I followed Grant into the house and my jaw dropped when I saw the inside. The hallway was of a beautiful, white marble, with a big staircase spiraling up to the second floor. We walked through to an enormous room with a fireplace at one end and a wall of glass overlooking the valley at the other. From the window I could see the river sparkling in the sunlight, the vineyards on the slopes of the valley, and in the distance, far below, the blue water of the Pacific.
There was a man sitting on the sofa by the window. He wore ripped jeans and a white tank top. He had the same muscular build as Jackson and Grant, the same intricate tattoo work, and the same rugged look. I was beginning to wonder if sex appeal was a criteria for joining the Brotherhood.
“Forrester,” Grant called, “meet Faith Shepherd.”
He stood up and came over to greet me.
“We’ve been wondering about you,” Forrester said. “Ever since Jackson called.”
“What did he say?” I said.
“He said you were his girl,” Forrester said. “Or that was the gist of it at least. I didn’t speak to him.”
“Who did?”
“Grant.”
“Did he say what he was planning?” I said to Grant.
I was terrified that something bad was about to happen to Jackson, and I knew it was my fault. If he hadn’t met me, he’d be here in this mansion, enjoying the view with his brothers.
Grant shook his head. “Just what you already know. It didn’t sound good. It sounded like he was going to try to kill Wolf.”
“You guys know how much security Wolf has, right?” I said.
“Yes, we do. So does Jackson.”
“Isn’t there anything we can do?”
“Grady rode out to try and stop him,” Forrester said.
“And what if Grady doesn’t find him in time?”
“We operate under a strict code here,” Forrester said. “We look after our own. We’ll protect you to the last man, Faith, but we don’t control each other. If Jackson wants to take out Wolf Staten, he’s got a right to try. We won’t follow him into that place, but we’ll be here for him when he comes back out.”
“If he comes back out,” I said.
Forrester and Grant looked at each other.
“If he comes back out,” Forrester agreed.
Chapter 19
Faith
I WAITED THAT WHOLE NIGHT, sitting by the huge window overlooking the valley, the roaring fire offering me the only comfort I could get. When the sun rose I got up and made coffee.
Lacey was the first to wake and I pounced on her with questions.
“Is there any word?”
She shook her head. “I have no way of contacting Grady. We’ll have to wait for him to get back.”
My hand was trembling as I stirred milk into my coffee.
“Faith, you should rest.”
“I can’t rest. I need to know he’s coming back.”
I could feel the tears rising to my eyes. I tried to hold them back but it was no good.
Lacey put her hand on my shoulder.
“It all happened so fast,” I said.
“Tell me about it,” she said, doing her best to take my mind from Jackson’s present situation.
“Well,” I said, “it was just two days ago. I’d finally had all I could take from Wolf.”
“I can imagine.”
“He was going to lock me in a compound.”
Lacey nodded. She’d heard the same stories about Los Lobos I had.
“So you ran.”
“I ran.”
“I’d have done the same thing,” Lacey said. “If I had the courage.”
“I didn’t know where I was going. I hitched a ride and ended up at a motel along the highway.”
“And that’s where you met Jackson?”
“Yes, well, actually, we’d met before at the Los Lobos bar in Reno.”
“Oh, of course. I heard about that.”
“Really?”
“Jackson said he met a real bitch there.”
I smiled. “Yes, that would have been me.”
“He also said you were the most intoxicating thing he’d ever set eyes on.”
“Really?”
“Absolutely.”
“He said that about me?”
“We don’t keep many secrets from each other in this house, Faith. Jackson was always a player so we didn’t think much of it at first. But days and weeks passed and he was still talking about you. It was unheard of for him.”
“Really? I had no idea.”
“It’s pretty miraculous that you ran into him in your hour of need. He’s one of the few men alive who’d face up to Wolf Staten and Los Lobos.”
“A strange coincidence,” I said.
“You could call it a coincidence, or you could call it fate.”
I nodded. “The more I think about it, the stranger it is,” I said.
“Very strange,” Lacey said. “It was the night his father died.”
“The only thing on his mind was having a son to carry on his father’s name.”
“And then he ran into you, asking for his help. He didn’t stand a chance.”
I looked into her eyes. It was too much. It was all true. Tears fell from my eyes.
“The moment he saw me, he was done for,” I said.