did the same thing. We dug for information and compiled it into useful reports for clients. I had nothing on Devil’s Wrath. Maybe it was time to use my skills to understand the life Jace lived.

“You think they’re into criminal activities?”

I nodded. “I know they are.” I just didn’t know what. Maybe Jace just laundered money or scared people into doing things. Maybe he never used his gun.

“It’s hard to believe.” She set her slushie down and relaxed into the seat. “Jace is so nice. Like,genuinelynice. I get zero bad vibes off of him.”

Neither did I. It was a relief to hear Hazel agree. “People do what they have to do.”

“That’s true.” She twisted back around to face the dashboard. “But if he is part of an outlaw MC then he is most likely a criminal, Sam. Nice or not, he could be dangerous.”

Nine years later and we were still stuck in the same loop. “I know, Hazel. I know.”

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