Page 187 of Darling Venom
“’Course I have. The kid snuck into my office and planted them on my desk whenever he could.” Terry shook his head, but he sounded amused. Maybe even nostalgic. “Always been desperate for feedback and acknowledgment, that one.”
“And Darling Venom?”
“Tate’s got me punching out a manuscript like a war-era dictator. I’m beat. Got to the end of the first chapter of Kellan’s book before the back-to-back all-nighters hit me hard. Had to take a nap. Didn’t expect the buzzkill to show up before I woke, or I would have hidden it.”
“What if I told you I have a copy?”
He eyed me skeptically. “You steal it from Tate?”
“Kellan left the book to me.” I sounded defensive, which I hated.
Terry possessed two modes—brash and persistent. I didn’t trust him enough to give him any leeway, which meant I needed to be tougher. To win, I needed to meet his brashness with my own.
To be the meaner one.
“I’m gonna have to see proof.” He slammed his palm down on his knee like he was a judge and it was a gavel.
“He left it for me in a letter.” I kept my tone light. Casual, even when my pulse kicked up a fuss. “I can make a redacted copy of that for you.”
“Redacted?”
“The rest is personal.”
“What’s more personal than my relationship with my son?”
You’d be surprised.
I shrugged, feeling oddly protective toward Kellan from his own father he loved.
Terry snorted. “You and my son bumped uglies?”
Wow.
What a piece of work.
Déjà vu hit me hard. I recalled Tate saying something similar. Guess I figured out where he got it from.
“Not that it’s any of your business, but no.”
“Why else would he leave it to you?”
“Because the book is also about me.” I exhaled.
I’d have to tell him sooner or later if I expected him to edit Darling Venom and keep the text authentic.
But I’d shocked Terry silent.
He scanned me again, as if finding me worthy of taking inventory for the first time. “He wrote you a book, huh?”
It sounded as if he believed me.
Or was starting to, at least.
“Maybe.” I circled my toes over the floor. “I’m not sure what went through his mind when he wrote it.”
Lie.
It was obvious. I just had a hard time swallowing the truth. And if Terry agreed, he would read it, and he would see me as Kellan saw me. The prospect churned my stomach.
