Page 111 of Heresy

Another quiet burst of laughter. I smile to hear it. She may not admit she likes me, but I like to think she’s warming up.

After staring at the lake for a few minutes, she turns to look at me.

“Why did you take me on that ride? Was it to scare me? Is that funny to you?”

I kick at the ground with the toe of my boot, my hands tucked in my pockets. “Yes and no.”

Brinley tilts her head in question.

“Yes, it was to scare you, but no it’s not funny to me.”

I pause, collecting my thoughts.

Explaining this may be difficult.

“I was showing you that bad things don’t always happen. That it’s okay to take risks. It’s like I said in the shop… You hide and stay in a little safe bubble. I think that bubble needs to be burst. Because there’s nothing to be so scared of all the time.”

She blinks, her brow cocking after, as if what I said was absurd.

“I was run off the road today and abducted. I think that’s something one should be scared of.”

“Not if you knew the reason.”

“I’m not following you, Shane. As far as I know, you’re some volatile stranger who is stalking me and finally decided to just grab me and take me somewhere without concern for what I think about it.”

Okay, when she puts it like that, it’s fucked up.

“I’m not the bad guy. I’m sure Ivy’s dad put all sorts of information in your head to make you believe I am, or that my friends are, but he lied to you.”

“How do I know you’re not lying?”

She tosses up her arms in frustration and spins back to stare at the lake. “Hell, for that matter, why am I even involved in this? I don’t know anything about my father’s business.”

Brinley turns back to me. “That’s what this is about, right? Something to do with his and John’s business? Why not just ask Luca? She’s John’s daughter.”

Breathing out a heavy breath, I explain, “It’s not that simple.”

It surprises me when Brinley takes a few steps to be standing directly in front of me, the fear she normally wears gone suddenly.

I know somewhere inside her there’s a warrior lingering. But something about her life has subdued it. I want to see that warrior side of her, and I have no fucking clue why.

“If you say I’m wrong about all of this, and that the governor lied, then you need to convince me of that now. Right this second. Because I’m tired of this entire runaround.”

It would be easy to spill everything and hopefully convince her to cooperate, but damn if I’m not an opportunist.

“How about we trade information?”

What am I doing?

Her mouth pulls into a thin line, that glare I love developing just a little. “What kind of information?”

I shouldn’t be doing this.

Holding her stare, I challenge her.

“I want to know more about why you’re so scared of your own shadow. And you want to know more about what’s going on with our families, your father and the governor. I’ll trade you a detail for a detail.”

This is so far outside the reach of my assignment, but I’ve stopped giving a shit. Something about her makes me genuinely curious.

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