Fraud (Antihero Inferno #2) - Lily White Page 0,83

to lend me his strength.

For the first time in his life, the broken prince is lifting the spoiled princess up from where she kneels on the dirt. He’s helping her stand instead of being the monster that does everything in his power to destroy her.

I lean back against him, accepting every small part of himself he has to give.

Before saying a word, I need to confirm that we’re talking about the same person.

“What is your father’s name?”

“John Bailey,” she answers immediately, such open desperation in her voice that it pains me to hear it.

It also proves what I overheard that day was, in fact, about her dad.

“I know nothing about your dad dying,” I admit.

Tanner steps forward to hear it, his jaw tightening as if he doesn’t believe me. Luca lifts a hand to hold him back.

“What do you know?” she asks.

“I’m not entirely sure,” I finally say.

Now cornered by the obvious pleading in her expression and the weight of the guilt that’s crushing me, I decide to fess up so that she has some idea of what must have happened before her father died.

“I only overheard two names that have anything to do with your dad. I have no idea who they are.”

“And those are?”

“Jerry,” I admit.

Her posture straightens at that, every person in the room staring at me with unwavering attention.

“And what’s the second name?” she asks softly.

I drag in a breath, not understanding what any of this means or how it’s important.

“Everly.”

Every person goes dead quiet. Everyone that is, except Jase.

“What in the actual fuck did you just say?” Pushing to his feet, he storms toward me.

Gabriel pulls me back and takes a protective step forward to prevent Jase from getting close. The two men stare at each other for a few tense seconds before Jase backs down and his eyes shift to me.

“You better start talking, blondie. Because you just said the one name that I needed to hear.”

Gabriel

Jase is a smart man to back down.

As soon as he stormed forward, I rounded Ivy’s side, ready and able to kick his ass if he said the wrong thing or even attempted to lay a hand on her.

It was instinct for me to do so. To protect her. To lay claim on a woman that no other man will touch unless he wants to deal with me for it.

Without thought, I’d stepped forward as a wall Jase would have to break through to get to the person he was after.

Ivy is mine.

Always has been.

Since the day we met.

Unfortunately for the Inferno, that means there’s another woman capable of coming between us.

Another woman worth fighting over.

We rarely throw punches over any woman, not that we don’t throw them for other reasons. But if it is over a woman, that means she’s stripped one of us bare.

I didn’t mean to show the truth in that, but Jase left me with no choice. And when I glance over at Tanner to gauge his reaction, all I see in his expression is calm acceptance and a hint of concern.

It’s surprising. I’ll admit that. But then, that’s what best friends are for. And if anybody would understand what I’m doing right now, it’s him.

He just went through it with Luca.

Tanner has a right to be concerned, though. This is Ivy, after all. If any woman is capable of beating me at my own game, it’s her. Only because she knows too much and she’s had plenty of practice over the years.

Ivy stares over at Jase, hesitation in her expression because she has no idea what she just said to us. The room is perfectly quiet, the tension so thick we’re drowning in it.

Interestingly, it’s Ezra who breaks the silence, the deep sound of his laughter slicing right through it before he says what I’m sure many of us are thinking. The man of few words perfectly vocalizes the truth of our situation.

“Holy shit. This keeps getting better and fucking better. What the hell is going to happen next? We’ll all find out that Everly has a secret evil twin? Or no, I’ve got it. That Luca’s father isn’t really dead?”

Luca flinches at that, and Tanner spins to face Ezra with a growl crawling up his throat.

“Not funny, asshole. Shut your trap before I shut it for you.”

Grinning in challenge, Ezra is missing all the fucks when it comes to the threat of violence, his body relaxed and his arms bent as he rests his hands behind his head, almost daring Tanner to