Chapter 11: The King

I opened the door before Katie could reach it.

Dalton stood on the porch under the yellow bulb.

Two big men in black jackets waited behind him on the steps, with their hands folded in front of them.

My stepbrother looked me over slowly.

"Reed," he said. "You've lost weight."

"Dalton."

"Prison suits you. You've got that look." He smirked and held up the white envelope. "Do you know what this is?"

"A brick would have been cheaper."

"I don't know what you're talking about." He glanced past me. "Evening, Mrs. Mason."

"Carmody," Katie said from behind my shoulder. "My name is still Carmody."

"Of course. Bookkeepers' daughters keep their names. It saves on the paperwork."

He tapped the envelope against his palm.

"This is an acceleration notice. Westerfield Capital is calling the whole loan. You have ten days."

"You said ninety."

"I changed my mind." His smile widened. "You embarrassed my mother, Miss Carmody. I take that personally."

I stayed completely still.

I'd spent a year and a half learning that the quietest man in the room is the one they should be afraid of.

But I couldn't let him see that.

I was supposed to be a broke ex-con who had gotten in over his head.

So I made my shoulders drop, and I let my voice shake just a little.

"What do you want?"

"Sign the deed over. Twenty thousand dollars, cash, tonight. You two can go live in a shelter with the other strays."

"The house isn't mine."

"Then she signs."

Katie said, "Go to hell."

Dalton's smile never moved.

"Boys," he said.

The two men came up the steps.

One put a hand flat on my chest and shoved.

I let him.

I stumbled back, and the second man caught Katie's arm, and I saw her face go white with rage.

"Get your hands off me!"

"Sign it, honey, and we're gone."

I could have broken both of them in four seconds.

I could feel exactly how, the angles and the weight, and my hands wanted it so badly they ached.

But I looked past them, down Pell Street, and I saw what I'd been hoping for.

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