Dirty Little Lies: A Men of Summer Novel Read Online Free PDF Page B

the same bastard who killed my parents as well as your brother and your wife.” Zack dropped any pretense of casual amusement. Leaning forward, he stared back at Vinny, fighting to control his anger. “Sierra Maddox is the reason I was sent to Toby Rigor.” Vinny’s first wife had seen things even Vinny hadn’t wanted to see. “Losing Kenni all those years nearly destroyed Jazz. I want that bastard, Vinny. I want him bad. And if this is what it takes to smoke him out, then fuck him, it’s time he learns who he’s dealing with.”
    Something flashed in Vinny’s eyes, there and gone before Zack could identify the emotion.
    “Very well.” Vinny sat back in his chair, that casual attitude Zack had displayed moments before now infusing the Maddox patriarch. “Introduce yourself, then. Let Cord, Deacon, and Sawyer know who they’re dealing with. Let them know why you, Jazz, and Slade hold the potential to divide the Kin.”
    His teeth clenched. He should have known Vinny would take this particular tack.
    Finally, his lips curled mockingly with the knowledge that Vinny thought he’d back down. “Zackary Richards,” he stated clearly. “Son of Zackary Richards Sr. and Nicole Brigham—Alexander Brigham’s youngest sister.”
    Silence filled the room for long moments.
    “Son of a bitch.” Cord sat forward in his chair, his gaze sharp, suspicious. “Toby Rigor knew who you were, didn’t he?”
    Zack inclined his head. “And he took steps to ensure I’d always be safe. Steps that are still in place.”
    His foster father had been one of Vinny Maddox’s most respected team leaders, as were his friends. And now those friends, and the sons of those friends, were sworn to carry on that protection.
    Several times over the years, those Kin leaders had backed Slade, Jazz, and Zack equally whenever they’d butted heads with the Maddox family, whenever needed and with such covert precision that Vince Maddox never identified any of the men and women behind it. And they’d tried.
    “And you’re willing to extend that same protection to Grace?” Vinny asked then. “As well as holding back the Brigham family, no matter the cost to yourself?”
    “To find the bastard who killed my parents and her father,” he agreed, “you’re damned right I am. I want this traitor, Vinny. I want it stopped. Now.”
    Secrets.
    They were a part of the Tennessee mountains, part of their heritage as well as the very existence of the Maddox family and the government-backed militia they called the Kin.
    “And you’re willing to use Grace to catch him,” Vinny sighed, “because you believe she’s guilty.”
    “Because I know she’s not guilty.” Zack denied the charge, ignoring the narrow-eyed suspicion suddenly creasing Vinny’s expression. “Grace wouldn’t betray her father’s memory, or the cousin she knew was alive for two years before Kenni ever admitted to Jazz who she was. If Grace were helping Lucia, then Kenni would have been dead before Jazz ever realized she was in trouble.”
    Kenni and Grace had already admitted that to the family. Grace’s love for Kenni, for the family, wasn’t in question.
    “Then Luce lied,” Vinny stated. “Grace can’t be in possession of that information.”
    The disappointment in the other man’s tone was enough to send irritation flashing through Zack. He wondered if Vinny wouldn’t have preferred Grace be guilty just so he could get his hands on that information.
    “If Grace even thought she had something the family needed, she’d turn it over in a heartbeat,” Zack agreed. “And she was too young when Benjamin died for him to have entrusted anything in her care.”
    “Then how do you intend to learn who Luce’s partner was?” Cord asked.
    “I won’t have to learn who it is,” he assured them, tapping the fingers of one hand on the arm of the sofa. “Luce swore Grace has it. Whoever’s been heading this attempted coup will be desperate to get it, or to kill her so she