Promiscuous Lies (Vengeful Lies #2)

24. Dutton

CHAPTER 24

Dutton

W hen someone advises I don’t kill a particular person, I usually do the opposite and kill the fucker. However, the threat of Posie quitting seemed too high of a risk because she was deadly serious.

If Posie was at a cemetery, it’s likely she buried someone she cares about there, and I need to know who it is. So before leaving Boston, I call Will Walker. My desire to figure her out myself no longer matters. I want and need to know everything about her because I never want to see that level of fear in her eyes again. I’ve seen so many sides of Posie—sassy, sexy, intelligent, mischievous, and flashes of her monstrous temperament. But I’ve never witnessed fear in her, and I’m willing to hunt down every fucker who ever made her feel that way.

I trail behind her, weaving between cars, making sure no one is following her and she’s safe. When she pulls onto her street, I keep driving because I don’t trust myself around her right now. Not because I think I’ll hurt her. I know no matter the circumstance, I could never hurt her. I’m giving her space because, with how she looked at me, I’d most likely only make matters worse until she cools down and processes what happened today. That, and Will has already sent me the information on her, which leads me to believe that perhaps my little blonde monster isn’t so much of a mystery at all.

I’m not surprised to see Eli’s car sitting outside when I arrive at my brownstone. I curse under my breath as I park my motorcycle on the street and take my helmet off. Hawke, Ford, and Eli step out of the car.

“You’ve been busy,” Eli states after taking one look at me.

“I didn’t kill him,” I say matter-of-factly as I unlock the door and open it. They follow me inside.

“No, you didn’t kill him, but you put the kid in the hospital, and I got a call from their president asking why you were even on their turf. What the fuck happened?” Eli asks expectantly.

I go into the living room and grab my laptop so I can open the files Will sent over. I haven’t come down from the adrenaline high from earlier, and I didn’t get my release by carving a message into his chest, so I need something to grasp onto to make sense of all of this.

“Dutton,” Eli says, and it draws my attention. “Jesus, you’ve got blood all over yourself.” He goes into the kitchen and comes back with a wet cloth.

Hawke goes into the pantry and grabs a bag of chips and a bar of chocolate, throwing the sweets to Ford, who’s taken a seat across from me. They’re just making themselves right at home, aren’t they?

Eli throws the wet towel at me, and I notice my face in the reflection of the laptop screen as I dab the cloth over it. Damn, she got me pretty good on the cheek with that car key, and yet I couldn’t be fucking prouder of her. Next time, I’ll have to tell her to go for the eyes. Hopefully, they won’t be mine.

“What happened?” Eli presses. “You know we’re on the verge of closing a deal with their president, and then you do this? Why were you even in Boston?”

I sigh, frustrated that I jeopardized Eli’s business negotiations. It’s not like it’ll completely derail them, but they might not go as smoothly after this. I hadn’t even thought of that at the time, which is very unlike me. I’m always prepared. But when I saw how frightened Posie was I just snapped.

“It has something to do with the blonde, doesn’t it?” Hawke asks around a mouthful of chips. I glare at him, fucking hating how much the twins have been lingering around the club lately. Usually, I wouldn’t mind, but when they’re being observant, nosy little fuckers, I want them out.

“I put a tracker on her car,” I begin, and Ford rolls his eyes.

“Says the man who swears he doesn’t have a thing for her,” Ford says.

“Sounds pretty serious to me. Isn’t that what everyone does when they’re infatuated with a girl?” Hawke adds around another mouthful.

“Obviously,” Eli adds, looking at me expectantly again.

“I’m not infatuated,” I grit out, in massive denial, but I’m not admitting it to these fuckers. “But, yes, I followed her to Boston because, as I expected, she might have some connection to the Boston Delinquents.”

“And does she?” Eli asks.

It goes without saying that I’d started to doubt the seriousness of her connection with the club, but now I’m not so sure. I’m not thinking clearly when it comes to Posie.

“I don’t know. But when I got there, one of their members was chasing after her through the cemetery, and she looked terrified. I beat the shit out of him and didn’t worry about asking questions until after.”

They’re silent, and I can see them thinking it over. I open the folder Will sent me and scan over the key parts, a picture quickly forming in my mind.

Her parents died at sixteen. Got involved with the motorcycle club thereafter. Left Boston two years later. Then, a birth certificate for her son.

I pause on that.

Her son?

I click on an image.

A recent photo of Bentley Quinn appears.

I frown.

I’d enquired multiple times who Bentley was, but when she reassured me she wasn’t married, I figured if it were one of her lovers, I’d deal with him soon enough. But this… was not at all what I was expecting.

“What is it?” Eli asks.

I lean back in my chair.

She has a son.

How did I not know that?

How has she kept that from me?

I look around the room at the other men.

“She has a son.”

“And do you think the son has something to do with the connection?” Eli questions.

A protective energy comes over me. I know Eli would never do anything to harm a child, but it catches me so off guard I’m not sure what to do with this information. I only thought about Posie. I was only having fun with Posie. Yet, somehow, this feels like it changes things.

“I don’t know,” I reply.

“It could be that she just pissed the wrong person off and got out before things got too serious. Could’ve had a one-night stand and tada —baby,” Hawke says, tipping the remainder of the chip packet into his mouth.

“So glad you actually know how babies are made,” Ford says, gaze locked on his phone screen.

“Please. Anya gave me the birds and bees talk almost as soon as we moved in, and I started fucking the neighbor’s daughter.”

Ford furrows his brow. “Wasn’t she twenty-four, and you were like sixteen?”

“Yeah, but apparently, I could still get her pregnant even then.” Hawke casually shrugs. “Neighbors were pissed.”

Ford nods once. “I always wondered why they suddenly up and left.”

“Anyway…” Eli says, glaring at them both, but mostly Hawke. “I’m going to smooth this over with Waylon Striker. You sort out your situation with the blonde and determine whether she’s an actual threat. If you’re going to go barreling in like that again, give us a heads-up.”

“As if you ever give me a heads-up whenever you’re about to do shit,” I remind him.

“Touché. But I’d rather not lose the potential of profit here. You, of all people, should understand that.”

And I do, completely.

I continue reading the file after they leave, reviewing it more than once. But every time I see the recent photos of Posie and her son, I think what a great mother she appears to be, and I can’t truly grasp what this shift within me is.

Somehow, it changes everything.

But nothing at the same time.

One thing I have to figure out is whether I have to protect my family from her or if she needs to be protected like my family.