Page 84 of Savage Wilder (Sinners and Saints 4)

“You’ll have to be to prove what happened to your parents. Here’s my number if you need me. Good luck.”

With that, Ethan wipes his mouth with a napkin, slips me a business card, and tosses down enough cash to cover his meal before he nods to us and leaves.

Maisy sits back against the fake red leather. “Kismet.”

“Bless you?” My brows dip. “The hell is that?”

She blows out an amused breath, lips curving. “It means fate, that something was meant to be. We seriously got lucky crossing paths with an undercover journalist who’s been digging into the same thing you have.”

“I don’t believe in fate,” I mutter, glancing out the window to watch the vehicles on the interstate fly by the exit for Ridgeview. “Shit’s for fairytales.”

“I believe you and I were meant to find each other again.” Her hand finds mine and she leans her head on my shoulder. I almost laugh because I knew she’d call us fate. “You and me, that’s how it’s supposed to be. Just like we used to say.”

That I can’t argue with. It’s the only way to explain the way my heart beats harder when she’s around. How much less I’m ruled by the anger of my past because she keeps me grounded from spiraling out of control. How much better I fucking sleep without nightmares clawing at my mind because she’s in my arms with her soothing floral and coconut scent wrapped around me.

“You’re right.” I turn back and drop a kiss on top of her head, inhaling her sweetness mingled with my shampoo. “It was a lucky break. We could’ve missed him and then we wouldn’t have more information to comb through.”

“See, the power of positive thinking.” She sits up. “That’s what Thea always says.”

“The one with the bakery, right? Eloped in Paris?”

She nods with a fond smile. I’m hit by a pang of guilt. Maisy deserves to be enjoying her summer with her friends and living a normal life, but instead I’ve dragged her into my shadows and uncovered the seedy underbelly rotting this town from the ground up.

“Wait, how did you know about Paris?” She narrows her gaze. “I didn’t tell you about that.”

The corners of my mouth curl up in a smug smile. “I told you, daisy. Any move you made, I knew about it.” Grasping her chin, I angle her face up and kiss her. She grins into it. “Ready to get out of here?”

“Yes. I want to know what Ethan’s found in the time he’s spent under the radar.”

“Me too.”

We leave the diner and I press Maisy back against the side of the Charger for another kiss before I hold her door open for her. She laughs as she slides in.

On our way back to my place, I grow quiet, contemplating everything we’ve learned in the last several hours. I can tell she’s worried about me by the thousand and one looks she’s shot at me in the last ten minutes alone.

She must finally reach a limit, because she reaches across the center console and takes my hand.

“What are you thinking?” Her soft voice is a balm to my aching soul.

I lick my lips, staring ahead at the road. My hand hangs over the wheel and I twitch my fingers, thinking how to put it.

“I have a bad feeling. All of this is bigger than I thought.” I shake my head. “I only set out to prove the truth about my parents being murdered, that it was covered up. I never expected to discover this intricate web of lies and corruption. This shit runs so deep its roots burrow into Ridgeview.”

“But now we can make it right.”

Her optimism is a buoy to reach for in the churning sea I feel myself being pulled further into. I thread our fingers together, knuckles turning white from how tightly I grip her smaller hands. I just need to hold on and let her light guide me out of the darkness threatening to swallow me whole.

“I don’t know what to do, Maise,” I admit hoarsely.

Christ, I sound so goddamn broken and beat down by the hand I’ve been dealt. I wish more than anything nothing bad ever happened so she and I could’ve been two kids who grew up together and had a good life. But I know that’s not how the world works. It’s a cruel reality.

“No matter where this goes, I’m with you,” she assures me with an admirable steel in her tone.

I manage to loosen my death grip on her hand and bring it up to my mouth for a kiss. That’s when I see it in the rearview mirror. My body stiffens and time seems to slow in the seconds it takes me to suck in a sharp breath and focus on one thing: drive.

A loud bang goes off and Maisy screams. The back window blows out in a shower of broken glass. Fuck, this can’t be happening!

“Get down!” I shout, trying to shield her while I drive.

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