Page 67 of Branded By Shadow
His eyes say he knows me better than that.
Annoying man.
“You stay where I can see you,” he says.
“You’re coming in?”
“I’m walking you inside. Then I’m calling Ghost and telling him where we are.”
“She said no bikers.”
“She can cope.”
“Jayce.”
His gaze cuts to mine. “You want me invisible? Fine. I’ll stay back once I know the room. But the Saints know where you are.”
I want to argue.
I do.
Then I remember Landon’s voice. My name in his mouth. Men hunting for the diner girl.
“Fine.”
“Not a word I trust from you.”
“Rude.”
“Accurate.”
I hate that my lips almost twitch.
He notices.
The Bluebird Café smells like coffee, cinnamon, and toasted bread. It’s small, bright, and crowded enough that I breathe a little easier. Blue booths line the windows. A counter runs along one wall. A narrow hallway at the back leads to the restrooms and the rear exit.
Jayce notices that too.
And there she is.
Brianna sits in the last booth near the back, hair tucked under a beige knit hat, oversized sunglasses hiding half her face. She looks smaller than I remember. Pale. Her shoulders hunched in a hoodie too big for her.
My heart tears open.
“Bri.”
She looks up.
For one second, she doesn’t move.
Then her face crumples.
“Talia.”
I forget everything.
Jayce’s warning. Landon. The villa. The text.
