Page 80 of Surrender (Angels Halo MC Next Gen)

Aggie’s was still fairly busy despite the lunch rush being over. College was in session for a little longer, but even when the students weren’t overpopulating the small town, the diner still saw a lot of business. It was a staple of the community.

“Hey, Samara,” Quinn Hannigan greeted me when I walked up to the counter. Kingston’s dad, Raider, had bought half the place for his wife when Kingston was a kid. Then when Aggie died, she left the other half to Quinn.

“Hi!” I pulled my wallet from my purse to pay for the bag that was already waiting on the counter, but she waved me away.

“Elias paid over the phone,” she said with a grin. She pushed the container toward me. “When did Ryan get to town? Are Nova and the kids with him?”

I paused with my hand on the bag. “They aren’t in town. As far as I know, Ryan is in New York.”

Her brow scrunched. “Really? Huh. Well, I guess everyone has a doppelgänger, because the guy I saw this morning looked exactly like him.”

Unease slithered through me. “Where did you see this guy?”

“Near campus this morning, probably around nine thirty. I figured he was on his way to Lyric’s shop since that is the only place he gets ink. Lyric does private sessions for certain clients sometimes.”

I nodded because that made perfect sense. Ryan only let Lyric Thornton work on his tattoos. Lyric was a hell of an artist; the portrait he’d done of Nova on my brother’s arm after we’d all thought she’d been killed was amazing.

A customer waved to Quinn from the other end of the counter, signaling they were ready to order. She gave me a kind smile. “See you later, Sammy.”

“Bye,” I muttered distractedly, my mind still stuck on how convinced she’d been that she’d seen Ryan.

It wasn’t like we kept up with each other’s travel plans. Although he probably wished I shared mine every once in a while. He was a controlling asshole like that. It wouldn’t be a total leap to think my dickheaded brother had flown out to make sure I was behaving.

But I also didn’t feel like arguing with him.

When I got back to the office, I pulled up the feed from the other cameras I’d placed around campus. There were two that went along the same path that led to Lyric’s shop and WomanLand.

Munching on a chicken tender drizzled with honey and hot sauce, I replayed the feed from the first of the two cameras. Nothing. As I played the second camera feed, I didn’t have much hope of finding anything, but it would bug me if I didn’t at least look.

I was twenty minutes into the feed when something caught my attention—an eerily familiar back. Professor Vaughn. I knew it was him from the way he walked and the set of his shoulders. Stuffing a few fries into my mouth, I wiped my fingers and hit rewind.

Before I could hit play again, my screen switched over to an incoming call. Seeing who it was, I gritted my back teeth, all thoughts of Victor Vaughn pushed to the back of my mind.

I was going to enjoy killing her.

Connecting, I placed the phone to my ear. “Samara Reid,” I answered and heard her gasp.

“Your last name isnotReid,” she snarled.

“Not yet,” I agreed, a satisfied grin on my lips. “I’m trying it out. Seeing if I like the sound of it.”

I fucking loved the sound of it. I had an entire journal hidden in my childhood bedroom that was full of nothing but doodles that readMrs. Elias ReidandSamara Reid.

“There’s no way that will ever happen. You might be his new favorite toy, but that won’t last much longer.” She made ahmphingnoise that caused me to roll my eyes. “He will get tired of your drama soon enough.”

She couldn’t have possibly known I was full of drama, but it still stung a little.

“I don’t have time for personal chats, so I’m assuming you called for a specific reason, Ms. Berkeley.”

“Yes, actually. I want to do something different with that addition over the garage. The longer I think about it, the more I hate the plans you showed me.”

“Of course.”Fuck, I am going to enjoy killing her.“What did you have in mind?”

“I’m not sure. All I do know is that I hate what you currently have. Change it up and get back to me by Monday.”

I picked up a pair of scissors and started stabbing at the air, but I kept a smile on my face. “Is there anything else you want changed?”

“Not at the moment.” Either she didn’t hear my sarcasm or was too stupid to understand it. My money was on the latter. She wasn’t my priority. I had more important clients who deserved my attention. And I wasn’t about to cut into my personal time for her or anyone else.

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