Page 11

Chapter 10

Jude

T he diner was the hub of our small town. On any given day, half the population dropped in, sometimes for breakfast and other times for a to-go coffee and gossip.

It was also the place to see and be seen. And to get updates on what was happening around town.

It may come as a surprise, but I didn’t avoid the place. The eggs Benedict was too good for that. Though I limited my visits, unlike Finn and Cole, who practically lived here. Which was why I’d swung by this morning. So I could pick their brains.

Cole, who worked at city hall, coordinating and planning town festivals and events while getting his master’s degree, was one of the most connected people in Lovewell.

Finn ran a wildly popular flight tourism company, and since he was the friendliest and most approachable of the six of us brothers, he had a tactical advantage.

I had barely seen them in the week since Mila had arrived, so when they’d texted, suggesting breakfast, I jumped at the chance.

Every day she was here, I woke up a little more panicked, concerned about how much longer I could keep her hidden.

What worried me more, though, was the concern that she wouldn’t allow herself to remain hidden much longer. I could feel it—her restlessness, her itch to do something, to make headway.

“Morning, assholes.” Gus, the oldest of the six of us, approached our booth, looking as grumpy and sleep-deprived as ever.

“I texted him,” Finn said, studying the menu like he’d never seen it before.

“We need to strategize,” Gus said, signaling for Cole to slide over to make room for him.

The four of us must have looked ridiculous, crammed into the red vinyl booth, hunched over our coffee mugs.

“Tell me what you’ve heard,” I said, bringing my mug of black coffee to my lips. The coffee I made at home was better, but Mila was there, and it was getting harder and harder to look at her sleepy smile and brush her hair and not give in to my impulses and kiss the life out of her.

So this morning I’d programmed the coffee pot, left her a note, and escaped the house before she woke up. I was desperate to pull myself together. My protective instincts were growing exponentially by the day. The longer she stayed, the more I wanted to pick her up, carry her to my bed, and fix all of her problems.

She didn’t want a hero. She’d made that clear. What use could I be, anyway? The issues she was dealing with were pretty damn monumental, and they were only getting worse.

“Folks have been sniffing around,” Cole reported. “One guy, Maurice Murphy, apparently went to the technical school in Heartsborough with Erica’s son. According to what she told me at knitting club, he’s a bit of a shithead.”

I winced. That was quite a name.

“He’s a biker. Thirties. Shaved head,” he explained.

“I’ve seen him,” Finn said. “At the gym here and there with some of the other biker guys. Some of them are decent dudes. They spot me from time to time. But there are several who are pretty shady and twitchy.”

“Names?”

Finn shook his head. “They all have biker names. One of them is Viper, but I don’t know about the others.”

“Anyone asking about Amy?”

Cole nodded. “According to my source, there’s been a lot of talk about her at the Ape Hanger. They’re saying she stole something.”

I shook my head. “As far as I know, she didn’t steal anything. But then again, getting information out of her has been a challenge, to say the least.”

Cole shrugged, sipping his coffee.

“We’ve had two visits from the FBI,” Gus said. “One at the office and one at our house.”

“Chloe must have loved that,” Finn quipped.

Gus grimaced. “She did not appreciate it, especially because we’d just gotten Simone down for a nap.” He shook his head. His infant daughter was a notoriously difficult sleeper.

“What did they want?”

Gus ran his hands through his chin-length dark hair. “Asking more questions. Same old bullshit. The guy they arrested for the arson at the machine shop still isn’t talking, so I’m not sure they’ve got much at the moment.”

I wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

“Two visits in a week?” Cole asked, raising an eyebrow.

Gus grunted. “I know. They go months without responding to emails. We think they know more than they’re saying and are trying to sniff out what we know.”

Fear gripped me. “Did you tell them about Mila?”

He shook his head. “Fuck no.”

I let out the breath I was holding. “Good.”

“Chloe and I both agreed it felt off, so we decided to play dumb.”

I closed my eyes, filled with gratitude.

“What did Parker say?” Finn asked, his voice low. Parker was his sister-in-law—married to Finn’s wife’s brother—and even he was a bit scared of her.

“To wait. Not to do anything crazy until she’s named police chief. Then she can open an official investigation and root out the assholes involved,” I explained.

Cole sipped his coffee. “That’s reasonable.”

“Yes.” I unrolled my silverware and fiddled with the paper ring. “But not practical. We don’t have time to waste, especially if these goons are hunting around for Mila.”

Finn lifted his chin and scanned the diner. “It’s only been a few days. Give it time. They’ll get bored and move on. They probably assume she went back to where she came from.”

As much as I wanted to believe him, I wasn’t convinced. While Mila had described most of the guys on the ground as idiots and lackeys, this organization had evaded detection for a long time. They couldn’t all be stupid. If Owen and Lila’s research was accurate, this was a complex organization with a lot of financial and political power.

They wouldn’t let her get away with what she’d done.

My father had gone down for a lot of the crimes these fuckers had committed. Yes, he was guilty as hell of plenty of them, but he’d kept his mouth shut, clearly concerned about the repercussions if he named names.

Day by day, Mila grew more restless. She was holding so much information in, keeping it to herself. I wanted to trust her, and a big part of me did. But the shadows in her eyes warned me that there was more to the story. She was hiding something.

“She’s not going to sit around waiting,” I said. “She’s already itching to get back out there.”

“So let her.” Cole lifted a meaty shoulder. “We barely know her, and while I certainly don’t want anything bad to happen to her, she seems like the type of chick who can handle herself.”

A wave of anger washed over me at his words. “I know her,” I snapped. “And she’s under my roof and my protection. I’ll do everything in my power to help her.”

Her presence was driving me out of my mind. Throwing me off and scrambling my brain.

I bounced between losing myself in sexy memories and being overtaken by a blinding urge to protect her.

Every night, when I scooped her up and carried her to my bed, my heart thumped heavily against my chest, as if trying to get closer to her. The thoughts and feelings plaguing me since she showed up weren’t healthy. I couldn’t afford to get too attached. But at least I could breathe easy, knowing she was safe at my house.

“Hello, handsome,” Bernice, the owner, said as she filled my coffee cup. “Been a while since we’ve seen you. Your usual?”

I shook my head. I’d been out of sorts for days. This called for something indulgent. And maybe Mila was rubbing off on me with her constant discussion of junk food.

“Eggs Benedict, please.” I handed her my plastic menu.

My brothers murmured that they’d take the same, and once their coffees had been refilled, Bernice was gone.

While Finn filled us in on the latest hijinks of his toddler son, Thor, and debated sleep strategies with Gus, I observed the various groups of folks in the diner. It was a cross section of our little community. A community I loved and wanted to protect.

But how? I wasn’t brilliant like Owen, and I didn’t have military training like Finn. People a lot smarter than me had been working to stop this for years with no success.

I was no one. Yet Mila had landed on my doorstep, putting me smack dab in the middle of all of this.

“Just be careful,” Cole warned. “You have a history with this girl.”

Finn’s eyebrows almost met his hairline as he angled forward. “What?”

I glared at Cole. It wasn’t a secret, per se, but I preferred to keep my love life quiet. And I had, but Cole had been at my house when the FBI had visited recently, inquiring about Mila’s whereabouts.

“I knew her. Sort of,” I admitted, staring down into my coffee mug.

Gus scratched at his beard. “Was she one of your groupies?”

Cole snorted.

“First of all,” I seethed, hitting them both with glares. “I do not have groupies. That’s a derogatory, sexist term, and I do not treat women like objects.”

Finn and Cole froze, their eyes going wide. Gus shook his head and drank his coffee. He knew me better than anyone, and he knew how much I hated the assumptions people made about my private life.

It rankled me, the way they treat me like I was some kind of lothario rock star instead of a normal guy who liked to blow off steam by playing my guitar, having a few beers, and occasionally hooking up with women.

“And regardless of that, Mila is no groupie. She’s brilliant and fierce. If circumstances had been different, I would have spent a hell of a lot more than one night with her.”

“Shit, man.” Finn ran a hand through his long hair. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

I grunted out a response. I’d been taking shit from my brothers for years for any number of things. Not going to college, defending my dad when the accusations were first hurled his way, playing music for fun rather than trying to make a living off it. My dating habits too. I took it all in stride. Kept my head down and did my thing. But this was getting out of hand.

“I’m sorry,” Cole said. “As the family fuckup, I should know better than to judge.”

That had my hackles rising. “You’re not the family fuckup.”

“Course not,” Gus jumped in. “You do more than any of us to help out.”

Cole lowered his head and gave it a shake. “Maybe not anymore. But I used to be, and I’m working through the effects it had on me.” He elbowed Finn and forced his gaze to mine again. “We’re doing this all wrong. We’re trying to protect you.”

“Yeah,” Finn agreed. “It seems like this girl has gotten under your skin.”

“She’s a woman,” I corrected. They meant well, but the words still chafed.

He nodded. “It’s just… How do I explain this?” He rested his elbows on the table. “You’re a Hebert, and we all know that we tend to catch feelings.”

“Big feelings,” Cole added.

He would know, what with his accidental marriage to Willa.

“At the end of the day,” Finn went on, “we’re all just golden retrievers in flannel shirts. You may be the broody musician of the bunch, but you’re built like the rest of us in that respect.”

Gus laughed again. “You sound like Chloe. She’ll love that.”

“I can handle myself.” I unclenched my fists, annoyed but no longer angry. “Mila’s only staying at my house. It’s not a big deal.”

“Don’t let yourself get dragged into danger. Please,” Cole said. “Let Parker and the feds handle it. She may be staying with you, but that doesn’t mean this is your fight.”

“It sure is my fight.” I leaned in, lowering my voice so we wouldn’t be overheard by gossipy townies. “You’ve both been targeted. Noah escaped a potentially deadly house fire. I’ve got nieces and a nephew to worry about. This is my family and our business. It’s the only life I’ve ever known.”

I straightened and cocked my head one way, then the other, trying and failing to relieve the tension that had built in my neck and shoulders during this conversation.

“You’re dead wrong. This is my fight.”