Lover Revealed (Black Dagger Brotherhood #4)(83)

God, on that horrible fall afternoon, if only Butch had followed through and run into the house and told a grown-up that Janie had just left…maybe they could have saved her. Janie hadn’t been allowed to get in cars with boys and everyone knew the rules. Butch knew the rules. If only…

Ah, hell. Her husband was right. The whole family hated Butch. No wonder he’d taken off and all but disappeared.

With a whiffle, Sean’s mouth went slack and his little hand eased up. But then he jerked awake again and got back with the program.

Talk about disappearing…Good Lord, her mother wasn’t going to get a good-bye with Butch, either, was she? Her lucid moments were so few and far between. Even if Butch showed up at the church this Sunday, she might well not even recognize him.

Joyce heard her husband coming up the stairs, his footfalls slow.

“Mike?” she called out.

The man she loved and had married appeared in the doorway. He was developing a middle-aged belly, and he was losing the hair at the crown of his head even though he was only thirty-seven. But as she stared at him now, she saw his younger self: The high school jock. The friend of her older brother Butch. The hotshot football player that she’d had a crush on for years.

“Yeah?” he said.

“I’m sorry. For getting so pissed off.”

He smiled a little. “It’s some tough stuff. I understand.”

“And you’re right. Butch probably should have been invited. I just—I want the day of the baptism to be pure, you know? Just—pure. It’s Sean’s beginning and I don’t want any shadows. Butch…he carries that shadow around and everyone would get tense, and with Mother being so sick, I don’t want to deal.”

“Did he say he was coming?”

“No. He…” She thought about the conversation. Funny, he’d sounded the same. Her brother had always had the strangest voice, so husky and hoarse. Like either his throat was deformed or there was too much that he wasn’t saying. “He said he was happy for us. Thanked you for the call. Said he hoped Mom and Dad were okay.”

Her husband glanced down at Sean, who had melted into sleep again. “Butch doesn’t know your mother’s ill, does he?”

“No.” In the beginning, when Odell had just been forgetful, Joyce and her sister had decided to wait until they knew what was wrong to tell Butch. But that had been two years ago, hadn’t it. And they knew what was wrong, didn’t they. Alzheimer’s.

God only knew how much longer Mother was going to be around. The disease was progressing relentlessly.

“I am a thief not to tell Butch,” she said softly. “Aren’t I.”

“I love you,” Mike murmured.

Her eyes watered as she looked from her son’s face up to his father’s. Michael Rafferty was a good man. A solid man. He was never going to be Hugh Jackman handsome or Bill Gates rich or King of England powerful. But he was hers and he was Sean’s and that was more than enough. Especially on nights like tonight, during conversations like this.

“I love you, too,” she said.



Vishous materialized behind ZeroSum and walked down the alley to the front of the club. When he saw the Escalade curbed on Tenth Street, he was relieved. Phury had said Butch had split from the mansion like Jeff Gordon and not because he was a happy guy.

V went into the club and headed straight for the VIP section.

But he didn’t make it.

That female head of security stepped in front of him, her jacked body blocking his way. As he gave her a quick once-over, he wondered what it would be like to tie her up. She’d probably leave scars in the process, and wouldn’t that be a fun way to kill an hour or two.

“Your boy needs to leave,” she said.

“He at our table?”

“Yeah, and you better get him out of here. Now.”

“What’s the damage?”

“None yet.” They both took off for the VIP area. “But I don’t want things to get that far, and we’re right on the edge.”

As they weeded in and out of the crowd, V glanced at those muscled arms of hers and thought about the job she had in the club. Hard-core for anyone, but especially a female. He had to wonder why she did it.

“Do you get off cracking males?” he said.

“Sometimes, but with O’Neal I prefer the sex.”

V stopped dead.

The female glanced over her shoulder. “There a problem?”

“When did you do him?” Though he somehow knew it had been recently.

“The question is when I’ll be with him again.” She nodded toward the VIP checkpoint. “But it won’t be tonight. Now go get him and haul him out of here.”

V narrowed his eyes. “’Scuse the old-school, but Butch is OPP.”

“Oh, really? Is that why he’s in here almost every night getting faced? His mate must be a real darling.”

“Don’t go near him again.”

The female’s expression hardened. “Brother or not, you do not tell me to do anything.”

V leaned in close and bared his fangs. “Like I said, you stay away from him.”

For a split second, he thought they were going to go at it, he really did. He’d never thrown hand to hand with a female before, but this one…well, she didn’t really seem female. Especially as she eyed his jaw like she was measuring her uppercut reach.