Page 39 of Tusk's Fury

“I told you that I would,” I say irritably.

“The first thing I want to know is, was it all a lie?” Gesturing between us, he adds, “Was our whole relationship a lie? Did you ever really love me, or was that a lie too?”

“Of course, I loved you. You know I did. What kind of question is that?”

“Alright, when exactly did you stop loving me?”

I don’t want him to know I still love him, so I say, “Next question.”

“I wanna know who the fuck you cheated on me with.”

I maintain my stony expression.

“Was it another one of the brothers or someone from the outside, like that fuckin’ ex of yours?”

I jump on the question he didn’t ask. “Silas Harper isn’t my ex, I never had a relationship with him.”

Tusk glares at me. “Are you really a Mormon or is that just another one of your lies?”

I sigh and tell him the story about Silas Harper and how my father wanted me to marry him as part of some business arrangement they had. But I hated Silas, so I ran and kept running until I ran into the Savage Legion’s clubhouse.

Ending the tale of how I arrived in Las Salinas, I say, “I had to stay off the grid, and staying at the clubhouse was the perfect solution.”

“Yeah, nothing was in your name here. You were untraceable because we provided everything for you.”

I nod and remind him, “I was desperate when I stumbled upon the clubhouse. I liked it here. The brothers were the opposite of all the men I’d known in my life up until that point. They didn’t give two hoots in hell about the Lord or whether or not I was pure.”

Tusk snorts a laugh. “No ma’am, we sure don’t give a fuck about that here at the Savage Legion clubhouse. Maybe if you tell this man your father promised you to, that you’ve been whoring yourself to an MC club, he won’t want you back. No insult intended.”

“None taken. I understand that you’re saying I should paint myself in the worst light possible. The thing is, they’ve somehow decided this asshole is righteous enough to be given his own congregation. That’s why those two guys who tried to abduct me kept calling him Bishop Harper.”

That’s when it hits me—what deal my father made with Harper. Images of their interactions begin running through my head, and I can’t seem to stop the memories from flooding back.

Suddenly, Tusk is beside me with his hand on my shoulder, his expression concerned, “Brittany, what is it? You just went pale as a fuckin’ ghost.”

My eyes rise to meet his, and I tell him, “I think I know what my father wanted enough from Silas Harper to leverage me into a marriage with the man.”

“Slow down. Just say what’s on your mind.”

“My father always wanted to become a deacon of the church. He always fell short of getting it by one vote. Then Silas came to our town. I never paid attention to church politics back then, but I remember people talking about how Silas was smart and had every verse in the Bible memorized. How he was destined for something special. I didn’t see it myself and never thought someone with his disposition could rise in the church.” I pause as my mind goes back to that night, “I remember coming home late from babysitting a neighbor’s child and overhearing the two of them talking. I remember my father saying something about if Silas wanted my purity, the price was his vote.”

“So you think this Silas person promised to get your old man into a deacon’s position if he got your purity in return?” Tusk asks. He’s smart to catch on so fast.

“Yeah, Silas must have gotten voted in as a bishop and been given his own congregation shortly after I ran. Because my would-be abductors said he sent out the flyers years ago. Only until going to Alaska, I wasn’t around any church members, much less young ambitious ones looking to score brownie points with a bishop. I thought I was safe there, I hadn’t realized there were members of our church in Alaska.”

Tusk sits on the floor in front of my chair. “That makes sense. I guess they’d be on the lookout for ways to ingratiate themselves with the elders. What the fuck is an Eve, by the way?”

“Eve is honored as the mother of all mankind, of course. Though Silas is just a dirty old man who wanted a barely legal teen to wed. He advanced to the position of bishop, but who knows? He was an ambitious man. Maybe he had his sights set on something higher, like claiming to be a prophet.”

“Creating a little backstory about me being his Eve could have just been him building his own personal charisma or mystique that he could later exploit. I was a young virgin and pretty by anyone’s standards, back then. I don’t think anything would have changed. Even now, if he thinks I’ve fallen and he brings me back to the church, that will probably just make him seem even more devout and holy. I’m starting to think he only ever wanted to use me to get ahead in the church.”

Chapter 14

Tusk

Despite still being pissed that she cheated on me, Brittany’s story breaks my heart. I tell her, “Anyone would want you, Brittany. My best guess is there were a lot of pretty young girls he looked at. He saw something special in you, just like I did. Only the sick fucker didn’t care about whether you wanted him back or not. He was intent on forcing the issue.”

“Yeah, only now I have a child to protect. I refuse to let him have any control over me, and no matter what, I don’t want that sick, power-hungry man around my daughter because he’ll figure out a way to use her for his own ends as well.”

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