Page 197 of The Reluctant Hero

I get out of bed without any finesse, too sore to pretend I’m feeling amazing. If he wants to see morning Amanda, he can. And he can swallow the grumpy attitude that comes with it. I don’t care about impressing anyone. I’m still dressed from last night with my shoes on, ready to go.

“You know I didn’t trash your place, right?” He asks in a subdued voice.

I make a show of looking around the floor and nod decisively. “I don’t see any shredded panties fromthisbreak-in. The odds are in your favor.”

I believed Tera when she explained to me how innocent he was, but I’m not showing my hand to him. I feel too vulnerable and raw to have that kind of faith put back in his hands for safekeeping.

“You know better,” he snaps, suddenly enraged.

I turn back to look at him with a cold stare. “I thought Iknew betterabout a lot of things. You put yourself on that list, not me.”

The rage in his eyes cracks to reveal pain. It’s so raw that I almost cringe at the sight. My heart aches from seeing it. I want it to stop.

A gentle knock on the door makes Ace shout, “Get fuckin’ lost!”

He rallied quickly.

I don’t hesitate to add, “Come in.”

The furious look he gives me makes me want to flip him off. I choose to pretend he isn’t there instead.

“Breakfast is served,” a calm voice calls from the other side of the door. Whoever this woman is, she seems completely unaffected by Ace’s yell. I would have been in his face, threatening him with a stapler for it.

I roll my eyes and open the door, watching a maid walk away. Uniform and everything. She’s younger than I am and has a sway to her hips that makes me jealous.

No. That’s none of my business. As soon as this is all over I’m out of here. Or I’ll die in the middle of everything. Either way, these men get nothing out of me anymore.

I follow after her with Ace hot on my heels. He’s breathing down my neck like he did when we first met. I’m ashamed of the fact that my body reacts to it. I can smell his cologne. My heart twists which makes my lips tighten.

We enter the same dining room as before with the same seat placement. At least I recognize the food this time. My stomach betrays me by grumbling angrily.

As soon as he sees me Jake starts making me a plate, sampling everything with a thoughtful look. It’s pretty hilarious, especially when everyone watches him with flat glares. I feel the urge to laugh come up and then dissipate just as fast.

I’m not friends with these people. I never was. I need to get that through my head. Jake is using me to get one up on the rest of these assholes. That’s fine with me but I can’t get chummy with Jake over it.

The remembered feel of his lips on mine mixed with Ace at my back makes me wince. I will not give in to these urges. For my own sanity.

I pull out the chair and practically throw it back as I move to the side. It hits Ace and bounces back to me, so I take a seat. He doesn’t grunt or even make a sound about how forcefully I yanked it out, but he does take two quick steps back afterward. I’m disappointed at the lack of reaction.

As soon as I’m seated, he walks to his place and sits down, glaring at me the whole way.

“I’d like to talk to you,” he says with a low tone of anger building up.

“Go for it,” I tell him without much interest.

“Alone.”

“Keep breaking in. That seems to work for you. Jake bought me plenty of panties.”

Ace’s teeth gnash as Jake hands me the plate with a bright smile. “This is safe,meine Seele.”

Like he would know after only a few seconds.

I cut into my pancakes, keeping my head down while Ace berates Jake about buying me panties. It makes Cade start up to defend his bestie. It’s excellent background noise for thinking. All I need is a few guitars and drums, and this could be a song.

I want to look up more information on the names I have. See who is left standing after the tie-ups from last night. They have my phone, and I doubt they’ll give it back. I have a TV in the room. I could watch the news. Other than that, what am I supposed to do? I know they won’t allow me to leave.

Gabriel clears his throat, stopping the argument in its tracks as a maid enters. Another young woman isreallyhappy to be at work. I can tell by how much she fawns over Gabriel. I want to tell her not to fall for it, but I doubt she would listen.

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