Chapter Three
Jade stilled her handmid-wipe, the cloth hovering near Jane’s chin when the knock came.For a second, she didn’t move at all.Another knock followed.It was louder this time, more insistent.
Jade’s stomach tightened.It wasn’t unusual, she told herself.People knocked.Mrs.Rochford sometimes needed things like sugar, tea, or even a hand with a stubborn jar lid.It could be just that.Still, something about the knock didn’t feel like Mrs.Rochford.Jane made a soft noise, tugging at Jade’s sleeve, oblivious.
“Hey,” Jade murmured, forcing her voice steady.She wiped the last bit of food from Jane’s chin.“It’s okay.”
Another knock came—it almost felt impatient.Jade’s pulse ticked up.
“I’m coming,” she called, a little louder than necessary.
She set the cloth down and moved toward the door, each step slower than the last despite the way her body wanted to rush.Jade curled her fingers briefly at her sides, then flexed them open again.
It was nothing, only a knock.Her hand hovered over the knob for a fraction of a second.Then she turned it, and the door finally opened.Jade froze, because the man standing on the other side didn’t belong here.
He was too still and composed, that was the first thing Jade noticed.He was tall, but not overly bulky.His shoulders were broad under a black leather jacket, the material worn but well-kept, like it had been taken care of as much as it had been used.He had dark hair, neatly kept.There wasn’t a strand out of place.
There was also lean muscle in the way he held himself, and then there was the patch.Jade’s gaze snagged on it before she could stop herself.A skull crowned in something darker.Devil’s Crown MC.The air seemed too thin.A chill slid down her spine, cold and immediate.
Everyone knew them.You couldn’t live in this town and not know.The stories, the whispers, the way people lowered their voices when they said the name like it might hear them.The way cops looked the other way.The way businesses stayed open or closed depending on whether the club wanted them to.
Jade swallowed.For one wild second, instinct screamed at her to slam the door shut.Jade could lock it, pull Jane close and wait it out like a storm.However, something in the way the biker stood there, unmoving and unbothered told her that would be a mistake.
Men like him would take that action as an insult, and he probably wouldn’t forget it.Her grip tightened slightly on the edge of the door, but she didn’t move to close it.He smiled, and it wasn’t friendly.Not really.
There was something measured about it, controlled.Unease settled in her bones.It made something in her chest tighten.For some reason, the curve of his lips reminded her of a predatory wolf.
“I’m Wolf,” he said, tone polite.
The disconnect between the name, the presence, and the tone made Jade’s skin prickle.
“And I’m looking for Derek Callahan,” Wolf added.
For a second, the words didn’t land.They hovered somewhere just out of reach.Her tired mind was too slow to catch up.Derek.Jade blinked once, then twice.She tightened her grip on the door until her knuckles went pale.This man, this Devil’s Crown biker, was here for Derek.
A cold, creeping dread unfurled in her stomach.Was that why he’d left without an explanation?Derek sometimes traveled out of town, but something about this time had felt more final.What had he done?
Jade’s heart started to pound, hard enough she could feel it in her throat.Money, it had to be money.
Derek was always chasing something.Whether it was easy cash, quick wins, or shortcuts that never quite worked out the way he thought they would.He’d talked before, careless and loose, about knowing people, about opportunities.
Jade had never asked too many questions, but now she wished she had.Her mind raced, pieces sliding into place in a way that made her stomach turn.
If Devil’s Crown MC was involved, and they sent this frightening man here, then this issue wasn’t small.Jane let out a soft sound behind her, a reminder that she wasn’t alone in this.Jade’s spine straightened.
No.Whatever this was, whatever Derek had done, she wasn’t letting it show.Fear sat heavy in her chest, thick and suffocating, but she forced it down, buried it under something harder.Defiance.
