Page 95 of Lick

The tears she’s been holding back break free and run down my chest. She sucks in a shuddering breath. “But I do love you, Lick. That’s the problem. Because I don’t know if loving you will be my greatest achievement or my absolute downfall.”

“If you fall, I fall. It’s as simple as that.”

“But if everything is simple, why does it feel so damn complicated?”

Because I made her trust me just so I could throw a wrecking ball into everything we built. And now I’m trying to rebuild what we had from the wreckage with nothing but my bare fucking hands.

But slowly, we’re getting there. One brick at a time.

43

Emma

I’m a ball of nerves by the time I hear a knock at the door. I’m being ridiculous. I know that. I’m a grown damn woman, for goodness’s sake.

I get to my feet and rub my hands against my thighs, taking a deep breath to steady my nerves. I paste on a smile, ready to answer when I hear Lick’s voice calling out. “I’ll get it.”

Heading that way, I pause when I hear Lick snarl, “What the fuck are you two doing here?”

“Don’t be like that, Lick. We need to talk.”

My body goes ramrod straight when I hear Tash’s voice.

“I have fuck-all to say to you. You think because all that shit went down with the shooting that I forgot the crap you pulled with Emma? Why the fuck did you think you got fired?”

“I didn’t get fired!” she screeches. “I was needed elsewhere.”

“On your back with a brother’s cock in you? Yeah, what a fucking promotion.”

I wince. I might dislike the woman, but even I think that’s rough. If the brothers didn’t want to fuck them at will, there would be no need for club girls. They’re a bunch of hypocritical assholes, the lot of them. Something I feel the need to remind them all the next time I see them.

“Fuck you, Lick.”

“That’s the problem, isn’t it? I never fucked you. Never have, never would. And you, Nat, I thought you’d have known better than to turn up at my fucking house, with Tash of all people.”

“I know. I’m sorry. You wouldn’t speak to me at the club, and I just wanted to apologize. That’s all, I swear. And I’ll explain to Emma if I ever get the chance, too. I’ll tell her how I was never supposed to take it that far, that it was all supposed to be an act so she’d leave. I saw a chance, one I knew I’d never get again, and I took it. It was wrong, and I know it. I’m really fucking sorry. It will never happen again.”

The pain that I was still carrying eases. As much as I’d wanted to believe Lick’s version of events, he’d damaged my trust to the point where I questioned everything. Hearing this woman repeat pretty much what he says helps soften the blow. Does it still hurt that he took it there? Yeah. And I know it will take the scar longer to heal than the wound took to inflict. The question is, after everything, can I live with it? I compare the circumstances to my marriage to Dan, but it’s not the same at all. Not even close. Dan was all about personal gratification. He didn’t care who he hurt along the way. I was barely even an afterthought. The only reason he wanted me to stay after I asked for a divorce was that I made his day-to-day life easier. I was the one who paid the bills, scheduled everything, ran the house, made sure it was tidy, that he had clean laundry, and cooked meals. Hell, I even made him elaborate lunches for work, all of which stopped when I left. Something tells me his new Gen Z girlfriend isn’t as willing to be at his beck and call outside of work as I was.

Lick hurt me. There is no getting around that. But he hurt himself to do it, and therein lies the difference. He hates himself for what he did, even though he was doing it in some misguided attempt to protect me. Pain is pain, no matter what caused it, but the healing process speeds up when remorse is involved.

I’m not sure I’ll ever forget seeing him kiss her or how it felt in that moment to feel my heart get torn apart. But, in this instance, I feel like I’m ready to forgive. It’s that, or walk away, because living in this weird limbo isn’t healthy for any of us.

“And you think coming here to my home, where my woman and baby are, is the best place to do that?” Lick sounds livid. I walk to the door, moving up behind him. He hasn’t noticed me yet, but his whole frame is vibrating with anger and frustration.

“I love her. Don’t you get it? And if either of you turning up here fucks that up for me, I’ll kill you both.”

“Oh, come on, Lick!” Tash huffs like he’s being dramatic.

“No, he’s right, Tash, this wasn’t cool. I should have known better. I did know better. I just wanted a chance to make things right. And instead, I made it worse. Come on, let’s go. I’m really sorry again, Lick,” the woman I now know as Natalia says.

“No, fuck that. You think Knuckles would be okay with him speaking to us like that when we came here to make amends?”

“I came to make amends. You came to stir the pot. And honestly, I doubt Knuckles gives two shits about you.”

“You’re so weak.” Tash cackles as I pull out my phone and dial Knuckles. I hear him answer just as Tash continues to spill her venom. “When I was riding him this morning, he was telling me how much he adores me. Tell me, Natalia, when was the last time the president fucked you?”

“What the fuck is going on?” Knuckles roars loudly enough for everyone to hear.