Page 33 of What Lies Within

The man who did what he couldn't.

"I’m done," he states, level and sure. "You're gonna get Maddie back, and then my old man is finished. I don’t know how yet, but I wanna know that you'll have my back when I do."

Tyke nods, arms folded high on his chest. "I'll load the fucking gun myself."

14

DIGGER

The power in this woman never ceases to amaze me. She fucking broke Connor Creed. I offer Rae my hand, pulling her way from the man and against my side. "You okay?"

She rests her palm over my heart, peeking at me from beneath dewy lashes. "Yeah, Dig. I'm good."

Terry's son licks his lips and eyes the empty whiskey glass on the sideboard. "Can a man get a drink?"

“Don’t have a sippy cup for the kids in here.” Tyke lifts an eyebrow. “Sorry.”

He may have softened toward the guy, but there's no denying that Connor's last name will always be a bone of contention for my brother—that and his history with our woman.

Connor rolls his eyes. "Let it go, would you? I get it. I'm your rival's son. I'm one of the kids, like your boys… or Maddie." He shakes his head. "But quit it with the kiddie jokes when you're fuckin' a girl a year my junior."

Tyke's nostrils twitch. Despite my shared dislike of the kid, I suppress the grin that wants to spread. Connor has a point, and he burned my brother good.

“What you got to tell us then?” I tip my chin, urging him to redirect to more productive matters. “How do we find Maddie?”

Rae shifts a little, leaning into my side. I won't lie and say the sensation of her pressed against my ribcage doesn't urge me to pull her against me, wrap those goddamn legs around my waist. But this ain't the time or place for showing her how I want to comfort her.

“I can’t detail exactly what my old man and your brother are up to—outside of this shit with Maddie,” Connor says. “But I can tell you that Fox came to my father with a pretty specific and weird request.”

The room is silent, each of us allowing Connor the space he needs to continue.

“He wants to use the corridor when it’s complete. Payment is his help in securing your properties to finalize the pathway.”

“Not that weird,” Tyke states, fingers rubbing his bearded chin. “If he’s lookin’ to create business of his own, the private road would be advantageous.” My brother says nothing more, yet it’s there in his eyes.

He’s figured out who gave away his lineage.

"The weird part was asking my old man to allot time blocks for him to do so." Connor lifts his brow.

Fox wants to use the road uninterrupted.

“What the fuck is he up to?” I ask Tyke.

Fox has always had grand ideas—crazy pipe dreams with real results yet unreal expectations on how to get there. For years, he's been excommunicated from the club, and for years, he's been quiet.

Seems the fucker’s been busy.

“No idea yet,” Tyke says with a sigh, cheek twitching beside his nose after. “But I plan to find out.”

“You think he’ll be at the rally next week?” If the asshole has been masquerading around in our fucking colors all this time,then who’s to say he won’t try to use them to his advantage if he intends to start a new business.

No better place than one of the state's most concentrated meetups of criminal connections.

"I want to say no," Tyke answers. "I want to say he wouldn't be stupid enough to show his fuckin' face when we denounced him so publicly. But the fucker has got my goddamn daughter.” He sifts both hands through his hair and tugs at the lengths. “Fuck!”

“Look,” Connor says. “I like Maddie. I really do. So, I want to help. But I also don’t want to screw things up for any of us by sending you charging into my father’s properties on a whim if she’s not there.”

“Why else?” Rae whispers. “Why else do you want to help?”

---