The Lies Between Us (The Devil's Dust #4)(32)

I grip the wheel and my world shifts.

“Shit,” I mumble. Adrenaline is pulsing through me so hard it’s making me high. This is so dangerous, incredibly reckless. I blow out a steady breath, trying to get ahold of myself.

“If the Devil’s Dust taught me anything, it’s to live on the wild side,” I tell myself. I start the car and drive the long journey toward my daughter, praying for just a glimpse of her.

Almost two hours later, I turn on the road that holds my old trailer. My heart beats violently as I pull up behind a slow van. I attempt to keep my eyes on the road but I keep glancing to my left, waiting for the trailer park to come into view. I try and keep my pace, so as not to draw attention to my car, but when I finally drive in front of the trailer park, everything seems to slow down. My eyes sweep the area frantically, knowing I have only seconds to see her.

I notice a couple of kids playing on an old jungle gym, but none of them stand out. Something grabs my eye, and I turn toward Eric’s house. My breath catches and a whimper leaves my mouth. A small little redheaded girl in pigtails bounces down the front steps. She has on the biggest grin, her cheeks rosy red. Everything hits me at once. That is my daughter. My blood. I’ve abandoned her. I’m a terrible mother. Gravel flies at my car, and I look forward to see the van swerving to the right because I just nearly ran into them.

“Shit!” I curse, jerking my wheel to miss them. I veer off onto the side of the road and slam on the brakes, the van honking its horn as it speeds off. I look out the window, ignoring them, needing to see Piper just one more time. All of the kids are looking at me, including Piper now. Alarm ignites and I panic. Shit! I grip the wheel and dart back onto the road, cursing for drawing attention to myself as I drive away.

That was her. That was my little girl. She’s still here, and still alive. My brows furrow. She had on a really baggy shirt, and jeans that looked like they were boys. What the hell is Eric thinking? I shake my head. He obviously knows nothing about raising a little girl.


LIP

Picking up the phone, I let out a long breath. I need to hear Cherry’s voice today.

“Lip?” Cherry’s sweet voice sounds, and my body sags against the brick wall.

“Sup?” I reply coolly.

“Hey, how you doing?” she questions. I pick at the cement between the bricks.

I hate it here, but I never tell her about what goes on in here. Gangs and rival gangs are here, and I constantly have to watch my back. I can feel myself slipping into something dark and very familiar. I feel like a f*cking DeLuca. I have to stand my ground constantly; if I walk away from one altercation I basically put a bulls-eye on my back, but if I stand up and beat my enemy to a bloody pulp, I draw attention from some of the prison’s most notorious outlaws. Not to mention the worst thing that could have happened. I had an FBI agent visit my cell the other day, told me he could get me out of here if I gave him something, anything about the club. I told him to get the f*ck out of my cell without hesitation. But I lay awake at night wondering what it would be like if I did rat. What if I did give him something, nothing big, and got the f*ck out of here.

“I don’t know. I’m f*cking sick of it here. I needed to hear your voice,” I reply honestly. I hear her gasp in the phone, and my chest squeezes. I’ve been cold to her, I know. I don’t want to be, but it’s hard in here. I hate her seeing me like this, and I hate that I’m keeping shit from her.

“Lip, are you okay? What’s going on? What’s wrong?” she rambles, prying me for information. I sigh into the phone and rest my elbow on the wall.

“Just the same ol’ bullshit, ya know. Temptation knocked on my cell door yesterday. I needed to hear your voice, remember my way of life, and not * out.”

“Temptation? Like guys?” Her voice goes soft, like she thinks I might be messing around on her in here.

I chuckle. “No, not like guys. I like the feel of wet *, baby.”

“Then what? Lip, you can tell me anything,” she murmurs. I bite my bottom lip and close my eyes. I want to tell her, but I don’t want her to worry.

“Tell me, what have you been up to? Club treating you okay?” I change the subject.

“Umm, yeah. Everything’s good.” Her voice takes on an unfamiliar tone. Little hairs on my arms rise, worried that something is wrong.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, my tone coming off snappier than I intended.

“I’m fine, really.” She doesn’t sound fine.

“Inmate, time’s up!” Guard Geraldo hollers toward me.

“Shit. I gotta go, babe.”

“Yeah, I understand. It was good to talk to you.” Her voice falls back into that sweet tone again, and my dick perks at it. Fuck, I miss her. I miss her *, too.

“Stay out of trouble,” I add. I’ve been told by Bull himself that Cherry is a resilient one. They went on lockdown at the club because they got into some shit a while back, and Cherry ignored his texts and fled. It made me beyond angry, because I was in here and unable to do a damn thing about it. Cherry is a fire that nobody can put out, having a mind of her own. I’m afraid one of these days she’s going to burn herself trying to prove to others she doesn’t need them to thrive.

“Yeah, we’ll see,” she retorts, knowing exactly what I’m talking about. She’s feisty and stubborn, and I both hate it and f*cking need it at the same time.