Page 187 of The Reluctant Hero

He sounds deflated now that she’s out of his sight. His stiff act of pompous manners isn’t helping her relax with him. I hoped that if I pissed both of them off enough, it would break through that.

“She ain’t fightin’ back like she should,” Ace argues.

He’s right. Last week, Amanda would have smirked and flipped me off. She would have jibed at Gabe to give her a raise to cover it. I miss that snark already. Who knew that I would regret losing dry, cutting wit at every sentence I uttered? The flat response I just got has twisted my heart into knots.

“Maybe none of you are worth the effort,” Jake points out mildly.

My eyes jerk up to him as he takes another bite of food. Everyone stares as he chews as slowly as he can.

“I’m just saying if you didn’t listen when she needed you, why would you now?”

“Bullshit,” Ace snaps and slams his chair back to get up.

“She needs to relax a little. Get comfortable with us again,” Mikael stands up, ready to stop him from going after her in a rage. I know he wouldn’t hurt her, and so does Mikael.

Amanda doesn’t anymore.

“You’re going to scare her like this,” I tell him with a glare. “Especially now.”

That freezes him better than any threat Mikael could have made.

Jake chokes on a laugh and reaches for his water to take a heavy swallow.

“We need to figure out what is going on with her,” Mikael covers his dramatic act with a glare.

“She’s upset at the arrest, and she knows Blake had a hand in it. She’s retaliating,” Gabriel muses out loud.

Jake has his phone in his hand, watching her through whatever camera system he has set up, I’m sure. I want to snatch the phone out of his hand to watch it myself.

He glances at me with a smirk. The bastard has been with me long enough he can practically read my mind.

“She’s fine, Cadey. Relax.”

Fucking asshole. If he doesn’t stop calling me out, I’m going to deck him.

“You put a camera in her room?” Mikael asks in exasperation.

“Which one did you put her in?” Ace turns on Jake with a scowl. He doesn’t care about Jake’s spying, which surprises me. He’d usually be pissed about it.

“Hers,” Jake answers casually without looking up.

“Hers?” Gabriel asks in confusion.

My lips go slack as I realize just how much Jake has been doing behind the scenes. He has some kind of need to keep people comfortable. I can’t count how many times gifts have appeared in my room that he thinks will make my life easier.Ranging from weapons to antidepressants that he’s stolen from some innocent individual. I even came home once to brand new soothing wallpaper. His ability to get shit accomplished is mind-boggling.

“You didn’t,” I protest and put a hand over my face to hide my sudden glee. I know he did, and I’m rooting for him all the way. Jake is in, and he won’t hesitate to push so I can get in as well. I know it.

“You’re spoilin’ her already?” Ace asks in a thoughtful tone. He isn’t yelling and tossing chairs, either. It makes my hand drop away as my expression settles into wary suspicion.

He isn’t acting jealous at all. Why?

Ace’s eyes flick to me, and he raises a brow, startling me.

He wants a team-up? We’ve never crossed the lines before. It’s why I’ve been somewhat flirting without going all out. Not that Jake got that memo. Obviously. We don’t tread on their turf and vice versa.

I look around at Mik and Gabe to find them staring back at me with the same look.

Holy shit. They’re serious.

---