Page 103 of The Destruction You Desire

"What the fuck is going on, Luc? What's happened?"

"J-Julian and—" I breathe out a long slow breath trying to calm the fuck down as the image of him with his hands all over my girl come back to me. "Brett."

"Dad. Dad did this?" he roars, disbelief all over his face.

"They were in the back room of The Locker Room."

"I'm going to fucking kill him, Luc. I swear to fucking God, I—"

"I left them out cold in the office. Bry is sorting it out."

"Bry? What the fuck does he know about dealing with that shit."

"I don't fucking know, Lee. But he offered and my biggest concern was getting her the hell out of there. They were gonna—" I bite back the words, trying to breathe through the fact I want to puke all over my bedroom floor at the thought. "They were gonna—"

"I got it, Luc. I'm going, okay. I'll sort it out. That cunt is going to pay for this."

I nod at him before he disappears from my room, leaving me with a trembling Peyton.

Pulling the sheets back, I lift her onto my lap and hold her against me.

"It's okay, baby. You're safe. I've got you."

I pull my cell from my pocket and find my last conversation with Letty about her plans for Peyton this morning.

Luca: Send Kane to The Locker Room. Lee will be there. He's going to need his help.

Letty: What the fuck have you done?

Luca: I'll call you when I can. I've got Peyton. She's okay.

Letty: Let me know if you need anything.

Dropping my cell to the bed, I look down at Peyton to find her wide silver eyes staring back up at me.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she whispers.

For a second, I wonder what she's talking about but then it hits me. She means Brett.

"Trust me, baby, it wasn't because I didn't want to." I cup her cheek and tilt her head so she has no choice but to look at me. I need her to see the honesty in my eyes, to understand how much I battled with this decision over the past few weeks. "I know how much you needed that job, the money that came with it. If I told you, you'd have ended up choosing between paying your debts and your integrity, and I didn't want that. As much as I hated you working there, spending time with those scumbags, I knew you felt it was what you needed to do."

"That's why you were there every night."

"Partly that, partly because I just couldn't stay away from you," I confess.

"I'd have paid your debt off the day I found out about it if I could have, but I knew you'd never accept it."

"I don't want to accept it now."

"I know, baby. But as much as you hate it, sometimes you just need to accept a little help. And at the end of the day, it's not actually my money either, and it's money that you and your family more than deserve."

She swallows nervously, her eyes once again filling with tears.

"W-what will happen to them?"

"I don't know, baby. Do you have any idea who Bry is connected to?"

She shakes her head.