Page 111 of Tempting Fate

She smirks, most of the agony that has been etched on her face is replaced with unfettered affection. “Now I have you and your magic cock to heal me.”

“Hope you know flattery like that will get you anythin’ you want?”

“Will it get me the truth?”

Closing my eyes, I softly nudge her forehead with mine. “You’ve already got it, sweet thing. My regrets. My lies. My excuses. I’ve told you everythin’. The hospital ambush. The prison beatings. The letters. Hiding his early release from you. Nads and the drugs. I don’t know what else I can give you. You already have my PIN and my phone code?—”

“I want your true thoughts about my father.”

“I told you… we think he’s?—”

“All you’ve given me is your opinion on what everyone else thinks.” Lily captures my face with her hands.

When I meet her penetrating gaze, I understand why she’s spent all these years running from honesty. Lies are easy. The truth has the potential to ruin everything. My heart is in my throat as I contemplate the harsh words that push to the forefront of my mind at her request. Telling her what I think about Brutus is risky. Admitting that I’ve felt it for longer than a few months is even riskier still.

“Come on, Zeke. Fair play. You got my truth… now I want yours.”

“Your father is a piece of shit. Scum. Beyond redemption,” I snarl as every ounce of resentment I’ve kept balled up in my gut bubbles to the surface and out of my mouth. “A bad fuckin’ father. A terrible president. A bloody disgrace to our brotherhood. Always has been, the only difference is that he doesn’t bother to hide his contempt for us anymore. He never deserved Scarlett, ain’t worthy of Charlie, and he certainly doesn’t merit a drop of the love his kids have for him.”

The way Lily’s throat works as she drops her hands from my cheeks to hug herself instantly fills me with regret. I press my lips together, gently lower her back to her feet, giving her space to react. I wait, breath held, regret imminent, for her to arc up at my assessment of the man she calls Dad. Mentioning her mother was a low blow. I have no excuse for throwing Scarlett in her face, even if my feelings about the way he treated the woman who helped raise me during my mum’s many absences are at the crux of my hatred for him.

“He’s mean. He’s irrational. He scares me sometimes,” Lily whispers. “But I still love him.”

“Metukà shelì,” I murmur as softly as I can. My body is vibrating with barely contained rage at her admission, but I know losing my temper will only make this worse. Especially when I have to consolidate the new plan with her before we run out of time. “That’s not an indictment on you—if anythin’, it’s completely natural. He’s your dad. Once upon a time, you believed he was perfect. That he was your protector.”

“But he’s not, is he?” After I gently pull her arms away from her midsection, Lily allows me to clutch her close. Her voice is close to inaudible as she says, “How can he be my protector if he’s working with Joseph Kingsley? He knows Alex hurt me… why would he betray the Shamrocks, and me, by joining forces with the man who helped his son get the lowest sentence possible?”

“We don’t know… that’s what we needa find out.”

“How?” Her expression is earnest when she steps away to press her back to the steel wall behind her. “When?”

“By followin’ Hunter’s plan to root out Brutus’ deception, then exposin’ him and the brothers he’s turned into rats to the entire club.”

I leave unsaid the side-scheme I’m working on that takes advantage of our familial connection to the Trinity. Slash bit my head off when I suggested it to him, but I’ll go directly to Crystal with my idea if it comes to it.

Crystal Hudson loves Lily like a daughter.

Here’s hoping that love is strong enough to come out of hiding after thirty-five years.

“And we achieve that by breaking up?” My woman drags me back to the here and now with her question. “Doesn’t make sense.”

“By fakin’ a break up,” I correct her. “Hunt has thought it through, and he believes your dad is havin’ second thoughts about working with Joseph and the Maddison’s. ’Specially now Alex has hurt you a second time.”

“He hardly seemed to care.”

“I know.” With a shrug, I tell her, “Nothing’s settled, although you know what the kid’s like… he was onto this long before I was. He’s worked the angles, questioned Gabriel about the club’s constitution, and had Cub look into things.”

The space between us seems to grow wider when Lily asks, “What did they find?”

I drag in a ragged breath and hold it until my lungs burn. Lily’s expectant gaze scans my face as she tries to decipher my hesitation. Deciding to trust she can handle our suspicions, I lay it out straight. “Nothin’ concrete… just a bunch’a barely connected clues that lead us to believe Brutus is tryna take the Shamrocks into the hard drugs trade and, then eventually, sex traffickin’ by joinin’ fuckin’ forces with the Maddison Clan, and potentially, the Bishops… there’s some new synthetic drug that the Maddison’s have created that Brutus is interested in helping’ them distribute.”

“No.” Even as she protests, I can hear the acceptance in her voice.

Lily believes me.

“Like I said, it’s all up in the air right now, but that’s what it looks like.”

Arms folded across her chest, Lily scowls as well as she can with one eye still bruised and slightly swollen. “How do we stop him?”

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