Page 29 of Hell of a Mess
I swung my gaze from him to Locke, who nodded his head at me, as if to reinforce what Luther had just said.
They knew about the Mafia in the South? Who were they? What dealings did they have with them? Only bad people worked with them. My father being one.
“How-how do you know about them?” I asked, my eyes locked on Luther now. “They’re dangerous, bad people.”
He rubbed his stubbled chin. “Well, sugar, seems those dangerous, bad people picked you up after you were left to die and nursed you back to health.”
What? I replayed his words in my head, not understanding them. Thaddeus hadn’t done anything to help me.
“Linc is the head of the Mississippi branch. Locke and I were both born into it, our families going back for generations.”
Eleven
Luther
Those incredible eyes of her went wide, and her plump lips parted as she gaped at me. If I wasn’t so fucking pissed off because she wouldn’t tell me the goddamn truth about who had beaten her up and because I’d found Locke cupping her face like he was about to kiss her, I’d smile. It was cute.
“Go tell Linc we will be out there shortly,” I told Locke, wanting more space between them before I threw him several yards away.
Locke looked pissed, but he didn’t say anything. He looked at her one last time before leaving us alone in the hallway.
Had she wanted him to touch her face like that? What had he been saying to her? Had the fucker kissed her?
“I want to wait in the bedroom until Thaddeus arrives,” she told me, lifting her chin in defiance.
I wished she wouldn’t do that. I wanted to fucking stop caringabout her well-being, but she was making it impossible.
“You really think that’s necessary?” I asked her.
She didn’t respond, but I saw the uncertainty in her eyes, as if she was trying to decide what to think of me.
“I’m not gonna stand here and lie to you,” I told her. “You were right. We aren’t good people. But we don’t hurt the innocent. No one is going to hurt you.”Unless you go back to that fucker.
She let out a shaky breath. “You sure about that? Because Thaddeus works for my father.”
She was misinformed.
I stopped her there. “No, sugar, he doesn’t. Thaddeus has one boss, and he isn’t your father. Whatever Thaddeus has done for your father, it’s because it benefited the family.”
Her brows scrunched. “How has the things he’s done benefited the family?”
I didn’t know what all Thaddeus and his guys had done for her father. “Not sure. Not my branch, but I do know how the family works. And those within who go against direct orders from the boss don’t live.”
She inhaled sharply. “Oh.”
I let that digest a moment before pushing her a little further. “Now that you know just how very capable of protecting you I am, are you going to tell me who beat the shit out of you?”
Her eyes dropped to the floor, as if she feared I could read the answer in her gaze. I waited, trying like fuck to be patient, but Thaddeus would be here soon. I’d have to hand her over if I had no reason to give Linc not to. She just had to give me something to go on.
“I can’t,” she whispered. “And not because I don’t trust you. Or think you can’t protect me. But…because I am a curse. One that you need to get out of your house and life.”
What the fuck was she going on about now? I waited, thinking she’d explain the nonsense she was spewing, but she turnedaround and started walking back toward the bedroom she’d been staying in.
“You can’t think I’m gonna take that bullshit explanation, Lace,” I called out, using the name she had given us. The other one, her legal one, she seemed to hate.
She paused. “It’s not bullshit. Trust me.”
I’d never met her father, but I didn’t like the man. I fucking hated him. Thaddeus wasn’t going anywhere with her until this knot in my stomach eased. Something was wrong. I had to find out what it was, but she wasn’t helping me.
