Page 50 of Entangled By You
“After Dad died, Mom checked out. She was too much of a mess to do anything but close herself off. I was left with the task of cleaning out Dad’s office, and when I did, I came across a ledger. In it were months, if not years, of details showing how corrupt the mayor was. If it were only that, I think I could have let it go. What did I care if some politician was skimming money from his donation accounts? All politicians are dirty in one way or another. But that wasn’t it.” She lets out a sigh, as if she’s been holding all of this information in for far too long.
She probably has. Her dad died almost eight years ago; eight years is a long time to hold all of this information to yourself.
“It was just money. Dad found connections to purchases and sales in amounts that can only account for a few things in life. Guns. Drugs. Skin. Anyone want to guess what his poison was?”
No one says anything; we wait in shared silence for her to continue.
“I should have known then and there that I was in over my head. Anyone involved in that kind of crime is dangerous.”
I meet Si’s gaze before Harlow’s bores into me. We’re all thinking the same thing. She has no clue what the club’s into.
“I was only eighteen, but I had a gut feeling. Dad hadallthe information he’d need to take the case to the local police. After I found everything and did some research, I realized these kinds of crimes have special task forces—FBI-type shit. You don’t just go to the local PD with accusations and proof like he had.”
“Jesus,” Silas groans and runs a hand down his face.
I second the sentiment.
“Yeah, my thoughts exactly. I think that’s what Dad did. I think he took what he had and made a shitty call to take it to the police chief. There was a date circled in his planner. The only thing written for that day was Presley.”
“Chief Presley,” I confirm, and everyone nods with me.
“That was two days before Dad’s accident. I knew the moment I saw the date that dad didn’t drink himself blind, get behind the wheel, and wrap his car around that tree, Silas. You knew him; he had one beer, maybe two if he was celebrating. Never in my seventeen years of life had I seen that man even remotely tipsy, and everyone just accepted the story as if it made sense.”
Her breathing turns erratic, her chest rising and falling too quickly. I take a step. Fuck the apparent message that she’s still keeping her distance. I need to calm her down. But Harlow beats me to it, squatting in front of my girl and helping her take a few deep breaths.
I want to punch something. Better yet, stabbing something would probably release this building rage quicker.
When she’s finally caught her breath, she takes a sip of the tea that’s likely gone cold in her mug and starts again.
“Something inside of me snapped that day, probablybecause I’d just lost the most important man in my life. Mom losing her shit didn’t help, and you.” She stops, pointing at her brother. “You weren’t there for me.”
He hangs his head, grabbing at the long strands falling out of his man bun. “Fuck, Lexi. I’m sorry.”
Aren’t we all today?
“What I did after that broke my heart. It damaged my soul. It made me a shell of the person I once was.” She chokes, and a tear falls, gutting me. “And none of you noticed.” Her eyes scan to all of us, each as guilty as the last. “But it was the only way I could think of to find out the truth. To find proof that Dad was killed because of what he dug up, and the Montgomerys were behind it.”
I’m on her before I can fucking blink, ripping her up from the edge of the chair, and into my arms. She squeals in surprise but steadies herself against my chest, hands flat, and right where they belong.
“You went after Evan for this, didn’t you? You broke things off with me and went it alone. Why, Lexi!? You should have confided in me. Told me what was going on!”
“Or me!” Harlow pops up, joining in my line of logic. “You could have toldme,of all people. I bit my tongue. Okay, well, most of the time, about you and Evan. But I hated him from the moment you set your sights on him, Lexi.”
“You and me both.” I keep the woman in my arms, even though I feel her trying to slip away from me.
“Well, I didn’t, okay!” she shrieks. “I didn’t, and it killed me, Pierce. Every day I saw you, I wanted to run into your arms and tell you I didn’t mean the things I said. I almost did, but then, one night, when Evan was having a party and his parents were out of town, I stumbled upon something while snooping. It was the beginning of the rabbit hole.”
I tighten my hold on her, and she stops trying to pull away from me, finally relaxing into me again.
“I found one thing that led me to another. Chasing the truth, until it was all I focused on. It took me months, and by then we’d graduated and you were gone. And by the time I had what I actually needed, years had passed.” Her eyes peek up at me. Her voice is quieter now. Her explanation focused on me, even though the other two people in this room had to be listening intently, too. “You were gone, and I was stuck—stuck for five years, ten months, and twenty-two days, until that night.”
“What night, baby?” Emotion clogs my throat as the answers I’ve wanted for years hang in the balance between us.
“The night Evan told me he knew what I was doing. Until he beat me so bad I thought I was going to join my Dad on the other side. He tired himself out, left me bleeding on the floor, and took a call. Must have thought he could come back and finish the job, because I was still breathing when he walked out that door, the most sinister smile plastered across his red face. But he never came back. Instead?—”
“I found you,” Harlow says over my shoulder.
“So, all of this,” Si points to the papers scattered across the coffee table, “is not only proof of what the Mayor was doing, but that he killed our father?”
