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  But it did now.

  Lawrence took a step forward, as if he’d come in the house, but he was probably just moving to shake Lucas’s hand. Like that was going to happen. Lucas folded his arms as Julie darted between him and Lawrence. He hadn’t mentioned a word about her brother’s torment, but maybe she sensed something vicious flowing from Lucas.

  “You’re not coming in,” she said. “Not until I know you’ve seen Mom. Do you know how many days she’s spent crying?” Julie swiped angrily at her own face. “Just go.”

  “I don’t have a car, Jules,” he said, very quietly. He glanced at Lucas, a bit of embarrassment on his face. Pure satisfaction flowed through Lucas, followed immediately by guilt.

  There was some serious discord happening in the Paige family, and Lucas shouldn’t be happy about it. He knew first-hand was family turmoil could do to people, and he didn’t wish that on Julie.

  He wished he could say he didn’t wish the turmoil on Lawrence, and another dose of guilt filled him.

  “Call Mom.” Julie thrust her phone at her brother. “She’ll come get you.”

  Lawrence took the phone and looked at it, and then Julie. Then she stepped back, right into Lucas. He shifted out of her way, his hand coming up to her waist to steady her so she wouldn’t fall.

  She managed to get the door closed between them and Lawrence, but she was sucking at the air like it was made of cement instead of oxygen. She put one hand on the back of the couch to steady herself, and Lucas reached for her when she swayed.

  “Hey, okay,” he said. “Let’s sit down.” He guided her around the couch, where they both sat. He took both of her hands in his, mostly because he wanted to ground her. Or maybe himself. Everything with Julie was so confusing, and Lucas wanted to stop fighting with himself and just do what came naturally. And holding her hands felt natural.

  He didn’t know what to say. It seemed like they both had some major explaining to do, and he didn’t want to go first.

  If he waited long enough, Julie would say something, he knew. He rather liked how she said what was on her mind, as it was refreshing. Most women didn’t do that, and while it was somewhat jarring, Lucas didn’t hate it.

  “So that was my brother,” she said. “He’s been missing—gone—out of town for about five months. Maybe six.”

  “Missing?” Lucas asked.

  “He came by one day and dropped off his dog.” She reached down and stroked Riley’s head absently. The dog seemed melancholy, and now Lucas knew why. She missed Lawrence, and once again, she’d been separated from him. “He said he had something he needed to take care of, and he’d call me later. He hasn’t called once.”

  “Wow, in five months?”

  “Yep.”

  No wonder she was mad. “Where has he been?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “What did he need to do?”

  “He didn’t say.”

  “He’s a lawyer, right?”

  “Yes.” Julie squeezed his hand, her eyes wide and frightened now. “As the days went by, I thought he’d probably gotten involved in something illegal, and that he couldn’t come home. He couldn’t call.” Her eyes filled with tears. “I even started to think he might not be alive anymore.”

  “He looked okay to me,” Lucas said.

  “There’s something not quite right with him,” she said. “He had a car when he left. Why doesn’t he have one now? And his hair is too long, and there’s something weird with his voice.”

  That voice would haunt Lucas forever, and sure, maybe Lawrence had changed over the years. But it was the same guy, Lucas knew that.

  “What are you going to do now?” Lucas asked.

  Julie sank back into the couch. “Nothing.”

  “What if your mom doesn't come?” Lucas wanted to know if he'd have to meet the super-sad Mrs. Paige. Wouldn't she want her whole family there for the reunion with Lawrence?

  He glanced toward the front door as Julie sighed and closed her eyes. No one came through it, but Lucas felt like he couldn't leave either.

  He looked at Julie, her beauty striking him like an arrow through the heart. His most vital organ thumped and bumped, the same way it always did when he got near her. Or texted her. Or thought about her.

  He was definitely in trouble when it came to Julie Paige, and he didn't know how to get out. He didn't want to get out, and her relationship with Lawrence obviously wasn't made of rainbows and sunshine.

  A wiggle of doubt clung to the forefront of his mind, and he couldn't shake it loose no matter how hard he tried.

  “You can go,” Julie said.

  “I'm okay,” he said, meeting her eyes, which were now open.

  “No, you're not,” she said. “And you're a bad liar.” She gave him a small smile and reached for the blanket on the end of the couch.

  Lucas stood up, because he did want to go, and he didn't want to lie to her. He took the blanket from her and lay it over her body as she put her feet up and lay down. “You’re going to lay here?”

  “For a few minutes,” she said, looking up at him with soft eyes.

  Oh, she was so dangerous to his blood pressure, and Lucas leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead. “Call me if you need me,” he whispered. Because he’d come, and he wasn't sure if that made him a fool or a romantic. What he knew was the taste and feel of her skin had started a fire right behind his lungs that every breath fueled.

  Outside, Lawrence sat on the front steps, and Lucas didn’t see a way past him other than to simply walk by. He did, ignoring the person who’d tormented him as a teenager. He’d just reached his motorcycle in the driveway when Lawrence called, “So that’s your bike.”

  Lucas twisted to look at Lawrence, choosing only to nod. Maybe if he didn’t speak to the man, he could get away without saying or doing something he’d regret later.

  But Lawrence got up and came down the rest of the steps, a look on his face Lucas hadn’t seen in a long, long time. It wasn’t quite calculating, but it wasn’t kind either. “Do you ride with a club?”

  Surprise once again moved through Lucas. Why had Lawrence immediately assumed that? He could just be a motorcycle enthusiast. A tattooed guy from the wrong side of the tracks.

  Well, he probably was that. “The Sentinels,” Lucas said, repeating the club’s motto to himself.

  Helping those who can’t help themselves or who just need a hand up.

  He’d helped write the dang thing, thinking he’d never be in a situation where he wouldn’t be able to uphold the sentiment.

  Terror crossed Lawrence’s face, and Lucas cocked his head as if that would help him see inside the man’s head.

  “The Sentinels,” he repeated, but he wasn’t asking.

  Lucas thought Lawrence needed to ask something, but he wasn’t sure what.

  “How long have you been seeing Julie?”

  “I’m not seeing Julie,” Lucas said, delivering the semi-lie without emotion and without blinking. He strapped his helmet on, the night much too dark and far too cold to stand around chatting it up with his nemesis for much longer. He threw his leg over his motorcycle and twisted the key. The comforting engine roared to life, sending Lawrence back a few steps.

  Lucas pulled on his gloves, satisfied Lawrence wouldn’t blitz attack him, and gave the man one long, last look before walking his bike backward and into the street.

  Before he could put it in gear and get out of there, a couple of motorcycles rounded the corner up ahead.

  Lucas shouldn’t have stayed to see who they were. There were plenty of bikers in Forbidden Lake—but recently, the Sentinels had granted access to their town to the Devil’s Breath, a rival club out of Williamsburg. Despite their surveillance, the Sentinels still weren’t sure what the Breathers were doing at the docks or in town.

  They were only allowed within city limits on Wednesdays, and today was Thursday. So these bikers should be friendly, and Lucas would know them.

  They came to a s
top right in the middle of the street, blocking his way forward. And they both wore a skull patch over their right pocket.

  These were not Lucas’s brothers in his motorcycle club. His fingers gripped the handlebars as he waited for someone to say something. Do something. Move. Issue a threat.

  Something.

  He wasn’t expecting that person to be Lawrence, and he wasn’t expecting him to say, “I swear I didn’t know he was here. This is my sister’s house. Please.” Lawrence had come all the way to the sidewalk bordering the quiet, residential street that had somehow turned into a face-off between Lucas and the two members of the Devil’s Breath. Vice and Electron would know their names, but Lucas hadn’t been participating in as much of the surveillance due to his three weeks on the swing shift schedule at the hospital.

  “Please,” Lawrence repeated, though no one had even looked in his direction. “Don’t hurt me. Or my sister. Please.”

  Lucas's phone rang, a buzzing against his thigh, along with a shrill ringtone. He had so many thoughts in his head, he didn’t know which one to address first.

  Why would Lawrence be begging for his safety?

  Who was calling him? There were no Sentinel cameras here, and he was supposed to be at work.

  Why were the Breathers here?

  “Don’t answer that,” one of the Breathers said.

  “You can’t be here,” Lucas said. “It’s not Wednesday.”

  “Extenuating circumstances,” he said. “Fire is talking to Maverick right now.”

  Surprise darted through Lucas, but he didn’t let an ounce of it show on his face.

  One biker leaned toward the other and spoke, but Lucas couldn’t hear him over the three motorcycle engines between them. He watched every move, though, and they both kept their gloved hands where he could see them.

  “Get on, Lawrence,” the man said, and Lucas watched another wave of panic cross his face.

  “I...I just need to see my mother for a few minutes.”

  Something strange and sinister was happening here, and Lucas didn’t want to get caught up in it. He's Julie’s brother, his mind whispered, as it had been for the past seven weeks.

  Lawrence was the reason Lucas had cancelled on her in the first place. Lawrence was the reason Lucas hadn’t tried too hard to find a way to spend time with Julie. Lawrence was the reason Lucas had done a lot of things for many years. Too many.

  Helping those who can’t help themselves or who just need a hand up.

  And Lawrence clearly needed help.

  “You should’ve checked in with us first,” the man said. He did not ask Lawrence to get on his bike again, but he was clearly waiting for him to do so.

  Lucas’s phone rang again, and the second biker nodded. Lucas pulled it from his pocket and saw Maverick’s name on the screen. “Yeah,” he said into the phone.

  “There are two Breathers near you. Have you seen them?”

  “Yeah,” Lucas said. “They’re on the street right in front of me.”

  Maverick swore, and Lucas heard Vice ask, “Where is he? Why isn’t he at work?”

  “I’m coming in,” Lucas said, though it was barely time for Vice to be off work either.

  “Let them take what they want. Fire said they needed to talk to an informant.”

  Lucas switched his gaze to Lawrence. He had always been a rat, and Lucas narrowed his eyes at the man as he climbed on the back of the Breather’s bike. He’d definitely done something like that before, that was for sure.

  He leaned out from behind the man and met Lucas’s gaze. His mouth moved, and there was enough light from the street lamps and the nearby houses for Lucas to read his lips.

  Help me.

  Then the Breathers backed up, turned around, and sped away.

  “They’re gone,” he said to Maverick. “And they took Julie’s brother.”

  Chapter Three

  Julie’s eyes flew open when someone knocked on the door. Her heart bobbed in the back of her throat, and she blinked as she tried to get her bearings. She was on the couch. In her own house. With a blanket over her.

  She remembered the tender, gentle way Lucas had covered her before he’d left, and she exhaled heavily as she sat up. Another knock sent annoyance through her, combining with the adrenaline in a way that got her up and moving.

  She really didn’t have the time or patience for Lawrence right now. Funny, she’d thought she’d welcome him home with open arms, crying into his chest, when she finally saw him again. But all his sudden reappearance on her front doorstep had done was ignite an angry fire deep within her chest.

  Riley wasn’t barking, which should’ve warned Julie before she yanked open the door.

  “Mom,” she said, blinking in surprise now. She quickly reached up and ran her hand through her hair. She wasn’t sure what time it was, or how long she’d been asleep on the couch.

  “Where’s Lawrence?”

  Julie looked over her shoulder as if her brother would be hiding on the porch. “I don’t know. Didn’t he call you?”

  “Yes, he did. He said he was here and asked me to come pick him up.” She also searched behind Julie. “He’s not here?”

  “He was waiting outside.” Julie didn’t mention that she hadn’t invited him inside her house.

  Her mother didn’t wait for an invitation. She simply crossed the threshold, forcing Julie to take a couple of steps back and out of the way. She closed the door behind her and sighed. “What did he say?”

  “He didn’t say anything,” Julie said. “He showed up out of nowhere, and I was mad at him that he hadn’t called you. So I gave him my phone.” Panic washed through her. She’d given him her phone. “And told him to call you. He stepped away, and I closed the door, and…that’s it.”

  She’d given him her phone. A low moan started down in her stomach. Had he taken it with him? A quick sweep of the end table and couch didn’t reveal the device. She walked back over to the front door and opened it, letting in another blast of winter air. The phone wasn’t on the porch, the steps, or the railing.

  It was gone.

  “He’s still got my phone,” she said, stepping back inside the house and shutting out the chill behind her.

  “I’ll call him.” Her mom pulled her phone from her purse and tapped a few times before lifting it to her ear. Worry sat plainly on her face, and Julie wished she could erase it. “He’s not answering.”

  Julie didn’t know what to say or do. She moved into the kitchen and ran water to make tea. Her mother loved tea, and maybe the hot liquid would calm them both. She got out honey and teacups while her mother dialed Lawrence again.

  She wasn’t going to get him, Julie knew that. She also wasn’t going to get her phone back, and she had the sudden urge to go get another one that night. She needed to be able to communicate with her boss, and she’d have to go through the whole ordeal of getting her new number on the third floor nurse group chat again. Giving the number out to all the right people again.

  And who knew what Lawrence would do with her phone? Would he look through her texts? She couldn’t think of anything on her phone that would reveal too much, but the point was, it was her personal, private property, and she hadn’t thought for one second that she wouldn’t get it back from her brother.

  “Why doesn’t he have a phone?” her mom asked, and Julie turned away from the cupboard, where she’d been staring.

  “I don’t know, Mom.”

  “What did he say?”

  Julie suppressed her sigh. She didn’t want to go through this again. Last time, she’d been the last one to see Lawrence before he’d left town. She’d had to detail the conversation, what her brother had been wearing, how he seemed, over and over and over again.

  “Uh, let’s see.” Her mind felt foggy. “He said hey. Riley was going nuts to see him. He asked about—” She cut off before she could say motorcycle. She hadn’t exactly told her parents she was seeing Lucas. She wasn’t sure if she was seeing Lucas.r />
  Boyfriend rang through her mind. She’d used that word to introduce Lucas to Lawrence. Another wail started in her gut.

  “He asked about what?” her mom asked.

  “Uh.” Julie took a deep breath and pushed it out. “I had a friend over. He drives a motorcycle, and Lawrence asked about it. I was mad at him, okay? He should’ve gone to your house to see you. I told him that, and he said he’d gotten a ride here. That he didn’t have a car. I gave him my phone and told him to call you.”

  Her mother watched her, and Julie honestly wasn’t sure what she was thinking. In the past, before Lawrence had left without a word for six months, she would’ve asked who this mysterious “friend” was that rode a motorcycle. But now, she just looked like she might break down crying. Julie honestly would’ve preferred to be grilled about her possible boyfriend, though she wasn’t ready to talk about Lucas yet.

  “You look tired,” her mother said.

  “So do you.” Julie gave her a small smile and turned to the kettle as it started to sing. “I have oolong or black tea.”

  “Oolong, please,” her mother said, her voice tight. Her despair hit Julie in the back, but she couldn’t turn around and look at her mother. Her own tears welled in her eyes, and she wiped them away as she reached up into the cupboard to get down the teabags.

  She kept her gaze down as she put the bags in the cups and poured the hot water over them. After taking out spoons and putting one in each cup, she pushed one toward her mother, who wept openly at Julie’s bar.

  Riley whined from her spot next to Julie’s mother, and Julie went around to sit next to her mom. She wished this sadness didn’t exist in her house. She wished it didn’t exist in the world at all, but she didn’t have the power to make everything better.

  That was one thing she’d learned through all of this. Praying for something didn’t make it automatically come to fruition. Hoping for the best and thinking about a person didn’t make them come back into her life. Feelings got hurt, even if Lawrence hadn’t meant to hurt anyone.