Ride With Me (Paige and Jace) novel Chapter 287

CHAPTER 162-2

I stood in the kitchen helping Emma arrange plates while Mia carried drinks toward the main room.

Children ran between the tables, although they had been warned repeatedly to stay out of the adults’ way, and Diesel followed me around the room as if he had appointed himself head of security for the entire evening.

“You know he thinks he is in charge.” Emma said, watching Diesel settle beside my chair.

“He has always thought that.” I said.

“He probably is.” She said and I laughed.

Across the room, Jace was talking with Derek and Mason, while Sarah stood nearby speaking with another officer who had stopped by briefly after the raid.

For the first time in what felt like weeks, people were smiling without forcing it.

I watched Jace for a moment, and when he looked across the room and caught my eye, his expression softened so he walked over.

“You okay?” He asked.

“I am.” I said.

“You look like you are thinking.” He said.

“I was thinking about how strange this feels.” I said as he sat beside me.

“What feels strange?” He asked.

“Having something go our way.” I said and Jace smiled.

“I know.” He said as I leaned back in my chair.

“Every time something good happens, I keep waiting for the next disaster.” I said.

“That’s because we have had too many disasters.” He said.

“That’s not exactly reassuring.” I said.

“It wasn’t supposed to be.” He said and I laughed quietly, and he reached across the table to take my hand.

For a few minutes, neither of us said anything, and the silence did not feel uncomfortable because it was the kind of silence that came from finally being able to breathe.

Then Jace stood and tapped his glass lightly against the table and the room gradually quieted.

“I know everyone is relieved about what happened today. And we should be grateful that law enforcement finally got a solid hit against the Black Reapers.” He began and a few people nodded.

“But I want everyone to remember something. Victor is still missing, Damien escaped, and we still don’t know who Mr. Black is or how deeply this goes.” He continued as the laughter faded slightly.

CHAPTER 16.

This is a victory, but it is not the end. He said and nobody argued.

“We don’t become careless because the enemy lost one location. We keep the security rotations, we keep watching our surroundings, and we protect our families the same way we have been doing.” Jace said.

His eyes moved across the room before settling on me.

“We celebrate tonight because we earned it, but tomorrow we go back to being careful.” I said and several members raised their glasses.

“To the Iron Vipers.” Mason said.

“To the Iron Vipers.” Everyone repeated.

I smiled as Jace returned to his seat, and for once, the warmth in my chest had nothing to do with fear.

It felt good to see everyone together. It felt good to hear people laughing and it felt good to believe, even briefly, that perhaps we were finally turning the corner.

Later that night, after most of the children had gone to bed and the clubhouse had quieted down, I helped clean the kitchen while Jace checked the doors.

Mia was gathering empty glasses when Ethan walked through the doorway holding his laptop.

He didn’t look like someone who had come to join the celebration. He looked pale and Jace noticed immediately.

“What happened?” Jace asked as Ethan stopped near the table.

“I need you to see something.” Ethan said and the room went quiet so I put the dish towel down.

“What is it?” I asked.

Ethan opened the laptop and turned it toward us.

“I was going through the financial reports from the accounts we flagged after the last incident, and I found another transaction.” Ethan said as Jace frowned.

“How much?” Jace asked.

“It’s not the amount that bothers me.” Ethan said as he clicked through several screens, and I moved

closer.

“What bothers you, then?” Jace asked as Ethan looked at me.

“The timing.” Ethan said and I stared at the numbers.

The transaction had been processed earlier that afternoon, shortly after the police raid and Jace leaned over the table.

“Where did the money go?” Jace asked.

“That’s the problem.” Ethan said. “I’m not sure yet.” Ethan said.

“You’re not sure where our money went?” Jace asked.

2/3

CHAPTER 16

“Hknow the receiving company, but I can’t find any legitimate business connection between them and us.” He said and my stomach tightened.

“Could it be another bookkeeping error?” I asked.

“I thought that at first.” He asked as he clicked onto another report.

“Then I compared it with the previous suspicious transactions.” He added.

My eyes moved between the screens. The numbers were different, but the pattern looked familiar and Jace’s expression changed.

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