Her life and mine couldn’t have been more different up until now, but the truth was, more than just the baby in her belly meant our futures were entwined.
I loved that woman.
Enough to fucking shed blood for—mine and any cunt who got in her path.
“Shit’s always coming our way,” I countered softly, strolling over to his side, and leaning against the same window he was staring out of.
“The Famiglia are everywhere. They cast long nets. We’ve got caught up in the haul. I refuse to lose any of my men to them.” His hand tightened around the tumbler in his grip, and I wasn’t surprised when the fucker burst. He just stared at it, at the puddle of JD, the shards of glass at his feet, and the one burrowed into his palm.
“You won’t lose any men, cuz,” I told him softly. “Nyx and I will make sure of it.”
He caught me a look. “Not sure you can make a promise like that, man.”
I smirked at him, reached over, and pulled out the glass shard. “Wanna bet?”
Tiffany
“She’s his sister?”
Lily’s bewilderment wasn’t exactly difficult for me to comprehend. I was still bewildered myself.
After all, Sin had introduced me to her before things had derailed, then later on, he’d explained some things.
In fact, a lot of things.
A helluva lot of things.
Stuff I was still scratching my head over.
“Half-sister, I guess is more accurate.”
“Who’s the shared parent?” she asked, as she sat back at her father’s desk, crossing her legs at the ankle as she slouched.
The sight looked good on her, and I wasn’t sure why.
I eyed her from across the desk before I inquired softly, “What are you doing here?”
She blinked. “Taking back ownership.”
“Ownership? Of what?”
“Of me.” She pursed her lips. “This was where he’d punish me.”
My eyes flared at that, and I half-sat up, like the chair itself was infected by the taint. “You’re joking.”
“I wish I was.”
“Lily, you don’t have to put yourself through this—”
“Yes, I do. I want to. Link has already tried to talk me out of it, but I want to do this. It makes me feel better, knowing that he’ll never be able to sit at this desk ever again. Not only because he’ll get arrested the second he lands on U.S. soil, but because all of this is in my name.” Her smile was gleeful—and who could blame her? “That makes me very happy.”
“I can see that,” I rasped, but I squirmed in my seat, uneasy with being in here now.
Lily, spying that, rolled her eyes. “You want to sit in another room?”
Warily, I shook my head. The ornate office was exactly Donavan’s style—overbearing, expensive, filled with questionable art.
I’d never been in here before, and to be frank, I didn’t want to come in here again now.
Her bravery in staying in a house where her abuse had occurred astonished me. I’d always known she had the strength of ten women, but fuck, I was coming face to face with it now.
“What are you doing in here anyway?”
“The books.”
“The books?” I frowned. “Who’s books?”
“Link’s. You know he manages the garage?”
“For the MC? Yeah.”
“I think he has dyslexia. He was telling me that Rex was on his ass to do the accounts, and that he couldn’t get his head around them, so I said I’d do them.” She shrugged. “It’s relaxing. Plus, it’s like a double ‘fuck you’ to the office.”
Her grin beamed back at me in a way that had me laughing at her. Despite the situation, despite the trauma and the horror, that she could find the fortitude to overcome it all?
“I’m so proud you’re my sister,” I rasped, meaning every word.
Her eyes glittered at that. “Thanks, Tee-Tee.”
We grinned at her use of the old nickname she’d called me before we’d known what ‘titties’ were, and I leaned over the massive desk, reaching hard until, when she did the same, our hands met and clasped.
Then, I wriggled and winced. “What is it?” she questioned, frowning at my fidgeting.
“My boobs are really tender,” I told her with a huff, pulling free from her grasp and rubbing the side where I’d dug it into the edge of the desk to reach for her. My lips twitched at a certain memory. “When Sin first got back home, he sucked on my nipples until I exploded and passed out.”
Her mouth dropped open. “You came from having your nipples sucked?”
“Yeah. It was intense,” I admitted.
“Sounds like it.” Her lips curved. “I did…something to Link too.”
I arched a brow. “What?”
“We still haven’t…you know, but that doesn’t mean we don’t fool around,” she hedged, her tone close to prim.
“I’ll bet,” I said drolly. “Go on, spill the details.”
“I fucked him with a butt plug,” she whispered, but her face was bright pink, even as she looked turned on by both the memory as well as proud of herself at having accomplished that much.
It was impressive too, considering she’d told the girls and me that Donavan had raped her anally.
It was hard, because I wanted to ask how she felt about what she’d done with Link, what head space it had put her in, but I could see on her face she’d enjoyed it. And I didn’t want to make things serious by ruining the memory for her.
“He liked it?”
She bit her lip. “He loved it. I did too. It was so hot.”
“Link doesn’t look like the kind of guy—”
“He’s kinky.” Lily shrugged at the admission when I snorted. “He is. The stuff he suggests when he’s dirty talking with me.” She wafted a hand in front of her face. “I’m half terrified and half turned on all the time. And he loves going down on me. Like the man is obsessed.”
“Woop woop!” I declared with a laugh, my eyes sparkling with glee. “Gotta love a man who knows how to treat a lady right.”
Lily grinned. “Yeah, he sure knows how to do that.”
“Lily?”
“Yeah?” she asked, her tone wary, but I understood her reticence as my tone of voice had shifted some.
“I know you’re doing the books, but I’d kill for a burger and fries.”
Her mouth rounded, and I knew I’d surprised her because she’d expected some serious talk, but all I was thinking about was my gut. Then, her lips formed a grin. “Is this a craving?”
“Shit,” I whispered, “I think it might be.”
She snickered. “Tiffany, I hate to break it to you, sweetheart, but you’re a vegetarian.”
My heart thumped in my chest at the thought. “I mean, I know, but I…” I blinked. “I forgot.”
Lily’s nostrils flared delicately. “I think you can smell beef in the air. I think we’re having steak for dinner.”
My mouth watered. “I really need beef.” I thought about yesterday. “Storm was eating a sausage biscuit thing at the clubhouse when all this was going down with Mary Catherine. I wanted to French him for it.”
She snickered, her eyes dancing with glee as she remarked, “Maybe you can do what Phoebe and Joey did in Friends. When she was pregnant?”
“Oh God, do you think Sin would be vegetarian for me?”
“I think he’s head over heels for you. Don’t see why he can’t sacrifice some meat while you sacrifice your body to that baby.”
“Sacrifice is a hard word,” I grumbled with a pout.
“Babies do the worst things to a woman’s body.”
I rolled my eyes. “I know that. I’m the one who wanted to minor in biology.”
Lily shrugged. “Well? Is it true or not?”
“It’s true, but—”
“Nope. No buts. If you can do that, sacrifice bone density and a pelvic floor, then he can stop having a few fucking burgers.”
; My lips curved at her fire.
“What are you smirking at?”
“Not smirking!” I raised my hands. “Just—”
“Just what?” Before I could answer, she squinted at me. “Have you tried any of the diner’s burgers?”
I shook my head. “No. Not even their veggie burger.”
“Oh man, Link took me there the other night. We should go there. They had this one with PB and jelly.” She made her mouth go slack. “I think my mouth had an orgasm.”
“It sounds gross.”
“It isn’t. I promise. And I tell you what, until you cut a deal with Sin, I’ll have like a salad or something while you have a burger.”
I felt bad.
I did.
But the sudden need for beef? Fuck.
She was right—it was in the air. Enough that I felt like a dog sniffing the room to scout out where the damn beef was.
“Oh man, if you could see your face!” Lily burst out giggling as she stared at me. “I swear, I haven’t seen you this intense since you took your SATs.”
I flipped her the bird as I reached down and rubbed my stomach. “I’m starving.”
“Did you eat this morning?”
“I had a smoothie.” I frowned. “I wanted Sin’s breakfast.”
“What was it?”
“Bacon. Eggs.” My mouth watered. “Oh God, the kid’s a boy who refuses to let his mom be a vegetarian.”
Lily snickered. “Man, this is too funny.”
“No, it isn’t!”
“It is, because watching Sin turn veggie so his kid can eat meat is going to be even funnier!”
I scowled at her. “You’re no help.”
“Oh, I am,” she retorted, getting to her feet with aplomb. “Because I’m going to save your ass and take you for meat.”
I winced. “I shouldn’t. I mean, I’m barely pregnant. It can’t be a craving, can it?”
“The kid knows what it wants. It’s like its daddy,” she said ruefully.
And damn, there was no arguing with that.
These men of ours…they certainly knew what they wanted and when.
“Anyway, you can tell me more about Sin and all these secrets he spilled last night on the way over there.” She shot me a mischievous grin, which had me shaking my head at her.
“I probably shouldn’t tell you.”
“Screw that. You have to. You can’t leave me hanging.”
“I will, but only because you’re going to have a salad so I can have a burger.”
She snorted. “You drive a hard bargain.”
“I know I do.”
As we sauntered out of the house, toward the drive where Luke’s line of sports cars was stored, as well as her dad’s, she headed for the section of German cars. Only, she walked past her regular ride and straight into a teenaged boy’s wet dream of a car.
Knowing she usually drove a Porsche, I arched a brow at her. “Feeling brave?
She shrugged. “It’s just a car.”
No, it wasn’t.
It represented the difference between her freedom and the way she’d been forced to deal with her family and what they’d put her through.
It represented her choice.
I knew it had always grated on her that she hadn’t been able to drive any of the cars in the garage that was like a stable of mechanical horsepower. I liked, though, that she was willing to break down those barriers with me.
She headed for a BMW that was low to the ground, a bright gleaming white, and whose doors opened up like wings after she grabbed the keys, which swung from a hook on the wall behind it.
There were dozens of vehicles here. Anything from boats to bikes, the kind Sin and Link wouldn’t be seen dead on, ATVs, SUVs, and jet skis.
As I slipped into the passenger side, Lily joined me in the driver’s seat. The interior gleamed a bright blue the second the doors closed, thanks to a strange pipe of lighting that ran around the whole vehicle.
I didn’t say anything, just put on my belt, and waited for her to do the same.
It took her a while, but I understood that. She started the engine a few times then stopped it. But with a huge inhalation, she pushed the ignition button and began to roll out of the car space and into the garage.
She traveled as slowly as a tortoise, but again, though before I might have teased her, I didn’t. I just stayed sitting there, letting her know I had her back, that I was there for her.
As she crawled out of the drive, I peered around, wondering where her tail was, but before I could ask, she released a shaky breath the second we were past the gates. When we veered onto the road, she blurted, “I felt like Luke was going to come out of the pool house at any minute and—”
When she gulped, I reached over and patted her knee.
Then, because she didn’t say anything else, I explained, “Sin told me that he’s Rex’s cousin last night.”
The brakes screeched to a halt as she stopped in the middle of the private road that led onto the highway. She whipped around to stare at me, mouth agape, and I almost laughed when she bit off, “And you didn’t tell me this immediately why?”
I grinned at her. “We had other things to talk about?”
She huffed. “Oh my God, Sin’s related to Rex? This explains a lot.”
“Like why he let Sin go to Ohio? Why he didn’t just chop off his head?” I arched a brow at her as I sliced my finger across my throat. When she grimaced, I had confirmation that Sin had been incredibly lucky.
It also occurred to me that Lily didn’t know why Sin had left Giulia in the lurch…unless Link had told her, which I figured fell under the whole ‘club business’ guise that Sin used with me when he didn’t want to talk about something.
“Crap, I have a lot to tell you,” I complained.
“You wouldn’t if you’d told me along the way,” she grumbled.
“You kept Link from me!” I retorted without any heat, but I sputtered for sure. “And there’s a whole lot of stuff we haven’t been open with each other about.” I bit my lip, just thinking about the secrets Lily kept, and I muttered, “I think we need to agree on something.”
Lily placed her hands on the steering wheel, kept her focus on the road, and whispered, “That we don’t keep secrets?”
“Yeah. That we tell each other everything. As much as we can without hurting Link or Sin at any rate.”
“Or the MC. It’s their lives, Tiff.” At that, she cut me a look. “They’re our family too, whether we want them to be or not.”
“Do you mind?”
She shook her head. “No. I know what they do, I know a lot of it seems bad, but I know what true evil looks like. Link could never be a part of something like that.”
“I don’t mind either. I feel like…” My brow puckered. “Sin was a Marine. Then I look at Maverick, and how they took the girls in, and what they’re doing for…well, everything. I just feel like their heart is in the right place, even if they go about it in really illegal ways.”
Her lips twitched. “Illegal is relative.”
“It really isn’t,” I countered dryly, making her laugh. “But, okay, I don’t want this to upset you, but you know the night Luke died? Sin and I, well, we think…no, I know he drugged me.”
Her eyes flared wide. “What?”
“Yeah.” I released a shaky breath, feeling weird about telling her this because I didn’t want to add to the burden on her shoulders. None of this was her fault, but Lily felt stuff more than others. She’d take my pain, her shame at Luke, and would twist it into a big thing for her—she didn’t need that. Didn’t deserve it either. “Truth is, I thought I was just drunk, but Sin said I wasn’t acting like I was drunk, I was acting like I was drugged, and the next day, that was like no hangover I’d ever had before.
“I remember a few things—leaving your house, then Luke groping me and it hurting really bad, then waking up in Sin’s bed the next morning.”
At my gulp, her hand snapped out, a
nd she grabbed a tight hold of my fingers. “Oh, Tiff, I’m so sorry. You should have told me!”
I shrugged. “There wasn’t all that much to say. Not in the aftermath of him dying. Then Sin left, and everything just went tits up. I-I…” I blew out a breath. “I guess I buried it, and to be honest, in comparison to what he could have done? I know I’m lucky. So, that’s not my point. Sin was guarding Giulia that night, and he—”
“Left her to come and save you?” Her gasp was sharp. “Oh my God.”
“Yeah. That. Luke got him away from the bar by drugging me. I have his texts on my phone and everything—”
When I reached for my cell, she scowled at me. “You’re not wondering if I don’t believe you, are you?”
My nose crinkled. “No, but I just wanted you to know I wasn’t bullshitting.”
“I never thought I could hate Luke more, but he just keeps on piling onto how many reasons I have to loathe him.”
I squeezed her fingers. “So that’s why Rex forgave him too. Because Sin told him about what happened to me, and I figure that Rex was more predisposed to listen because of who Sin is to him.”
“His cousin, yeah.”
“I mean, after what happened in school, it wasn’t like I could say anything to the cops, was it?”
She winced, and as she’d been there for that particular meltdown, I knew we were on the same page. “They’d have vilified you, and Father being Father, i.e. a cunt, would have, I don’t know, spun it so that Luke was the victim. Giulia would have been worse off—Luke would have been the saint, and all womanhood would be to blame for trying to trap innocent men in their webs.”
Biting my lip, I nodded. “So, it’s all been kind of complicated.”
“What isn’t in this world?”
“True.” My lips twitched as I proceeded to explain the rest of the complications that had made a sudden appearance in my life. About Mary Catherine and Grizzly, and about how Sin had come to be a member of the MC.
When I finished, she didn’t say a word, just started the engine once more and began to drive into town.
“Wow.”
It took her a good five minutes, but I got it.
That was how I’d felt last night.
When she had to brake at a stop sign, we shared a look, and I nodded.
Forgotten & Found: A Dark & Dirty Sinners' MC Boxset Page 83