Page 25 of Vengeance

Her stomach lurched. "No.” The word barely left her lips. She looked at Vengeance, desperately searching for some sign that Lucius was lying—anything that would tell her this was another trick. Instead, Vengeance simply stood there with his shoulders slumped and his eyes filled with something that looked heartbreakingly close to shame. He didn't deny it because he couldn't.

"Oh, God.” Her knees buckled as she stumbled backward until her back hit the rough bark of a pine tree. Every conversation replayed in her mind.

"I'm trying not to become my father."

"You'll hate me."

"You’ll judge me by my father."

"I know how they think."

"I've seen files like that before."

Every answer, every hesitation, and every carefully chosen word—they all made sense now. "You lied to me." Her voice cracked.

Vengeance took one cautious step toward her. "Chloe.”

"Don't,” she shouted. He stopped instantly.

"I wanted to tell you."

"When?" she shouted. "When we got to the safe house? When I let my guard down? Or maybe after I started trusting you?"

His jaw clenched. "I was trying to protect you."

She laughed, and the sound came out broken. "You protected me with lies."

"No,” he breathed. "I protected you by buying you time."

"What's the difference?"

"Everything,” he breathed.

She shook her head violently. "I let you near me." Her chest tightened until it hurt to breathe. "I trusted you."

"I know,” he said.

"I rode on your motorcycle and let you take me away from my home and family,” she said.

"I know."

"I—” She swallowed hard. “I actually believed you were a good man."

Pain flashed across his face. "So did Savage."

The words hit her like a slap. "Don't."

"Chloe—"

"I said don't say my father's name!" Her scream echoed through the trees, and the silence afterward was unbearable. Lucius smiled. It wasn't a happy smile, but a satisfied grin of a man watching exactly what he'd hoped for.

"See?" he said casually. "I told you she'd never forgive you."

Vengeance never looked away from Chloe. "I wasn't asking for forgiveness."

"No?" Lucius chuckled. "Could've fooled me."

Chloe couldn't stop shaking. Every instinct screamed at her to run and to get as far away from Vengeance Manzo as she possibly could. But another voice, a quieter one, kept interrupting her thoughts. He saved you. Vengeance had thrown himself over her when the clubhouse exploded and refused to leave her. He'd risked his life over and over again. None of that made sense. Unless everything he'd told her about hating his father was true.