Page 185 of Tempting Fate

“Jesus, Dad. Why did you do that?”

My father smiles. His red eyes are watery, and he sways on his feet, exhausted, even as his tone remains jovial. “My son…just… bought… you the… time you… need…”

It’s the only thing he gets to say because the cops in the bar shake off their shock at seeing their minister gunned down in front of them. Half a dozen armoured officers dive on Dad. They knock him to the ground, kicking him with heavy boots, even though he isn’t mounting a fight. I do my best to make my way to him. My need to protect my dying father gives me the strength to overpower two armed officers despite my arms being secured behind my back.

The third one takes me to the ground.

“Stay there,” he demands as he shoves my face into the hard floor. “You move, and I’m gonna put a bullet in that pretty woman of yours.”

When he leaves me alone so he can radio for more backup, Lily rushes over to me and drops to her knees next to my head. Her eyes water as she tries to blink back her tears.

“I’m so sorry Hades felt he needed to do that.”

“It was his choice. He knew what he was doin’.”

She shakes her head as if to ward off a bad thought. “I love you.”

“Good,” I tell her. “’Cause I love you more than you’ll ever know, metukà shelì.”

“This marriage you’ve cooked up with Slash isn’t real,” Lily tells me in a scandalised hiss. The razor-sharp understanding in her expression settles my nerves. My woman’s not going to fight me on this plan because she sees that it’s the only way to stop Brutus from forcing her into an arranged marriage. Slash’s secret familial connections are our only hope. “It’s just a way to escape Hugh. I’ll do it to protect the Shamrocks. But it means nothing… I only want to marry you.”

“I know, metukà shelì,” I reply in a wavering tone that attempts to betray my real thoughts. The truth about Slash and Lily is a lot more convoluted than either of us will admit, but I’m content to let that fact slide for now. “Me and you, we’re forever.”

When my heartbroken woman leans closer, I capture her mouth with mine and kiss her hard. She breathes me in. I absorb every atom of her love. Forced to break our connection when the cop behind me pulls me away from her, I keep my eyes locked on Lily’s. When she tries to follow us to the exit, my frantic gaze seeks Slash. He nods at the silent request that I send him with my eyes and rushes forward to grab her.

Before Slash can turn her away from the sight of me being dragged out of the clubhouse, Lily juts her chin and declares, “You don’t get to tell me that we’re forever, then not come back to me, Ezekiel Miles.”

“I wouldn’t dare.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

When my best friend wraps an arm around my woman’s waist, I slant a look his way that makes him do a double take. Eyes wide with challenge, he nods once, then hauls Lily over his shoulder and carries her out of the bar. She goes kicking and screaming, and I refuse to move, no matter how hard the cops hit me or how many of them try to drag me, until she’s no longer in sight.

Outside, I’m shoved inside a paddy wagon and the door is slammed shut. I slump on the hard bench with my back against the steel wall. The side of my head is throbbing from someone’s boot. My mouth is bleeding. My gut feels like a swarm of wasps has stung me a thousand times.

Still, my physical condition isn’t a patch on the turmoil spinning around in my head.

My freedom is gone for fuck knows how long. My woman is marrying my best friend. My dad just killed a politician in full sight of the cops. He’ll most likely spend the rest of the time he has left behind bars. A whole heap of shit just hit the fan, wave after wave of drama, enough to drown most men, and I have no way out of this tsunami of bullshit, except to hold my breath and keep kicking for the surface.

Right now, the only thing I know for sure is that as long as I have Lily to come home to, it’ll all be worth it in the end…

TO BE CONTINUED…

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