attached to the half-built motorcycle. He wipes his brow with his arm, careful not to smear oil over his exceptionally handsome face.
It’s a thrill to watch him work—to see all that power forced into a single job. To repair, fix, whatever. I’m awed by the way he works the metal. Sometimes with brute force, and other times with the delicacy and precision of an artist who is the master of his craft.
He grabs something on top of the engine block and pries it off, it rolls toward my feet. I bend down and pick it up—some sort of cap. Then Gage’s intense gaze flicks to me, softening. “Hey. What you got there?”
I hold up the plastic bags of groceries. “Dinner, I guess.”
A positively feral look descends over his face as he stands, wiping his hands on cloth.
“I thought I could make us something nice.”
Gage takes my waist, and in seconds he’s pressed against me, all sweat, metal, and man. He tugs my tank top down before I can stop him, and then he grabs a mouthful of my breast.
“I’d rather eat you.”
I shove him. “Gage!”
His hand flies out, his fingertips slapping my ass hard enough to make me yelp. “Come on. I’ll help you cook.” Gage wrestles the groceries out of my grip, giving me a brief kiss on my cheek after he wins.
I link my hand with his as a bump of affection hits my heart. His answering smile is all I need to lift my mood. I can almost see our future laid out in front of me like a path leading toward domestic bliss. It never occurred to me that I could be happier here. So long as I have him, I’ll be happy wherever I am.
“What the hell is that?”
His voice grinds me to a halt. There’s a piece of paper stuck to his door with two words printed in all caps, large enough for me to read from here: EVICTION NOTICE.
“Eviction?”
The paper ripples in his hand, his lips moving soundlessly as he reads it.
“What does it say?”
“This land has been seized by the State of California for public use. This property is under eminent domain of the state you must vacate the premises within two weeks for scheduled demolition…” His voice trails off as he drops the bag of groceries as a dull horror pounds inside me. “They can’t do this. I paid off my house. It’s mine.”
Oh my God.
“Yes, they can. They’re supposed to limit the use.”
“Fuck!”
“It’s almost always for a highway or something that they want to build. He must have gone to the local government and pitched some kind of plan.”
Abandoning the groceries, he walks into the road and glances at the houses on the other side of the street. There are sheets of paper on every door. We walk past Pierce’s house, where he sits on the porch reading the eviction notice.
“Jesus Christ. Did they evict the whole town?”
Agony pounds in the very marrow of my bones as we walk into town. There’s an eviction notice on every door, every business. To add insult to injury, there’s another notice on Gage’s auto shop, pinned to the office. People spill onto the streets, reading them out loud to each other. Distraught, Gage’s fingers tighten around my wrist, almost cutting off circulation.
“I’m not leaving. They can paper my walls with them for all I care. They’re just trying to scare us.”
It’s working. “Everyone in this town will be homeless. They’ll lose their jobs.”
“Babe, that’s not going to happen.”
His eyes gleam with resistance, and I want to believe in him. “The Cranburys are behind it. She knew—she said I’d regret not taking her offer.”
“We’re not letting her win.”
I shake my head, the guilt festering in my heart already. A cold feeling spider-walks down my spine as I look at the people I’ve come to think of as my friends. Gage and I would be fine, but what about the rest of the community? What about Pierce, for God’s sake? He’s too old to start working again, and will the money they give him be enough to buy another house in this crazy real estate market?
No. That’s not going to happen.
We walk toward the town square, where there’s already a small crowd of people. George stands on a bench, addressing everyone about the incontrovertible fact that Illuminati have now penetrated all areas of society. He thrusts his eviction notice in front of their faces. Annoyed, Gage watches him closely.