Page 68 of Tempting Fate

She seems to be unaware of the unease that’s filling the atmosphere as she quickly moves over to Charlie.

I use my chin to subtly beckon Hunter over to me. He settles himself on the stool next to mine and immediately starts to read Lily’s lips for me as she questions her stepmother.

“Do you know what’s going on?” he repeats.

The look of glee Charlie offers Lily doesn’t bode well for the rest of us. Hunter translates in a monotone that matches my woman’s cautious expression as she listens to her stepmother’s explanation. “They’ve got their hands on Alex, I believe. Now some kind of meeting has been arranged.”

My fiancée squeezes her eyes shut. She balls her hands into fists, then opens and closes them three times. I’m about to head over to check that she’s okay when she embraces Charlie. “So, you’re saying that my nightmare might be over?”

“Thank fuck,” I curse after Hunter speaks her words out loud for us.

With a satisfied nod that matches the one Slash and Hunter offer my assessment of Lily’s response, Charlie speaks again. Once more, the certified genius sitting next to me fills us in. “I hope so… I’ve been trying to listen in without your dad noticing. So far, I’ve learnt that Hugh has been found as well and, ah—” Charlie clicks her fingers. “—one of the other men in the van. You broke his nose… and it sounds like Alex’s in a pretty bad way since you shot him…”

Both women stop conversing when Brutus stalks over to them. “Are you talkin’ outta school again, Charlie?”

Hunter doesn’t need to tell us what Brutus is saying. Every person in the bar can hear his booming voice. Charlie shakes her head and ducks her chin to her chest. Lily rolls her eyes at her father.

He ignores her. “I’ve told you that club business ain’t for your ears. Do I needa send you back to Inadale since you can’t seem to work out how to keep your nose outta my business?”

Lily’s cheeks have reddened during Brutus’ diatribe toward Charlie, and her temper reaches boiling point a second after he finishes.

“Oh, grow up, Dad,” my woman snaps. “Charlie’s been by your side for almost ten years… she’s entitled to know what’s going on, just as much as I am.”

“Got no time for your mouth today, Cherub, not when—” Brutus gazes at something over Lily’s shoulder. “—we gotta head out now. You’re coming with us.”

I’m on my feet and halfway to them before Lily says, “What do you mean?”

“We have a meetin’ to attend,” Brutus tells her at a volume everyone can hear. “You’re going to have your say, and this shit with Alex will be put to rest, once and for fuckin’ all. After today, I don’t wanna hear another word about it from you—you’ll move on with your life. Forget it happened.”

“What sort of meetin’ is this?” Duke asks from behind Brutus.

“What the fuck?” I shake my head as I interject over the top of the very relevant question posed by Toker’s father. “Where’s your heart, Brutus? Alex meetin’ the reaper doesn’t give you leave to declare Lily’s sufferin’ is dead and done, too.”

Chin wobbling, Lily steps into my side. I curl my arm around her waist and she slips her hand into my back pocket. Brutus’ top lip pulls into a snarl as he scans us. “My club. My business. My daughter. My right to end this how I see fit.”

“You’re—”

“Don’t,” Lily tells me. She places her hand on my chest, patting me like I’m a rabid dog when I glare harder at her dad. “It’s obviously going to take Dad some time to come to terms with his failures, but he is right about one thing… I want to come with you today.”

“No. I don’t want you near him.”

“Back the fuck off, Venom. This’s family shit,” Brutus bellows. He takes hold of Lily’s wrist and tries to yank her out of my reach. My woman digs in her heels and stays by my side, even as her father grunts with frustration. “None of this concerns you… far as I’m concerned, you’re responsible for everythin’ that happened to my Cherub. If you hadn’t stood by with your dick in your hand, my daughter would be whole right now, not constantly lookin’ to you to keep her together.”

When Lily gasps at his harsh words, I push her behind me into Slash’s grasp and get right in Brutus’ face. The fingers of my right hand unconsciously flex, burning with the need to grab one of my guns and jam it in his vile mouth. Pulling the trigger on the fucker is looking irresistible right about now. “Say that shit again about Lily and I’ll paint the wall behind you with your arterial blood.”

“Gonna pull a gun on your president?” he asks, offering my clenched hand a pointed look. Glancing past me, he addresses the club brothers watching our showdown. “Do you all see this? Are you gonna let this stand? This’s your VP threatenin’ your president. He’s arguing about followin’ my orders, showin’ us all that he’s unworthy of his patch.”

I swallow hard to stop the challenge that’s sitting at the tip of my tongue from emerging out of my mouth. Calling him out right now would backfire. I don’t have the votes, any misstep will see my faction thrown out of the club.

It’s not my usual M.O. but patience is currently my only weapon.

“Every… one!” my dad wheeze-shouts as loudly as he can when nobody steps forward to agree with Brutus. His status as the ex-president, the longest serving at the mother chapter, is enough to immediately capture everyone’s attention. “Out. The… front.”

When I turn around, I find a lot of the older members nodding in agreement at Brutus’ declaration. It’s not as many as last night, but it’s still enough to split the club beyond repair. Slash, Cub, Toker, and Hunter move in to crowd behind my father. They cross their arms over their chests and dare the rest of the MC to step forward and challenge my dad. Finally, after a few fraught seconds that drag like days, their quiet support acts as a cue for everyone to heed Dad’s order and head out.

Once they’ve evacuated the bar, leaving me, Brutus, Lily, Charlie, Slash, and my dad alone, I glare at my president. He stares back at me with naked loathing in his gaze. If I hadn’t grown used to the change in his attitude to me, his open hostility would hurt.

“You should’ve had the balls to put a stop to her dramatics five fuckin’ years ago—yesterday wouldn’t have happened if I was in charge.”

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