I clear my throat so they know I’m on the line too. "This is Sadie. I was with him when he saw Victor. There’s a big concert at the High Tide Pavilion in two days. Victor’s on the guest list. Brooke and Melissa mentioned it yesterday. He’s a sponsor or something. We could go. Confront him there. In public but controlled."
Silence again, then Crewe speaks. "The teacher’s got good instincts. Jace?"
Jace looks at me for the first time since the restaurant. His eyes are stormy but there’s something else there too. Trust. "Yeah. We go to the concert. We confront him. End of discussion."
The brothers agree quickly after that. Plans are made. Colt will fly in. Banks will handle logistics. Mack will dig into Victor's new identity. Crewe stays on the line with Jace a minute longer after the others drop off.
"You okay?" Crewe asks quietly.
Jace's jaw works. "I will be. Once I have answers."
"Bring the girl. She seems solid."
“There’s been a few other things.”
“Oh yeah?” Crewe asks.
“Screen door open when we got home, and at the beach there was this guy with a camera.” Jace describes the man he saw to his brother. Crewe says he’ll look into it, and then the call ends.
Jace stares at the phone for a long moment before tucking it away. We sit in the Jeep with the engine off, the only sounds the distant ocean and the faint creak of the cooling metal. I want to say something, anything, but the words feel too small for what happened.
We walk into the safe house together. Jace heads straight for the living room and starts pacing. Back and forth in front of the couch, hands running through his hair, shoulders tight. He looks different. The fun-loving arrogant charm is gone, replaced by something raw and shaken. My chest hurts watching him. This man who’s been so steady for me, who’s made me laugh and blush and break my own rules, is unraveling in front of me and I hate it.
I set my bag down and step into his path on the next pass. He stops short, eyes finding mine. I reach up and press both handsto his chest again, the same way I did at the restaurant. His heart’s still beating too fast.
"Jace," I say softly. "What can I do to help?"
For a second he looks at me. Then his hands come up and cover mine on his chest. He pulls me closer, until there’s barely space between us. His voice is raspy and threadbare when he answers.
"This."
He leans down and kisses me.
The kiss isn’t gentle. It’s full of the shock and the tension that’s been building since the beach. His mouth is warm and insistent, one hand sliding to the back of my neck while the other stays over mine on his chest. I kiss him back without hesitation, rising on my toes to meet him, my fingers curling into his shirt. The world narrows to the press of his body against mine, the way his breath catches when I part my lips, the solid strength of him that feels like safety even when everything else is falling apart.
When we finally break apart he rests his forehead against mine, breathing hard. His eyes are still stormy but the edge of panic has softened.
"You," he says quietly. "You’re what I need right now, Sadie. Just you."
I don’t have a clever comeback or a rule to hide behind. I hold on tighter and let him pull me into another kiss, slower this time, with the kind of patience that tells me he’s been waiting. The safe house is quiet around us. The ocean keeps rolling outside. And for the first time since we arrived in Sunbreak Harbor, I stop worrying about what comes next and let myself feel exactly where I am.
Right here. With him. And I’m not going anywhere.
13
Jace
I pull back from the kiss slowly, my forehead still resting against hers, both of us breathing hard. My hands are still on her, one at the back of her neck, the other at her waist, and I can feel the rapid beat of her pulse under my thumb. The shock of seeing my father is still roaring inside me, but Sadie in my arms is the one thing keeping me from being swept away by it.
I hope she doesn’t take this kiss the wrong way.
The words come out rough, honest in a way I usually save for my brothers. "I hope you don’t take this kiss the wrong way. Like I’m using you to take my mind off seeing my father alive."
She shakes her head immediately, her hands still fisted in my shirt. Her voice is soft but steady, that serious tone she gets when she’s cutting through bullshit. "No. I didn’t think that."
Good. The relief that hits me is sharp and real. I lean in again, close enough that my lips brush hers when I speak. "Good. Because I’ve wanted you since I first saw you."
Her eyes widen a fraction, then darken with the same heat that’s been building between us since the beach. Since the Jeep ride. Since that quick kiss on my cheek last night that’s been driving me insane. I don’t wait for her to answer with words. I kiss her again, deeper this time, and she meets me with the same urgency.
