29. TIFFANY
As I walked over to the clubhouse, I peered at the Prospect beside me.
You’d never think he was a glorified errand boy by looking at him, what with the mohawk and all the tats down his throat, but that’s what he was.
He’d come to tell me that once I was done with the girls, I needed to go speak with the Prez, and because being the messenger wasn’t enough, he was even escorting me to the clubhouse itself.
So, yeah, I’d settled on ‘girls’ as my collective term for the women back in the small bunkhouse I’d just left behind.
Why?
Because I had to give them a name.
They were so fucking young that they were practically girls anyway, and beyond that, I couldn’t think of them as what they were—captives. Ex-hostages. They were survivors, but as a label? Yeah, that didn’t work.
Although maybe it should.
Maybe I could make it a thing.
Either way, I wanted to get used to a different name, because I wanted the bikers to start calling them that too.
We needed to help them move on, and letting them rot in the shadows of their past was only going to remind them of what they’d been through.
So, yeah, girls was what I’d settled on, and it was apt that Rex called me in to speak with him because I needed to talk to him anyway.
Not only about that, or about what he wanted to discuss, but a few other things too.
While I was kind of nervous because I knew what the Sinners were capable of and he was their leader—a leader they actually loved, which was always clear to see whenever Sin talked about him and his leadership—so that meant he condoned every single act of violence, every single broken law, and everything that kept the Sinners out of the lines of regular society.
I knew I’d be a dumb fuck not to remember all that.
When I made it into the clubhouse, like most of the time in the late morning, it was quiet, because everyone was still starting their day.
The guys had drifted off to their jobs—I knew because I’d heard the bikes start up and rumble as they left the compound—but the clubwhores? Still sleeping.
Bitches.
I hated them.
And it was a stupid hate, because it was a collective word too.
Just like captives.
They were whores for the club, but that was taking away the whole truth of what they were.
I didn’t like that I hated them. Didn’t like that they got to me so much, but the truth was, hate didn’t have to be sensible.
I didn’t know them, but I didn’t have to, to know that I disliked what they did.
Not just because I thought it was shitty how they allowed themselves to be treated, but because they let the guys cheat on their Old Ladies with them.
I was sure some of them were great—they couldn’t all be bitches, after all. Maybe one had anxiety and another had a really amazing singing voice, but I had no desire to get to know them. Because what they stood for did not gel well with my own personal ideals.
So, yeah, I sniffed at the thought of the sluts being in bed still, and when we walked past the stairs and I saw one of the doors open, with a quick glimpse showing me Trixie Dixie Lou on her back, naked, with the sheet half off her, snoring away? I wondered whose marriage or relationship she’d ruined that night.
The Prospect reached around me to shut the door, and when I cocked a brow at him, he didn’t look at me.
In fact, now that I thought about it, he hadn’t looked at me once.
Why was that?
My brow puckered, and I thought about asking him, but we made it down the hall to the end where he knocked on the door.
When a deep voice called out, “In,” the guy pushed opened the door and wafted me inside.
All without looking at me.
I turned to watch him go, saw him trudging down the hall, and shook my head at him.
“Who the fuck’s there?”
The low voice growled at me, but I wasn’t scared.
I mean, I hadn’t dealt with worse criminals, but I’d sure as hell dealt with a lot of important people over the years.
Lily wasn’t the only one who’d had a semi-public life. I’d dealt with politicians and governors just like she had. Only difference being that Dad hadn’t sent me off to finishing school.
I knew why too.
He would have.
But he loved me.
He liked me close.
It was why, when I’d gone off to college, he’d been glad when I dropped out. He liked me to be home.
I bit my lip at the thought, at the memory which speared me to the quick.
It was easy to think badly of him now. So easy to think of him leaving us behind to deal with the shit he’d left us in, so easy to think that he’d be that unhappy with my being with Sin that he’d toss me out, but I knew it wouldn’t be forever. He’d do something to help me. He couldn’t have stopped himself.
He loved me.
I was a daddy’s girl for a reason.
He’d always shown me that love, and I actually thought that was why I was so mad, because he had left me when he’d said he’d never do that.
I’d known it was a promise he couldn’t keep, but death of natural causes and suicide?
Two different things entirely.
I sucked in a breath as I stepped into the office, asking, “Do I smell of shit or something?”
Rex’s head popped up at that. He’d been bowed over a laptop, glaring at the screen, but when his gaze drifted down me, he grumbled, “Fuck, we got ourselves another Giulia.”
I snorted, because Giulia’s reputation was preceding her. I hadn’t even had that much of a chance to get to know the woman, but it was clear she had an attitude problem she was famous for.
I didn’t mind being thought of as a Giulia number two, but I didn’t want them to lump me in with her forever.
I was Tiffany.
With all my flaws and good sides to my nature too.
“I might not be willing to take any of your shit, but I’m not Giulia. I’m Tiffany.” I strode over to him, hand stretched out. “Pleasure to meet you.”
He eyed my hand, then he looked at me before he reached out and cautiously shook mine. Like he was expecting me to pull out a weapon or something.
Told me how often he shook hands, that was for fucking sure.
As did his punishing grip which, when I winced, he instantly softened.
He pulled a face. “Fuck, sorry. “
“No worries. Guess you’re used to pissing contests when you shake hands, huh?”
His lips twitched. “Yeah, or something like that.” He tipped his head to the side and offered, “Take a seat.” When I did as he asked, he murmured, “I should have spoken with you the day you first came to speak to the?—”
He cleared his throat, and it was perfect timing actually. Hadn’t I just been thinking that? About how weird it was to think of Ghost, Amara, and Tatána as a collective but not know what to call them?
“Girls,” I propped.
His nose wrinkled, and I had to admit, at that moment, he was cute. I mean, I was Sin’s all the way. Sin was sleek, where Rex was rough, but hell, I could appreciate a good-looking man who knew how to fill out a pair of jeans, couldn’t I?
Wasn’t like I was offering to spread my legs for him.
The thought almost had me snorting, but instead, I watched him grimace at me, as he asked, “Girls? Really?”
“What would you prefer we call them?” I countered dryly. “I mean, we have to call them something, and I ran into a similar issue. I think we should get used to that, because then they’ll be able to integrate more.”
“You want them to integrate? With us?”
“Yeah, I don’t see why not. It’s not like they have anyplace else to go.”
He scowled. “Tiffany, I mean, Tiff? Do you have a preference? Sin calls you Tiff.”
“Yeah? He calls me lots of other names too.”
Rex snickered. “Yeah, I’ll bet. Never thought I’d see a woman who could tame him, but it seems like you have.”
My back stiffened at that. “He isn’t a house cat.”
His nostrils flared. “No shit.”
“You know what I mean. I haven’t done anything?—”
He raised a hand. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it that way. I just meant that his ex did a number on him, and it messed him up.”
“He told me she cheated on him,” I muttered, knowing it was bad that we were talking about this, but also understanding that Sin probably wouldn’t talk about it himself, so if I could pump Rex, then it would be for the best.
“Yeah? He told you that?” His surprise was clear.
“He told me a lot of things. Like that it was during his first deployment.”
Rex’s brows rose. “He told you he was in the Marines?” He whistled under his breath. “Fuck, he is serious about you.”
Though it warmed me to think about that, to think that Rex thought that, I just shrugged because the truth was, after a few coming to Jesus moments since his return to Jersey, I knew he was serious, and I didn’t need his Prez to confirm it.
“Sin’s dad was who she cheated on him with.”
Rex’s statement had my eyes flaring wide. “Are you kidding me?”
“Do I look like I’m the kind to kid around about shit like that?”
“No.” I scowled at him. “No wonder it messed him up.”
“Yeah, it did. Especially as… I shouldn’t be telling you this stuff, I’m just surprised is all.” His lips twisted. “Surprised and happy.”
“You are?”
“Yeah. I mean, I want all my brothers to be happy, but Sin has a special place in my heart.”
He had a heart?
Jesus.
Although, that was being mean.
Hadn’t he brought the girls to the compound? Wasn’t he feeding them after he’d spent a fortune on getting them back to health? Wasn’t he letting them stay, even though they were back on their feet physically?
I tugged on my bottom lip with my teeth before I asked, “Why?”
His head tilted to the side, but he smiled. “He didn’t tell you that, though, did he?” His hum was clear. “He’s a secretive shit. Not always a bad thing in a world like ours.” He rocked back in his chair, and the thing creaked under his substantial weight, but once he’d done it a few times, it fell silent, like it knew the score.
Whether it creaked or not, Rex wasn’t going to stop rocking.
“You can’t leave it like that,” I complained when he didn’t say anything else.
“Sure, I can. I’m the Prez. I can do whatever the fuck I want.” His eyes darkened, and I knew that was a threat, but because he didn’t compound it by being physical, I knew he was only telling me to tread carefully. “Sin’s secrets aren’t only his to tell. That’s why he kept his mouth shut.” Rex’s top lip quirked up in a smile. “You just made me happy that he’ll be getting a promotion soon.”
Utterly confused, I gaped at him. “What?”
He wafted a hand. “Talk to him about this. Tell him I said it was okay to talk about Grizzly.”
“Grizzly?” I repeated dumbly, feeling no wiser when he just nodded.
“Anyway, that isn’t the reason why I brought you here. I wanted to tell you that whatever you see on the compound stays on here, okay? You’re Sin’s, and that gives you some leeway, but if you betray him, if you betray us, that isn’t something you want to do. Do you hear me?”
The gravel in his tone made such a swift appearance that it had my back straightening, but what was I supposed to do? Argue? Ha. Not going to happen. “Yeah. I understand.”
He dipped his chin.
“Did you warn Giulia or Lily like that?” I queried softly.
“Giulia was raised in the club. She doesn’t need to be told to say shit about the MC to outsiders. Lily’s up to her neck in crap without me telling her to keep her fucking trap shut. You, on the other hand, are different.”
“I am?” I questioned warily, wondering what shit Lily was in, and why she hadn’t told me about it.
“Yeah. You are.” He leaned up and scratched his beard. It wasn’t fully grown out, just like straggly stubble, which made me think he’d shaved recently and it was itchy.
“Why?”
“How much do you know about your dad’s business practices?”
“Not a lot.” I sucked in a breath. “I just know that he lost everything. The IRS froze all his assets and?—”
“Sure they did. But I’ve been looking into things, you know, because you’re Sin’s bitch, and because Lily is tight with you. Your daddy’s money wasn’t coming from a clear-cut source, and I’m curious about that.”
“A clear-cut source?” I repeated, wondering what that even meant.
“Yeah. We’ve been tracing where Donavan Lancaster was funding shit, and because Lily’s left things open to us, we have a wide avenue of data to maneuver through. He wasn’t funding your father with his own money. Someone else was directing the money through his corporations.”
“Do you know who?”
His lips twitched. “Wouldn’t have brought you here if I didn’t.”
I gulped. “Why isn’t Sin here?”
“Because he wouldn’t want me talking to you about this, he wouldn’t want me scaring you. Shit, I don’t want to scare you, but I need to know what you know before I let him do something fucking stupid.”
My hands tightened around the armrests, clenching down to the point of pain. “Stupid?” I whispered, more nervous than I had been at any point during this conversation.
“Yeah. Stupid. Like wifing you.”
“Wifing me?” I squeaked, rocking back into my chair. Why did marriage sound like such a terrifying prospect when he phrased it like that?
“Yeah. Propose, the whole white dress and tuxedo shit.” He rubbed his scruff again. “I know that’s what he’s got planned. Can see it in his eyes. The bastard’s fallen hard for you, and despite it all, I’m glad.
“He deserves to be happy. Fuck knows he had a shit enough time of it growing up.”
“He told me about some of it.” Some wasn’t enough though.
I felt like a broken record, but crap, the information he was dropping on me was both fascinating but torturous because, like Steel, I knew he wouldn’t tell me more, wouldn’t give me the details I needed, and Sin? Though I trusted him, I knew he was quiet by nature. The life and soul of the party when he had a couple of tequilas in him, but on the regular? He wasn’t a talker.
He wouldn’t share things easily.
It would take time and patience, a lot of it, for him to open up. Or maybe it wouldn’t. Not now. Things were different. We were openly together. No secrets. Him and me against the world… Perhaps he’d changed to reflect that?
If I thought telling Rex that Sin had shared something of his past with me would get him to open up, I’d been dead wrong about that.
“I just don’t want him getting hurt. Long story short.”
“And you think I have the power to do that?”
“The man left his post for you, Tiffany. He lost his place here, he lost his brothers’ respect, and all without saying shit to them about why and how. I don’t know why he did that. I don’t know why he wanted to keep it quiet.”
My jaw tensed. “I asked him to.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Why?”
“Because, in the end, it didn’t matter.”
“Sin wouldn’t go to the cops over it, even though Giulia was dragged through the mud…and Luke’s intent would have proven that he went there premeditatively to hurt her.” He pursed his lips. “Protecting you over her. Over Nyx. Why would he do that, do you think? Why would you put Giulia through that?”
Guilt wanted to spear its way into me, but this wasn’t on me. It was on Luke. My tone was hard as I told him, “I had no proof that Luke drugged me. No proof that he’d even been the one to send the texts. My screen was cleaned so there weren’t even any prints—Sin checked. He didn’t rape me. Didn’t hurt me aside from groping me hard enough to make me aware it was him who’d drugged me. It wasn’t like I was covered in bruises to show the cops. How do you think that would have stood up in court? How do you think the cops would have taken that? Any member of staff at the Lancaster’s could tell them I drank too much.
“I was driving intoxicated, Rex, without the drugs.” I stared him down. “You tell me what me coming forward would have done.”
“Oh, I don’t know, a little thing like reasonable doubt on Luke’s character?”
I scoffed, “Reasonable doubt? In the face of a man like Donavan Lancaster’s propaganda campaign to make him look like Jesus reborn?” I hooted, even though nothing about this situation was funny. “He’d have dragged me through the mud too, and while I could have dealt with that, I know how cops treat assault victims.”
He narrowed his eyes. “You’ve been assaulted in the past?”
“Almost. I keep having near misses.” My smile was false. “Aren’t I the lucky one?”
“Explain.”
“One of Daddy’s business associates decided to come onto me.” I turned my face away from him. “I was reminded that women shouldn’t wear such short skirts if they don’t want to inspire that kind of reaction in a man.” I tightened my lips. “Then, back in college, I-I?—”
“You what?”
I tipped my chin up, refusing to be ashamed of what I’d done. Refusing to feel badly when my intention had been pure. “A professor attacked a student. She wouldn’t come forward, so I did it for her. I didn’t drop out of school because I was flighty.”
“The authorities found out?”
Shrugging, I answered, “Yeah. Obviously, I did it after the fact. But the girl, a friend…” My voice turned choked as I thought about Octavia. Beautiful Octavia with a laugh like a song and a smile that made anyone smile in return. So fucking smart. Such a fucking waste. “She killed herself soon after, and she’d told me everything when she was drunk one night. I used it against him and it backfired.” I sniffed. “That’s why I didn’t come forward. I’d put myself on the line for any woman who needed me, but do you really think the police were going to listen to anything I had to say? With my reputation?
“I’m not an idiot. Neither am I scared to come forward when I think I need to, but there was nothing I could do in that situation. Nothing that wouldn’t cause more shit to fly, and none of it in Lancaster’s direction. If I could have, I would have. You bet your ass I would have nailed Luke to the cross, but this is 2020, not 3020.”
Rex’s top lip curled, but he didn’t say anything on that subject, not whether he agreed or didn’t, whether he was disgusted by my silence or not, then, I realized, he already knew. He’d known all of that because he’d looked into me, just like he said he had. He’d been waiting to see if I’d speak out about the situation.
“Sin protected you, Tiffany. All without knowing you’re pregnant too, I guess, because I know he’d have said something to me before I shipped him over to Ohio.”
I gnawed on the inside of my cheek, even as I let my hands dig into the armrests of the seat I’d taken. The office wasn’t as grody as I’d have feared, but it was old-fashioned. More like this was his dad’s domain or something rather than his.
But whether or not the decor screamed nineties, he didn’t. He screamed power.
It flooded the room in a way that made the hair on the back of my neck tingle.
Danger.
I felt it.
Knew to be wary of it.
Jesus, I’d never felt the likes of it before.
Not even around Donavan and Luke Lancaster, and holy fuck, look at what they’d done.
My tongue felt like it was superglued to the roof of my mouth before I whispered, “I told him recently. Just before he came home.”
“So he went to bat for you without knowing you were carrying his baby?” He arched a brow. “That seem like something you’d do for a woman you didn’t give a fuck about?”
“No.”
“Exactly. So I know he’s in way over his head, and I get that. I’m glad for the fucker, like I already told you, but I need to protect him, no matter what the cost.”
My eyes flared wide at that, and though my instinct was to leap to my feet and run for the hills, I didn’t.
I stood my ground.
Because even though I never imagined myself being married to a biker, being his Old Lady, and having babies that wore ‘My daddy’s a Sinner’ onesies, that was my life.
My choice.
And I wanted it.
I wanted that life so fucking much, I’d fight this bastard for it. I wouldn’t let him scare me into running from something I actually knew I wanted.
Yeah.
Me.
I knew what I wanted.
And sure, it’d be nice to finish college and to be able to do something that helped people like the girls, but I wanted to be Sin’s.
Yeah.
I did.
I really fucking did.
I wanted to be in bed with him every morning when, before he woke up, his feet started rubbing against each other as his body began to prepare for the day ahead. I wanted to see him stare at my coconut milk-laced coffee with distaste, even though he’d been the one to make it for me. I wanted to watch him laugh over some stupid YouTube video that he strong-armed me into watching—Mr. Beast. I had no idea why I loved watching those vids, but I totally did now that Sin had dragged me into the mix. I wanted to watch him with our kid, wanted to see his eyes darken when he realized we’d made this person together.
The only aspect of being a parent that didn’t terrify me was knowing Sin would be at my side.
He was competent at life. I wasn’t. I was spoiled and restless, aimless for years, used to being cosseted, even if that cosseting fell short of the mark sometimes. Sin had graduated from the school of hard knocks, and I figured that would help our child in ways I’d never be able to.
But yes, I wanted all that. And more. So much more.
Because with Sin?
I was Tiff.
Not a Farquar—be that a Farquar broke or rich. I was me. And he seemed to like me. In fact, he loved me, and I loved him for that.
I loved this world where a man would bring me in to make sure that I wasn’t fucking Sin around. I loved that, if a man tried to hurt me, Sin would go to war for me—he’d have killed Luke if Giulia hadn’t already done the deed for him. He’d told me that himself one night when he was still in Coshocton. I loved that I could hurt someone back if they tried to hurt me.
Our world was filled with violence, but we were in denial about it. We were held back by laws that protected no one. This world was a different one. I could dole out what was reaped upon me twofold in the form of a biker who’d shed blood in my name.
Sin was all I wanted and more.
So I grabbed a tight hold of the armrests and ground out, “Okay, what do you want to know?”
He arched a brow at me. “What do you have to tell me?”
I squinted at him, wondering what he wanted me to divulge. “I don’t know. Daddy shared next to nothing with us about his business. He wanted us in the dark.”
“You never heard any conversations on the phone, or snuck up on any business meetings?”
“Never. Even when he was talking with Donavan, they always tended to do it with no one around, and, also, his office was a safe room.”
Rex’s left brow arched up at that. “It was? Why?”
“We were rich. He was paranoid. And that was where the safe was, I guess.”
The chair started squeaking again as he recommenced rocking. “Carry on.”
“So, when he shut the door, you couldn’t hear anything. That was how his meetings went down.”
He studied me, and I could sense he was trying to discern whether I was bullshitting him or not, but I actually wasn’t. I knew very little about my father’s business, because he’d liked it that way.
When I was around twelve, I could still remember him joking about how I’d be taking his place on the board of directors when I’d graduated college, then something had happened. Something had changed. He’d gone from saying I could do anything I could set my mind to, to saying I was a woman and a woman’s place wasn’t in the boardroom.
Fuck, that still had the power to irritate the ever-loving crap out of me. Dad had been flawed. Didn’t mean I didn’t love him and miss him.
“Have you heard of Fuoco Corp?”
I frowned. “No. Should I have?”
“They’re the front for the Fieri family. You have to have heard of them. I know for a fact the Fieri family and Donavan were in business together, and that your dad went to school with them.”
Though I understood what he was saying, only two words registered. “The front?”
“Yeah. The. Front.”
“But I don’t understand. Yeah, I know the Fieris. I know Gianni. He’s a creep. I only met him like—” I shrugged. “A year ago or something. He was at one of Donavan’s parties.”
“Well, whether you know him or not, your father certainly did.” He rubbed his chin. “And I wasn’t only talking about Gianni. He’s the son. Benito—Gianni’s father—he’s the one your dad went to school with.”
My brow furrowed as I processed where he was going with this. “When you say ‘front,’” I rasped, “you mean like…organized crime, don’t you?”
Rex nodded. “Yeah, that’s what I mean.”
“You’re saying my dad was involved with the…” I blew out a breath. “Mafia?”
“Exactly.”
My throat felt like someone’s hands were around it. “And the IRS wasn’t involved?”
“No. Not at all. It was the mafia,” Rex told me dispassionately. “They pulled the lines of credit on your father, and because they are who they are? It’s no wonder your father took the easy way out. You think we’re bad people? I can see it in your eyes when you look around the place, but you can guess again when you think about the Fieris. They’re scumbags, and coming from me, that means more than you know.”
My world had crashed around my feet when Daddy had died, so there was nothing left to crash, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t astonished.
I slumped back in my chair, grief and confusion warring with fear as I stared at the Prez.
This place wasn’t my place yet. It was Sin’s though, and with time, I knew it would become mine too. I wanted that. I did. But at the moment, I was still an outsider, and Rex was reminding me of that.
Painfully.
I could feel my body seizing up with tension as I rasped, “Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I wanted to know if you knew how your father’s business was funded.”
“No. I didn’t.”
“I can see that for myself now.” He hummed under his breath. “Was your father close to Donavan?”
“I-I guess. I’d never have said…well, I didn’t know they went to school together. They played golf once a week. I thought they were on friendly terms because of how close Lily and I were.”
“That’s interesting, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, I do. But he really didn’t share anything with us on that score, very little about his past or anything like that.”
“Why didn’t you question that? You don’t seem like the sort of woman who wouldn’t ask questions. You evidently aren’t afraid to make waves.”
That had me scowling at him, but I guessed I wasn’t, and he was right. But also, neither was I the kind who questioned my entire childhood.
Parents were how they were. Kids didn’t change their personalities that dramatically—Dad had always been closed off to a certain extent, and what hadn’t been closed off was his love for me.
“Did you stop to wonder why your dad didn’t regale you with tales about his time in college?”
Rex snorted at my question. “Pop didn’t go to college, but I figure you’re right.” He huffed out a laugh. “Okay, I believe you.”
Even though I knew how important his judgment was, I still muttered, “King Solomon has spoken.”
“You should be grateful I have.” He narrowed his eyes at me. “If I find out you’re lying?—”
“I’m not! I have no reason to lie!” I snapped. “Frankly, I’m pretty pissed that I’m getting the third degree when I haven’t done anything wrong.” And I hadn’t.
No, I hadn’t come forward after Luke had died, but with little to tell the authorities that wasn’t going to have me laughed out of the police station, it wasn’t like there was much I could do.
“Did you trap Sin?”
I gaped at Rex. “Are you kidding me?”
“Do I look like I’m having a ball here?”
My nostrils flared in hurt anger. “No. I didn’t trap him. I had no need to trap him.”
“Good, that’s all I needed to know. Got a special hatred for women who trap men with kids, and I know Sin feels the exact same way, seeing as he was one of ’em and it didn’t work out.” He firmed his lips. “You should talk to your baby daddy before the sprout appears, because there’s shit he should tell you.”
Why did that statement feel like an olive branch? I released a soft breath as I calmly stated, “I remember—Grizzly.”
He nodded. “Grizzly. You can go now.”
I glared at his dismissal, which made me feel like I was back in school, but I got to my feet and strode out without a backwards glance. I hated that my heart was pounding in my ears, and that I felt all hot and flustered.
His interrogation had been unexpected. I hadn’t known his reason for wanting to speak with me, but I figured it had to do with the girls, so to get blindsided that way?
I rounded the corner and went to the only place I knew where very little sex went down—the kitchen.
Hiding myself in the pantry, which was stocked full to the brim, I rested my back against the wall and closed my eyes.
Since his death, things had been a nightmare. A walking nightmare. But now? It was a thousand times worse.
My dad had been up to his neck with the mafia.
The motherfucking mafia.
And he’d been friends with Gianni Fieri’s father—Gianni was the creep I remembered from the Lancaster’s party a while back. Dad had made us all go to a fuck ton of parties, but that one had been particularly drab.
The way Fieri had looked at Lily?
Just the memory sent chills down my spine, and I knew Lily had felt it too.
Something had happened, some kind of insider trading I thought that had put Fieri away, but in all honesty, I couldn’t remember. Just knew he was in jail, because Dad had happened to mention it to Mom over dinner a while back, and I was glad about that now, even if I hadn’t thought all that much about it at the time.
I was, all of a sudden, happy that Lily sported that tattoo of Link’s on her wrist. I knew what it meant—she was his, and the MC? They’d go to war for her.
If Fieri was mafia and Donavan Lancaster had been in business with him…
God.
Maybe ‘war’ wasn’t selling the kind of shit we were in short.
“What did you get us involved in, Daddy?” I whispered to the stacked shelves, racking my brain for anything that might have clued me in… Then, I thought about the day when everything had changed before Dad’s death.
When I’d found Mom and Dad arguing after the news had hit about Donavan.
She had to know something, didn’t she? I reached for my cell, but when I put the call through, she ignored it.
Like she’d been ignoring me since I’d told her my being pregnant wasn’t a TikTok prank.
Lost, uneasy, confused, and scared, my heart was still pounding in my ears as I headed on out of the pantry, and when I walked into the main thoroughfare and saw Sin hugging another woman?
Let’s just say that was the cherry on the fucking cake.