Page 121 of The Reluctant Hero

“What’s up?” Cade asks with a frown.

“No,” Ace shakes his head. “That’s a fuckin’lie.”

“Ace,” Mikael’s tone is a warning that Ace can’t hear. He’s too busy panting and squeezing the life out of his phone. The clear signs of his impending blackout rage have us all on alert.

Cade snatches the phone from him and hurries behind the couch. Whatever he reads makes his face go grim.

His eyes slowly lift to meet mine. The normally dazzling hazel eyes are dulled—not with surprise but with a cold anger that seethes inside him.

“Gabe, sit down.”

I blink at the odd demand. This isn’t like Cade at all. His tone is forceful and pitying all at once.

“Just tell me,” I grit my teeth, bracing myself for whatever has them both upset.

“It ain’t true, Gabe. Don’t fuckin’ listen.”

“Someone hacked into your account and stole some money,” Cade speaks over him in a calm tone.

“Shut up, Cade!” Ace lunges, stopped when Mikael wraps his arms around him and lifts him off his feet.

That dread churns around in my chest and falls to my stomach.

“Who?”

My voice is too quiet. Too calm. It doesn’t reflect a single thing I’m feeling inside.

“Don’t-”

“Amanda,” Cade’s voice cuts over Ace’s like a laser.

“Bullshit!” Ace yells out in a voice gone hoarse. “I don’t believe it, Gabe. Don’t you dare. Unless I see it with my own eyes, that’s a fuckin’ lie!”

“When did she leave Gabe?” Cade takes control easily as I flounder in chaos.

I can’t answer him. I feel as if something got torn right out of my hands because I wasn’t holding it tight enough. Why?

“Gabe?”

Did she leave because she was upset?

Or because her plan went through and she has no more use for the act?

26

A Starving Heart

Ace

My hands tighten over the steerin’ wheel as my girl walks out of the apartment complex. She looks like she slept for shit last night, just like us.

Mik’s hand drops onto my shoulder to hold me back. I didn’t notice I’d started gettin’ out of my spare truck. The beat-up relic makes it easy for her to ignore us. She’s got no sense of danger in her. She shouldn’t be walkin’ around without one of us right next to her.

“Confronting her won’t help right now,” Mik’s voice is rougher than normal.

“I need to talk to her. She won’t lie with me in front of her,” I choke out.

“We don’t know that anymore.”

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