Page 107 of Tempting Fate

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VENOM

Even saying the words, aware as I am that our break up will be fake and hopefully short lived, kills me. The only thing that helps ease the pain is seeing the same emotion reflected back at me as devastation immediately invades Lily’s expression. It was cruel to lay it on her like that, but I needed to know what’s in her heart of hearts. The entire plan hinges on her ability to put her feelings for the dad she once thought she knew aside. I need her to play the part of the scorned ex-lover, to distract her father and to take the heat off me, while Hunter and Cub work through Brutus’ personal records and I try to ingratiate myself with the rebel faction I believe Brutus is cultivating.

In the end, everything comes down to one question.

Can Lily deceive her father to save the Shamrocks and our relationship?

“No,” she cries out. Her voice echoes off the walls as she takes hold of my cut and attempts to shake me. “I know I’ve been crazy. I know I said mean stuff… but I don’t want us to break up. Not like this. Not because of my father. Because of Alex. Because of a bunch of stupid lies we could work through if we truly tried.”

When she blinks, and twin streams of tears run down her cheeks, I brush them away with my thumbs. Confusion ripples over her face at my tenderness, then Lily bites down on her bottom lip and sniffs. As understanding settles into her beautiful face, I brace for the explosion.

“Did you just test me?” I swallow deep, uncertain if I should answer her. This time when she tightens her grip on my cut, it’s not to plead with me, it’s to berate me. “I can’t fucking believe you did that.”

“Needed to?—”

“No, you didn’t,” she screams. Landing a harsh slap to my cheek, Lily tries to push me out of her way. I refuse to budge, catching her wrist when she swings at me again. “Do you ever listen to what I say, or do you just run with what you think I’m going to say?”

“I listen,” I tell her. “Unfortunately, you have a history of lyin’ to me then runnin’ when the chips are down. Can’t risk that happenin’ again. Needed to know from the start if you were gonna go behind my back and take things into your own hands this time.”

“I don’t lie to you!” Her shriek is loud enough to wake the dead.

Thankfully, I planned this ambush well, and have ensured we have the space to hash this out in peace. This showdown is long overdue. More than five years too late. Now, it’s up to me to force us to wipe the slate clean and map out a clear path forward.

“Yes, you do.”

Lily’s tone is filled with bitterness when she says, “How long are you goin’ to hold what I said at my eighteenth birthday party over my head? It was one mistake. One fuckup that I’ve paid for, over and over again.”

“No, metukà shelì,” I remind her in a harsh voice. “It wasn’t one fuckup. It’s been six years of lies. Six years of you lyin’ to me, to yourself, to everyone who loves you.”

“One fuckup,” Lily retorts. She raises her free hand to take another swipe at my face. I catch her arm, then secure her wrists together above her head by pinning them to the cold steel wall with one hand. Her blue eyes pool with angry tears when she digs her metaphorical heels in and snaps, “One mistake that I’ve more than paid for.”

“Six years of lies.”

“Bullshit.”

“Do you want me to start?” When Lily presses her lips into a tight line and shakes her head, I ignore her, “Let’s start with the lie you’ll admit—the night of your birthday party. Surely you remember promisin’ me that you weren’t keepin’ secrets about Alex’s threats?” My tone is brittle as I snarl, “You let me take you to my hotel room, let me tell you that I love you, let me make love to you. All the while you were lying to me... I took your virginity based on a lie.”

“No,” she pleads. “It wasn’t like that.”

“How was it then?”

“I can’t—I can’t tell you.”

“It’s not negotiable, sweet thing. We needa lay it all out—my shit, your shit—so we can trust each other enough to do what needs to be done to save the club and us. You want the truth, well here it is… I can admit that I lie to you, mostly to protect you, sometimes to protect my ego, but you’re incapable of facin’ the fact that you purposely deceive me every single fuckin’ day.”

“Fuck. You. Not everything is your business.”

As she curses, Lily struggles in my grip, fighting to free her arms. I use my weight to hold her in place, flexing my fingers around her wrists to ensure I don’t add to the damage Alex has already created. Breathing as steadily as I can, despite my own irritation at her refusal to be honest, I lay down an ultimatum. “You have two ways outta this, sweet thing. We either hash out the past so we can go into the future with everythin’ out in the open, or you call carnage, and I let you go… forever. This breakup can be real if that’s what you want?”

“No,” she whimpers. “I’ll die without you.”

“Then talk. It’s the only way you can have me.”

“You’ll hate me.”

“That’ll never happen.”

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