Barely Undercover: Legal Heat Book 2(96)

“What did you do to him?” Part of her didn’t want to know, but she owed Scooter her life. The least she could do was remember him in death.

Levi gave a rough laugh. “Question is, what didn’t I do to him? He learned the hard way not to fuck with Wolverine property.”

Lana’s stomach clenched so violently bile rose in her throat. “You killed him.”

“I would have killed him. I earned my blood patch after you left so I had the right to do it. But Fang wanted his money so he ordered me to leave him alive. I beat him up so bad he’ll remember it for the rest of his life—or at least until he stops sending me his monthly payments. And it’s on your shoulders. You knew better than to take that ride.”

Fear slithered through her veins and wrapped itself around her heart. She’d made a colossal mistake. Levi had been cruel and abusive, but never a killer. He’d crossed the line, and from his cold, detached gaze as he talked about taking lives, she knew it was a one-way trip. There would be no talking to him. No reasoning with him. No clever plan to make him change his mind. She had been foolish and naive in the extreme.

Run. The word screamed through her head, blocking out Levi’s laughter, urging her to save herself before Levi killed her too.

In one swift move, she rolled and pushed herself to a crouch, then she threw herself at him in a tackle that would have made her football-crazed father proud.

“Fuck.” Levi lost his balance and stumbled back into the dresser. But he was quick. Before Lana reached the door, he grabbed her around the waist and threw her on the bed. Then he climbed on top of her, kneeling astride her hips, pinning her with his body.

“You never appreciated what I did for you.” Spittle flew from his lips as he shot out his words in a fury. “I took you away from that shit-hole town we grew up in and from a family who never gave a damn about you. I helped you escape. I gave you money, a place to live and a life you loved. We were good together.”

Once, she would have agreed with him just to avoid the inevitable confrontation and the consequences that flowed from it. But not now. Not after discovering there was something stronger than fear…

Don’t lose hope.

“That was when I believed in you,” she snapped. “After all those years of being ignored by my family, I had no self-esteem. I believed you when you said you loved me. I believed you when you said you were sorry when you hit me. I believed when you said you were going to make a success of your life. I just never realized your idea of success was running drugs and weapons for the Wolverines. I never realized your idea of love was handing me over to the Wolverines and laughing when they beat me.”

Levi’s lips curled into a snarl. “You were supposed to help me get ahead: give a few blow jobs, run the weapons, help with the deals. Do what old ladies are supposed to do. Instead, you kept trying to run away. If you’d kept your mouth shut and done what you were told, Fang wouldn’t have had to intervene. You were the only old lady he decided to mark.”

Lana shuddered. He was right. She had brought it on herself. The mark meant Levi’s discipline could be collectively enforced and that she would be returned to the Wolverines if she was caught running away. It had worked only too well.

“You could have stopped him,” she said. “You could have protected me.”

“Jesus Christ.” He raked his hand through his hair. “You still don’t understand. If I had refused to mark you, I never would have become a Wolverine.”

Furious, Lana struggled against the weight of his body. “You bought that membership with my blood and your soul. Was it worth it? Do you have all the money, power and glory you ever wanted? Do they treat you as a king, Levi? Because that’s what you were here. You were the Gray Skull’s leader. Everyone looked up to you. They respected you. Even me. And you gave it all up to lick Fang’s boots.”

“I fucking saved you,” Levi shouted, his face red and his lips white with rage. “I married you so you wouldn’t have to be the house pet. And what thanks did I get? Another fucking humiliation.”

Bile rose in Lana’s throat. Ten years worth of fear and anger coiled in her stomach. She clenched her fists above Levi’s hands clasped tight around her wrists and willed herself to stop talking. Every instinct told her to stop. She had pushed him too far, and now that he was blood patch, she was playing with her life. But the words kept coming. Words she’d bottled up since the day they’d walked into the Wolverine clubhouse. Words she had to say, even if they were the last ones she uttered.