Page 135 of Tempting Fate

“Take me… home.”

My heart twists as I realise that, thanks to the fucker she just killed and her bloody-minded father, we don’t have a home anymore. Everything, everywhere, everyone. It’s all suspect, potentially compromised, until we can confirm otherwise.

“Heya, doll.” Slash’s voice is loud in the night silence as he saves me from having to reject Lily’s request. “You know that marker you owe me? Well, I’m callin’ it in tonight.” He stops talking for a drawn-out moment. “I don’t care if you’re havin’ dinner with the fuckin’ Pope... I need you to hop your arse into that luxury car of yours and head up to the hills as fast as you can. I’ll send you the address. Bring every medical supply you have on hand… somethin’ to stop the spread of DNA… and a closed fuckin’ mouth.”

Typing on his phone, he steps out into the hallway. The grim set of his mouth tells me he’s not happy with the call he just made.

“Bebe?”

Slash cuts his eyes to mine. “Yep.”

“Think she’ll come?”

“If she doesn’t, I’ll make sure she loses every single fuckin’ thing that’s good in her life. Told her when she asked for her favour that she wouldn’t like the terms, not my fault if she proves incapable of listenin’.” I let his vehement declaration go unanswered. His shit is his to deal with. I’ve got my hands full with my own mess right now. When Slash plonks his arse on the floor and leans his back to the wall, I brace for more bad news. “She’s seen the photos. The prick had them blown up for her.”

“How? It happened less than two hours ago.”

He shrugs. “How the fuck do I know? You want me to go get them off the floor so you can see for yourself?”

“No.”

“You’re gonna have some explainin’ to do.”

“Least of my problems right now,” I tell him. When I brush my fingertips over Lily’s bloodied lips, and she doesn’t open her eyes, my gut tightens. “She keeps losin’ consciousness. Maybe we should take her to the hospital?”

“If you do that, she’s goin’ to jail. That room isn’t only covered in his blood… pretty sure some of it’s Cherub’s.”

Despite knowing that he’s right, I still shake my head. When he doesn’t give me anything else to work with, I struggle to my feet and carry Lily through the house until I find the living room. I lay her on the couch, carefully covering her with the soft blanket thrown over the backrest.

I look down at her in two minds.

I can’t expose her to the authorities.

No fucking way am I letting her get arrested for killing that piece of shit.

Joseph doesn’t get to prosecute her for his son’s death, not after the shit Alex has put her through.

But what if her injuries are more than Bebe can handle outside a hospital?

“I’m gonna call Cub… check in on the others.”

“I know I should, but—” I jut my chin toward Lily.

“Leave it to me.” He heads to the front door, then backtracks a couple steps. “Should I tell anyone about this? Or wait until she’s been looked at, and we can start the clean up?”

“Let Cub and Hunter know. Tell ’em they should keep it to themselves for now. If too many brothers find out, it’ll be harder to cover up.”

When the door clicks shut after Slash, I kneel next to Lily and gently pull back the blanket. As I’m checking Lily’s head for bumps, I grit my teeth when she whimpers beneath my touch. Her face is puffy, especially down the left side. Bruising around her jaw is quickly setting in. I struggle to keep myself from losing it as I catalogue the handprints around her slim neck. There’s a shitload of blood splattered on her since the motherfucker worked her over good. Three nasty-looking bite marks sit clear as day on her shoulder and left breast. Her stomach is red, swollen and painful looking. I move both her arms to make sure they aren’t broken. They work as they should. Everything’s as good as it can be in the circumstances.

So far.

Moving down her body, I lift one of her legs up to check her range of motion and find blood and fingertip-sized bruises on the inside of her thighs. My heart plunges into my boots, and I drop to my arse on the floor next to the couch.

After swallowing down my sorrow as much as I can, I push back to my feet. Lifting Lily as delicately as possible onto my lap, I pull her head to my shoulder and try my hardest to blink through the tears that burn at the back of my eyes. “Fuck, metukà shelì. I let you down again… I’m so fuckin’ sorry. Why am I so useless at keepin’ you safe, sweet thing, when you mean the most to me?”

“Zeke?” Lily’s hoarse voice shocks the shit out of me. She wriggles in my lap, turns slightly to look at me. “When… are we going… home?”

Ducking my head, I wipe my tears away before forcing myself to look into her eyes. The sadness and pain that shines back at me breaks my fucking heart.

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