Chapter Thirteen
Lochlan
E very nerve ending in my body is screaming at me to get up and hightail it out of this packed banquet hall.
The noise of surface-level conversation vibrates my eardrums in a painful way.
I’ve never been in a room with this many people in it, and for good reason.
Every head turned my way, or pair of eyes that catch mine makes the boulder on my chest weigh down on me further.
Most of them probably don’t know who I am, but it only takes one person to whisper a lie about me for the whole room to go abuzz with suspicion.
He’s a sex offender.
Lie.
He was in prison.
True, but they never include that I was falsely accused.
I heard he paid off a judge.
I’ve never had the type of money to sway people with money.
Not like the people in this room.
As soon as we arrived at the doors, Jo was pulled away to go speak to people she knew.
She encouraged us to find our table, and we took it.
Seiver, Arizona, and Jordy are the lucky ones tonight.
She suggested that bringing some of my guys to the events would be helpful, and I can’t for the life of me tell that woman no.
I’ve tried.
Many times.
But somehow she still twists my arm behind my back without ever touching me.
Except for today.
Today she touched me.
“Do you want another one, boss?” Jordy asks, pointing to my empty glass.
This place is too sophisticated to serve beer in a can.
“If you see this empty, fill it up.”
He fake salutes me and gets up to go to the bar, and I scan the hall for the hundredth time, looking for–
Her .
My eyes find her on the opposite side of the vast room, skirting her away around people and tables as expertly as if she were dancing.
A serene smile graces her lips that only grows wider anytime someone grabs her attention with a word or a wave.
But her eyes, those rich brown eyes that fill you with warmth every time she looks at you…
It’s excruciating when she looks at anyone but me with them.
She carries herself so elegantly, her head always high and on a swivel, blissfully approachable.
Everyone in the room is drawn to her.
Necks bend to watch her walk by in those shoes that accentuate every muscle in her tanned legs.
Light was invented to catch the thickness of her thighs, hitting perfectly below the hem of her dress.
A dress that hugs every curve on her body in a way that has brought grown men to their deaths for centuries .
You can see the moment when stray eyes catch a glimpse of the bouncing blonde hair flowing down around her in waves as she passes by.
Everyone strains to watch a gorgeous woman striding across the room, hoping she’ll head toward them.
Does she even realize what men would do to have a woman like her choose them in a room full of people?
To have her look at them with her full attention despite the chaos surrounding her.
To have that smile be directed right at them because no one else deserves it.
She’s a commanding presence, dominating the attention of every single person in this room.
She’s crossing the room looking for someone, some lucky motherfucker who doesn’t deserve her time or–
Oh.
She’s looking for me.
Her pretty, bright eyes lock onto mine, and I see her dial in on me.
Those long lashes squint as her eyes crinkle, an excited smile forming on her glossy pink lips.
The single dimple that forms at the top of the apple of her cheek when she’s really happy makes it hard to breathe.
God dammit, she’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.
I’ve tried to get used to it, but I can’t.
It knocks me off my feet every time I look at her.
“You guys! I’ve been looking for you everywhere!” She chirps so enthusiastically that everyone within a 50-mile radius grins.
She’s an enigma that everyone wants a piece of.
20 years ago, I would have assumed I’d be lucky enough to marry a girl like her.
18 years ago, I thought I had met the woman I was going to spend the rest of my life with.
Then everything came crashing down around me .
Eight years ago, I stepped foot outside of the prison walls and swore I’d never fall for a woman’s lies again.
Turns out I wouldn’t have the opportunity anyway.
I would be recognized in a grocery store and watch a young mother shield her babies away from me as if I were a monster.
I would have a polite conversation with someone in public and then be avoided the next time I saw them because they had finally heard the rumors about me.
I was stained.
Damaged goods.
No one wanted to be dragged into the depths of hell that was my new reality, anyway.
Even being near me is a risk to Jo’s reputation.
Normally, I’d stand at her approach, a gesture hardwired into my brain as a man who was raised to respect women, but my frame would only draw attention to our association.
I stay seated.
My existence is bleak, and she has so much to look forward to; I don’t want my disease to spread.
“I already have two companies that have vowed to donate to Second Chance Sanctuary,” she tells us proudly.
“Vowed? What does that mean?”
“It means they’ll go to work on Monday morning and tell their assistant to write a check.” She winks, making Jordy and Arizona cheers her with their drinks across the table.
She glances around like she’s looking for a chair, and I kick Seiver’s seat, encouraging him to go take a trip to the bar.
He takes the hint humorously, raising his arms as he stands.
“I need to stretch my legs. Can I get ya a drink, Jo?”
“Vodka-water with a lime wedge, please.” She takes his seat before noticing all of our grimaces.
“It’s not that bad. ”
“You don’t like beer, but you like that?”
“I like beer.”
I look at her curiously.
I thought she was tipsy the night we played pool, but she had barely had a sip when I took her can.
I assumed it’s because she wasn’t a fan of the taste.
“It has too many calories,” she adds.
“Jesus Christ,” I mutter to myself.
She has the most perfect body I’ve ever seen, and she’s worried about calories.
“Trust me, if you had someone mocking you relentlessly the moment you hit double-digit sizes, you’d watch what you consumed, too.”
“Aren’t all adults double-digit sizes?”
She snorts.
“Not women’s sizes. I needed a ten by the time I was 20, and my mother held an intervention and told me to get liposuction.”
“I don’t know what any of that means.”
She rolls her eyes at me but doesn’t elaborate.
“That person right there.” She leans near me, pointing across the room toward the stage.
“They own all the biggest hospitals in the state.”
Someone at the table next to us side-eyes me and Jo, and I instinctively, but reluctantly, put a couple more inches of space between us.
“And that woman is Miss North Carolina. She lost to me during the Miss Teen pageant and hates my guts. Even though I stopped competing she talks shit about me every time we’re in the same room.”
She leans closer again, completely oblivious to what people might think of her association with me, and whispers.
“That’s my brother, Conrad.”
Beside the tall, slender man she’s pointing to is someone I recognize.
“That’s our Mayor, Randall Porter. He showed up the day after my grandfather died with his mother and offered to buy my property.”
“Wow, no wonder he wants to be in cahoots with my brother. Seedy politicians always gravitate toward each other.”
“You really think that about your own brother?”
“I don’t think… I know he’s rotten. He takes after–”
“Your father,” I interrupt, seeing the tall politician walk into the room.
“Have you met him?”
“No. I’ve only seen photos.” Everything he did to exonerate me was done through lawyers and heaps of paperwork.
“Will you introduce me?”
“Oh, um. I don’t know if that’s a good idea…”
“I need to shake his hand, Jo. He saved my life.” She glances back and forth between me and her father, looking unsure.
“Okay, but let me do most of the talking. I don’t think he’s going to be who you think he is,” she mutters under her breath.
I’m too overwhelmed to register why she’s biting her lip.
My focus is entirely in my own head, determining what I should say to the man who listened to my grandfather’s pleas to free me.
It’s like static in my ears, drowning out all the other noise around me.
“JoAnna, I’m happy you saw reason and decided to join us tonight,” the well-dressed but pensive woman beside him says.
There is hardly any resemblance, but I assume it’s her mother.
“Mom, Dad,” she ignores her mother’s comment, “This is Lochlan Dane, he wanted to introduce himself.”
I look down on the man by a few inches, but I watch him size me up regardless.
There is obvious scrutiny on his face, but nothing that tells me he recognizes my name.
I see the moment he looks at the scars on my face and the judgment that passes over him.
“Sir, it’s an honor to meet you, finally.” I hold out my hand to shake his, needing this moment to erase all the years of pressure I’ve built up thinking about this interaction.
He grabs my hand but doesn’t shake it.
“How exactly do you know my daughter?”
“He’s my boss, Dad. I’m interning at Second Chance Sanctuary.” Interning?
He drops my hand without giving me a chance to say anything, without actually shaking it.
“Second Chance Sanctuary? Never heard of it.”
“It’s for school.”
I finally register how slumped her shoulders are and how the vibrant woman is wilting right in front of me.
“This is ridiculous,” her mother snips.
“We had a deal,” Jo argues, looking at her father pointedly.
“I hope your boss knows how important this election is for your brother, JoAnna,” he says directly to her as if no one else is present, talking down to her in a way that I’d never accept from anyone at the sanctuary.
Anyone, period.
“I’ll give it the same level of concern that any of you have ever given me.” As soon as the words leave her mouth, she looks surprised that she said them and clears her throat.
Her mother glares at me for the briefest moment before returning her attention to her husband.
“Honey, this is a family matter. Let’s discuss this later. ”
“Was there something else, then?” Her father asks, redirecting his attention back to me.
This is the part where I should say thank you.
I should praise his kindness for getting me out of prison.
“No.” I turn my back on him and walk away, but not before hearing him scoff.
I clear the doors and grab the handrail along the stairs to keep myself from doubling over.
The gnawing pit in my stomach has turned to fiery anger.
“I’m so sorry, Lochlan,” Jo says, busting through the doors behind me.
“I ruined it. You didn’t even have a chance to talk to him.”
“Stop,” I sigh.
“No, it’s my fault, they were too focused on scolding me and-”
“Jo, stop!” I snap at her, and she slams her mouth shut.
“I wasn’t going to stand there and kiss his ass after hearing the way he spoke to you.”
“But,” she starts before I cut her off.
“All the stuff you’ve told me and the way he treated you in front of me after he knew I was your boss.” I shake my head.
“That’s not a man who gets my respect, Jo.”
“Oh my God.” She leans against the railing next to me and closes her eyes, tipping her head up to the night sky.
“What?”
“He’s horrible. He’s the most horrible person I’ve ever met in my entire life, and you’re good. You are too good for him. I knew you’d never like him,” she admits, a freeing smile overtakes her face.
“No one ever believes me.”
She thinks I’m good?
“I would have believed you.”
“Maybe, but I had to let you come to the conclusion on your own. I couldn’t crush your idea of him. Not without cause.”
“Your parents treating you like shit is enough cause for me.” She’s standing so close to me that I have to look down to speak to her.
Her big, fawn eyes stare at me in relief as if weight has been lifted off her chest.
If she keeps looking at me like that, I’ll go inside and kick the Miss Teen runner-up’s ass just to keep her smiling.
And that is why I need to stay away from Jo Montgomery.