Page 22

"I'm telling you this because Jase doesn't give up on people. Ever." She squeezed my hand. "Remember Eric?"

"Your stalker ex?"

"He never talked to the tabloids. Never sold stories. My brother Bruno showed up, and Eric was moved out by three o’clock that afternoon. The smarmy little douche still won't come near me at industry parties."

"Bruno paid him off?"

"No. That's not their style. Bruno found leverage. Information Eric couldn't afford to have public." She met my eyes. "My brothers protect people. It's what they do."

I thought about the video. It had me talking to someone on the telephone, calling Marcus every racist slur in the book. This film was a historical piece that demanded we treat everything with the utmost sensitivity, so the filth that came pouring out of my mouth would automatically have me fired. But what was worse, it would have the whole world thinking I thought that way. Every time I replayed that video over in my mind, it made me feel physically ill.

Every word had been crafted to destroy not just my career but my soul. Whoever made it understood exactly what would hurt most.

"They're expecting us at noon," Angelica added.

Of course they were.

"Give me twenty minutes to shower."

The drive through town felt different in daylight. The courthouse clock tower presided over the square. Draper's Hardware had customers loading lumber into trucks. Dorothy's Antiques displayed quilts in the window.

Every person we passed waved. Not the desperate, hungry waves of fans recognizing celebrity. Just neighbors acknowledging neighbors. For the first time in a week, my shoulders dropped from their position near my ears.

"This is it." Angelica parked in front of a two-story building. A discreet sign read "Onyx Security."

Before I could prepare myself, we were out of the car and she was pushing open the door. Male voices echoed from inside, laughing and taunting.

"Fifty bucks says you can't do it, Nolan."

"I'm not taking your money, Graham."

"Scared?"

"Of drinking a beer while standing on my head? That's not scary, that's stupid. Get Jase, he’ll do it. Jase does all the stupid things."

I looked over at Angelica. “Are you sure this is a good time?”

“I think this is a perfect time. We’re about to see Jase at his finest.”

She led me upstairs, and then we rounded the corner into chaos. A massive man was balanced in a handstand against the wall while a bearded guy tried to pour beer into his mouth. Most of it ran down the upside-down man’s face, pooling on the floor.

A third man counted. "Seven, eight, nine..."

"Stop pouring it on my face, Graham! Aim for my mouth!"

These were the security experts? These overgrown children?

"Fifteen seconds! Halfway there!"

The counter spotted us. His expression shifted from amusement to alarm. "Oh shit. Jase, your sister⁠—"

Jase crashed to the floor. Beer splashed everywhere. He pushed up on his elbows, still facing away from us. "She's not coming until one."

"You sure about that?" Nolan asked at the same time that Graham bitched about all the beer Jase had splashed all over his shirt.

"How they ever let you be a SEAL, I'll never know," Angelica drawled.

Jase jumped up in one fluid motion despite the beer soaking his face, neck and shirt. "Angel!" He stepped forward with arms wide.