"Then, Gray showed up with a brand-new MOAB. I accused him of bribing his way back into my life. I refused to take it, but he left the keys with one of the security guys at the club. I ignored it, took the bus to and from work. My best friend eventually had enough. He picked up the keys and drove the Jeep to my place."
"You don't need to feel guilty for accepting the car." She smiles gently. Her genuineness directed toward me makes no sense.
"Why are you here?" I don't think she is interested in my past or the gifts my undead criminal father, who was an active participant in the nightmare that ruined so many lives, gave me.
She shrugs. "He asked me to take care of you."
"What does that mean?" I'm so confused.
"Your mother gave you her maiden name as your middle name. With the note, it was easy to find out who you were. I, uh…foundyour original driver's license. When you started working at the club, you dropped your father's name, but your employer kept extensive records on everyone."
She's right. The fake ID I paid half a fortune for—the ID that made me three years older than I was at the time—was for Kingsley Monroe. Plus, E plastered my name and picture all over The Pole's website and social media. I was his star.
"She never took his last name," I mumble. "As fucked up as it was, it made me feel closer to her by changing mine to hers."
Lilly surveys me with an odd expression, and I tilt my head. "What?" I ask.
"Your father and Stephanie Monroe were never married."
My mind goes blank. I open and close my mouth. Nothing comes out. He—they—were—never— Black spots appear in my vision.
My shoulders shake. "King!"
How is this possible?
"King, breathe!"Shake, shake.
Something inside of me snaps back into place, and I inhale with a wheezing sound. Was my whole life a lie? No…no, there is no way. I refuse to believe that. The burning sensation in my chest slowly subsides, allowing for me to argue what I fell for being the truth. "They, uh…no. She was his wife."
My statement is less than convincing, forcing me to acknowledge that, deep down, I've already accepted the reality.
"Not legally," Lilly reasons.
I cover my face with my hands. Another lie. Another fucking lie. My eyes sting, but not because I'm sad. My hands drop to my lap and ball into fists. "And here I thought he had some good qualities," I growl, unable to form a properly articulated sentence.
"There is a lot I wasn't able to find out. Only your father can give you those answers."
"Why are you so…so fucking understanding? After what he did to you." I'm losing my grip.
Lilly takes my hands, her sincerity putting a lump in my throat. "I'm not defending him, King." She considers her next words. "I will make him pay for what he did to me, and to my family, but he is your father. He is not the reason I'm here." She squeezes my fingers, and I'm not upset at her volition to get justice—get, not demand. She will force it on her own. And she deserves it.
"When he asked me to take care of you, I had no idea what I would do with this information. I confided in George—and now Marcus. Rhys doesn't know. Not yet. I will fill him in as soon as I'm back home."
I wait for her to go on, careful not to withhold oxygen from my lungs again.
"I had watched you for a few months. Until you…" She levels me.
"Until I killed E," I admit to the murder of my boss. What am I doing? I'm pretty much begging to go to jail.
Lilly is not surprised at all.
"You already know," I state—not a question. How? Vic got rid of the body.
"I suspected it. Isaiah Ellis had a rap sheet a mile long and was accused of rape several times. Each time, the cases were dropped shortly after. He had a lot of people in his pocket. When someone reported him missing, I started digging. The surveillance videos of that night were wiped clean. There was no trace of him after he left the club before closing. However, you were caught on camera dropping off an injured girl at the local ER. And then you ran…"
"You really are a hacker, aren't you?" I shake my head.
Lilly smiles sadly. "It runs in the family. The town you were in was small. I checked the most likely places first and got lucky."