Page 35 of The Reluctant Hero

“Where the fuck is my girl, Cade?” I yell, the muscles in my neck straining as fury tries to take over. It stops everything as people look my way in surprise.

“Hey, Ace,” Max says in a wary tone. He doesn’t like me. Hasn’t ever since our first two in the mornin’ meetin’ with his sweet girl smilin’ in our faces and pamperin’ us like we’re worth somethin’ after we woke them all up. He’s a lucky fucker to have her, and he knows it.

“Keep it down,” Asher says in his no-bullshit tone. He hasn’t warmed up to us either.

Cade spins to face me, and his scowl gets deep as he yells back. “I don’t fucking know, ok? We looked all over for her. Hopefully, she’s just late.”

Asher rubs a hand over his face in exasperation while the rest take in the drama.

“You!” I stab a finger at one of the women as she gawps at me like a fish. “Where is Manda?”

“Uh,” she glances at her friend who’s eyein’ me like a side of beef. “You mean Amanda?”

No shit, girl.

“She did tell you she’s married, right?” The friend asks with a pitying look. “She can’t beyour girl.”

I’ll deal with her ex problem after I have her stuck to me like glue. That fucker will disappear into an ocean and never be found.

“Do I look like I give a fuck?” I snap back. “Call her.”

“Ace,” Shade’s unemotional tone matches Gabe’s so well I automatically turn to him. He approaches me with his deadly, quiet walk and steps off the mat.

This man, I get. He has his own obsession to look after in the form of a psycho that showers him with affection. He’ll understand better than any of these other fuckers. Everyone else can see him as the danger he is, but I feel like he’s a kindred spirit. A calmer kindred, but it counts.

“I want my girl, Shade. I can’t find her, and I’m gettin’ worried.”

“How do you know her?”

“She works in my office,” Gabe answers for me. They sound so much alike that it’s hard to tell them apart. How none of us realized they’re related is anyone’s guess.

Gabe shouldn’t have piped up, though. He hasn’t made any effort to talk to Shade and vice versa. Things have kinda gone stale between them.

“And?” Shade raises a brow, unimpressed.

“I met her, and I want her, ain’t that enough?” I snap at him. I need him focused on me, not his family issues.

He eyes me for a second and then looks over my shoulder with a hint of surprise. The first real emotion he’s given since I got here.

“She isn’t here today, Ace.” A feminine, breathy monotone says from behind me.

“Baby? When did you get here?” Shade asks, his tone going from black ice to warmth in a split second.

My shoulders stiffen at the sound of South’s voice. Mikael does a double-take in surprise, and Gabe goes still. There’s nowhere she could fuckin’ hide in the room. How did I miss her?

I slowly turn to her with a frown. “You know Manda?”

“No,” her head tilts thoughtfully, but her dead eyes don’t leave mine. “But she interests me. She isn’t like them.”

I take in the women as she gestures around. The tight clothes and stick-thin bodies. All dolled up and hardly sweatin’. It’s clear they’re here for a different type of exercise. No wonder South is lurkin’. She’s as obsessed with Shade as he is with her. These women are on borrowed time and look like it’s the first time they’ve seen her. They’re too stupid to be afraid based on their judgmental side eyes.

“She always sees me, even when I don’t want her to. Her instincts are warped and utterly fascinating. She can only sense physical threats, not mental ones. She’s well-skilled in it without any practice. She hasn’t spoken to me yet, though.”

I look at South in confusion, an expression mimicked through Shade. This seems to be news to him, too. She smirks at the look on my face and glances over my shoulder to Shade.

“You want me to find her, baby?” Shade asks casually. I can tell that he doesn’t like how interested she is. I can’t say I like it much either.

Cade and Jake have moved to join us and keep an eye on South and Shade.

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