Chapter 6

The yellow cab pulled into the long, curving driveway of the Aguilar estate. The air was thick with the smell of wet cement and dust from the ongoing renovations near the massive front fountain.

Jessie stepped out of the cab. She needed to get to the backyard storage shed to retrieve her adoptive mother's old farming journals before heading to the mountains.

A deafening engine roar shattered the quiet. A bright red Ferrari sped up the driveway, slamming on its brakes and skidding to a halt just a few feet from Jessie.

The driver's side door swung open. Dax Vance stepped out. He wore a custom-tailored suit and designer sunglasses, reeking of arrogance and expensive cologne.

Harley sat in the passenger seat, watching the scene through the tinted glass with calculating eyes.

Dax walked around the front of the car, opened Harley's door like a chivalrous knight, and then turned his head to glare at Jessie.

He marched right up to her, blocking her path to the backyard. He looked her up and down, his lip curling in disgust.

"Look at you," Dax sneered loudly, making sure the nearby construction workers could hear. "You can put a Rust Belt rat in Manhattan, but you still smell like cow shit and cheap denim."

The workers paused their mixing, leaning on their shovels to watch the drama unfold.

Seeing the audience gathered, Harley hurried over, her face suddenly etched with worry. She gently grabbed Dax's forearm. "Dax, please don't," she whispered, casting a fearful glance at Jessie. "My sister is just... different."

Dax puffed out his chest, emboldened by Harley's touch. He pointed a finger inches from Jessie's nose. "You stay the hell away from Harley. If you ever try to bully her again, I'll ruin you."

Jessie stood perfectly still. Her face was a blank canvas. She looked at Dax the way one might look at a buzzing mosquito.

Her total lack of reaction infuriated Dax. He felt his ego bruising in front of his goddess.

"Are you deaf, bitch?" Dax snarled, stepping into her personal space. He raised his hand, aiming to shove her hard in the shoulder.

The moment his hand moved, Jessie shifted her weight. Her eyes, previously dull, suddenly sharpened into twin blades of ice.

It wasn't a magical aura, but the cold, predatory stillness of a survivor who had looked death in the eye a thousand times. It was a look that promised violence without a single word, and Dax's primal instincts screamed at him to retreat.

Dax felt it physically. His heart seized in his chest. His lungs forgot how to pull in air. It was as if a massive, apex predator had just locked its jaws around his throat.

His raised hand froze in mid-air. A violent tremor started in his knees, shaking his tailored pants.

"Take your dirty hand away," Jessie said. Her voice wasn't loud, but it vibrated with a dark, lethal promise.

Dax stumbled backward, his face draining of all color. He couldn't breathe.

Harley didn't feel the killing intent. She only saw Dax backing down from a country girl. She pinched the back of Dax's arm, a silent, angry demand for him to act like a man.

The pinch snapped Dax out of his terror. Realizing he had just cowered in front of Harley and the construction crew, a hot, humiliating rage boiled over.

"I'll kill you!" Dax roared. He pulled his arm back and swung a heavy, uncoordinated punch right at Jessie's face.

The workers gasped. Harley's lips curved into a wicked, satisfied smile.

Jessie didn't flinch. She stepped into his guard. Her left hand shot up, her fingers wrapping around Dax's wrist with bone-crushing force.

She pivoted on her heel, using his own momentum against him. As she twisted his arm down, she drove her right boot hard into the back of his knee.

Dax screamed as his leg buckled. His balance vanished entirely.

Jessie let go of his wrist and watched with cold, detached eyes as his body launched forward, completely out of control.

He was falling directly toward the massive, shallow mixing tub filled to the brim with wet, thick cement.