by Danah Logan
Unfolding it, it reveals three words in handwriting I would recognize anywhere. My gaze flies to hers. I glance back down at my name written in my father's easily recognizable chicken scratch:
Kingsley Monroe Turner.
"It was chaos. I was bleeding heavily and barely coherent. I thought I had dreamed the whole thing until I found the note, days later, among my belongings in the hospital. Everyone was busy checking on Rhys. Gray had tucked it into my pants right before he disappeared."
"Why?" It seems my vocabulary has been reduced to one-word questions.
"His precise words were, 'No one betrays me. Our paths will cross again, but until they do...take care of her.'"
"Betrays?" He had used the same word when he talked about his past. Who betrayed him?
She pauses and waits for me to look at her. "I assume you know where your father was all those years? With whom."
Slashing my mouth, I nod. "I found out after my mother's funeral."
"I see." Lilly stares at the wall opposite us. "I don't remember everything from that day. What we were able to figure out was that your father was cut off from the money. He had nothing left. We assume that was why he had ended it the way he did before he ran."
I think over her words. Things slowly fall into place. My father may have been the one to bring Lilly to that house, but he wasn't the only one there. His words echo in my ears: I learned my lesson when the person I blindly followed betrayed me.
"He took the shot?" A fact that was never publicly released.
Lilly nods. "Yes. He saved Rhys's life. Ended the standoff."
Neither of us speaks after that. Lilly flips her thumb against her other four fingers, and I fidget with the hem of my uniform.
I don't look at her. "I didn't know he had faked his death until over a decade later. He showed up a week after my mother's funeral." I laugh, humorless, the earlier tension creeping its way back into my body as I remember the day. "I had just finished my shift and was walking to Mom's beat-up Honda in the parking lot. He was leaning against it, and—" I break off. "When I realized who he was, I punched him. Then I broke down in his arms." My shoulders slump, the shame of having taken comfort in his arms—after what he did—chokes the words I should say to her. Apologize for him.
A hand touches my knee, and my head jerks up. "He is your father. We can't control how we feel, no matter what our head tells us."
She never asked for my side of the events, yet I continue anyway. "He gave me my Jeep during his second visit. My car—Mom's car—had broken down completely. "'Unfixable,' the mechanic said," I imitate the guy's condescending tone with a sneer. The loser was one of the regulars at The Pole—a friend of a friend, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to get in. His knowledge of where I worked gave him a false sense of superiority, one I wanted to carve out with my knife more than my next breath.
"Then, Gray showed up with a brand-new MOAB. I accused him of bribing his way back into my life. I refused to take it, but he left the keys with one of the security guys at the club. I ignored it, took the bus to and from work. My best friend eventually had enough. He picked up the keys and drove the Jeep to my place."
"You don't need to feel guilty for accepting the car." She smiles gently. Her genuineness directed toward me makes no sense.
"Why are you here?" I don't think she is interested in my past or the gifts my undead criminal father, who was an active participant in the nightmare that ruined so many lives, gave me.
She shrugs. "He asked me to take care of you."
"What does that mean?" I'm so confused.
"Your mother gave you her maiden name as your middle name. With the note, it was easy to find out who you were. I, uh…found your original driver's license. When you started working at the club, you dropped your father's name, but your employer kept extensive records on everyone."
She's right. The fake ID I paid half a fortune for—the ID that made me three years older than I was at the time—was for Kingsley Monroe. Plus, E plastered my name and picture all over The Pole's website and social media. I was his star.
"She never took his last name," I mumble. "As fucked up as it was, it made me feel closer to her by changing mine to hers."
Lilly surveys me with an odd expression, and I tilt my head. "What?" I ask.
"Your father and Stephanie Monroe were never married."
My mind goes blank. I open and close my mouth. Nothing comes out. He—they—were—never— Black spots appear in my vision.
My shoulders shake. "King!"
How is this possible?
"King, breathe!" Shake, shake.
Something inside of me snaps back into place, and I inhale with a wheezing sound. Was my whole life a lie? No…no, there is no way. I refuse to believe that. The burning sensation in my chest slowly subsides, allowing for me to argue what I fell for being the truth. "They, uh…no. She was his wife."
My statement is less than convincing, forcing me to acknowledge that, deep down, I've already accepted the reality.
"Not legally," Lilly reasons.
I cover my face with my hands. Another lie. Another fucking lie. My eyes sting, but not because I'm sad. My hands drop to my lap and ball into fists. "And here I thought he had some good qualities," I growl, unable to form a properly articulated sentence.
"There is a lot I wasn't able to find out. Only your father can give you those answers."
"Why are you so…so fucking understanding? After what he did to you." I'm losing my grip.
Lilly takes my hands, her sincerity putting a lump in my throat. "I'm not defending him, King." She considers her next words. "I will make him pay for what he did to me, and to my family, but he is your father. He is not the reason I'm here." She squeezes my fingers, and I'm not upset at her volition to get justice—get, not demand. She will force it on her own. And she deserves it.
"When he asked me to take care of you, I had no idea what I would do with this information. I confided in George—and now Marcus. Rhys doesn't know. Not yet. I will fill him in as soon as I'm back home."
I wait for her to go on, careful not to withhold oxygen from my lungs again.
"I had watched you for a few months. Until you…" She levels me.
"Until I killed E," I admit to the murder of my boss. What am I doing? I'm pretty much begging to go to jail.
Lilly is not surprised at all.
"You already know," I state—not a question. How? Vic got rid of the body.
"I suspected it. Isaiah Ellis had a rap sheet a mile long and was accused of rape several times. Each time, the cases were dropped shortly after. He had a lot of people in his pocket. When someone reported him missing, I started digging. The surveillance videos of that night were wiped clean. There was no trace of him after he left the club before closing. However, you were caught on camera dropping off an injured girl at the local ER. And then you ran…"
"You really are a hacker, aren't you?" I shake my head.
Lilly smiles sadly. "It runs in the family. The town you were in was small. I checked the most likely places first and got lucky."
Lucky.
"E came back to the club. I forgot my phone and found him…" Saliva pools in my mouth as the scene replays in my head. "I called Gray," I admit to her. "I didn't know what else to do."
"I understand." Her tone is neutral.
"He made it go away." I don't want to repeat it.
"You are his daughter, and he protected you," she speaks matter-of-factly.
"Do you know what happened to the body?" I never dared to ask Gray, and if she can trace people...
Lilly's mouth twitches. "No, I'm good at what I do, but I'm not on that level. You were my focus, which is why I had you followed for a while."
"Followed?" My jaw drops. I was on the move for the better part of a year.
Lilly chews on the inside of her cheek. "George planted a tracker on your Jeep before it all went down. I knew where you were but didn't have to have someone trail you twe
nty-four seven. George checked on you every few weeks."
I don't know if I should be impressed, shocked, or furious.
"He saw Gray there twice. He was watching you."
"Excuse me?" I was aware that Gray trailed me; he admitted as much. But she knew?
I jump up and start pacing. Lilly regards me quietly as I try to make sense of it. My parents were never married. Gray asked her to take care of me. He protected me from the consequences of committing murder, then disappeared, but he and Vic followed me without my knowledge. The room is suddenly too hot. I make a beeline to the bathroom and strip out of my uniform. With my hands on the rim of the sink, I study my reflection. The deep circles under my eyes show the darkness of fear and confusion hovering above me. I quickly wash my face and throw on the oversized T-shirt and shorts I discarded there this morning. Emerging, Lilly is in the same spot, waiting patiently.
I stop in front of her with the question that hit me as I changed. "Why didn't you…take him?"
She answers without hesitation. "I was interested in his long game. It seemed you were important to him. He stopped checking in, though, right before you arrived in Stonebriar."
When Vic took over.
Stonebriar. My hand instinctively touches my belly, and Lilly follows the movement. I fight the urge to retract my arm.
"Does he know?" She glances between me and Nugget.
"Gray?" Yup, totally playing dumb.
She humors me. "Wes."
My eyes gloss over as she speaks his name, and my other hand flies to my mouth. I blink ferociously and shake my head at the same time.
Lilly reaches out and pulls me back down beside her. Sitting with her leg pressed against mine, she hugs me to her. I struggle against the embrace, but she's not having it. I give in. The weight of everything I've been carrying with me for the past months—no, years—becomes impossible to hold up. I've been hanging on by a thread as it is. Lilly's unexpected visit, her understanding and comfort, rips the little self-control I have left to shreds.
I fist her gazillion-dollar leather jacket as I bawl my eyes out.
She strokes my hair, murmuring to me, "Shhhh, it's okay. Get it all out."
When I regain some control over my tear ducts, I untangle myself. "I don't understand why you're here." I have no idea if I'm asking her or what.
"I'm here because you and Wes deserve to be happy. The three of you." She peers down at my belly.
"He would never accept us." Tears begin to run down my cheeks again.
Lilly takes my hands. "Did you give him a chance?"
"He wouldn't listen. He was so angry with me."
She lifts her hand and touches the side of my face. "King, he saw you with the man who was part of the night Rhys and I almost died. Not to speak of what else he did during that decade." She pauses for a beat. "Wes thought you played him. Betrayed him. He carried so much anger toward Rhys and me. You were the first person he let in after our…fight."
"He wouldn't l-lis—" I break off as new sobs overcome me.
"You should try again."
"Why would he want to be with me? My father—"
"Is not you." Lilly tilts my chin up until our eyes lock. "Our parents don't define who we are. Yes, they are part of us, where we came from. But we make our own choices. You gave everything up to care for your mother. You were the only one who was able to break through Wes's wall. A wall even Den hasn't been able to crack, and the two of them are as close as you and Kiwi." I don't ask her how she knows about him; of course she does. "You are special, King. And I know in my heart that Wes cares for you. And that he will care for your little one."
I want to believe her so badly my chest aches.
"I'm going to be in touch. My wedding is in one month—in Stonebriar. I would love for you to be there."
"I—what?"
Did they make up with Wes?
As if she's reading my mind, Lilly says, "Rhys is there, as we speak. I dropped him off before coming here. We met with Wes over winter break. I'm pretty sure I can thank you for him giving our friendship another chance."
I frown at her, but she simply shrugs.
"I—I don't know." This is insane.
"Think about it. I'll text you. The jet will pick you up. You shouldn't be driving by yourself."
"Of course you already have my number."
Lilly grins sheepishly as she gets up. On her way to the door, she turns again. "Oh, and King?"
I lift my gaze from my hand over my belly.
"No matter what you decide, you'll be safe from now on—in case you notice anyone following you." When I raise my eyebrows, she adds, "I don't like where you live, and I protect my family."
"Family?" I must've heard her wrong.
"You're carrying Baby Sheats. That makes you automatically part of the family. I don't care what the stubborn-ass daddy has to say."
And with those parting words and a wink, she opens the door and leaves.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
After I made sure Echo was inside, I drove to The Grizz. With each light I passed, my irritation grew. At King for abandoning Echo, at Mags for not taking proper care of her, and where the fuck was Kiwi in all this? He was supposed to be King's BFF. Shouldn't he have been helping? Why the fuck did she leave her here?
By the time I parked behind the bar, I was fired up. My insides were buzzing, and I ripped the back door open with more force than necessary, causing it to slam into the brick wall. Whoopsie. Well, not my fault. Grizz shouldn't leave it unlocked.
How could King have left Echo? Who'd been taking care of her? Obviously, no one, since they relied on a fucking doggy door. What was Mags thinking, not double-checking the damn gate? What if Echo would've run off, or worse, gotten hit by a car? Again.
I reached the main room and immediately zeroed in on Mags. When she noticed me, she staggered backward. Guess she didn't expect me here.
I pointed at her and back to the corridor I just came out of. "NOW!" I shouted over the music.
She scowled, and I thought she was going to flip me off, but instead, she put the bottle she was holding down and said something to a new chick manning the bar with her.
They had replaced King. Of course they did, but seeing it, my fingers curled inward, which made my annoyance shoot to a new level—this time, though, because of my body's uncontrollable reaction when it came to her.
I turned, not waiting to see if Mags followed.
"What's your fucking problem, Sheats? Someone hiding your booze? We serve in the front—" she sneered at me as soon as we reached the employee lounge.
I spun around, not letting her finish the sentence. "My problem?" My pulse was thrashing in my ears. Rationally, I shouldn't have been this worked up. Echo wasn't my dog. "My problem is that I found Echo wandering the streets." Okay, a little exaggerated, but it might as well have happened.
"What?" she shrieked, the sass gone instantly. "Is she okay?"
Her genuine panic eased some of my rage. I didn't know if I was mad at her or at me—for caring. Caring about Echo. Wanting to know where King was and if she was okay.
"She's fine," I responded, calmer than before. "The side gate was open. She must've gotten out through there. I locked it after I put her back."
"Oh, thank God." Mags threw her arms around my neck, and I stiffened at the unexpected physical contact. Since King, my mom and Den were the only women I let come close enough to hug me. In my mind, I associated Mags with King. Memories came flying at me left and right: sitting in their living room during movie night, King stepping into the shower with me before I drove her to campus, laughing with everyone at our table at The Grizz.
My arms still at my side, she let go quickly. "Sorry, I, uh…sorry." She blushed. Seeing Mags blush was a new sight, and it distracted me from what just happened inside my head.
I smirked. "It's all good."
We stood awkwardly in front of each other, and I tried to figure out what to say next. "I…um, if you need
someone to watch Echo, I can do that." I quickly added, "While you work."
Mags looked stunned, opening and closing her mouth. She shifted back and forth on her feet and chewed on her thumbnail, all while staring past me.
"Mags?" I prompted.
"I don't know, Wes." She still wasn't making eye contact.
My shoulders sank, and my chest constricted. I didn't realize how much I wanted Echo with me until Mags shot me down.
"Cool." I wouldn't show her my disappointment. Maneuvering around her, I aimed for the door.
Her hand shot out and latched onto my wrist. "Wait!"
Mags pressed her lips together for a moment before she spoke. "I appreciate your offer." Her gaze flitted around the room again. "Kiwi and I are splitting our time with Echo, but between classes and work, it's not enough. Kiwi has a ton of projects. It's just—"
"Just what?" I interrupted. She was testing my patience.
"I don't know if King would be okay with that," she replied in a tiny voice.
"How would she know? She fucking abandoned us!" Us? "Echo, I mean." Fuck. The still simmering rage turned back to a boiling point, mostly at myself for showing my cards to the enemy. I glared at Mags, attempting to cover up my blunder, but then something shifted in her.
Her expression softened. "Wes, King couldn't take her. Echo still needed medical attention. She didn't know where she would end up. King would've never risked Echo's life like that. This dog means everything to her."
I held her gaze and let her words sink in. Something stuck out, though. She didn't know where she would end up. "Do you know where she is?"
Mags went still, and I had my answer. "Where is she, Mags?"
She shook her head. "I can't."
I turned on my heels and left her standing there. I couldn't believe I did that. I basically admitted that I still cared about King. I didn't. Did I? No, she was Turner's fucking daughter. I couldn't.
Goddamn it!