After they’d confirmed me as a suspect, I had tattooed a hint of the location beside the scissors on my arm before turning myself in. It had been a daily reminder, my strength to make it through my false punishment so one day I could, at the very least, give back a morsel of what had been taken from the family, though it would never be enough.
I’d become White Fox, and my brother had been chasing me ever since.
Oscar should’ve known never to trust a fox.
Dex wasn’t any better of a man than Oscar, but Dex had resources. And desperation called for making deals with the devil and bathing in sin. But the devil would be foolish to underestimate a broken man with nothing left to lose.
It made me nervous to mention Mia’s name to Dex, so I gave Scott’s name instead, sure wherever Scott was, so was Mia. The last thing I needed was for Dex to find out about Mia, for him to use her as a pawn and hang her life over my head as some sort of sick threat in the future.
It had been two days since the meeting with Dex. Travis and I were back in Surrey, sitting at a bar in the village and waiting on orders for my first assignment from the Links, and for Laurie, my agent, to meet us.
The Green Lion’s atmosphere was very different from Jack’s. On the outside, the building had welcoming white brick, green trim, and brown shingles, straight out of a fairy tale. The inside was warm and inviting, with a fire going in the curved-brick indoor fireplace.
“I don’t like it.” Travis groaned beside me with a shake of his head.
We’d found a booth in the far corner of the restaurant, and the constant tapping of his fork against the wooden table beside his uneaten burger wasn’t helping my headache. “It is what it is.”
“I can’t let you keep fixing my past.”
“Trust me, mate. I need this more than you. I need to find Mia, and Dex is my only option.” The barkeep turned up the volume on the telly hanging on the wall above the bar, and it displayed news of a cabin fire in Cheshire last night. I returned my attention to Travis. “Eat your burger before she gets here.”
“Two fatalities in a cabin fire,” the news reporter stated on the television, pulling my gaze from Travis to the images from the night before flashing over the screen. “Investigation continues to the cause of the fire, and the identities of the bodies are still underway.”
The news lit an ache in my chest. I stood, emotions kicking into high gear—a sixth sense. Something wasn’t sitting right with me. My gaze locked on the screen as a drone flew over the destruction, capturing images of smoke and the cabin burnt to a crisp. My mind was in chaos as it tried to put together what I was seeing and feeling inside my chest.
“What is it?” Travis asked with a mouthful.
“I don’t know.” I shoved my hand into my pocket to retrieve my phone and dialed Dex. He didn’t answer. “It’s Oliver. The cabin fire in Cheshire. Find out who owns it and give me a ring.”
Travis spoke up behind me, “You think Scott had something to do with it?”
“I’m just following my gut.” Usually, I was right. And for once, I didn’t want to be. I’d put all my cards into one basket with Dex. No, I didn’t trust him, but sometimes you had to play nice with your enemies as long as you didn’t lose yourself in the process. And the only way I could lose myself was if I’d lost Mia.
“You’re Oliver Masters,” the voice was mixed with a question and statement. I pried my eyes from the television screen above the bar to a lady in her mid-thirties looking up at me, a satchel over her shoulder. Her blonde hair twisted behind her head as strands fell from the tight hold, wearing a navy suit with black heels, which only increased the agitation I’d already been facing. Big hazel eyes peered up at me behind large black-rimmed glasses, and her mouth parted. “Oh, this is great,” she continued, taking in my appearance. “You’re—”
I lifted my chin. “I’m what?”
“Unexpected.” She slid into the booth beside Travis after a quick “how-do-you-do” and pulled out a laptop from her satchel. The MAC powered up, and I took a seat across from her. Travis had talked me into this meeting, but he was right. If I gave up on the future I’d worked so hard on building for Mia and me, there would be nothing left once she was back in my arms. I had to maintain my job, Dex, Laurie, and my heartache and pain. I had to do it all.
“Congratulations are in order. Your first book was a success. But it’s the second book that could make or break you, and I’m sure you’re already working on it.”
I didn’t answer, and she peered up at me from behind her round glasses.
“Of course.” Not.
“Good.” Laurie went back to typing over her laptop. Travis and I exchanged glances. “So, are you ready for your first signing this weekend? I know it can be a bit much at first, but I’ll be there with you every step of the way. We’ll have to get you out of those clothes and into something more—” her head tilted to the side, and she pushed the glasses up the bridge of her nose “—proper.”
My mobile rang.
“Go on, answer it,” Laurie stated without looking up from her computer.
I didn’t recognize the number, but it could be Dex.
“Yeah?” I answered.
“I checked out the cabin. The title was transferred over to an Ethan Scott a few years back …” Dex continued, but I couldn’t hear anything else.
Two fatalities.
Everything stopped—the blood in my veins, the pleads at the tip of my tongue, even my lungs stopped working. I couldn’t breathe. Travis snatched the phone from my fist and jumped from behind the booth to take over the conversation. But for me? I was frozen as the world continued to spin on its axis.
Thoughts even froze inside my head.
I closed my eyes.
Mia Rose is walking closer as Alicia, Jake, and I loiter in the hall between classes. I straighten my back against the wall and hold my breath as my fingers comb my hair back. Is she coming to talk to me? The heart in my chest is beating at an impossible rate. I’m trying to keep my cool, and hope it shows, but then her eyes lock on mine, and suddenly, I’ve lost it. Words are lost, my grip is lost, and she walks past me.
“Breathe, Ollie,” Jake whispers at my side, and that’s when I realize how obvious my affections are for her. “Way to stay subtle.”
“Shut up.”
She disappears around a corner, and I can already feel my heart breaking with the distance. Last night she came to my room for the first time. To say I was surprised to see her was an understatement. The few hours with her were spent in crisis mode. I’ve never felt so calm and nervous at once. I only wanted to be myself, but it was hard when she was turning me into this new man whenever she was around. Because around her, I wasn’t afraid of reality anymore. Around her, I wanted to keep my eyes open.
Jake chuckles. “She’s going to break your heart.”
“I can see it already,” Alicia waves her arm out in front of her, mimicking an invisible headline across the air, “Sociopath stomps on dreamer’s heart, death by ignorance.”
Instead of fueling their amusement, I stay quiet and smile to myself. Loving her until it kills me seems like a wondrous way to go.