Chapter 37
Sierra
Luke hasn’t stopped pacing since we came back inside.
Even now, a few minutes later, he’s striding the length of the room with his phone pressed to his ear, his energy tight and restless, projecting the feeling that if he stops for even a second everything will catch up with him at once.
I lean against the wall and watch him, arms folded loosely, my mind still trying to catch up to everything that’s just happened. Murder. Reid. The past dragging itself into the present whether we like it or not.
But Luke… Luke has already moved on to the next step.
He made the call right after our talk, barely giving himself time to breathe.
I don’t know exactly who he’s talking to, but from the tone, from the way he listens, from the name he drops—it’s someone who knows Amanda’s husband up in Yellowbrook.
Someone who knows more than they should.
Someone, apparently, with connections to the FBI.
They start with small talk, the kind that sounds casual but isn’t, Luke’s voice easy in a way I know him just well enough now to be able to tell is actually quite calculated.
Then he shifts, steering the conversation with quiet precision, mentioning that this Mayor Barnes creep is causing trouble for the retreat because his wife has been forced into using the place as a sanctuary bolt-hole to protect herself from her husband and his abuse, and the retreat is not about to let her down, since she is a paying client and a guest under their roof.
There’s a pause on the other end.
Luke hums softly, encouraging, letting the silence do the work for him.
Then he starts asking questions. Careful ones. About Mayor Barnes. About rumors. About whether the FBI has ever looked into him for anything—white-collar fraud, or tax evasion maybe, or some other kind of financial irregularities perhaps.
Luke keeps pacing up and down as he talks, one hand braced against his hip, head tilted slightly as he listens, absorbing everything.
I don’t think he’s properly processed any of this yet. Not fully.
But it doesn’t matter right now.
Right now, he’s locked in. Focused.
Helping Reid comes first. Everything else can wait.
“Alright. Thank you, Theo,” he says finally, letting out a heavy breath as he ends the call.
He looks at me, running a hand through his hair again, some of that tension still clinging to him.
“The good news,” he says, “is this Barnes guy isn’t necessarily doing all this with the rest of his family’s approval. Theo talked to someone who knows them pretty well, and apparently they think he’s losing it. Stirring up problems of his own making. Doing shit they have to clean up after.”
“Criminal stuff?” I ask, straightening slightly.
“Maybe.” He shrugs, but there’s something thoughtful in his expression now. “They don’t have hard evidence… not yet. But he’s this close to getting cut off. Especially with a re-election coming up.”
Something sharp and hopeful sparks in my chest.
“Maybe we can use that,” I say, stepping closer without realizing it. “If we expose what he’s doing to Amanda—turn it into something public—then he can’t keep hunting her. Not without consequences. The whole world will be watching him, and the world doesn’t tend to react well to abusive husbands.”
Luke nods, but he doesn’t look convinced yet. “Yeah. But rumors and hearsay are one thing. Facts are another, and we’ll need leverage. Something real. We need evidence of the dirt he’s been doing, or it won’t stick. Or worse, he’ll sue for libel, or slander, or whatever it is.”
I nod slowly, following the logic, the pieces clicking into place.
“We need to talk to Amanda.”
“That’s if she’ll talk to us,” he says.
“Why wouldn’t she?”
“Amanda’s been tight-lipped since she got here,” Luke replies. “She barely talks about him. Not even to Reid. She’s terrified that anything she says might get back to him and make things even worse for her.”
I hesitate for a second, thinking about Amanda—quiet, guarded, always watching the door like she expects him to walk through it at any moment.
“And no one’s pushed her?” I ask.
Luke shakes his head. “That’s not what this place is about. We don’t force people to open up before they’re ready. Everyone goes at their own pace.”
I exhale, running a hand through my hair. “Yeah, well… that’s great in theory. But right now we need everything we can get on this guy if we’re going to beat him. Whether we like it or not, Amanda has to be part of that.”
Luke studies me for a second, then nods. “I agree. We’ll ask Reid to talk to her.”
“Okay. Good.”
With that settled, I turn to leave, my mind already jumping ahead to what comes next—but before I can take more than a step, Luke catches my wrist and pulls me back.
I stumble slightly into him, and then his mouth is on mine.
The kiss is fierce, immediate, stealing the air from my lungs and scattering my thoughts in every direction. For a few seconds, everything else—Reid, the mayor, the danger—just disappears.
When he pulls back, his breath still warm against my lips, I blink up at him, completely disoriented.
“Say it again.”
“Huh?” I manage, my brain still catching up.
He grins, slow and satisfied. “You know. About how much you love us.”
“Oh.” Heat floods my face. I can’t believe that slipped out earlier, just… thrown into the air like that. I hadn’t planned it. Hadn’t even fully admitted it to myself.
But the second I said it, I knew it was true.
I love them.
Reid. Luke. Talon.
Not one of them. All of them.
The realization settles deeper now, heavier but steadier. Less like a shock, more like something inevitable.
I swallow, my fingers curling slightly against Luke’s shirt.
I’ll fight for them. For this. For whatever this is becoming.
Even if I don’t know how it’s supposed to work. Even if my life is somewhere else, in a different city, tied to a job that suddenly feels… smaller than it did before.
Because the thought of walking away from them now—
That feels impossible.
As I lick my lips, my gaze flicking up to Luke’s again, I let myself picture it for a second. The future. Me with all three of them.
It’s insane. Completely, utterly insane.
But maybe that’s the point.
I haven’t done anything this reckless in a long time.
Maybe I’m overdue.
Luke and I walk back into the office to find Talon still there, standing exactly where we left him, solid and unreadable as ever. Reid is on the phone, his voice low and controlled as he speaks.
Talon looks up when we enter.
I move toward him without thinking and reach for his hand.
He might not have reacted like Luke did, might not have exploded or walked out—but there’s no way this didn’t hit him just as hard.
It hit me hard the first time I heard it.
Even knowing what Reid went through. Even understanding it.
It still took time to accept.
I squeeze Talon’s hand, grounding both of us, and he squeezes back, his thumb brushing lightly over my knuckles, like he’s checking—really checking—that I’m okay.
I nod.
I am.
“Right,” Reid says, ending the call. “Alright, Matt. I’ll talk to you later.”
He hangs up, and I step forward slightly. “Was that your uncle?”
“Yeah.” He exhales. “I wanted to know if he ever told anyone else about what happened.”
“And?”
“He said no.” Reid shakes his head. “He doesn’t know anyone who might be looking into it either. He became drinking buddies with the officer who handled the case, but that guy passed away recently. As far as he knows, no one’s ever connected me to it.”
A small thread of relief flickers through me—but it doesn’t last.
“So how did whoever’s looking into you find out?” I ask.
“I don’t know.” He glances toward Luke. “Did the sheriff say who they think I killed?”
Luke shakes his head, pressing the bridge of his nose like he’s trying to hold himself together.
“Even if it comes out,” he says, “wouldn’t it be manslaughter? There’s a statute of limitations on that, right? It should’ve expired by now.” He looks between us. “Right?”
“It depends,” Reid says quietly.
The room goes still again for a beat.
“Still,” Luke pushes on, “they’d need evidence to pin it on you. Actual evidence, and they don’t have it.”
“All they’re doing right now is speculating,” Luke says, dragging a hand down his face like he’s trying to physically push the problem away.
“We might not even have to worry about it. The Sheriff didn’t even specify who you supposedly murdered.
It’s probably all just noise. A fishing expedition, to see if they can get you—get us—frightened enough to give in to doing what they want and hand Amanda over to them. Typical bully-boy tactics.”
Reid doesn’t respond immediately.
He’s gone very still again, his hands folded loosely in front of him, his gaze lowered—not avoiding us, but somewhere deeper, somewhere inward. Thinking. Weighing.
“I think I should step down as director for now.”
The words land quietly. Heavily.
“No,” Talon and Luke say at the same time, both of them stepping forward slightly without even realizing it.
“Even if you did, it wouldn’t help,” I add, my voice firm as I move closer to Reid.
“Look at it this way—you have skeletons in your closet. So does this mayor.” I fold my arms, forcing myself to stay grounded.
“The difference is, he has a lot more to lose than you do. Instead of panicking, how about we use that?”
Reid lifts his eyes to mine, a flicker of something there—uncertainty, maybe.
“We offer him a tit-for-tat deal,” I finish.
Reid raises a brow. “How do you know about his skeletons?”
“I contacted an old family friend,” Luke says, rubbing the back of his neck. “They gave me a few hints about what he’s been up to. Nothing concrete yet, but enough to know there’s something there. If we can get actual evidence, I’ve got someone who can reach him. We make him an offer.”
Reid studies him for a second. “You’d do that for me?”