Lucky.
"E came back to the club. I forgot my phone and found him…" Saliva pools in my mouth as the scene replays in my head. "I called Gray," I admit to her. "I didn't know what else to do."
"I understand." Her tone is neutral.
"He made it go away." I don't want to repeat it.
"You are his daughter, and he protected you," she speaks matter-of-factly.
"Do you know what happened to the body?" I never dared to ask Gray, and if she can trace people...
Lilly's mouth twitches. "No, I'm good at what I do, but I'm not on that level. You were my focus, which is why I had you followed for a while."
"Followed?" My jaw drops. I was on the move for the better part of a year.
Lilly chews on the inside of her cheek. "George planted a tracker on your Jeep before it all went down. I knew where you were but didn't have to have someone trail you twenty-four seven. George checked on you every few weeks."
I don't know if I should be impressed, shocked, or furious.
"He saw Gray there twice. He was watching you."
"Excuse me?" I was aware that Gray trailed me; he admitted as much.But she knew?
I jump up and start pacing. Lilly regards me quietly as I try to make sense of it. My parents were never married. Gray asked her to take care of me. He protected me from the consequences of committing murder, then disappeared, but he and Vic followed me without my knowledge. The room is suddenly too hot. I make a beeline to the bathroom and strip out of my uniform. With my hands on the rim of the sink, I study my reflection. The deep circles under my eyes show the darkness of fear and confusion hovering above me. I quickly wash my face and throw on the oversized T-shirt and shorts I discarded there this morning. Emerging, Lilly is in the same spot, waiting patiently.
I stop in front of her with the question that hit me as I changed. "Why didn't you…take him?"
She answers without hesitation. "I was interested in his long game. It seemed you were important to him. He stopped checking in, though, right before you arrived in Stonebriar."
When Vic took over.
Stonebriar. My hand instinctively touches my belly, and Lilly follows the movement. I fight the urge to retract my arm.
"Does he know?" She glances between me and Nugget.
"Gray?" Yup, totally playing dumb.
She humors me. "Wes."
My eyes gloss over as she speaks his name, and my other hand flies to my mouth. I blink ferociously and shake my head at the same time.
Lilly reaches out and pulls me back down beside her. Sitting with her leg pressed against mine, she hugs me to her. I struggle against the embrace, but she's not having it. I give in. The weight of everything I've been carrying with me for the past months—no, years—becomes impossible to hold up. I've been hanging on by a thread as it is. Lilly's unexpected visit, her understanding and comfort, rips the little self-control I have left to shreds.
I fist her gazillion-dollar leather jacket as I bawl my eyes out.
She strokes my hair, murmuring to me, "Shhhh, it's okay. Get it all out."
When I regain some control over my tear ducts, I untangle myself. "I don't understand why you're here." I have no idea if I'm asking her or what.
"I'm here because you and Wes deserve to be happy. The three of you." She peers down at my belly.
"He would never accept us." Tears begin to run down my cheeks again.
Lilly takes my hands. "Did you give him a chance?"
"He wouldn't listen. He was so angry with me."
She lifts her hand and touches the side of my face. "King, he saw you with the man who was part of the night Rhys and I almost died. Not to speak of what else he did during that decade." She pauses for a beat. "Wes thought you played him. Betrayed him. He carried so much anger toward Rhys and me. You were the first person he let in after our…fight."