Page 154 of Tempting Fate

His beefy shoulder connects with mine as he pushes past me. The exhaustion in his voice when he replies proves I landed a blow to his confidence. “The day the wool is pulled from your eyes, and you learn that things aren’t as black and white as you want them to be, will be the best day of my life.”

I trail him as he hobbles back to the bar on one crutch. As we breach the doorway, he pauses and turns to me.

Brutus chuckles with malice as he says, “Second only to the day you told me the demon spawn you put in little Cherub was dead.”

A red haze invades my vision. I pounce on him. Hands around his neck, I squeeze. When his face is blue, I loosen my hold and drive my busted knuckles into his mouth. Once. Twice. Three times. A commotion breaks out behind us. Women scream. Kids cry. My brothers shout.

None of it penetrates the rage curtaining my psyche as I pound the shit out of him.

If I was thinking, the shit-eating expression creasing Brutus’ face would alert me to the fact I’ve given him what he wanted.

It doesn’t.

We’re pulled apart. Three men hold me back while Brutus is helped to the closest seat. Charlie fusses over him. One of the old-timers lifts his broken leg onto a chair. All the while, he keeps his eyes fixed on mine. A trail of blood runs down his chin every time he smirks at my struggle to get my hands on him.

“What the fuck was that?” Angelis demands. “All your talk about playin’ by his rules until we have enough proof to move forward, and you trip at the first hurdle. Be smarter than this, Venom.”

“Said he was happy the baby’s dead.”

“Jesus.” Slash’s father motions for Cub, Isaiah, and Duke to let me go. He curls his hand around the back of my neck and pulls my forehead to his. “I need you to know this isn’t about you. Part of this is mine, Duke, Cass, and Hades’ fault. We did something to him; he did somethin’ to us… we thought he’d moved past it when we did. Turns out he’s been stewin’ on it all this time, waitin’ for the right time to hurt us.”

“What did you do?” My chest is heaving. Too many thoughts to control whirl around my skull while my heart pounds. Brutus dealt a metaphorical kill shot with his comment, and I need to know why he’d stoop that low in front of everyone, especially when we’re supposed to have a deal. “How does it involve me?”

“Zeke,” Angelis says the shortened version of my legal name in a tone I haven’t heard since I was a prepubescent boy. I bristle, aware that I’m not going to get any answers today. “It’s not my secret to tell. Not Brutus’ either. For the moment, we wait… Hades will speak when he’s ready.”

“I’m done waiting. My woman’s been hurt more than once ’cause none of you wanna face this.” I rip myself free of his grip. “If you can’t get my dad to talk, then I will.”

“He won’t tell you.” Angelis exchanges a loaded look with Duke. “Not until he has everything in place… he’s tryin’ to minimise the fallout for you both.”

“So, I’m supposed to stand here with my dick in my hand while Lily hates me, and Brutus laughs at me?”

Duke snorts. “Don’t play the victim here. You’d already left her before Brutus forced your hand with the threat of jail.”

“Is that true?” Cub challenges me.

Reluctantly, I incline my head.

Hands on his hips, Isaiah angrily scowls at me while Cub gets up in my face. “Always thought you were the best of us. Looked up to you for it, too. Turns out you’re the biggest coward of us all.”

As the lanky redhead and Isaiah stride off together in the direction of the table where Slash, Hunter, and Sander have been watching this all play out, I rub my chest and try to breathe through the verbal lashing Cub just inflicted. Wiping my nose where it’s bleeding from the one good punch Brutus landed, I glare at Duke.

“Happy now?”

“Yep.” He inclines his head sharply, flicking a glance Brutus’ way. When our gazes lock a second time, there’s no sign of victory in Duke’s expression. “You’re not the only one who wants to prevent my niece from bein’ hurt any further. If that means I have to use your brothers to keep you away from her until Brutus is six feet under, I’ll do it.”

“And on that note,” Angelis ventures in a low voice. I lean closer to him when he beckons me and Duke to move into a huddle. “We’re sendin’ you to Sydney for a while. They’re our biggest ally nowadays. With the MMA gyms fully legit and Diablo ready to step back into the game, they’re our best chance of findin’ a way through this in one piece. Plus, it’ll keep you away from Cherub, so Brutus will, at least, believe you’re capable of honourin’ your deal with ’im.”

Since I can’t think of a single thing to say in response to Angelis’ calm reasons for me to leave my home city, I scrub the back of my neck and peer around the bar. No one meets my gaze. Slash looks away when our eyes accidentally connect. His face is a mess. Swollen and mottled with red and purple welts. His nose stud is missing. The stitches in his torn eyebrow look tender.

Guilt infects me.

In my quest to fix things, all I’ve done is fuck them up further.

The question is whether the damage I’ve wrought is repairable or not once I’m allowed to return home from Sydney.

33

LILY

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