Chapter Three
Liv
“Ineed every document, every police report, and every complaint against these brothers since they became adults. I don’t care if it seems insignificant; that’s for me to decide,” I harp at the intern assisting me. She came from the local community college, and I inherited her when I took the job.
Normally, law offices have paralegals and office clerks, people who know how to build a case. Rollins County does not have the manpower. Other than my intern, I share a secretary with the entire floor.
Dotty is seasoned and knows what she’s doing, but she’s assisting everyone in the court system with all of their paperwork. She’s overworked.
My intern is just clueless.
“Anything that I need to know about that weird exit the other day?” Sheriff Malec’s voice comes from behind me. We share the building with his office, but he’s in a different wing. So this visit is intentional.
“Miley, give us the room, please,” I dismiss the intern, and Jackson shuts the door behind her as she leaves.
“There is nothing to tell.” I don’t bother looking at him as I lie, and he doesn’t humor me with a response. I can feel his stare rolling over me.
“Hayes is someone that I used to know,” I admit with a sigh, shuffling papers around on my desk until I find the courage to look up.
“Right. People don’t usually run away from people that they know.”
“Used to know,” I correct him.
“I’ve encountered him plenty at the sanctuary, but I admit that I don’t know him very well. I know he has a past, but is there anything that I need to know, Liv? Are you afraid of him?”
Afraid of Hayes?
“Absolutely not.”
Fearing him would never cross my mind. He was my safe space. Used to be.
That thought rocks me slightly.
Jackson doesn’t speak, using his annoying law enforcement tactic of making me stew in my thoughts until I blab. Unfortunately, it’s working.
“We had a falling out a long time ago. There isn’t any familiarity between us anymore. If anything, it’s contempt. He’s a stranger now.”
“You definitely didn’t look like strangers.” He opens the door, apparently having got what he came for.
“There’s bad blood, Jackson. I can’t stand the thought of being near him,” I huff in defense.
“Yeah. My wife used to feel that way about me, too.” He smirks, strolling out of my office.
“It’s not like that!” I shout after him. “There’s too much history,” I mumble when he’s too far away to hear me.
I shut the door, and a glaring reminder waves in front of my face. My 8-carat engagement ring.
A 6-carat square-cut diamond with single-carat accent diamonds on either side. It’s brilliant. And, a little excessive.
Elliot insisted on the biggest and flashiest ring he could find. I talked him down from ten carats.
I wasn’t born with money like he was. Wealth isn’t something that comes naturally to me. I’ve made an incredible living with my law career, but I don’t marvel in the excess of it all.
It’s a beautiful ring, though, and I’m grateful. Elliot has been a wonderful fiancé despite all the confusion in my head recently. He was ultimately supportive when I decided to relocate to Rollins County temporarily. He’s handled the wedding planning while I’m away.
He’s a good man.
We met when I was fresh out of law school, working in my first law office.
Our firm was representing his company. Even though he didn’t come near me while we were working together professionally, I always felt his eyes on me.
Once the case was resolved, he asked me to dinner, and we were hardly ever apart after that.
Aside from now.
My phone rings from my desk, the special ringtone that only belongs to one person.
“Did you miss me already?” I ask as I answer.
“Of course, I haven’t spoken to you since lunch,” Thea responds humorously.
“I’m done for the day, I just need to run home and change before I head to your house.”
“Well, wear something hot because my mom offered to babysit. We’re going out!”
“Dancing?” I ask excitedly. That was our favorite thing to do in college when we were roommates and inseparable, before life got in the way.
“Dancing!” She sings-songs before saying our quick goodbyes.
We missed out on so many nights out because of what she went through after undergrad, and then moving separate ways for our jobs.
Now, we get to dance together whenever we have a free night, as long as our shadow tags along. Her husband, Jesse, makes her feel safe enough in every room that she doesn’t have to hide.
And, I love him for being that for her.
I’m so excited for the distraction that a night out with my best friend can bring me, I don’t notice the gift on my windshield until I drop my briefcase in the passenger seat of my car.
It’s another daisy. This time, the white petals are tipped in red dye. Unease washes over me.
I glance in my mirrors, scanning the parking lot, but other than a handful of employees leaving the county building, there doesn’t seem to be anything out of place.
I keep my head on a swivel, jumping out and tossing the flower onto the pavement before anyone notices my strange behavior.
No one is watching me. It’s all in my head.
* * *
The neon strobe lights and the fog machine might be a bit overkill for a bar, but Casa Amigos is the only place within fifty miles that plays upbeat music and doesn’t smell like cigarettes and mildew.
“… So everybody put your hands in the air now.”
Thea and I launch our hands out towards the ceiling, jumping and screaming along to the song. We’re lost in our own little bubble, letting the beat and alcohol transfix us.
She didn’t drink in public for the longest time, but now we get to indulge in tequila shots and margaritas because of the man sitting at the table right on the edge of the dance floor.
Jesse watches Thea closely at all times, always with a disgustingly sweet smile on his face, ready to jump in to ward off stray attention.
Except this time, when I glance over at him, he’s not watching us. His head is crooked slightly, his eyes trained across the room in a dark corner.
I twirl around Thea, shimmying against her backside until he glances in my direction and catches my eye.
“Everything okay?” I mouth. It’s too loud in here to hear someone from across the dance floor.
He smiles easily and nods, but I notice the tension in his posture. I’ve won cases by reading body language alone.
“Bathroom,” he mouths back before weaving through the crowded bar.
“What’s wrong?” Thea asks, and I realize I’ve stopped dancing.
“I don’t know.”
She loops her arm through mine, pulling me towards the table Jesse just left, and cranes her neck looking for him once she sees that he’s gone.
“He said he was going to the bathroom.”
“That’s weird,” she remarks. We both know that man would not let Thea out of his sight in a public place, not even if nature calls. “Oh, he’s over there. He’s talking to someone.”
I follow her line of sight over the heads of the crowd, and my knees buckle. I see blonde hair that’s not so blonde anymore and not nearly as long as it used to be, and the eyes that I used to dream about.
But that familiar form across the room is also taller and stronger than the boy he used to be, and he sits like a predator in the corner, concealing how dangerous his presence is.
If my forearms weren’t resting on the table top, I would crumble.
“Thea…”