Cupping my chin in his hand, Zeke turns my head so I’m looking at him. “And he listened?”
I shake my head. “Never.”
“But …” Xander frowns again.
West sucks in a deep breath. “He turned his anger on her instead. He cracked her across the face with the back of his hand … her little head snapped right back.” His skin pales, and he drops his eyes to the counter. “And I fucking ran out of there. I left her.” His eyes swim with tears when they meet mine. “I left you. I should have taken you with me.”
“He was my father, West. You wouldn’t have made it two steps with me. If you hadn’t run when you did, he would have killed you. I can promise you that.”
West still doesn’t appear convinced. His eyes are so full of anguish, and I wish I could make him see that he had no choice. “I never knew what happened though. Why my father almost killed you that day.”
His Adam’s apple bobs. “The three of us had worked our asses off from the moment each of us left high school. We wanted to get into the casino business. We saved every single fucking cent we earned for six years to get our investment together. And then your father stole it. Just like that.” He snaps his fingers. “We thought about going back to kill him, but …”
Zeke squeezes me tighter. “We were just kids, and he was a made Mafia man. We left town the same day he tried to kill West.”
“We swore we’d make him pay one day, but then we moved on to bigger things. We created WXZ and never looked back,” West adds.
Zeke takes a step back but keeps his arms around my waist. “Wait. Did you recognize West when you met him?”
“Yeah. As soon as I walked into his office at WXZ that day. But I never thought I’d see you again. That night in the club, I should have walked away as soon as you came to the booth. But then you all invited me for dinner, and you were so sweet … how could I tell you without revealing who I really was? I mean, I always planned to someday …” Sniffling, I shake my head. This whole situation is fucked up and emotional, and I am so fucking tired of crying.
“Lily.” West’s voice cuts through my internal chatter, and he walks around the island to stand on the other side of me. He wraps me in a hug and presses his lips against my neck. “You saved my fucking life, princess. Twice. Once a long time ago, then again when you walked back in here last night. I’m so fucking sorry that I never came back for you and rescued you from him.”
“Well, if you had come and rescued me when I was ten years old, this relationship right here would be all kinds of fucked up, now wouldn’t it?”
I feel him smile against my skin.
“I could get behind calling you Daddy though,” I add with a giggle.
Zeke and Xander laugh, but West groans. “Don’t fucking tempt me, princess.”
“You kind of are like our daddy though,” Xander says with a cheeky wink.
Even Zeke hums his agreement. “Yeah, you’re a lot older than us.”
“I’m two fucking years older than you, Zeke.”
“Almost four years older than me,” Xander chimes.
“And fourteen years older than me. Biologically speaking, you could actually be my daddy.”
The growl that rumbles through West vibrates through me too. “I’ll be your fucking daddy, princess.” He hoists me over his shoulder and spanks my ass hard, making me squeal.
“We have work to do today,” Zeke reminds him, and he puts me back on my stool with a dramatic sigh.
“Yeah. You got that meeting with the new board of Genevieve,” Xander says.
West heads over to Xander and wraps an arm around his neck. “And you’ve got dogs to walk.”
Xander smiles up at him. “It’s still better than a board meeting.”
Humming his agreement, West runs his nose along the other man’s throat.
“How about we take a little time before the next big merger?” Zeke suggests.
West eyes Zeke with curiosity. “But we never take time off.”
“Yeah.” Zeke bands his arms tighter around me, pulling me close to his chest. “But now we have a reason to spend more time at home.”
West’s stormy eyes roam over my face and chest, and goosebumps prickle along my forearms. “I just started a new job. I can’t take time off.”
Zeke brushes my hair back and trails kisses across the nape of my neck. “You won’t have to, baby doll.”
Xander runs his hands down West’s chest. “I think Zeke’s right about us though. We go through another merger like the last one and you might have a fucking coronary.”