Chapter 5
MASON
Lily stands by the entrance. Our eyes lock and I feel it like a sniper round—direct hit, no escape.
For a second, her mask slips. I catch a glimpse of the raw emotions underneath: lust, grief, rage, purpose. Then she rebuilds the walls.
Fuck if I don’t want to tear them down with my bare hands. I can’t decide if she’s running from something or toward it.
I take a slow sip of bourbon and let the burn ground me. Normally I’d say it’s none of my business and turn away. But I can’t—not with her. I’m going to make it my business.
When Jake said he wanted to retire and come back to Iron Ridge to claim Emma, the girl he’d had to leave behind, I’d come with him because he, Luke, and I are a team.
We’ve had each other’s backs for so long it’s as unconscious as breathing now.
I didn’t understand his need for her, but he wanted her, so here we are.
In the past two months, Luke and I have teased Jake nonstop about how unhinged he is about Emma.
Now I get it. Because a sane man doesn’t sit in the night, watching his woman through a scope, to make sure she’s alright and alone, the way I have every night for the past two months.