Rule Breaker (Breeds 20)

Before she became the opposite of who she was, and what she always wanted to be.

As that thought drifted through her mind, the short knock on her front door had a frown creasing her brows. Stepping from the kitchen to the short wide entryway, she pressed the door camera, restraining a sigh at the sight of the man standing patiently on the other side.

“Come on in, Jase.” Deactivating the locks, she watched as the man her brother had called his best friend stepped into the apartment.

Jase wasn’t as tall as Mark had been, and he wasn’t as handsome, but he was cute in his own way with short brown hair, deep brown eyes and a stocky rather than lean body. Dressed in dark slacks, black dress boots and a white shirt open at the collar, he’d obviously discarded his tie after leaving the office.

If it hadn’t been for Jase, Gypsy didn’t know how her parents would have survived after Mark’s death. He’d taken over Mark’s job at the image consulting firm, did all the things Mark had done to help her parents and Mark’s fiancée, Thea.

He and Thea had married several years before, when Thea had been promoted to assistant DA in Window Rock.

“Hey, sweetheart.” His smile wasn’t as open and filled with love as Mark’s had always been, but it was familiar even if she’d never stopped seeing a shadow of an accusation buried in the dark depths.

“Hey, Jase,” she greeted him, allowing the brief hug he always insisted on. He was one of the few people who had refused to allow her to just disappear inside herself after Mark’s death. “I was wondering when you would get around to a visit.”

He shot her a chastising look as she moved away from him. “If you would come in to work occasionally instead of waiting for assignments, then you wouldn’t have to wonder when you would see me.”

She leaned against the counter as he took a seat on one of the stools on the opposite side.

“I’ve been busy.” She shrugged. “I do have other jobs, you know.”

He snorted at that, frowning. “How many times have I tried to get you to take full time at the office, Gypsy?”

McQuade Image Consulting was growing slowly, she knew, thanks to the way her parents had thrown themselves into the business after their eldest child’s death and Jason’s steady determination.

“I like the variety.” She liked not seeing the pain in her parents’ eyes whenever Mark’s name came up.

Crossing his arms and bracing them on the counter as she busied herself straightening what didn’t need straightening, he watched her closely for long seconds.

“Your mother called you earlier,” he reminded her gently. “You didn’t return her call.”

No, she hadn’t.

Lifting her gaze, she stared back at Jason quietly, coolly.

She didn’t discuss her parents with anyone, even Jason.

“I need you to come in to the office in the morning,” he said, concern filling his dark brown eyes. “We have a potential contract coming in and I’m going to need you and possibly Kandy both on this if I can get it to pan out.” His expression hardened. “And don’t even think about refusing, Gypsy, because your father has busted his ass to pull this job in and I won’t have the fact that we’re short a hand causing us to lose it.”

Her father had taken on the business that had first been Mark’s dream and steadily pushed it until it was a money-

making enterprise.

“I’ll be there,” she promised, though her job as image consultant was one she tried to ignore whenever possible.

“Good.” He nodded before his jaw tensed and he glanced at the bank of windows, carefully covered by heavy drapes. When he moved his gaze back to her, it was concerned once again. “I got your message earlier. You talked to Kandy the other night?”

“She was upset with me for some reason,” she admitted, though she rarely did more than ask Jase what her sister’s problem was whenever Kandy seemed out of sorts. Which wasn’t often.

“I think she’s upset with the world lately,” he sighed heavily. “That damned Coyote, Loki, sniffing around her isn’t helping matters either. Hell, I’m convinced he’s making it worse.”

The anger that filled his voice as he mentioned Loki didn’t surprise Gypsy. Jason hated Coyotes. Hated them to the point that he was well known for it. His resentment toward Breeds in general wasn’t hidden either.

“Loki’s okay, Jase,” she warned him. “You can’t blame all Coyotes any more than you can blame all men for one serial killer, murderer, or—”

“Rapist?” he snapped.

Gypsy flinched.