Page 98 of Scar

Scar glared at Ghost when he punched Keys’ shoulder on the screen. The laptop showed Keys in his chair with Ghost and Ranger flanking him.

“Ow, stop!”

Tally leaned forward, facing the laptop, but her chin was tipped just slightly off kilter of the camera. “Hi, Keys.”

“Hi, Tally!” Keys smiled widely, which made Scar glare even more. “I don’t know if you met these two boneheads behind me, but the redhead is Ghost, he’s our Enforcer, and the white haired one is Ranger.”

As Scar started typing into Tally’s phone, she covered her mouth, trying to muffle her giggles. “Hi, Ghost. Hi, Ranger.”

“She’s blind, you moron. She has no idea what red and white are!”

Keys’ eyes widened and his face flared a bright pink. “Oh, shit. I keep forgetting. Tally, I am so, so sorry.”

Ghost took the back of Keys’ chair and gave it a great push. Keys rolled away from the computer screen. Leaning closer, Ghost said, “I’m Ghost, Tally. We didn’t really get a chance to talk last week.”

“I recognize your voice. You went with Keys to Primis.”

“I did.” Ghost had a look of awe on his face, like he hadn’t expected her to know that.

Ghost was pushed aside by his best friend. “I’m Ranger. I was at the bar when you were here last week so we never met, but I like long walks on the beach, romantic dinners for two, and back rubs.”

A growl rumbled from low in Scar’s chest. He knew Ranger’s flirting was innocent, but he was still going to pay for it when Scar saw him next.

“Holy fuck, dude!” Keys’ voice came from off-screen. “Do you have a death wish or something? Scar’s going to flay you alive.”

Ranger just chuckled.

Ghost moved back to center-screen. “It’s about time you asked us for help, Scar. She’s a good influence on you.”

Tally’s posture changed, and in the reflection of the screen, Scar saw her smile. He pulled her onto his lap, burying his face into the crook of her throat. Tally’s hand came up to tangle in his hair. “We’re a good influence on each other. Keys, what did you find out about my mom?”

There was some grunting and obvious pushing over the laptop’s speakers before Keys said, “Financially, your mom’s in a bit of a pickle. Did you know that she invested the startup money for Primis?”

Tally shifted uncomfortably. “She comes from money and my dad doesn’t, so it makes sense, but no, I hadn’t known that specifically.”

“Yeah. It’s definitely going to take some time for me to sort through it all, but there’s talk about financial espionage charges being brought up against her.”

Tally’s grip on his hair tightened. Scar nuzzled her neck, bringing his hands from her thighs to around her waist. “What does that mean? She had no involvement in Primis.”

“In reality, no, but her thumbprint is all over their financials.”

Tally swallowed hard. “What about my dad? Is he with her?”

There were sounds of typing over the speaker. “Based on the text messages and recordings of phone calls, your mom either has no idea where your dad is or is the world’s best actress. The Feds tapped her phone to see if they could learn anything about your dad, but she’s leading them down an even bigger rabbit hole of confusion.”

“You’re saying mydad,” her voice broke, “abandoned my mom?”

Keys hesitated before answering. “There’s a good possibility. I mean, maybe they have something planned and all of this is an act, but…”

“But chances of that are slim,” Tally finished for the kid when his voice trailed off.

The typing stopped. “I’m sorry, Tally.”

The motion covered by the table, Scar slipped his hand under her shirt, rubbing the bare skin of her belly.

Tally let out a long sigh. “I really shouldn’t be surprised. After everything I’ve learned over the past week about who my dad really is, I shouldn’t be.” She swallowed hard. “But damn it hurts.”

That statement alone sealed Henry Meacham’s fate. He’dhurtTally. Scar didn’t care that it was an emotional hurt, that the man hadn’t lifted a finger against his daughter. Hurt was hurt. Andno onehurt Tally—and God help them if they did.

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