Page 112 of Cold Hard Truth

“I should have never agreed to that shit.” Kane shakes his head. “But you were his kid, and I respected his wishes.”

“Well back then, I really wished you hadn’t. It pissed me off for years.” I scratch my jaw. “But when he died, I got it.”

Kane takes a deep breath, looking around the room for a moment before stopping back on me. “He wanted you to make a different decision.”

“Not a different one, but my own. Dad was glad when Reed left all this shit. He wanted her away from it, butthat wasn’t the case for me. Dad wanted me to patch in; I don’t think anything would have made him happier. He just wanted it to be my choice and not his. So when I turned twenty and still wanted it, he was relieved.” I sigh, glancing at a picture of him on the wall. “But then he died, and I didn’t know what was right anymore.”

And that’s the truth.

With Dad dead and Lyla gone I didn’t know right from wrong, up from down. I was inside out. Everything I thought I wanted didn’t make sense, so the only thing I could think to do was move on from all of it.

“He always was the philosophical one.” Kane nods. “And I respect that. But you’re like a son to me, Sage. And you do belong here—more than half the assholes we’ve patched in lately. I’m not blind to what’s going on, regardless of what you think. So I wish you’d reconsider, but I get it if you don’t.”

He waves to Paula for another drink, not waiting for me to turn him down for the hundredth time. Even if I’ve thought about reconsidering his offer over the years, I could never do that to Lyla. Fixing this club isn’t worth losing her.

“If you’re going to be with my daughter, you better keep her safe.” Kane tips his drink at me.

“You know I will.”

“I do. Which is why you’re still above ground.”

“Lyla’s not getting caught up in it again.”

“Agreed.” His voice catches as he swallows his drink. “I’m not losing another daughter.”

I’ve never thought Kane was capable of real emotion, but I’d like to think he means it. I stood beside him in the Twisted Kings cemetery long after everyone else moved on from Ellie’s funeral. He didn’t say a word during the service and didn’t shed a tear after. But he stood there, staring off in the distance like he was trying to find something he couldn’t get back. We both did.

“You won’t lose her.” I stand up. “I promise.”

Kane stands, holding out his hand, and I take it. He pulls me in for a half hug and slaps me on the back.

“I trust you, Sage. Against my better judgment.”

Because he knows I mean it.

We don’t share much common ground, except for Lyla. But as he steps back and gives me a final nod, I take it as his approval. Nothing will happen to his daughter if I’m still breathing.

Even if the Twisted Kings have to burn in the process.

36

Lyla

It’s almost three-thirty inthe morning, and I can’t stop looking at the clock. I’m exhausted, but all I can think about is when Sage will be back.

Echo’s falling asleep on the couch, and if my nerves weren’t on end, I’d probably be on the other end of it. Crew walked over and covered her in a blanket an hour ago, and she barely managed to blink her eyes open at him.

Fel and Maren, on the other hand, are each four or five drinks in and wide awake. I’m not sure how these two have the energy to party, but even Jude seems surprised every time he glances over at them.

I’d like to be enjoying the night—and I was. But the later it gets and each hour that passes, all I can think about is whatever situation Kane might have dragged Sage into.

Sage wouldn’t elaborate on why Kane needed him tonight, but the Tower card kept coming up every otherhand this week, so I know it wasn’t for anything good. We haven’t reached whatever is about to happen, and I’m bracing myself for the impact.

This sick pit in my stomach is widening, and even if I don’t know where Sage is or what he’s doing, I sense things shifting.

“Your deal.” Maren hands me the deck of cards.

She giggles and shakes her empty glass, pouting in Mason’s direction until he walks over to give her a refill.

---