Page 73 of Love, Lies, and Whiskey

She felt like a boiling pot ready to blow. Struggling to remain in control, she choked out, “I’m fine.”

“You’re strong, darlin’,” he said softly, holding her tighter. “But you just heard horrible things about your father and the awful truth about the one person you thought you could trust. You’re not okay.”

Her restraint snapped, rage pouring out. “I’m just so freaking angry! Did you see her? She didn’t even feel bad about lying to me.” She pushed out of his arms, swiping at her tears. “She spewed empty words, trying to save herself. And my father? I always knew he was corrupt, but he’s a monster. I can’t even feel sorry for my fucking mother. She knows everything that goes on in that house, the same way Ana does. I’m sure she knows about their affair and all the awful things my father has done. But she enjoys her lavish lifestyle too much to do a damn thing about it. She turns a blind eye to all of it, the way she did to me.”

“I’m sorry, darlin’.” He pulled her back into his arms.

“How could my awful parents have created me? They’re heartless.” She buried her face in his neck.

He held her for a long moment before drawing back, framing her face in his big, warm hands, and set his loving eyes on her. “They brought you into this world, and you got only the best parts of them. Your father is smart, and your mother is beautiful. But you have Hazel’s heart, darlin’, and it’s too pure to be soiled by the likes of them.”

She gathered up those sentiments and tucked them away. “How do you always know what to say to make me feel better?”

“It’s called honesty.” He kissed her softly, wiping her tears with his thumbs. “I’m proud of you, baby. You said your piece, and you didn’t hold back.”

“Lotta good it did me. I don’t even know where we go from here.”

“Home, so Lucas doesn’t worry about you.”

She deadpanned. “You know what I mean.”

“There’s nothing I want more than to go after your father with everything I have and make the bastard pay. But I’m not willing to put you and Lucas in his line of fire.”

“What more can he possibly do to us?”

“How can you ask that after what he’s done to us and everything Ana told us?” he said heatedly. “Your father sold you out to protect his ego, and he’s got a hell of a lot more at stake with the new information we have.”

“Ugh. You’re right. He’s a total self-centered asshole, and I wouldn’t put anything past him. The best thing I ever did was get him out of our lives. I don’t want to put Lucas in his sights, either. I just hate him so much, I can taste it. I want to go after him like Harley Quinn or Beth Dutton and show him he didn’t break me.”

“Baby, we’re going to get vengeance. I promise you that. I want him to suffer for what he’s done to us. I want to strip away his last shred of dignity, and let the world see him for the worthless piece of shit he is, but we need to be smart about it so he can’t tie anything back to you.”

She rubbed her hands together. “So, we are going after him?”

“Damn right we are, and he’ll never see us coming.”

Chapter Twenty

JULIETTE WAS GLAD for the long drive back to Weston. She needed time to wrap her head around what they’d learned. But when they reached her street, she was still toying with what to tell Lucas.

“You doing okay, darlin’?” Seeley asked.

“Yeah. I was just thinking about Lucas. He’s going to want to know what we found out. I don’t know how much I should tell him.”

Seeley put his hand on hers. “We’re leading with honesty, but that doesn’t mean he needs all the gory details. He needs to know we’re handling it, so he doesn’t worry about it.”

“That’s what I was thinking. I do want to tell him about Ana. It’s a good lesson in not trusting people at face value.”

“Maybe you should talk to the therapist about how to present that first? He’s such a tough kid, and he’s so protective of you. I fully support teaching him not to take people at face value, even if I’m kind of one of those people right now. But with everything he’s dealing with, I don’t want to make him unjustly tougher or too untrusting. That’s a hard way to grow up.”

She felt a pang of sadness, knowing he was talking from experience.

He turned into her driveway and said, “I’m really hoping that as he gets more comfortable with me, he’ll realize his world is still safe. Safer, actually, now that you both have me and my family and the club watching over you, and he’ll be able to go back to just being a kid, where his biggest worry will be getting a zit before a date.”

She laughed softly. “I barely remember those years.”

“Because yours were cut short.” He pulled up beside her truck and lifted his chin in the direction of the barn. “Whose horse is that?”

There was an unfamiliar horse tied to a post outside the barn. “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.”