Relentless Flame (Hell to Pay) Read Free Page A

finally getting back on track, thanks to their hard work and the ability to keep secrets. Slowly and surely, they were clawing their way back toward a normal life. She had no time to spare on a certain tall, handsome man with ice-blue eyes that danced with humor and suggestiveness and made her heart flutter.
    Smoothing her hair and running her hands over her cheeks, she nodded, satisfied that the traitorous blush had finally subsided. She blew out another big breath and let the tension in her shoulders relax. This random encounter with Dante was simply an aberration in her otherwise bland life.
    She didn’t need any man. All she wanted was for Ray, or the specter of Ray, to leave her alone forever and let her rebuild her new, safe existence here in Portland. At some point, she’d have to learn to trust herself again and even figure out how to open herself up to others. Not now, but maybe one day.
    • • •
    Hannah limped along the sidewalk to her dumpy rental at nine that evening. What kind of brother would she see tonight? The younger brother who had driven her across the country to get away from Ray, the brother who faked sinus infections and foot sprains at urgent care clinics to get antibiotics and braces for her ankle—he’d been replaced by a different person. He’d become more braggadocio here recently, more into hanging out with the guys, more demands for money, more erratic behavior. She wanted her quiet, supportive Scott back. Not this jerk.
    The deafening roar of a bus rolling by made her long to be on board. Her foot ached even more as she stumbled on the sidewalk when her foot dragged. No bus rides for her, though. She had to save every penny for college. Besides, exercise had to be good for her foot, right? She wiggled her toes. Still numb. Damn Ray. God, she hated him. She normally didn’t wish bad things on people, but she made an exception for her nasty stepfather. Even the thought of him made her neck prickle, and she couldn’t help but dart glances over her shoulders, still expecting to see the seething mass of cruelty that was Ray.
    Ah yes, the low rent district. While Portland wasn’t known for its slums, she and Scott had gotten close when they used their new, fake Social Security numbers and rented a dilapidated house in this borderline neighborhood. The last block or so to their house always gave her the creeps, and the neighbors looked out for no one.
    When she wearily turned off the sidewalk toward the front door of her run-down rental, the squeal of tires and pounding bass stopped her. A tricked-out orange Civic’s back door opened, and Scott jumped out.
    Like Hannah, he had their mother’s strawberry blond hair and brown eyes. But unlike Hannah’s petite stature, Scott’s lanky frame made him look gangly, even in his early twenties.
    His friends shouted from the car, “Hey, Hannah! Jump in.”
    Brandon, the ginger in the front seat with spiked hair and acne, flicked his tongue out in a lewd gesture. “Come on, honey! Just once around the block, huh?”
    His soulless stare never failed to creep her out. What Scott found pleasant enough about Brandon to hang out together, she’d never understand.
    The other two guys laughed and high-fived each other. Adjusting her glasses, she ducked her head. When these idiots talked to her, she wanted to scrub her skin with bleach. At least with Scott here, she was relatively safe if not disgusted by these guys.
    “Back off my sis. Rules, assholes,” Scott said from the sidewalk.
    “Catch ya later, my man!” Brandon yelled.
    Brandon flicked his wrist for the driver to pull out, which was done with a dramatic spinning of wheels as they peeled off down the street.
    At the disapproving glare of an older lady peeking through her windows next door, Hannah ducked her head. “Let’s go inside and have some dinner.”
    “I already ate, sis, no worries.”
    The aroma of cheap beer hung in a stale cloud around him.
    “Come on, Scott, eating out costs