Back when our futures had been so entirely entwined.
Back when I couldn’t imagine a life without him.Wherever that meant we ended up. Whatever that meant we ended up doing.
Jesse eyed me before shaking Sayer’s hand. “JesseHasting.”
Sayer nodded. “Hasting. Are you connected to theHasting ranch outside of town?”
“That’s mine,” Jesse confirmed. “My dad and I run it.”
Sayer smiled easily, familiarly. Dangerously. The lookwas so him, effortless and confident, friendly and beguiling. He used his charmas a weapon. To lay traps. To win. “Thought so. That’s a great operation yougot out there.”
“Interested in horses and cattle, Mr. Smith?” Jesseasked, rightfully suspicious.
“Not really. But Gus and I did our research on thetown. We know the ins and outs.On paper at least.It’s nice to be able to put a face to thename we’ve heard so much about.”
Each of his words had a double meaning, a secretagenda. My heart hammered inside my chest, a desperate drumbeat that threatenedto pound right out of my body, through bone and sinew and flesh.
Jesse smiled. “Small town gossip?”
Sayer nodded.
Jesse’s smile disappeared. “It’s funny though. Weheard nothing about the two of you before tonight.”
The steely look in Sayer’s empty blue eyes didn’tchange. “We know how to keep a low profile.” Then he laughed, as if this werethe most natural conversation in the world. “There will be plenty to gossipabout after tonight though. I’m sure.”
I struggled to swallow. Was that a threat?
Gus refocused on me. “What about you, Caro? What areyou up to these days?”
There was a long awkward silence while I struggledwith what to do. If they had been asking around town about me and people I hungout with, i.e. Jesse, did they know about Juliet too? Did they know she wasSayer’s daughter?
How much did they know?
How much could I lie about?
I cleared my throat and shook myself out of thezombie-like stupor I’d fallen into. There were higher stakes at play than mylife. I had a daughter to protect.
A daughter I would do anything to save from this life.
Sayer represented everything that I was desperate tokeep Juliet away from. I would never go back.
I would never let Juliet get sucked into that vileworld.
I was out of practice and rusty. But I remembered thebasics. Organized crime and conning was once a way of life for me.
I could lie with the best of them.
And with so much on the line, I would lie my freakingass off. Until I believed the words spewing from my mouth and the prettyillusion I conjured. Sayer could kill me later. Sayer could torture me and dragme back to DC and let Roman kill me. But I would never give Juliet to them.
And if all else failed and I didn’t make it back home,Frankie would know what to do.
“I’m a manager at one of the local resorts,” Iexplained. “It’s nothing like back home. The pace here is so easygoing and myjob is so much less… restricted. But I love it. I love the change of pace.”
Sayer’s jaw ticked and my smile became more confident.He was pissed. He didn’t like that I’d recovered. Or that I’d no doubtconfirmed all of his groundwork.
I ignored the satisfying feeling of still being ableto read him even after all this time.
“That’s great,” he said, his smile turning forced.“That sounds great.”
