Chapter 6
Taryn was still in shock at seeing Jace at the restaurant.
She wanted to call him back, to ask him to wait so she could tell him everything he wanted to know.
But she didn’t. She couldn’t believe he had found her.
Actually, that wasn’t true. She hadn’t exactly hidden when she came to town.
A part of her had wanted him to find her.
It had been a beautiful daydream. One she had nearly every day. The chance to return to Clearview and find Jace, have him offer to rescue her without wanting to know all the details of what had happened. Him stating his love.
But the reality was much, much different. And it had hit her like a freight train when she found Jace standing before her. She had nearly wept at the sight of him. Somehow, he was more handsome than ever. How was that even possible?
She’d let her eyes run over his strong jaw, wide lips, and the hard body she knew firsthand was all lean muscle.
But then he had demanded answers, and she hated him for it.
Hated him because she couldn’t give him what he wanted.
Seeing him had her hurting all over again, and there was no denying the anger and pain in his hazel eyes.
When he sat down, she’d fought the urge to reach out and tuck his golden blond hair behind his ears where it poked out of his Stetson. He needed a haircut. He’d always put it off, and seeing it now reminded her of the many times she had trimmed it for him. He’d loved having her cut his hair.
And she had loved doing it.
“Is there a problem?”
Taryn started at the deep voice beside her. She had forgotten all about her meeting. She looked into the man’s deep brown eyes and shook her head. “Not at all.”
“I’m Jerome,” he said as he motioned to the booth.
Taryn nodded for him to sit. “This is a very public place.”
“Exactly. Transactions like ours are usually done here, which makes it perfect.”
She sat back, instantly not liking Jerome. Maybe it was the way he spoke and acted, as if he were above the law. Or perhaps it was the way he stared at her. Taryn had gotten used to the looks from men at an early age, but some made her skin crawl. And Jerome was such a man.
“I don’t like this.”
He smiled, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “Who was that man?”
“No one.”
“I want to know his name.”
She narrowed her eyes on him. “It’s none of your business.”
“I determine what’s my business or not. And he’s certainly my business after the way he looked at you.”
Taryn wasn’t going to listen to this anymore. She might be doing a trial run for Big Pete, but she could convince him to give her another try. Hopefully. Maybe.
Shit.
She was in so deep that she could no longer determine which way was up. That’s how her brother had gotten killed. If she weren’t careful, she’d soon follow in his footsteps. And that simply couldn’t happen.
Taryn met Jerome’s dark eyes and let her anger surface enough for him to see. “I don’t give a rat’s ass who you think you are. I won’t conduct any business here, and if you think you’re going to come in here and tell me what to do, you’ve got another thing coming.”
Instead of lashing out, he laughed and sat back, mimicking Jace’s pose with his arm along the back of the booth. “Pete told me you had spirit. Now I understand what he was referring to. I’m intrigued. How much?”
“Excuse me?” she asked, taken aback.
“How much do you want to be mine?”
Taryn shook her head in astonishment—and more than a little indignation. “Who the hell do you think you are? I’m not property to be bought.”
“I’m willing to pay whatever you want to be mine,” he said as his gaze intensified. “I can give you anything, take you anywhere you desire. Do anything you wish. Just give me a figure.”
She was ready to tell him to kiss off when she realized that his proposition was better than the one she had given Big Pete.
It would get her out of the hole she currently found herself in.
But it wasn’t just money. Boyd would kill her sister if she didn’t return on time.
If, even for an instant, she’d thought Jerome might be able to help her with Boyd, she’d take him up on his offer.
The fact that she was putting herself in a position to be in Pete’s debt, to do whatever he wanted—sexual or otherwise—for an unspecified period of time, was more than enough. All she was doing was trading one asshole for another, and Jerome wasn’t any better than Pete or Boyd.
“I’m not interested,” she replied.
A smile broke over Jerome’s face. “But you considered it. I know you did.”
“So what?” she asked with a shrug.
He leaned forward and put his arms on the table. “Why are you working for Pete? Whatever you went to him for, I can get you.”
“I need half a million dollars.”
“Done,” Jerome said without blinking.
Taryn laughed and rubbed her forehead. “I have a debt to repay.”
“I assumed. People don’t ask for that kind of money unless it’s important. I can write you a check right now. Come with me. I’ll wipe away anything from your past that’s hounding you.”
“You’ll never be able to do that. The money is only a portion of my debt.”
“What’s the rest?”
Taryn stared at him, refusing to speak.
Finally, Jerome lifted his hands. “All right. If you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine. I’ve got connections, Taryn. I can untangle you from whatever mess you’re in.”
The more he spoke, the more she thought he might be able to do it. And while Jerome still wasn’t her best option, he was someone other than Pete—who made her gag. She had only gone to Pete because there hadn’t been anyone else. Now, she had options.
While she didn’t know much of anything regarding Jerome, at least he seemed a better choice.
The confidence with which he spoke told her that he was used to negotiating.
He just might be able to go up against Boyd and ensure that she and Payton were able to get away.
If Taryn played her cards right, she might be able to make sure Payton didn’t get involved in whatever agreement she made with Jerome.
Taryn hadn’t been sure how Pete would respond, so she had left out any mention of Payton or Boyd in her discussion with him.
“Tell me who it is,” Jerome urged. “There isn’t anything you can say that will make me retract my offer. I promise.”
“Boyd Walters.”
Jerome’s face paled. He slid from the booth and stood to button his suit jacket as beads of sweat dotted his forehead.
He glanced around as if looking for someone.
“Forget you know my name. I don’t want anything to do with you.
Our conversation never happened, and I never made any sort of offer to you. ”
“But you just said?—”
“That was before you mentioned that name.”
And just like that, her other option was gone.
Not to mention, she hadn’t made the sale for Pete.
“Dammit,” Taryn mumbled to herself.
She blew out a breath as a waitress walked up. She needed to eat, and Brandi’s food was inedible. Plus, she wasn’t at all sure Jace wasn’t waiting in the parking lot for her. She couldn’t face him again. Not now, at least.
After she placed her order, Taryn dropped her head into her hands, elbows on the table.
She had known that coming back to Clearview was a mistake, but she had been grasping at straws.
That’s what desperation did to a person.
How had she ever imagined that things would work out as she wanted?
And how the hell had she thought she could come back to town and not run into Jace?
“Please,” she whispered to whatever higher power might be listening. “I’m tired and scared, and I don’t know what to do now.”
Her last few years had been hell, and it didn’t look as if things were going to get any better.
She raised her head and blinked rapidly to quell the tears that threatened.
Thankfully, they retreated. She feared if she gave in and let them come again, they wouldn’t stop.
She was tipping into an abyss that threatened to eat her whole, and she had nothing and no one to hold onto.
Not true. There’s someone you can turn to.
Taryn refused to think of Jace. He was furious with her, and for good reason.
He was the type of man who was a natural hero, the kind who always did the right thing, who set aside their own wants and needs to help those they loved.
He had come into her life at a time when she needed him.
He’d swept her off her feet and loved her unconditionally.
Gave her the kind of love that everyone dreamed of.
She’d had that. For two blissful years, she had been in the arms of a man who had sheltered her, loved her, and adored her.
And in one horrible night, it had all gone away.
She left the restaurant forty minutes later.
Her gaze swept the parking lot, but she didn’t notice anyone sitting inside a vehicle.
Taryn got into her car and headed back to Pete’s, hoping to try and explain what had gone so terribly wrong with Jerome.
All Pete had asked of her was to do one job.
Then he’d give her the money she needed.
It had been a simple exchange. In all honesty, it was Jerome’s fault.
If he had kept to their transaction, Boyd’s name wouldn’t have come up at all.
Taryn would’ve made the sale and returned to Pete’s to claim her funds.
She would then be on her way back to Fort Worth to hand over Boyd’s money in exchange for her and Payton’s freedom.
Why had it all gone sideways? Taryn didn’t want to dwell on that. What’d happened with Jerome was done. She needed to start thinking about how she would handle Pete, specifically what she planned to say to him.