18. Sadie
Sadie
I sit at the long wooden table in Ellen's dining room, my hand still tucked in Jace's under the table.
The afternoon light filters through the lace curtains, casting soft patterns across the worn tablecloth.
The sweet tea in front of me has gone lukewarm, the glass sweating onto a seashell-shaped coaster.
I can feel the warmth of Jace's palm against mine, his thumb tracing small circles on the back of my hand in a rhythm that steadies me even as my thoughts spin.
Billy Hawthorne, or Victor as he called himself, sits across from us.
His face is lined with years I can’t imagine, but his eyes are sharp and familiar in the way they mirror Jace's. He’s been talking for what feels like hours but is probably only minutes, his voice rough and steady as he explains why he faked his death so many years ago.
An intel mission gone wrong. Threats to the family.
A choice between staying and putting everyone he loved in danger or vanishing to keep them safe.
I listen, my stomach twisting with every word, because this isn’t some story from a book.
This is real. This is the man who raised Jace and his brothers, and he disappeared without a word.
Jace’s grip on my hand tightens as Billy speaks. I glance at him from the corner of my eye.
His jaw is locked, his shoulders rigid, but something softer flickers across his expression when his gaze finds mine.
Last night comes back in pieces.
His mouth against mine at the safe house wall.
The hunger behind every kiss. The desperate need threaded through every touch as his hands traced me with the care of someone trying to remember every detail.
The sound of his voice—low, rough, and undone—as he told me how good I felt, how perfect I was, how much he wanted me.
Then the quiet afterward.
Falling asleep tangled together, his arm wrapped around my waist, his heartbeat steady beneath my ear. The kind of peace I never expected to find with a man who was supposed to be temporary.
I really like him.
More than like.
Love.
The realization settles in my chest, warm and terrifying all at once.
This started as pretend. A protection detail I never wanted. A situation neither of us asked for.
But somewhere between the beach, the club, and the moments when he held me after stripping away every defense I had, something changed.
It became real.
And now we’re standing in his mother’s house, listening to his father unravel a lifetime of secrets while danger closes in around us.
Billy pauses, rubbing a hand over his face. "But it didn’t end there. I thought vanishing would be enough. I thought if I stayed gone, if I stayed dead to all of you, the threat would pass. I was wrong."
Ellen, Jace's mother, sits at the head of the table, her hands folded tightly in her lap. The southern charm she showed earlier has faded into something quieter, more fragile. She’s known.
All these years she’s carried this secret, and the weight of it shows in the lines around her eyes and the way her shoulders slump.
Billy continues, his voice heavy. "Who has Nash and Sin? I think it’s the same people who forced me into hiding all those years ago.
A company named Vanguard Helix. They never stopped watching.
They’ve been keeping tabs on my sons, waiting for any sign that I might still be alive or that one of you might come looking.
When you all started searching for me, when you started asking questions, it triggered them.
They searched too. And now they have Nash and Sin. "
I swallow hard, my throat tight. This is bigger than I thought.
My sister Anniston is already in danger from whatever mess she stirred up in Halo City.
Now Jace's family is being pulled into something even darker. And I’m here, in the middle of it, holding the hand of a man I can’t seem to let go of even though every rational part of me knows this could end badly.
Jace's voice breaks the silence, fierce and determined. "We need to come up with a plan. Right now. We can’t sit here and wait for them to come after the rest of us."
Billy nods slowly. "You’re right. But we need more than the two of us and your mother. We need all of you. Crewe, Colt, Banks, Mack. Everyone. If we’re going to have any chance of getting Nash and Sin back and ending this once and for all, we need to mobilize. Together."
Jace leans forward, his free hand resting on the table.
"Then we bring them to Sunbreak Harbor. All of them. To the safehouse. We can use it as a base. It’s quiet, off the main roads, and we know the area.
We can figure out where they’re holding Nash and Sin, come up with a strategy, and move as a unit.
No more splitting up. No more chasing leads alone. "
The idea hangs in the air. I can feel the shift in the room, the way Ellen's eyes widen slightly and Billy's expression hardens with resolve. This is a family that’s been fractured for years, and now they’re being forced back together by the very threat that tore them apart.
I’m an outsider here, but Jace's hand in mine keeps me anchored. He wants me here. He’s made that clear in every touch, every glance, every word since last night.
My mind races with everything that could go wrong.
What if bringing everyone here puts all of us in more danger?
What if the people who took Nash and Sin are already watching us?
What if this plan fails and I lose Jace before I’ve even figured out what we are to each other?
I’m nervous. More than nervous. My stomach twists with the uncertainty of what comes next.
I don’t know how to fight this kind of battle.
I’m a teacher from Halo City who got pulled into a protection detail because my sister made dangerous choices.
I’m not equipped for intel missions and missing brothers and fathers who faked their own deaths.
But then Jace turns to me, his eyes meeting mine with that familiar mix of charm and something deeper.
The corner of his mouth lifts in a small smile, the one that used to annoy me and now makes my heart skip in a way I can’t control.
He squeezes my hand once, a silent reassurance, and I feel some of the fear ease. I love him.
Ellen clears her throat softly, her voice gentle but firm. "Jace’s right. We’ll get everyone. And then we will figure this out. Together."
Billy looks at his son, something like pride flickering in his eyes. "You’ve grown into a good man, Jace. Strong. Smart. The kind of leader your brothers need right now. We’ll do this your way. Bring them here. We’ll mobilize and come up with a plan. No more hiding. No more running."
Jace nods, his grip on my hand loosening enough for his thumb to resume those small, soothing circles.
I can feel the tension in his body easing slightly, replaced by determination.
He’s already thinking ahead, already planning how to contact his brothers and get them here safely.
I watch him, my chest full of something warm and terrifying all at once.
This man who started as my reluctant bodyguard has become something so much more.
And now we’re in the middle of a storm, but I don’t want to run from it. I want to stand beside him.
The conversation continues around me. Billy outlines what little he knows about the people who took Nash and Sin, the same shadowy group from his past. Ellen asks quiet questions about logistics, about how to get everyone to Sunbreak Harbor without drawing attention.
Jace interjects with ideas, his voice steady and confident, the charming arrogance I used to roll my eyes at now a comfort in the face of so much uncertainty.
I listen, my fingers still laced with his, and let the reality settle over me.