* * *
JAMES
I stood at the edge of the tree line, just where the pavement bled into gravel and the gravel faded into scrub.
The outskirts of Sugarpaw Springs always looked a little abandoned, like the town itself had drawn a line and refused to cross it.
It felt like a fitting place for this.
The morning was cold, overcast, the kind of sky that made everything look gray and lifeless. I clutched the envelope tighter in my hand, the edges damp from sweat.
Inside was every cent I could scrape together. Tips. Savings.
And the last piece of my family I had left. My mother’s ring, pawned to a guy who kept the lights off in his store and counted bills like he hated every one of them.
It still wasn’t enough. But it was all I had.
Avery and his crew were already there, waiting near a dented black SUV.
He leaned against the hood, arms folded like this was a business lunch and not the culmination of months of fear and threats.
Three of his goons stood nearby. One was chewing gum, one was cracking his knuckles, and one wore that same sneer he’d worn the night they attacked Rafael.
I stepped forward anyway. Because I had to.
Avery smiled. “Well, if it isn’t my favorite little debtor. I was starting to think you’d skip out.”
I swallowed, the fear rising in my throat like bile. “I have the payment. All of it. We're done after this.”
He didn’t move to take it. Just raised an eyebrow. “Done? Oh, sweetheart. That’s not how this works.”
I held out the envelope. “It’s what you asked for. It’s everything.”
He took it, slow and deliberate, peeled it open, and started counting the bills with exaggerated care. “Hmm. Very tidy. And here I thought you’d need another few months.”
I said nothing. My jaw ached from how tightly I was clenching it.
He looked up. “Still... see, here’s the problem. You’ve caused a bit of a mess. Got your boyfriend involved. Stirred up the locals. My guys got hurt.”
“You hurt Rafael first,” I said, voice tight.
Avery shrugged. “Maybe. But now we’re in a different place. This? This payment? Think of it as... a retainer.”
I took a step back. “That wasn’t the deal.”
“No,” he agreed. “But it’s the new deal. If you want to keep that bear of yours breathing.”
That’s when the fear turned into something colder. Sharper. Rage, maybe. Or desperation. “You said if I paid in full, it’d be over.”
“And I changed my mind,” Avery said, his tone flat. “This town’s ripe for opportunity. You opened the door. Now I’m walking through it.”
“You can’t?—”
He snapped his fingers. One of the goons stepped forward, cracking his knuckles again. “You gonna tell us we can’t, pup? You gonna stop us?”
I knew I should run. Should’ve brought someone. But I couldn’t bear the thought of someone else getting hurt. Not again. Especially not Rafael.
So I did the only stupid, reckless thing I could think of. I stepped closer.
