Page 91 of Tempting Fate

The enforcer sent to escort him to and from his basketball games is hanging back a couple feet, hand on the butt of the gun tucked in his shoulder holster, as he takes in the destruction around the front of the clubhouse.

It’s all Brutus’ doing. Dented beer kegs. The broken panel in the side of the blacked-out van. He trampled the garden beds that Charlie planted along the perimeter of the buildings. Bent the pole holding up the front portico. While I cleaned up with Lily, the brothers managed to hose away most of Fret’s blood, but the bleach and water has run off the paved driveway and flooded the gravel on either side like a moat designed to highlight the destruction Brutus has wrought.

The front yard is a quagmire of ruin and regret that smells like a hospital.

“Stand down,” I tell Bear. “The crisis has been averted.”

He inclines his head, understanding my shorthand way of telling him that this is a Brutus-sized disaster. With a sigh, he ushers Sander inside the spike-topped fence surrounding the compound, and that’s when the woman who must’ve picked them up from the airport comes into view.

Nadia.

The petite, blonde woman frowns at the brothers assembled in the front yard and the mess. The Shamrock who was sent to protect her during her shift at the hospital scans the scene too. When the brothers in the yard glare at her, Nadia links her arm through Bear’s and half hides herself behind her old man. Her escort moves away, carefully skirting her like the cloud of confusion hanging over her is transmittable. I don’t know what she’s thinking in the face of a reception like this, but I doubt it’s crossed her mind that her long-kept secret has been revealed in her absence.

I should’ve warned her.

Unfortunately, finessing the fallout from Lily and the rest of the Shamrocks learning about Nadia’s past mistakes wasn’t high on my list of priorities. It probably should’ve been. Because she’s here. The brothers are mad at her—dealing hard drugs is against our constitution. Lily is still working through her feelings of betrayal. Bear is about to discover that his old lady wasn’t always the pure as driven snow geriatric’s nurse that she is today.

Sander’s likely to pitch a fit when he realises his sister has been hurt again and his ex-girlfriend, who occasionally slips into the not-so-ex category, has been dragged into the mess.

And Brutus is liable to make things worse. He’ll no doubt target Sander, the weakest of his kids, to draw attention from himself. Use his son’s addiction and his flimsy grip on sobriety as an excuse for his behaviour. Find a way to make his shifty actions behind our backs seem reasonable—the reaction of a father under stress.

It’s a bullshit strategy, but it’s one I’ve watched him employ for years.

Brutus fucks up, his kids become the fall guys.

The Mayberry siblings’ mother was a goddess. Warm. Loving. Always there with a cuddle and a smile. Brutus, not so much. He’s tough. Borderline cruel and only getting worse with age. Full of impossible to meet expectations. Quick to judge his children when they fail to reach his unattainable standards. As the eldest son and the only one to show the same level of talent Brutus once displayed with a basketball, Sander cops the brunt of his father’s criticism and misery.

Our prez will come after his eldest boy.

Lily will get involved to protect her twin.

Sparks are going to fly shortly.

Fuck.

As the brothers on the gates close them, Sander drops his bag at my feet then shoves me in the shoulder. He plays it off like a joke, but I know better. His expression is grim, a scowl, the fine lines fanning from the edge of his eyes as he battles his demons.

He swallows deep. “Okay, I know you’re King Shit now with the veep patch and I’m not one of you, but I deserve to know if anythin’ has happened to my brother.”

“Of course?—”

“What are you doin’ here?” Brutus must’ve had an eye on the CCTV cameras because he’s making his way outside to confront his son, yet no one has entered the main building to retrieve him. When he poses his next question, it’s bereft of any sign of welcome or concern for his son’s well-being. “Did you miss your game? Don’t tell me you fucked up, and they dropped you.”

And it begins...

Brutus can always be trusted to have his parental priorities upside down.

I’m pretty sure he’s half the reason Lily’s twin brother turned to drugs in the first place. The death of your mother is liable to break any kid. When you’re left in the care of an overbearing father as bad as Brutus… well, let’s just say I’ve never been unsympathetic to Sander’s circumstances.

Which is another reason why I lied to Lily in the aftermath of it all.

“Uh, no, I played,” Sander replies to his father.

Brutus grumbles under his breath.

It sounds like he’s gargling nails.

“Good to see you’re all riveted to the screen in awe of my winning prowess,” Sander jokes. His attempt to break the tension falls flat since none of us are in the right frame of mind to laugh. Expression sobering, he continues. “This mornin’, I booked flights for straight after my game because I received a very cryptic message from Fret tellin’ me I was needed at home. That was before Bear went all G.I. Joe on my arse after one of you spoke to him durin’ my game.”

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