Page 17 of Hell of a Mess

Fourteen

Lace

“She’s not said anything,” Jayda whispered to whoever had walked into the room. “Maybe Doc should come check on her.”

No one responded, but I heard the faint click of Jayda’s boots fading farther away before the door closed.

Was I alone now? Could I cry? Did I want to? The numbness was wearing off, and I did feel—I just didn’t know what it was that I felt.

Heavy steps moved closer to me, answering my question. I wasn’t alone. Tensing, I waited, not turning to see who it was. I didn’t want to talk to anyone. Especially a man.

“I got a shitload of questions, sugar, but I’ll give you until tomorrow before I require answers.” Luther’s voice was a mix of relief and dread.

“I have some too,” I replied, my voice raspy, as if I’d been crying, although I hadn’t been.

“Well, let me clear them up for you,” he said.

“Seems your momma had an affair with Mal while engaged to the bastard who raised you. She was Locke’s biological mother’s cousin.

Visiting for a few weeks when Mal met her.

Mal never married Locke’s biological mother.

He married Gathe’s—Locke’s younger brother—and she’s been a momma to both boys.

My guess is, Alpheus has known all along that you aren’t his.

Which leads to where we are today. Why a grown woman is being controlled and abused by the man who was supposed to be her father. ”

I closed my eyes. I couldn’t even defend my momma.

I’d already known she had affairs. Long before my father spat it in my face.

She’d been with another man the day she died.

We both had. She always took me with her, leaving behind my sister.

Back then, I thought it was because she always wanted me close, but I realized now…

she’d been worried about my safety. She’d been protecting me from my father—no, he wasn’t my father.

He was the man who used that title, knowing it was a lie.

“The discussion of where you’re gonna stay has come up. You’ve got a father and two brothers now. You can stay at either of their houses, or”—he paused—“you can stay here until you feel more comfortable.”

Where would I stay? I hadn’t even thought of that.

What about Arun, the engagement? The lie I had lived for twenty, no twenty-one years? He didn’t know all that.

My refusing to play the role of my sister would cause…Alpheus billions, and he wouldn’t take that lightly. If I ran off, lived alone, then it would be only me he sought his vengeance on.

I turned and used my good hand to push myself up into a seated position then used it to pull my legs to my chest.

“I…I can’t stay here,” I told him, not looking in his direction, but focusing on my knees instead. “I’m engaged.” I didn’t want to tell him the entire sordid mess.

“Arun Al-Bahrani.”

At the sound of his name, my head snapped up, and I gaped at Luther. How had he known that? Had my father told Thaddeus?

“Yes,” I replied.

He scowled. “Then he was the son of a bitch who beat you.”

I could lie, but at this point, why? I’d done so much lying, and I was tired.

“Yes.”

His jaw clenched tightly, and he leaned forward slightly. “You’re not engaged anymore,” he replied through clenched teeth.

His saying so didn’t make that true.

“Do you know who that is?” I asked hesitantly.

He nodded his head.

“Then you realize that my father—” I shook my head. “Alpheus will react to my not going through with it. He wants that connection. For the wealth and the power that comes with Arun’s family.”

Luther shook his head slowly. “I don’t give a fuck. Right now, Halsten’s biggest concern needs to be the reckoning that is coming.”

He sounded so sure of it, but I wasn’t.

“Thaddeus is his friend,” I told him.

“Thaddeus is family. He was never his friend. In fact, he said he should have known the slimy motherfucker was behind your abuse.”

My eyes widened at that. Was he serious?

“We use those we need to in order to gain access and forgiveness legally. Alpheus was someone that the Louisiana and Texas branches kept in their pockets. Simply for what he could do for them. Not the other way around. He is no longer someone we hold as an asset. He didn’t just abuse a daughter, but he abused one of ours.

That changes everything,” he said, and then his eyes did a quick scan of the bedroom.

“Now, do you want to stay here or go to Mal’s house? Or Locke and Gathe’s?”

I let that sink in before asking, “There is a Texas branch?” Because I’d never been told about that.

He nodded his head. “Yes. There is a branch in every Southern state. Texas may think it’s its own entity, but they’re the fucking South too. The Civil War had only been over for forty years when the family was formed. Texas had been part of the Confederacy.”

Oh. I wanted to ask who was over that branch. Had I known them, too, and not realized they were like Thaddeus?

The only reason I knew who and what the Davidsons were was because I’d been partnered with his son, Wayon, at more than one dinner party.

He had always been in a serious relationship, and my father felt it was safe for me.

Wayon had become my friend over the years.

He’d told me many things he probably shouldn’t have.

“If you want to stay here, the room is yours,” he said, and I realized I’d still not responded to that question.

I did want to stay here. But there was Linc. He wouldn’t want me here.

“I…I don’t know Mal,” I said.

I did know Locke, but not as my…brother. And I’d never met Gathe.

“No, you don’t,” Luther replied.

“If I stay here, will Linc be angry?”

Luther smirked, but there was a glint of annoyance in his gaze. “Sugar, I don’t give a fuck about what makes Linc angry. Like I said before, my house too. This is my side. If I want to open a goddamn brothel in the next bedroom, I can.”

The corner of my lips quirked at that remark, and I was surprised by it.

“I’ll let them know you’re staying here. Jayda will bring you something to sleep in and some clothing until you can go shopping for your own,” he said. “Are you hungry?”

I wasn’t hungry.

Everything was changing so fast. I’d been ready to run for the rest of my life to get free of the one that had been planned for me, actually leaving it. Allowing others to handle my problems and protect me was hard. Trust didn’t come easy for me.

I shook my head.

He turned to leave.

“Can I trust you?” I blurted out. I wanted to. More than anything else right now I wanted to be able to trust Luther.

He stopped, then glanced back over his shoulder at me. “Yeah, sugar, with your life.”

And I believed him.