Page 70 of Tempting Fate

When Brutus approaches Lily with his arms wide like he’s going to hug her, she swings out of his reach. “You need to back off today, Dad. I know this is your club, but you’re messing with my relationship. I’m furious with you right now.”

He blanches at the vehemence in her tone for a quick second before his expression turns businesslike again. “You’re not in possession of the full truth, little Cherub, but we’ll discuss that soon.”

“Whatever.” Lily dismisses her dad with a flick of her hair, then stalks with purpose toward me.

I throw a leg over my Harley and look everywhere but at her. She grabs the cigarette I’m smoking, tosses it on the ground, and grinds it out with the toe of her boot. Passing me her helmet and sunglasses, Lily pulls the jacket on, then she quickly braids her long locks. Once that’s done, I hand her the helmet.

The entire time she’s fastening the chin straps, she doesn’t address me.

I remain silent too.

What’s left to say?

Brutus is sure to fuck up our life as soon as he can.

She snatches her eye protection out of my hand, then leans down to pull down the pillion pegs. The assurance in her movements puts me on edge. Lily is rushing headfirst into a situation that none of us fully understand. Protective instincts engaged, I take hold of her upper arm to stop her, and with my chin, gesture toward Slash. “Stay here... he can keep you company.”

“No.”

She shrugs off my hand and hits me with a pointed look.

Knowing when I’m beat, I bend to the side and yank the pillion pegs into place.

One hand on the sissy bar and the other on my shoulder, Lily cocks her leg and pulls herself onto the back of my Harley like she has hundreds of times before. A sliver of something bad, foreboding, gut instinct, I’m not quite sure, ripples through me, and the thought that this is the last time she’ll sit behind me like this bursts into my brain.

Distracted, I hiss when my woman tugs on my T-shirt to pull it free of my jeans, then slides her hands under the material. Her long and slender fingers settle on my abs, the band of the diamond engagement ring I custom designed for her catches in the material, and the shudder I repress is part need, part guilt.

A reminder of what’s at stake.

Since we always ride like this, Lily’s actions were to be expected. Today, though, it’s an unwanted reminder of her eighteenth birthday when I held her in the same way as I rode bitch on the back of the bike that I gave her as a gift. It was my way of finally making a move on her—one that Lily reciprocated as soon as she wrapped her head around the implications of there being an us again after all the drama that had gotten in our way over the previous couple of years.

Mere hours before Alex almost killed her...

“Dunno what the fuck you’re playin’ at today, woman?” Mouth in action before my brain has time to kick in, I bark, “Brutus’ plan is stupid—I should lock you in our room.”

Our gazes meet in the side-view mirror. I can’t see her eyes behind the sunglasses, but I know her well enough to see that she’s as confused as I am right now. Never in our history have I spoken to her like this. Never thought we’d find ourselves in a situation that called for it. My club. My life. My heart. All three are at risk since they are so intertwined with the woman pressed against my back.

“What?” Rather than admit her chaotic thoughts, Lily chooses to feign ignorance. “I’m just riding bitch like a good old lady should.”

When she rakes her nails lightly across my stomach, my abs clench.

The grin she hits me with tells me she did it on purpose.

“You know what I mean, Lilianna. You’re actin’ reckless.”

My heart lurches in my chest when I use her full first name. It’s another low blow. One that hits a bullseye because it wipes the cheeky grin right off her face.

“I know it seems dumb to you, but I need to see this to the end, Zeke. Like, I don’t want to be the one who ends him… I’m not—I’m not… that… tough. I only want to be there when you do it.” When I place my gloved hand on her thigh and softly squeeze, Lily lowers her chin to my shoulder. “I need you to support me being there, though.”

“I wanna be the one who sends him to the reaper for you, but I don’t think it’s right for you to be anywhere near him when it happens. He’s gonna try to fuck with your head as soon as he realises it’s over.” My woman nods, seeming to understand where I’m coming from. Still, she shows no sign of backing out of this meeting, so I try to press my point. “I can try to support you, but I don’t see how you can deal with this shit, not hot on the heels of yesterday. I know you’re strong, but confrontin’ him might be the thing that breaks you… might send you back to where you were four years ago.”

“I can deal with anything if you have my back.”

“I hope I’m enough,” I confess. As my stomach churns, I decide to bite the bullet now, not only to head off Brutus, but to see if sharing my worries will encourage Lily to dive deeper into her reason for listening to her father, despite his track record of letting her down. “You’re gonna look at me different once this is over… and I don’t know if I’m ready for that. Actually, I know I’m not... I’m a fuckin’ dark and dangerous man, sweet thing. You’ve no idea the shit I’m capable of, and I’m not lookin’ forward to you seein’ up close and personal exactly how bad I am.”

Tight chest and a muddled head warning me that I’m about to risk it all, I tell her the secret I think Brutus is about to spill. “I went after Alex while he was in hospital, and I also arranged for some of the brothers to pay him a few visits on the inside… thought it’d scare him off—but it’s clear that it only made him more intent on gettin’ his hands on you.” I swallow hard. My pride strangles the rest of my admission, garbling the words as I force myself to say them, “I fucked up, sweet thing. I didn’t tell you that I poked the monster, and I compounded my secrecy by hidin’ the sick love letters he sent you, pleadin’ for you to meet with him so he could explain everythin’.”

Although it feels good to get this off my chest, I take no pleasure in dumping my mistakes on Lily’s shoulders. She already carries too much weight… I hate myself for adding to it. But needs must. Dulling the sword Brutus is planning to swing at my neck takes precedent. The damage he can do to Lily is immeasurable.

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