Anything.

“Smart boy,” she says, her grin broadening, her gaze trailing over me.

I hate when she looks at me. I often dream about a day when I can stab out her eyes so she can never look at anyone again. But my father has made a rule that she’s off limits, and if I break any of my father’s rules while I’m still living in town, Jax, Zay, and I will be punished for it. I know it sounds crazy, but trust me, that’s how much power my father has over this town. And me.

“What do you want?” I bite out, crossing my arms and leaning against the doorframe, trying to appear more confident than I really am.

She doesn’t answer right away, just smiles at me, toying with me—her favorite thing to do.

She once told me I was her favorite toy, but it never really made any sense, since she did everything in her power to break me.

But I didn’t break. I’m still standing here. Granted, I wish she wasn’t here.

“One of your father’s employees has bailed out,” she informs me.

By bailed out, she means either he ran or is currently at the bottom of a lake somewhere.

I lift my brows at her. “So? What does that have to do with me?”

“He needs you and your little friends to fill in,” she explains, fiddling with one of her earrings.

I promptly shake my head. “No way.” I step back inside and move to shut the door, but she slams her palm against it.

“If you don’t do this, he’ll make your life a living hell. And you should know better than anyone that he can very well do that.”

My fingers curl inward, my fingernails piercing my flesh. I want to scream out a protest, but know she’s right. I hate how much I know she’s right.

“I’ll just do it,” I tell her. “Zay and Jax don’t need to get involved.” Deep down, I know this is a pointless argument. Because Zay’s father and Jax’s father work with my dad so, more than likely, they’ve sent the wicked wench to deliver messages to their sons, too.

She rolls her eyes. “You know that’s not how this is going to work. Their fathers have instructed that they be part of this, too.” She smiles at me. “Your first job is tonight.”

“What’s the job?” I ask, not really wanting to hear the answer. But eventually, I’m going to have to, so I might as well rip off the Band-Aid.

“For now, you’re going to be doing intel on the new sheriff,” she explains, her heels clicking against the front porch as she backs away. “You’re to find out what sort of guy he is then report back to me.”

While it sounds easy enough, spying on the sheriff is never a good thing. Plus, if the dude turns out to be a good guy, my father will do everything in his power to ruin his life and get him fired. Because, if he can’t be bought off, then my father can’t continue running his illegal businesses that range from drug trafficking to illegal underground casinos. Yeah, he’s a real winner.