Page 72 of Joy Ride

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“Is it okay if I call you Sevan?”ex-special agent Jordan Mikalski asked as he leaned forward, his elbows on his knees.Even if she hadn’t heard it from Walker, she would have known he was some kind of cop.

Despite being supposedly retired, he still reeked of authority and a love of the rules.

Something she had never valued much.“Yeah, I prefer that.Never know who’s listening, especially since I’m not done with my work at Wildfire.”

Of course, Joy had to choose right then to walk into the great room of the fancy-ass mountain retreat where they’d stashed her.It might as well have been a fortress, built of stones and timbers the size of telephone poles, set on top of a mountain with miles of empty, gated land in every direction and guards stationed at the gates.

The place belonged to Jordan’s wife’s husband, Kason Cox.Yeah, that was a brainteaser and a tongue twister, but once Sevan had worked it out she realized that Walker, Dane, and Joy had found shelter here for a reason.The Hot Rides were some freaky folks.

She liked them already.

Still, who knew country stars lived like this?

Sevan supposed she should have, but she’d never thought of it before.

This was a whole different universe than she was used to.No poverty like what she’d been steeped in during her life before Wildfire.No president telling her what to do.No rival club threatening civil war at any moment.No misogynistic bullshit about what women were capable of.Hell, Wren—Jordan’s wife—was a welder at Hot Rides, and Kyra—their friend—was the drummer in Kason’s band.

As much as she would love to live like they did, she couldn’t.Not until she’d fulfilled her purpose.

“Wait, what was that?”Joy asked, one hand propped on her hip and the other wrapped around a tiny little baby with her bright eyes.Holy shit.That was a lot of responsibility right there.“Why the hell would you even consider going back to Wildfire?I told you, you can stay with us.Or, if you don’t like that idea, I’ll ask Devra for an advance on my salary and help you get set up in town, although I think you’re safer close by—”

“Joy, hang on a second.”Sevan stood and crossed to the woman she’d always looked up to.She peered at the child in Joy’s arms and sighed.It hadn’t even occurred to her to hope for something like that.A real family.A future.Wow.

Sevan shook her head to keep from getting distracted by her thoughts, surprised when the ends of her wig slapped her elbows.It felt so fucking weird to have long hair, though she had been glad she’d donned her disguise when Clive had looked right past her in the diner.

Apparently the YouTube videos she’d watched on contouring had been pretty damn effective, too, changing the entire structure of her face enough to throw him off.

“I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong idea.I didn’t come here to break free.I’m looking for reinforcements.And I think I found them…”

“I’m not going back.”Joy looked at her as if she was a raving lunatic.“And neither are Walker and Dane.I’m sorry.I want to help you but that’s not the way.Not for any of us.”

“I would never ask you to.”Sevan sighed.“There’s a lot you don’t understand.”

It weighed on her, making her even more tired that she already was.

For Sevan, it had been an endless night filled with grueling questions volleyed at her by various law enforcement agencies and a few unnamed organizations, like the one Jordan had told her he’d recently formed.However, it seemed like Joy, Walker, and Dane—the guys both following right behind her, of course—had spent that time in much more pleasurable pursuits.

Good for them.They seemed genuinely happy.

And if Sevan had even the faintest glimmer of a hope that she could pull that off someday, she had to come clean with them right then.

“Could you guys sit down so we can talk about some stuff?”Sevan asked, waving them over to the giant couches that felt as luxurious as lounging on clouds compared to the beat-up leather sofas at the Wildfire clubhouse or the threadbare sofas at her grandparents’ house, which had always resulted in a spring gouging her ass when she sat on them.Hell, even the floor had been more comfortable.

“Sure, as long as you get around to why you might not stay.”Joy squeezed Sevan’s hand.“I don’t want you to go.I always enjoyed our talks, and I felt like we had a connection.Now I’m guessing there’s plenty more we could have shared if you had let me in.It’s not too late.”

“Okay, so…hear me out before you say nice shit, okay?”Sevan’s throat grew hoarse as she considered what her revelations might do to the only true friendship she had in the world.

Joy could very well hate her before it was done.And she wouldn’t blame the woman.

“I’m too happy to be in a bad mood today.”Joy beamed at Walker and Dane, who took a seat on either side of her, close enough that their thighs touched all the way down to her knees.

Oh yeah, they’d had one hell of a party last night.

Jordan was staring at Sevan, wondering about what she was about to reveal.She shrugged in lieu of apologizing for not spilling all of her sordid secrets to him when they’d been strategizing about one very specific thing: how to take down Wildfire, for good.

So she looked directly back at him and said, “You can turn on your recorder thingy.You should get this on tape in case I’m not here to tell this to a judge someday.”

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