Page 138 of Unexpected Heroine

Given the magnitude of this... crippling pain, it makes perfect sense that he’s trying to retreat from the truth. To spare himself and me the agony.

Same here.

Sadly, the world doesn’t work that way. Truth—no matter how devastating—has a way of coming to light.

I can’t protect him from this any longer.

Although I don’t blame him for what happened to me, we can’t move past this until it’s all on the table.

“Aside from your reaction a few seconds ago when I mentioned my father, I know there’s truth to his words because of Vanessa’s involvement. Her motivation.”

The skin under his right eye twitches.

Sloping his head to one side, he draws his brows in tight. “What do you mean?”

No turning back now.

Pulse thrumming, I admit, “I wasn’t entirely truthful with you or the cops about her role or how she got roped into it.”

“It wasn’t for money and jealousy?”

“No, that part is true.” My voice falters. “It’s not the whole story.”

Unable to look at him, I let my eyes fall to his chest. Telling him this will send him into a spiral of rage and self-blame. There’s no explanation for this other than the obvious. No other conclusion can be drawn.

If there were one, I’d have found it a thousand times over by now.

He must mistake my looming dread for shame over my deceit. “I’m not mad at you, Lettie. I’m sure you had a reason to withhold the truth.”

Damn straight. And if he dared be cross with me about that, I’d throw his dishonesty back at him so fast it’d make his head spin. Bitterness travels up my throat, but I bite my tongue to stop from hurting him more than I’m about to.

With all my might, I fight my wayward thoughts and stay on the bumpy track.

Nodding slowly, I search for the words. “Vanessa said she was approached by some guys a few weeks ago. They were asking around about me.”

“At Bask?” he interjects, eyes and tone severe.

“Yes. When they learned she wasn’t my biggest fan, she was essentially targeted. She claims they manipulated her into helping them.”

His restrained anger shows in the bulging veins in his neck. “Well, that settles it. They were looking for you specifically.” His chest raises with a quivering breath. With his head cricked to the side and eyes searching the wall, he mutters, “That explains why I didn’t find any connections to the mafia when I vetted her membership.”

“What do you mean?”

It would make sense that he investigated her with his military intelligence skills this week, having learned she was part of this. However, that’s not what his words imply.

His eyes flash wide for a split second before he reassumes robot mode. “When I started at Bask, Dante had a handful of Doms who had gotten out of line. It raised some alarms for him, as you’d expect. One night, we were talking about how he’d really like a better vetting process to ensure the safety of his members. Since that’s my specialty, I offered to help, and he took me up on it. I’ve been running checks on all the new members ever since.”

“Oh that makes sense. For safety.”

“Yes.”

Part of me wants him to elaborate on the types of things he digs up, but a more pressing question rises to the top of the list. “Did you research me?”

“I research everyone at the club, Lettie.”

“Naturally,” I respond casually, despite feeling a little violated.

Again.

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