Page 95 of Savage King

Her eyes are red and puffy from crying, and there is nothing right now I want to do more than to pull her into my arms and make everything right, but if we don't act quickly, her dad will bein a shitload of trouble, one I'm not even sure I could pull him out of.

She sniffs and hits the dial button. It takes three rings. Three rings with my heart in my throat because I don't want Scarlet to get hurt more than she already has. Damn Lambert.

"Scarlet?" Lambert picks up.

"It's me, Daddy." She hiccups, and he's instantly alert.

"Baby? What's wrong? Has he hurt you?"

She shakes her head, "No, no. He would never." I glare at her, but she only rolls her eyes. I guess that part of the game is over.

"Daddy, I know. I know what you did for me. I know about Mo?—"

I wait for just this moment and take the phone from her. "Lambert, there's been an interesting development. It seems our mutual friend has lost another important piece of leverage." The phones are probably not tapped, but I’d rather play it safe. I'm sure Lambert knows what I'm talking about because his sharp intake of breath is audible.

"What? How? Damnit, DeLuna, put my daughter back on the phone."

My jaw tightens at his audacity. I don’t take orders. Not from him. Not from anyone. The prick's fucking nerve raises my blood pressure. But then Scarlet’s pleading eyes land on me, soft and uncertain, a silent request cutting through the irritation clawing at my throat.

I exhale slowly and deliberately, and my grip on the phone tightens for a beat longer than necessary—a reminder that I’mthe one in control here. Then, and only then, do I extend the phone to her. But not before I make one thing clear. "Watch your tone, Judge."

"I'm so sorry, Daddy. I didn't know."

"It's alright, sweetheart, you've been through enough. You don't need this on top of everything else."

I let them talk for a few minutes; Scarlet seems to understand that I don't want her talking about the accident and her mom, and she keeps things vague. Then I motion for her to give me the phone back.

"Antonio wants to talk to you."

"Alright, put him on. Bye, sweetheart. I love you."

"I love you, too." She sniffs.

"I want those names, Lambert."

"You won't hurt Scarlet."

"Maybe, maybe not, doesn't matter. I have the report."

"I'll give them to Alain." He sounds defeated. Alain is the security guard sending me the footage. Interesting. Lambert isn't supposed to know about this, either. The old coot is wilier than I gave him credit for.

"The sooner the better." Before Lambert hangs up, I add, "And don't do anything stupid."

Lambert cuts the line.

"Are you okay, passerotta?" I turn to Scarlet, finally able to be the man she needs me to be right now. She shrugs and winces. The shrug must have pulled on her injury.

"Do you need some painkillers?"

She ignores the question and goes back to the first. "No, I'm not. Part of me tried to believe that I didn't… I didn't kill my mom… but… it was a lie. I didn't help her. I refused to take her hand."

"You didn't kill your mom. It was an accident," I assure her. "And even if you did, it sounds to me like she deserved it."

Her smirk is lackluster at best.

"She abused you for years." I hate pointing it out, but I have a feeling she needs to hear this.

A small nod is proof that my words are penetrating her mind. She pulls in her lower lip and bites on it. "Mostly, I think I didn't want to think it was true because… because…" Tears fill her eyes, and she bites harder down on her lip. "Part of me thought it wasrightwhat I did, or better, didn't do."

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