Laric’s eyes came to me. “No.”
“Then he made the right decision,” I said. “You came out. You’re here. You’re going to be able to punch him in the face if you really want to, which you won’t because then I’ll have to fuck you up afterward. Now, Wyett, are they all okay?”
She nodded, looking hesitant. “As far as I can tell, just bumps and bruises. Though Lynn has a bleeding wound on his arm. Is that bad?”
“Puncture wound from a jagged piece of metal. I put some superglue on it.” He turned to look at me. “You had some in your floorboard.”
My lips twitched. “I have a lot of things in my floorboard.”
“Speaking of things in your vehicle,” Sin said. “That hunk of metal protected all three of us. They don’t build cars like that anymore.”
“No, they don’t,” Laric agreed. Laric looked away, and his eyes landed on Wyett. “Why didn’t you tell Six that you own that land with her father?” he asked, lashing out.
Wyett’s eyes widened.
“What?” I asked, standing up straighter.
“I…” Wyett sighed. “He told me not to. He said that he would take it away. And God, honestly, that’s the only place that Six really freakin’ loves. He didn’t originally own it. Originally, it was one of my dad’s business partners. At some point, he asked if I wanted to buy him out, but at the time I didn’t have the money to do that. So I said no. Then I find out that Ivan bought it. Which worked for me because I knew him. But then he threatened to force me to sell if I told her that Ivan owned it. And I knew that she loved it there. So, I just kept quiet because it was easier.”
She looked like she’d just hurt me irreversibly.
“It’s okay,” I whispered. “He’s manipulative.”
“Why would he not want you to know?” Lynn asked me. “Think.”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I guess I would’ve been asking too many questions? I mean, he already has that land with the cabin on it. Why would he need the land? Plus, maybe I would’ve been on it more? I don’t know. Knowing that it wasn’t only Wyett’s did keep me from being on there way more than I would’ve liked.”
“The land is likely the answer,” Trick said from his perch across the room. When the hell had he gotten there? And how much of everything had he heard? “Why the hell else would he go to so much trouble to hide it from his daughter?”
“When did he purchase it?” Lynn asked.
I looked to her, expecting to hear that it was lately, but of course, she didn’t say that.
“About two years or so ago,” she admitted.
“Right when you bought yours.” Bruno looked at Lynn. “Right when you got pissed and started to really push back at all this. What better way to hide the shit that’s going down than by doing it where you do your illegal shit?”
Sadly, things would have to wait for another day, because right when they all would’ve left the house, thunder shook the roof of the large home we were standing in.
Lightning flashed, and the lights flickered.
“I think it’s time we all clean up,” I suggested. “Lynn, let’s go. Let me look at your arm and we can get you cleaned up. Sin, feel free to use the guest bedroom on the second floor. Or the first. Bruno, show him to one. Wyett, can you order some pizza?”
Wyett nodded her head and pulled out her phone. Lynn stood up and tried to hide his grimace.
I, on the other hand, headed for the stairs and Lynn’s shower.
Once it was on, hot and steamy, I started to strip out of my clothes.
Lynn had just made it to the bathroom when it was at the perfect temperature.
“You ruined another suit,” I mused.
He made a grunting sound as he painfully pulled the suit jacket off.
I helped him with his shirt, unbuttoning it and pulling it off gingerly.
I winced when I saw all the new bruises.
Dragging my finger along the one that went across his chest from the seatbelt, I said, “This one is going to hurt really bad in the morning.”
He grimaced. “Fuck yeah it is.”
“So, Laric?” I asked. “I should’ve seen it. If I’m being honest with myself, I actually did see it. Y’all look a lot alike. Though more like brothers than father and son.”
“Yeah.” He grimaced as he unbuttoned his belt, but stopped mid-way to remove a gun from behind his back and set it on the counter. “I didn’t want it to be seen. I wanted him to stay. Now I’m not sure if he will.”
I smiled. “He will.”
He looked at me with so much hope in his eyes that I couldn’t stop the small smile from tipping up the corners of my lips.