Page 39 of No More Secrets

“He doesn’t have a car, and I need money.”

“For a bus ticket? Done.” He reaches for his wallet.

She stretches the hem farther. “I need more than a bus ticket. Finn is broke. He can’t support me, and I don’t want him to. I need a job.”

“Fine. I’ll give you one.” Work is good. It’ll keep her mind off her assault.

Her mouth falls open.

“I can’t in good conscience tell you to go home.” Or give her a lift to Hollywood. Finn is bad news. If one of his sisters wanted to live with a guy she chatted with online but hadn’t met in real life, he’d never take them. In fact, he’d try to talk them out of that nonsense. In time, Shiloh might realize she can do better than that guy. Does he know where she’s been living? “You can work in the market for as long as you want. But people I know will be curious about you. We need to make up a story.”

“Like what, I’m your daughter or something?”

“Or something.” A daughter is too close. Ivy will ask if he has a wife. “We’ll tell them you’re my niece.” He notices the dark blemish spreading across her cheekbone. Her shiner is a few shades on the side of nasty this morning, as is his. He saw himself in the mirror.

He points at her black eye. “We also need a story for that.” He pours her coffee and slides over the mug. “I’ve got mine. We don’t want them thinking I knocked you around.”

“What happened to you? Did Barton hit you?” She looks ill when she says his name, and Lucas realizes she’s acting tougher than she’s feeling. Poor kid. He understands more than she’ll ever realize.

He shakes his head. “Fight at the bar.”

“Over what?”

“None of your business.” That’s a story he won’t be sharing with her. She doesn’t need to know about Faye, or that he was banging a married woman.

She taps her lip. “Hmm. How about I’m your niece, and I got into a fight at school? My mom, your sister”—she winks—“is making me stay with you while I’m on suspension.”

He stands in the middle of the kitchen and sips his coffee, considering. “That should work.” Ivy doesn’t know he has siblings. They can easily embellish a story, and he can fabricate a reason Shiloh should move in with Ivy. As to what, he’ll have to figure that out later. But he can’t have her living with him.

She rubs her hands together. “So, when do I start?”

19

Shiloh stands behind the deli counter with Lucas as he unpacks the fridge and spouts off sandwich-making instructions. Condiments first, cold cuts next, followed by the dressings—shredded lettuce, tomatoes, jalapeños, whatever the customer wants. Top it off with Ivy’s secret sauce. And never, ever reveal what’s in that sauce. Lucas doesn’t know, so don’t ask. Ivy mixes a batch each week. Smells like nothing special to Shiloh. Just seasoned vinegar and oil.

She stares in disbelief at the food. The irony. For two weeks she lied, stole, and scrounged for anything she could stomach. They never had much food at home, but she’s never appreciated more what they did have than these past weeks. Now she can eat as much as she wants.

He slides tubs of sliced meats to her across the stainless-steel prep surface and tells her twice which slots to drop them into for the refrigerated display. She’s having trouble keeping her eyes open. She hadn’t slept last night because she wouldn’t take her eye off the door. What if Bob and Barton followed her back to Lucas’s apartment? The lock was flimsy and the door thin. They could easily force their way in while Lucas slept. So could Lucas. What if he lied to her to get her into his apartment?

At some point during the night, she snuck into the kitchen for the switchblade she’d found in the bathroom. She needed protection. But the blade was gone. She stole a steak knife instead and kept it under her pillow, but sleep still eluded her, and her thoughts wandered every which way. Does her mom miss her? Has Ellis hurt her? Do they know where she is? Will he come for her? How long will Finn let her stay withhim when she finally gets there? Will anyone hire her? Should she finish high school first? Is there a real chance to meet Jenna Mason?

Her thoughts then drifted to the books in Lucas’s kitchen. He’s never read them, or he hasn’t read them often. She could tell when she cracked one open. The spine was stiff. She wondered again why he had them if he didn’t read them when it clicked. His name.

She’s read many articles about Jenna, and in one she mentioned an older brother she hasn’t seen since she ran away. Could Lucas be him? What are the odds? There must be hundreds of guys with that name. But the possibility excited her so much so that she blurted it the second she saw him. He was shocked. She’d caught him off guard. And if his expression told her anything... heishim.

Fingers snap in her face.

“Wake up, Sunshine. Pay attention.”

She jerks her head back. “Don’t call me that.”

“Shiloh.” He pushes tubs of prepped food into her arms. “Set these up.”

She looks at the deli counter. “Where do you want them?”

“Just told you.” He gestures at the slots.

“What order?” she asks, knowing he likely told her that, too, and she hadn’t been paying attention.

---