There was going to be a New New Sadie. I was calling her Pretend Sadie and she was going to protect me.

It would make it easier in the long run, even though it would be far more difficult for the short one.

But I could do it. I lived twenty-nine years with my father pretending to be someone I was not. I could live a few weeks guarding my heart from Hector “Oh my God” Chavez.

And guard it I would.

* * * * *

At ten to four, Hector picked me up from the gallery.

I was kind of hoping that he’d cool off by the time he came but one look at him told me this was absolutely not the case.

So be it.

I could work with that.

There was only one hitch on the way to the Nightingale Investigations offices. They were just around the corner from Art, maybe two blocks away. Still, Hector drove it and as we approached the entrance to the garage, I audibly sucked in breath.

I’d forgotten about the garage.

My last time in the garage had not been a happy memory.

I wasn’t ready to go back there again.

Hector heard me, he muttered, “Fuck,” under his breath, pulled out of his approach and rounded the block, parking on the street.

With effort, I forced my body to relax.

Before getting out, his hand wrapped around my neck and he turned me to face him. He was leaning toward me but not as close as he normally got. I noticed this and it made something ugly twist inside me, something which I firmly set aside.

“I didn’t think, the garage –” he said to me, his eyes were masked but his voice was soft.

“That’s okay,” I replied quickly.

He didn’t let me go and his eyes scanned my face.

“Who’s with me now?” he asked.

“Me,” I answered immediately.

His eyes narrowed. “Which ‘me’?”

“Me, me,” I replied, as if there had always been only one (hardly!).

This answer didn’t make him happy and that’s when he got as close as he normally did.

I held my breath and braced (it was a good thing too).

“If I didn’t know it was worth it. If I didn’t know from what happened last night and, whatever the f**k you thought it was, mamita, what happened this morning. And if I didn’t like your hands in my hair holding my mouth to you, the smell of your f**kin’ perfume when I’m buried inside you and the way you lose that tight-as-shit control over every f**kin’ move you make when you get excited and you use your nails and teeth on me, I’d give up, because, mamita, you are one serious pain in the ass.”

I hadn’t planned for a speech like that (I ask you, who would?). Nor had I planned for how it made my heart race (damn and blast!), my stomach pitch (more damning and blasting!) or the area between my legs to tingle (damn and blast it all to hell!) or, contradictory to all this, how it made me want to give him a good sock in the gut. So I thought my best bet was to pull in my lips and try to look ashamed of my pain in the ass behavior.

This didn’t work. He shook his head in an annoyed way, let me go, we got out of the Bronco and walked up to the office.

However angry he was, he held my hand the whole way, now, how bizarre was that?

* * * * *

I took in Shirleen’s raised brows but pretended I didn’t see them.

Shirleen saw my pretending and thought it was bullshit.

“All right, tell Shirleen, what in the f**k is goin’ on?” She lifted her hand and her thumb jerked to the door Hector just walked through. “That boy has been in a foul mood all day. Now, foul moods aren’t unusual with Hector, he’s moody but he’s edgy. A boy’s edgy, you gotta give him room for the moods; it comes with the territory. If he’s good at his job, would put down his life for the boys and he ain’t difficult to look at, like Hector, you do things like that. But this is different. Everyone’s been givin’ him a wide berth all day. Even Luke, Vance, Lee and Mace and those boys ain’t scared of nothin’.”

I had to admit, I kind of felt better that badasses Luke, Vance, Lee and Mace also thought Hector’s “foul” mood was worthy of wide berth and I wasn’t a total wuss.

I looked at Shirleen and realized she actually expected an answer.

“Um…” I hedged.

“Ain’t no ‘ums’ with Shirleen. He’s pissed way the f**k off and you look like, like… I don’t know what you look like but somethin’ ain’t right.”

“Well…” I started then I stopped.

She waited.

I stayed silent (really, what could I say?).

“That’s it,” she announced. I watched as she stabbed a button on her phone with a frosted-apricot fingernail and I heard a dial tone coming from the speaker. Then she hit another one and the speed dial engaged and a rapid succession of tones could be heard then a ring then two then a voice came on the line.

“How’s it hangin’, sugar?” Daisy answered the phone.

“Shit’s gone down with Hector and Sadie. Sadie’s standin’ here, cat’s got her tongue and Hector’s gone electric,” Shirleen declared and I was also quite pleased I wasn’t the only one to feel Hector’s angry electric current, it made me feel less of a freak.

“Oh shit,” Daisy’s voice said.

Boy, she could say that again.

“Powwow. Fortnum’s. Tomorrow at noon. We’re gonna get this shit sorted,” Shirleen decreed and I felt panic seize me as I hadn’t planned for this either.

“But, I –” I started and Shirleen’s hand whipped up, palm out to face me and, since she was scaring me a little bit, my mouth snapped shut.

“Gotcha, I’ll get the phone tree activated,” Daisy’s voice said.

Phone tree?

The Rock Chicks had a phone tree?

Battle stations!

“Really, I –” I started again but stopped when Shirleen’s brows snapped together (so much for my puny battle stations) and Daisy’s voice came over the phone.

“No back talk, comprende?” Daisy warned. “Be there or face Rock Chick consequences.”

I had no idea what Rock Chick consequences were but, then again, I didn’t want to know.

“Oh, all right,” I gave in.

How bad could it be, a powwow?

I’d survived worse, heck, I was surviving worse at that very moment!

The door opened and Hector came through.

“It’s time, mamita,” he announced.

See what I mean?

“Tomorrow, noon,” Daisy’s voice reminded me.