Fearless (Broken Love, #5)(23)

Fuck, I remembered the missed call that day. When I called him back later, he said nothing about Summit. He’d fucking lied to me.

“She snuck in the back. I followed. It took me a while to track her, but I got there just in time. She—she was going to kill him, man. I stopped her. Whatever he’d been feeding her had pissed her off enough to kill him.”

He was wrong. She had gone there to kill him. Whatever she learned while there was just an added bonus.

I focused on Lake now who stared back at me with unapologetic eyes. She knew I knew, and she didn’t seem to care. I counted the lies and promised to pay her back for every one of them.

“He’s who you were protecting all this time? He’s why you keep lying to me?” I hadn’t realized I was closing in on her until Keenan stepped in my path, completely blocking her from me. “Move.”

“You’re out of line.”

“I won’t ask you again.”

“Then I’ll put you down.”

I struggled over my next move because I could tell he was serious. The last thing Keenan and I needed was another reason to fight, but I wouldn’t let anyone keep me from her.

“No one’s fighting,” Dash ordered. He came to stand in front of me, blocking Keenan and Lake from my direct line of vision. “You need to talk this out, but only if Lake is willing.” He held my gaze until I nodded and then he turned. “Lake, do you want to go with him?”

“Yes.” Her voice was small and hesitant. I could tell she was grasping for strength, but her true nature was to submit and she would. I’d see to it if only to keep her safe.

Dash nodded and Keenan moved, also hesitantly. Lake was acting on her own, and my brother was taking orders from Dash now. I began to realize none of them trusted me to do the right thing—to stay rational and act in everyone’s best interest.

Did I even trust me?

Five years had passed, but my past was still very much a part of my present. Maybe it always would be. Maybe I was fighting a losing battle, I thought as Lake came to stand by my side.

She looked up at me with wary eyes, and I stared back down at her wondering what I would do to her before taking her hand and leading her to the stairs.

Before I disappeared with my secretive girlfriend, I met Q’s watchful gaze. I managed to refrain from killing him, but I wasn’t through with him. I knew when I was outnumbered, and Kennedy didn’t deserve another traumatic experience. She loved the lying motherfucker.

I dragged Lake back upstairs because I didn’t know what else to do. Once we were safely inside, I slammed the door and trapped her against it.

“What—”

I gripped her lips a little too roughly. Her skin would bruise, and I relished the idea of seeing her soft skin affected by me. “No more lies. I’m losing control.” It sounded like a plea because only she could keep me together, but if I broke… I wasn’t sure I could be pieced back together.

“You know it all.”

“Do I?”

She nodded and squealed when I slammed my forearms on the door on either side of her head. “You led me—you led everyone—to believe Mitch was still out there, all to feed your lie. I don’t even know who the fuck you are!” I breathed her in and stole her ragged breath. Her chest heaved against my own. I needed to get closer. I wanted to intimidate her. To make her yield so I wouldn’t feel as if I was losing her.

“I had to. What else could I do?”

I ignored her question and turned away to pace. I felt caged. I needed to release, but that would destroy us. “What else did he tell you, huh?”

“He told me who killed John.”

The blood in my veins hardened to ice. My skin prickled and the hair on the back of neck rose. “Who?”

“Greg.”

The face of the private investigator I had hospitalized the day I found out Kennedy was kidnapped formed, and I gritted my teeth to keep from spewing as much venom and hate as I could muster. I should have killed him. If I had, John would be alive. It was the first time I expressed regret over his death. It was still hard for me to admit love for the man who saved me.

“There’s more.” I didn’t bother to respond, but I didn’t have to. “He was hired by your father to kidnap Kennedy.”

“Mitch didn’t have any money.” Any money he did have couldn’t have been enough to hire three men to kidnap someone.

“He said someone owed him.”

“Who?”

“He didn’t say.”

The room descended into silence, but I was too in tune with her not to notice she had more to say. I could sense her inner struggle.

“Talk, Lake.”

“I won’t apologize for protecting you. You don’t want to lose me, but I refuse to lose you.” That wasn’t what I was expecting her to say. I inched closer despite the voice in my head telling me to stay away. “Tell me you can forgive me.”

“Do you think now is the time to ask for forgiveness? You’re still lying to me.”

“Protecting you!”

“I don’t need your fucking protection.”

“I don’t think you’re in the right place to hear what else I have to say.”

“So help me—”

“Uncle Keke?” We both froze at the tiny voice infiltrating the door.