Promiscuous Lies (Vengeful Lies #2)

42. Dutton

CHAPTER 42

Dutton

“ S he said she didn’t want to marry me,” I grumble to Eli through the phone.

Eli whistles, and I can tell he’s trying not to laugh. “Well, you’re an idiot for saying the reason you wanted to marry her was because your father suggested it.”

I’m exasperated as I walk into my office at Pearl and close the door behind me. “Yeah, well, it sure as hell worked for you somehow.”

He sounds smug as he says, “Yes, but I had something to blackmail Jewel with until she fell irrevocably in love with me.”

I roll my eyes. “You’re the last person I should be asking advice from.”

“It’s a big step for you, though. Are you sure this is what you want?” I can imagine him sitting in his office at Lucy’s, raising a drink to his lips.

I sigh. I’ve thought about this a lot over the last few days. I don’t go into detail about thinking I’ll be a bad husband or father. I mean, shit, if Eli is husband material, then surely, I am too. So I settle for, “I want Posie. And her son doesn’t seem to hate me, so I’d like to try to be…” I can’t finish the sentence.

Eli does it for me. “His father?”

What if Posie doesn’t even want me? What if I properly convey all of this to her, and she still doesn’t want anything more than sex? Fuck. When did I turn into this insecure creature?

“Something like that. Look, I’ve been staking out her place every night. If this deadbeat asshole of an ex comes back and threatens her in any way, I can’t promise I won’t kill him.”

I turn on my laptop and then pull up the feed from her home security system. I see her car is in the driveway. I stare at the screen as Eli continues speaking, noticing a motorcycle parked at the curb in front of her house. My eyebrows furrow. I don’t hear what Eli says as I spot another bike parked farther up the street.

“Hello, are you listening to me?” Eli says.

“There are two bikes in front of her house.”

“What?” I hear a noise, so I assume it’s him forcefully pushing back his chair and standing.

“I’m going now,” I tell him. “Where are Ford and Hawke?”

“I don’t know, but I’ll call them and have them go there now.”

“Good,” I say and pocket my phone.

I push through the back door and stop when I see some asshole leaning against my car.

He has a cigarette hanging out of his mouth as he taps the side of the car. “This looks nice and shiny,” he says as he keys the side of it.

I take three steps, but he raises his hand. “I wouldn’t if I were you.”

“Give me one good fucking reason not to,” I growl.

He looks up at me with a sly smile. “You didn’t think I’d come here alone, did you? I heard you beat up one of my boys. That shit might fly with Striker, but it won’t with me. Two of my men are parked outside her house right now. If I don’t call them back in ten minutes… Well, let’s say things will get messy.”

I don’t have to guess whether he’s bluffing because I saw it on the security cameras myself.

I should’ve been there with her tonight.

I underestimated how quickly he’d find her.

Fuck .

“I’m assuming you know who I am,” Bobbi says.

“Not because you’re significant,” I sneer, curling my hands into fists, calling on all the self-discipline that I can not to launch myself at this motherfucker. One of my security guards opens the back door of the club, and before he can pull out his gun, I put my hand up and wave him back inside. “What do you want?” I grit.

He shrugs. “You’re to stay the fuck away from Posie. That’s all. I want you to stop thinking you ever had any interest in her. You’ll fire her and let it go unnoticed when I take her back.”

I grind my teeth. It’s all about Posie, not one mention of Bentley. He doesn’t even care about his son. This little fucker has no idea who he’s dealing with. He’s nothing but a cockroach trying to play in a league he doesn’t understand. The only reason I don’t kill him now is because I’m not sure how close the others are to getting to Posie and Bentley at the house.

“Do we have an understanding?” he asks as he keys the side of the car again with an antagonizing smirk.

“I want you to understand at least this much—I will kill you eventually,” I tell him.

“Ah, but that’ll create a war. You can’t kill me while I wear these patches, or it’ll bring hell onto your family. You can’t tell me you think her pussy’s that sweet. I’d know. I was there.” He laughs at his reminder to me that he’s had Posie before.

A determination to kill this fucker blazes beneath my skin. “You’re playing at a game you were never invited to. You’re nothing in the grand scheme of things. To them or us. You’re just a little thug, and you’ll quickly learn how much you’ve overstepped.”

He grins, but I can tell he’s becoming agitated. He saunters over to his bike and puts his helmet on as he says, “Dump her,” before bringing down the visor. He revs his engine and drives off.

I immediately call Eli. He answers on the first ring. “Hawke and Ford just got there. I’m five minutes away.”

“He was just here,” I tell him as I go back inside.

“The fucking audacity,” Eli says. “Did he threaten you?”

“He threatened Posie and Bentley.”

“I can have Jewel kill him and make it look like an accident,” Eli says matter-of-factly. “But I have a feeling that won’t be enough for you.”

“No. I want to kill him myself,” I say, and a wave of relief passes through me at my cousin’s approval. I would’ve done it anyway.

“They’re family now, right? We protect our own,” he says.

“Look after them until I get there,” I say, then hang up.

“Close everything down!” I yell out. The girls seem surprised, and the security guard approaches me. I quickly brief him on the situation, to ensure everyone gets out safely. “We’ll be closing for the next few days while I take care of business.”

“What’s happening?” Paula asks worriedly. “We’re mid-show.”

“Close it all down. Now,” I order. Chaos erupts as the music is cut off, and everyone is ushered out. I walk out the back door, trusting my security guards. At least I know Bobbi is currently working with only two other guys.

I jump into my car, and as I pull away from the curb at lightning speed, I call Striker. He answers on the third ring.

“Which of your men are in my town?” I rhetorically ask him.

“Hi, Dutton. Yes, I’m good. How are you?” he replies sarcastically.

“I’m not fucking around. Unless you want me to send his head back to you. Your boy has overstepped.”

“Fucking hell. Try not to kill him.” I can hear a commotion around him. “I was only advised today that he’d left.”

“Yeah, well, he’s been pretty busy ever since paying Posie and then me a visit.”

He curses. “Dutton, it’s his kid.”

“He threatened them, and then he threatened me. I don’t give a flying fuck about what agreements you have in place with my cousin.”

“You can’t kill one of my men.”

“What type of man is he, Waylon? And be honest.” My veins are flowing with ice, and I’ll fucking kill Striker as well if he tries to get between us.

“He’s one of mine,” he says.

“That’s not the answer I am after, and you know it.”

I hear some rustling and a door close before he starts talking again.

“He thought she would never leave him, and he went crazy when she did. Now that he’s found her again…”

“Because you fucking told him!” I accuse angrily.

“He had a right to know!”

“She’s my woman, Striker. So you better make him disappear and never return. Or you take his patch, and I end the fucker now.”

“I don’t answer to you,” Striker snarls.

“And I don’t let anyone touch what’s mine,” I bite back, then hang up on him.