Page 37 of Beg for You

How could I let Lyall get away with that?

I couldn’t.

I wanted him to pay. I needed it. And if I didn’t stay away from Cassy, she’d end up collateral damage.

I pulled up a stool at The Lucky Mule and watched Bull, face like a thundercloud, stomp around the room.

He finally made his way back behind the bar and aimed his brown-eyed stare on me. He still did not look happy.

“What crawled up your ass?” I said mildly.

He grumbled something, barely paying me any attention as his head twisted on his thick neck, hostile stare fixed on something on the other side of the room.

I followed that stare.

Quinn Parker.

The girl was Bull’s best friend’s baby sister. Quinn had moved to the city not long after her brother, Mason, had left Rocktown, but had moved back a few months ago. Mason had asked Bull to keep an eye on her, and Quinn had been at him for a job ever since she moved back.

Bull hadn’t wanted her “in his goddamned bar” for some reason, but going by The Lucky Mule T-shirt she was wearing and the apron tied around her hips, as well as the tray in her hand, he’d caved.

“How’s she doing?” I asked.

Bull scowled harder.

Quinn looked up at that moment, tucking a strand of thick black hair behind her ear, pale gray eyes turning straight to Bull. When she caught him looking at her, she smirked and winked at my cousin. The guy growled.

“Not great, huh?”

Bull turned away, grabbed a glass, filled it with beer, and slammed it down in front of me.

“Outstanding service as always,” I said.

My cousin planted his big mitts on the bar and met my eyes. “What do you think you’re doing fucking around with Deighton’s daughter?” he said in that deep, always controlled voice. Bull was quietly spoken, and with his size, he often didn’t need words to get his point across.

Bull hadn’t looked away, waiting for my answer.

Fuck, I’d hoped he wouldn’t be around enough to get a good look at Cassy, that too many years had passed. But the guy never forgot a face. Ever.

I took a sip of my beer. “It’s not what you think.”

“No? You’re not using her to get to that motherfucker Lyall?”

I shook my head. “What he did to you, to Dane—”

“I went to prison because I fucked up. End of story.”

“You were trying to look after your family.”

Bull shook his head. “You can’t change what’s been. You need to stop what you’re doing.”

“I’m going to keep Cassy out of it,” I said and dragged my hand over my hair, knowing how much bullshit that was. She was already in it. Fuck. “I don’t want to hurt her.”

“You don’t think hiding who you are while you’re fucking her, then going after her father won’t hurt her? You can’t hurt Lyall without hurting Cassy, and you know it.”

That was a lot of words for my cousin, which meant he was seriously pissed off, despite the lack of volume. And the worst of it was he was right. And I knew it.

Before I could answer there was a commotion across the room. I turned in time to see some asshole with his hand on Quinn’s ass. She shoved the guy away, forcing a smile as she turned to the next table, trying to keep things light.