Page 164 of Tempting Fate

My father’s voice echoes out of my speakers, then Zeke’s joins him.

They’re arguing.

About me.

About the baby.

Until they’re no longer in a disagreement.

Soon enough, they’re hashing out a deal of sorts.

An agreement that involves Zeke staying away from me.

It sounds like the deal they were discussing that day in the chapel.

When my father starts sobbing, I click out of the recording.

It all makes sense.

Why Zeke didn’t come back to me when he returned from Sydney for the funerals.

Why he shushed me then disappeared when Slash and Isaiah came out onto the balcony.

I scoop my bottle of tequila from where I dropped it on my comforter. With it tucked under my arm, I paddle across the thick carpet into the hallway, stopping only once I’m at Slash’s door.

Bebe’s warning flashes in my head.

I knock.

“Cherub?” he calls. His voice sounds strained. “What do you need?”

Without answering, I twist the handle and push the door open. He jerks upright and bunches the covers over his lap. His hair is down, flowing around his shoulders. His chest rises and falls too fast, and his gaze seems unfocused.

“Cherub?”

I hold up the tequila. “I need a drinking buddy.”

After the slightest hesitation, which he uses to secure the blanket tight around his waist, Slash lifts the other side in invitation. Fighting back tears, I drop the bottle to the floor, climb onto the end of his bed, and crawl up to the bedhead. When I fall onto my backside, ready to scoot around to prop my back against the padded headboard, Slash cuffs my throat with his big hand, trapping the chain of my Venom necklace against my skin.

When I try to get free, he tightens his grip and holds me in place.

He makes me look him in the eye. “What happened?”

“I hacked Zeke’s phone.” I swallow hard. Slash’s fingers ripple as if he’s mimicking the movement of my throat. “He recorded himself making a deal with my dad to stay away from me in exchange for them calling a truce.”

“He’s a fuckin’ idiot.”

“It gets worse,” I tell him as a single tear finally falls.

He catches it with his thumb, then licks it from his skin.

A strange sensation swells in my stomach.

I ignore it.

Just like I’m ignoring how much I like his hand around my throat.

Slash’s gaze darkens as we stare at each other. “Tell me, what’s worse?”

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