Page 27 of Absolution

“And he loathes anything or anyone that threatens that. My mum coming to him about the child they’d made together would have meant Kenner facing up to his responsibilities. Plus, no doubt he’d have worried that one day I might have come calling to take over Daddy’s empire.” He snarled at the possibility. “Not that I’d want anything to do with the useless fucker.”

“I’m sorry.” She reached for his hand on the wheel, her thumb stroking his wrist. “That’s terrible, sir. What he did to you and your mum is unforgiveable.”

Good choice of words, little girl.

Tucker had struggled with the concept of forgiveness for years, but the fact Kenner had covered up Sarah’s death and convinced the coroner to rule it a suicide had only poisoned the well. If that wasn’t an admission of both her murder and whatever secrets Kenner hoped Sarah’s body would take to the grave, then Tucker didn’t know what was.

“I saw him, little girl.” Emotions rose and fell like waves in his body, forcing him to take long, exaggerated breaths. “I saw what he did to her.”

“That’s terrible.” Apprehension echoed in her voice.

If he cast his mind back, it was almost as though he was that child again, as though he was hiding, peering around the corner just in time to see the fatal gunshot. Kenner might havethe money to buy off the officials in the city, but he hadn’t counted on the child who’d witnessed his horror, the one he’d left cowering in tears…

Just as well he never got his hands on me.He blinked away the water brimming in his eyes.I wouldn’t have stood a chance back then.

But the years of loneliness, bad men, and military training had conditioned Tucker. They’dhardenedhim.

He’d gone from being a kind and open-hearted kid to a young man with a serious chip on his shoulder, growing up with a wild and reckless band of alleged brothers. Money had been no object for any of them. Where he lacked, plenty of other parents had been willing to provide. Hell, it seemed they’d have thrown any amount of cash at their offspring, so long as they didn’t have to ‘parent’ them. He’d met Bennett in that charming crowd, and he’d hoped the copious amounts of drugs and alcohol they’d consumed would erase the things he’d seen and heard.

But they never could.

They never did.

“Oh God.” A hushed quiet hung over the interior as she presumably grappled with his admission. He couldn’t blame her. “Does he know what you saw?”

“If he’d got his hands on me at the time, I’d be dead.” Tucker put his foot down as the traffic ahead cleared, keen to get back to the place they called ‘home’ as soon as possible and clear his head. Meeting Susie had been a good experience, but it seemed mining his past had unleashed some ghosts he’drather see the back of. “I’m sure he’d still love to put a bullet in me.”

Fuck… that’s it!

A bolt of energy lit up his body like lightning hitting a metal spire. All those years Tucker had tried to fathom Collins’ motive for the fuck-up during his final military operation—all that time he’d wrestled with the neverending conundrum of why Collins had intervened—yet he’d never managed to put two and two together until that moment.

Suddenly, the probable answer was all too obvious.

What if Collins had been taking orders from Kenner? What if, as he imagined was all too easily possible, Kenner had wormed his way into the upper echelons of the military to manipulate Tucker’s old commanding officers? He knew well enough how many fingers Kenner had in multiple murky pies. The man meddled in just about anything to do with the rich and the powerful. Suddenly, the idea that Kenner and Collins weren’t linked seemed ridiculously implausible.

How had he not seen the link before?

“Kenner sounds like a nightmare.” She blew out a breath as her hand fell between them.

“He is, but don’t worry.” Tucker brushed his palm over the top of her hand. “I won’t let lightning strike twice, little girl. You’re safe with me, and I’ll make sure Susie is, too.”

“Thank you.” Ella rubbed her temple with her free hand. “And there was me thinking I was the only one with messed-up daddy issues.”

“I guess not.” Tucker sniggered, thankful that, even at this moment of such dark realization, she still had the capacity to lift his mood. “Maybe we should start our own club.”

Chapter Ten

The Tangled Web

Kenner

Stretching back on his lounger, Kenner watched the leggy blonde turn and start another length of his pool. Maybe he was getting old, or perhaps he’d just indulged in too much liquor, but as she began the leisurely backcrawl, he couldn’t even remember her name.

Doesn’t matter.He inhaled.She’s just another piece of pussy.

His lips twitched as he glanced down at his phone. Whoever she was, she was only another bed-mate. No one he needed to remember. He’d play with her for a while, then she’d be gone.

Scrolling through the list of his phone contacts, he paused over one particular name.

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