Chapter Four
“Ten thousand,” Wolfsimply told her.
Jade blinked, like her mind needed a second to catch up, or maybe it was the weight of it.The number was too big, too sudden to make sense right away.
“Derek took it,” Wolf continued, voice flat, stripped of anything unnecessary.“From the club.Not by accident, or mistake.”
Jade stared at him.“Ten thousand,” she repeated, slower this time, like the words tasted wrong in her mouth.“You think I have that kind of money?”
“I don’t think you have it,” Wolf said honestly.
She laughed, a sad and unpleasant sound.
“Good.Glad we’re on the same page,” Jade said.
She shifted her weight, like she was bracing herself for something she didn’t want to hear.Wolf didn’t make her wait.
“The club wants it back,” Wolf simply told her.
He watched the way her shoulders stiffened, the way her breath hitched just slightly before she forced it back under control.
“How?”she asked finally.
One word, but there was no panic in it.Wolf felt something flicker at that.Jade was becoming more and more interesting, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about that.
He kept his tone neutral.“That’s the problem.”
Jade’s eyes narrowed.
“No,” she said.“That’s Derek’s problem.Not mine.”
Her chin lifted a fraction higher, defiance settling back into place like armor.
“He’s the one who took it,” she went on.“Go find him.”
“I will.”The certainty in his voice didn’t waver.“But until I do, the debt doesn’t disappear.”
Jade’s lips pressed into a thin line.“I didn’t take anything from you.”
“No, you didn’t,” Wolf agreed.Another beat, then he added, “But you’re connected to him.”
The words were quiet, and final.
Jade’s gaze sharpened, something like anger flashing hot and fast.
“That’s not how this works,” she said.“You don’t just get to decide I owe you because he screwed up?”
Wolf didn’t answer immediately.He watched her instead.The fire in her.The way she refused to fold even when the ground was shifting under her feet.Most people would already be bargaining, pleading, trying to soften him.
She stood there and fought, and it was doing something to him.Something he didn’t bother naming.
“That’s exactly how this works,” he said finally.
