Page 16 of Gather the Storm

“So?” Jace said, because he was nothing if not a witty conversationalist.

“It came with a stipend too, a fund that can be used only to fix this place up.” I wished for the millionth time that I could talk to my mom, that I’d known she would leave me the house so I could ask her why: why this one thing when she’d come from so much money?

“Sounds like you’re all set,” Jace said. “Congratulations.”

He said it with a sneer, giving voice to something I’d always suspected: that Jace Kane thought I was nothing more than a spoiled rich girl.

That he didn’t see me at all.

“Except it’s not actually a lot of money.” It wasn’t really a lie. It seemed like a lot of money on paper, but I knew it wouldn’t go far in the hundred-year-old house. “Not for a house this size in this condition. Which is why I invited you here.”

Not the whole reason — not even the main reason — but they didn’t need to know that.

Across the room, Wolf leaned against the wall and rubbed his thumb across his lower lip, a gesture that had made me feel like some kind of swoony Victorian heroine when I’d been fifteen and that made me feel more like a horny slut now. “Still not getting you, Daisy.”

Otis wasn’t looking at me at all. He was looking at the room, taking in its high ceilings, the deep crown moldings (real plaster, chipping in places), the chandelier that probably hadn’t been dusted since 1901.

“I need help fixing this place up,” I said, finally taking the plunge. They were making me nervous, the room filling with their testosterone like carbon monoxide.

Silent.

Deadly.

“We’re not contractors,” Jace said, turning to leave. “Good luck.”

“Wait!” I hated how desperate I sounded. But Iwasdesperate. He sighed and turned back around. “I know you’re not contractors, but the thing is, I don’t actually think I need a contractor. I’m…” I searched for words that wouldn’t make me seem like a delusional bitch. “I’m actually good at this, I think.”

“Good at what?” Otis asked. There was no snark attached to the question, none of Jace’s not-so-hidden derision, none of Wolf’s wariness, like he was an actual wolf, eyeing unpredictable prey.

It was something I’d always liked about Otis: the way he just said things straight, no emotion, no guesswork.

Unlike Jace, who made it clear he despised me, and Wolf, who always made me feel like there was an undercurrent of unspoken words between us, the way the river ran under sheets of ice in winter.

“Good at… interior design and stuff.” That part was true. I’d redecorated my room at least ten times as a kid, and when Cassie and Sarai had started reading smutty romance novels, I’d been busy pinning paint colors and furniture to my overflowing Pinterest board. “I know what I want to do here. I can even do some of it myself, like the painting. But I’d have to hire someone for the big things and I thought maybe you guys could use the room and board.”

I knew as soon as I’d said it that I’d made a mistake.

Jace sneered. “You think we need you to give us a job? That we’re sad ex-cons who need a break?”

“That’s not what I meant.” Wolf’s mom was a professor and Otis’ family was solidly middle class. And while it might seem like Jace was poor from the outside — no parents, living on theBlades’ compound in the middle of the woods downriver, raised by Mac — I knew that was a smoke screen.

Jace had money — like, a lot of money — thanks to all the illegal stuff the Blades got up to. There had even been rumors that he, Wolf, and Otis had gotten up to some of it with Blake before he’d died, that they’d been building their own enterprise.

“Why don’t you tell us what you did mean,” Wolf said.

He was still leaning against the wall and I had a flash of him at the party the night Blake was killed, staring at me through the crowd.

Had I imagined that his gaze had seemed hungry?

“Yeah,princess.” Jace’s words were laced with hate. “Why don’t you?”

His tone got under my skin. I needed to keep them — the Beasts — close. For a while at least. It was the only way I was going to find out if they’d really killed Blake.

But that didn’t mean I had to put up with Jace’s shit.

“I don’t know.” This time I didn’t try to keep the anger from my voice. “I need help and I guess I thought you guys might need some space while you figure things out.” I looked at Otis. “But if you’d rather go live with your parents and sisters, feel free.” I turned my gaze on Wolf. “And hey, if you’d rather move back in with your mom and look for a job, I hear Syd’s is hiring.” That was kind of a low blow — I actually liked that Wolf was close to his mom, and there was nothing wrong with working at Syd’s— but I was desperate. Finally I looked at Jace. “I’m sure everything is just how you left it at the compound. All the same people, all the same shit.” I shrugged. “They’re probablythrilledto have you back, what with your winning personality. It’s probably not awkward at all.”

I was taking a stab in the dark, but it was a good stab. I’d had a lot of time to think about my plan. A lot of time to figure out the best angle.

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