Chapter 19
Wild Ones Tip #567
Wild Women are worse than Wild Men. Because we’ll kill any fucker that puts their hands on a woman, which means they constantly have the upper hand.
You have to be creative to one-up those vicious, untouchable little women.
BENSON
“I take it you didn’t tell her Sadie was your stepsister,” Mom says on a sigh as I ice my balls down with frozen peas.
I grimace, shifting the peas. You don’t think about a tiny little BB hurting that badly. No wonder those pricks are so tough. They’ve been conditioned by Lilah all these years.
“No, I didn’t tell her that when I was sixteen you married my girlfriend’s father. I thought that would put a kink in our new relationship to learn the woman I proposed to and thought I’d knocked up was a permanent fixture in my life. I’m Lilah’s first real relationship because she’s hard as hell to get close to. Something like that just seemed like I was pushing too much too fast.”
She sighs as she stares out the window. “I blame myself for this mess. I didn’t mean to fall in love with John. Now you and your brother hate each other. The girl who broke your heart is still haunting your life, and it’s all my fault.”
“It’s not your fault you fell in love. And John has a blind spot for his daughter, just as you have a blind spot for us. As for Sadie haunting my life, that’s normally not an issue anymore. I should have told Lilah everything and hoped for the best. I just wanted more time to make sure she cared about me enough to overlook it. I should have known better than to think this wouldn’t backfire, and I should have stopped to think what she’d think if I didn’t explain why I didn’t want her over here.”
She turns to face me, her eyes sad.
“What are you going to do to get her back?” Mom asks with sincere concern.
I laugh humorlessly. “Everything I can. Don’t worry. I have a fail-safe plan if all else fails.”
Deacon walks in, no expression on his face.
“There’s someone at the door for you,” he says to me.
“Tell her Lilah and I are still together.”
His lips tug into a half smile. “It’s a guy. Says his name is Paul.”
My brow furrows, but before I can ask questions, Paul is walking in, eyeing my brother and mother. No one from Tomahawk has ever seen me with them, and I usually force my family to stay out of sight.
It’s Tomahawk. I’d never hear the end of it if everyone knew exactly how privileged my upbringing was. Or what my family is known for…
“Delaney called Killian after the rumor mill exploded. Lilah got on the phone and said you two broke up because she just couldn’t do the settling down thing like she thought. I just came by to fix things, because if Delaney comes after you, I’ll have to maim your face or something.” He says all this as though it’s just a normal conversation and no big deal.
My mother blinks in surprise, and my brother’s smile grows.
“I’d hate to do that, since we’re friends and all,” Paul goes on conversationally. “But I really like Delaney, and I already feel like the runner-up since she originally went after you until she learned Lilah already had dibs.”
“In all these years, I never realized just how interesting this town was,” my brother says quietly.
Cursing, I shift the peas off my balls so I can stand up. “I’ve been in love with Lilah Vincent for almost a year. No, I don’t want to steal Delaney from you. And yes, I do want to fix things with Lilah. Tell Delaney not to tell all the other beardless followers that Lilah dumped me. Got it?”
He nods, a smile curving his lips now.
“Got it.” Then Paul’s smile disappears. “How are you going to get past the brothers? You know they’ll be ready to kick your ass if you start hassling her. You can fight, but there’s two of them. And…they’re Vincents. They won’t hold back if Lilah lets them off the leash. And they won’t fight fair if they’re not on that leash.”
I’m painfully aware they’ve never fought me dirty, which is why I always won. As long as Killian couldn’t hit me with his mean right, I could kick their asses. One at a time.
Two at once in an unfair setting? My odds greatly depreciate.
“Actually…I need your help with that.”
He pales. As expected.
“Nope. No. Not happening. I never want a Vincent coming after me. You’re on your own.”
“I can help,” Deacon says, looking over at me.
My jaw grinds.
“I owe you this. I think it’s time to…try to fix things. I’m also not scared of two guys who got their asses kicked by a girl,” my brother goes on.
“A Vincent girl,” Paul is quick to interject. He wasn’t here, but he knows the drill without having seen it today. “They allow her to kick their asses.”
I nod in agreement with him.
Deacon shrugs. “I’m sure I can handle it.”
Considering I’ve always wanted payback, I have no qualms about sending him in unprepared.
“If you make her hate me worse, I’ll kill you myself,” I say with a pointed stare.
“I don’t want her to hate you. I just want to help you fix this,” he tells me earnestly.
Sadie walks by, and we all get quiet.
“What?” she asks, studying us. “Are you two talking about me?” she asks, her eyes narrowing as she points between me and Deacon.
“No. We’re talking about Lilah,” Paul says, frowning. “Who the hell are you?”
Her face relaxes. “Sadie.”
He continues to stare at her. “Okay…but who are you?”
In that moment, Sadie’s face falls, and she realizes she wasn’t important enough for me to ever whine about when I ran off to this place. She blows out a breath before turning and walking away.
Deacon is practically beaming.
“So what do I do?” my brother asks, unaware of what’s about to happen to him.
“Deliver a message.”
“Can’t you just call her?” my mother asks, confused. Hell, I forgot she’s been listening to all this.
“Lilah doesn’t have a phone,” Paul supplies.
“Her flag is up, so I know she’s at home right now,” I go on.
“Her flag is up?” Deacon asks, eyebrows rising.
“Are you going to help or not?” I ask him, exasperated. I don’t have the time or patience to explain Tomahawk to him right now.
“Two against two sounds like better odds, so I’m definitely going to help. What’s the message?”
“Not today,” Paul says, shaking his head. “The brothers won’t leave her today. Wait until tomorrow.”
As much as I hate the thought of giving her more time to stew, I know he’s right. If I tried to cross the lake, they’d possibly throw pipe bombs at me.
I wish I was kidding.
“You think you could get them out tomorrow?” I ask him.
“Me? No. Delaney can though, as long as I explain that there’s a really good reason for all this. There is a reason for all this, right? It’s not just because Lilah is afraid to settle down?” Paul asks with a frown.
Yeah, no. I’m not telling him.
“Helping or not, Paul? In or out?”
“Delaney might come for him if you don’t hurry up and help,” my brother goads, not knowing anything at all about Delaney.
She’d never do that to Lilah. Even if she wasn’t her friend, Delaney isn’t suicidal.
A determined glint shades Paul’s eyes. “I’m in.”
I point a finger at Deacon. “Whatever happens…no matter what is said…do not tell Lilah my true last name.”
“Why?” he asks slowly.
Sighing heavily, I answer, “Because this is Tomahawk.”