Page 51 of Venomous Kiss

And only my father can give me the answers.

“Arlo said your sessions are going well” are the first words that leave his mouth when I take a seat across from him in the visitation room.

“Yes. Care to tell me how Arlo came to owe you a favor?” I think I already know, but I want to hear it directly from my father.

He sits back in his chair and smiles at me. I wonder if it’s the same smile I give Reon.

“Arlo also told me he told you who and what I was.”

“Yes. Yes, he did.”

“And that you, my daughter, somehow snuck in, managing to get past their high-tech security and worked some of their functions.” I bite the inside of my cheek. “Do you realize how dangerous that is?”

“I survived, didn’t I?” I shrug. “You were in the Forsaken Society,” I say more quietly than before. “Not only were you in it, but you were also the Lord.”

He rubs his hands together as he stares at me. “Yes, I was.” He nods.

“And you never told them about me?”

“No. As protective as they are with their members, they are just as dangerous, Lilith. Remember that.”

“So, you hid me. But did you really think I was in danger, or did you just not like the fact that you had something they could take away from you? Or hold against you? Did you even want me, or was I an inconvenience to you and the Society?” I ask.

His mouth thins as he shakes his head. “Don’t ever say that. You are my greatest treasure. The one thing I care about most in the world. You may see yourself as broken, but I don’t. I see you as so much more than that.” He waves his shackled hands around. “I thought I made sure you would never experience that life. Had hoped for it. But here you sit, somehow in the damn middle of it.”

“I’m not in it,” I tell him.

He raises a brow. “Are you sure? Because from what I hear, you are.”

“I’m not. The only access I have to that life is Arlo now, thanks to you. Are you telling me I should stop seeing him, too?”

“Yes. Once you feel you have gotten what you need from him, stop all contact. Arlo may owe me a favor, but make no mistake, he is a snake. A beautiful, smart fucking snake.” I sit back and take that in. I guess that’s a great description of Arlo. While I don’t think I can fully trust him, I know he’s helping me.

He calls it blood lust.

I call it trauma.

“Your Aunt said you visited her.”

“Yes, she gave me the money. I bought a small apartment with it. One I can afford to live in.”

“Good, good. That makes me happy. Be kind to Linda. She means well. And she has always done right by us when we had no one else.”

“What I remember most about Linda was that she was always drunk.”

“You’ve seen the photo she keeps by her bedside table, right?”

“Her and some guy?” I ask, confused as to where this conversation is going.

“Yes, that was Tuck.”

“Okay?” I say, confused.

“She loved Tuck, and I killed him.” I gasp, and my father’s jaw tightens as his shoulders tense with apprehension. “Tuck was with me in the Hunt. He is what you would consider to be a second. He was my second.” He takes a deep breath, then continues, “And I decided one day he’d had enough of breathing.”

“Are you supposed to be saying this out loud?” I whisper. And how could he be so ruthless in killing someone for no reason? This is why I am so fucked up! I’m just like him.

“I’m in here for life. They can’t get me on anything else.” He shrugs. “Fuck it, who cares.”