Page 54 of Gauntlet

“Then do it and piss off,” Gauntlet grumbled.

I laughed and patted the hands that had locked across my chest.

Mr Cask’s gaze took on Gauntlet and then me.

“You found happiness, Amberlea,” he whispered.

“No thanks to you,” I replied.

He winced.

“I was wrong. I was so upset about Abbi’s death—”

“So was I. And then, dealing with losing my best friend, I lost my family too. Or those I thought were family. Shows how fickle you all were and how little I knew the real you,” I said, allowing hurt to leech into my voice.

Mr Cask flinched.

“I am sorry,” he stated.

“Yeah, so am I. Sorry I ever gave any of you the time of day,” I snapped.

“Please, Amberlea. I felt like I was losing two daughters. One was dead, and the other was lost to me,” he responded, putting out his hands.

“I understand how you suffered with Abbi’s death. Completely and totally get that. I don’t understand how you believed their fucking lies when you knew me. You knew I wouldn’t drink and drive. Fuck, I barely touched drink, yet somehow overnight, I turned into this drunken idiotic bitch who killed your daughter? And nobody saw anything wrong with that scenario. No, I know why you’re here, and it is not because you feel sorry,” I hissed.

“Amberlea. It’s the truth. We are all sorry,” Jax said, and I gazed at him. He had put weight on, his face was fatter, and his body nowhere near the lean muscles he’d boasted. He had a belly and was slightly stooped. Ten years of living with Cordelia. Jax was thirty and looked forty.

“Bullshit. Not once did you stand up for me. The boy who took my virginity, who planned to marry me. The night of the accident, you turned your back on me. Lie to the police all you want, but I know you knew I was innocent. Money and power seduced you, and after all, I would be young when I got out. Didn’t matter; your cunt of a wife had stolen a decade from me. You just consoled yourself I could still live a good number of years and have a family,” I yelled at him.

Jax flushed as Arlo and Mr Cask stared at him.

As much as he wanted to, the truth was there in his face. He may not have known for certain, but he’d certainly suspected.

“Makes you a motherfucking cunt,” I hissed, and Jax flinched.

“You had some idea?” Arlo asked his best and oldest friend. Despite them being cousins, Arlo looked betrayed, he was seeing Jax in a different light.

“Oh, don’t even go there. Or have you forgotten the hate you wrote to me? I haven’t. Those words once a month, every single month, are burned into my brain. You’re no angel in this. But I’ll give you the answer to your unasked question.

“Faelea doesn’t want to meet any of you. You three helped take her mother away from her for ten years and denied Faelea the family she might have had. Faelea is eleven now and fully able to make up her own mind. I won’t force her to see you, and after the fiasco with the courts and your letters, no judge would either,” I said firmly.

“Does she know about her cousin?” Mr Cask asked.

A little sliver of sympathy leeched into my temper.

“Faelea knows what an amazing cousin she had. And what a great auntie Abbi would have made. And I tell her stories every day of Abbi,” I replied.

“She’s my daughter, Amberlea. You can’t deny me access,” Jax stated.

“Actually, Faelea’s mine. She calls me Dad,” Gauntlet rumbled.

Jax stared over my shoulder, and I saw the judgment and distaste in his eyes.

“I have a right to see her,” Jax said.

Gauntlet laughed.

“Go for it. Rage didn’t dig deep into you, asshole, but I am certain we could. Push for access or custody, and Rage will push back. How many dirty secrets you got hidden, man? Can you afford to have them be public knowledge? You are already filthy in most people’s eyes and lost friends. How many of those left would remain should Rage look?” Gauntlet asked.