Sophie Oak - Siren Beloved

“I love you, Lucas.”

Yeah, he wasn’t going to think about that, either.

Lexi slammed into the private room, wishing she’d thought about picking up her damn clothes. At least she could have held them in front of her. As it was, she’d run through the club, pushing her way through the crowd with her boobs and ass hanging out. Did she even have a shred of dignity left? God, did any of it matter? It felt like the walls were closing in on her.

Aidan was here.

What the hell had he come back for?

Bitterness welled up inside her as she kicked out of the heels she’d been wearing. Just minutes ago they had made her feel feminine and sexy. Now they just hurt her feet and made her feel like a fucking idiot. She looked at herself in the mirror. Her mascara was already streaking. She’d been so happy for a moment. She’d had Lucas, and it had been perfect. She’d adored the way he filled her mouth. She’d reveled in his masculine taste. It had been all the more perfect for the man behind her.

Master A had tortured her in the sweetest way possible. She’d felt a real connection to him. He’d called to her, with his damaged face and body. He’d been a true Dom, and the sub deep inside her responded. She’d pushed, and he’d been an unmovable brick wall. It totally turned her on. As she’d lain there, bound and helpless, she’d wondered if he was the one who could complete her and Lucas. She’d had no doubt in her mind that this was what they needed.

It had all been a lie. Like everything about Aidan.

“Lexi, please put on some clothes.”

Lexi started and practically jumped into the robe sitting on the counter at the sound of her stepfather’s voice. She wrapped the white silk robe around her body and turned to face the big cowboy who was averting his eyes. Jack Barnes sat in one of the elegant chairs, a glass of Scotch at hand. Normally, her big, strong stepfather was a comforting presence, but not today.

He’d told her he was leaving. It seemed to Lexi like he’d been lying to her a lot lately.

“You knew.”

He took a long drink of that Scotch. “Yes. I’d like a chance to explain.”

“Really?” Lexi asked, her arms over her chest. Her stepfather was dressed in his usual jeans and western shirt. Somehow he managed to be more powerful in casual clothes than most men were in thousand-dollar suits. She wasn’t intimidated by it this evening, though. “I would have enjoyed a chance to decide whether or not I wanted to perform several sexual acts in public with a man who ripped my heart out. Guess we can’t always get what we want. You tell me something, Jack Barnes, did my mother know?”

Tears welled in her eyes at the thought of her mother being in on this—plot, scheme—Lexi had no idea what to call it. Her mother had been her rock for so long, but now she had a new family. It struck Lexi forcefully that even her mother had left her behind. She had Jack and Sam, and now little Olivia and Josh. Maybe her mom didn’t need her anymore. Maybe she was just a reminder of how crappy her life had been because she’d had a kid at the age of seventeen.

“No, she doesn’t know, and she might divorce me when she finds out.” Jack’s hands tightened around the glass, and his face was flushed. It was the most emotional she could remember seeing him aside from the joy he had on his face when he was with his family. Now he looked haggard and worried. “If it makes a difference to you, Sam doesn’t know, either. I couldn’t tell him because he can’t keep his mouth closed around Abby.”

Good for Sam. “Well, at least one of my mother’s husbands isn’t a bastard and a half.”

Jack’s eyes came up. “Lexi, just hear me out. Aidan came to me a little over six months ago.”

Lexi held up a hand. The last thing she wanted to hear was Aidan’s story. She didn’t want to know what he’d been doing in the years he’d been gone. She didn’t want to know what had happened to him. God, she didn’t care how he’d gotten those scars. They covered his body. If he’d been a car, she would have wondered if anyone had survived the wreck. She forced herself to be strong. “I don’t care.”

“I find that very hard to believe. You were ready to marry this man.”

She remembered that very well. She also remembered how it felt to call all the people she’d invited and tell them the wedding was off. She’d burned her wedding dress one night on the barbecue grill while she made her way through a bottle and a half of Pinot Noir. “And he dumped me three weeks before the wedding. You know, Jack, usually the family of the dumped girl doesn’t invite the man who humiliated her to abuse her in a club.”

“He didn’t abuse you. I made damn sure he was properly trained, and Leo would have stopped anything that could have possibly hurt you.” Jack’s voice was annoyingly calm.

The door slammed open, and Lucas was there, his eyes immediately finding her and honing in. He strode inside and gathered her close, his scent and touch so familiar and comforting they brought more tears to her eyes. Lucas was her touchstone now. Sometimes Lucas was the only thing in the world that seemed real.

“Baby, we’re getting out of here, and I swear we’ll never come back.” He buried his head in her hair, his mouth close to her ear. “I’ll quit tomorrow, and we can go wherever you like. If you want to, we can pack up and move anywhere. I have a lot of money saved up.”

It was a sweet gesture, but not really practical. Lucas had worked his ass off for his career. He couldn’t leave it all behind because she was pissed. Of course, she’d left her career behind, but that was different.

“I would greatly prefer you didn’t quit, Lucas.” Jack’s voice held a wealth of weariness.

Lucas’s arms came down, and he turned to his brother, his expression changing from tender to angry bull in an instant. “You son of a bitch! You planned this.”

Lexi put a hand on his chest. The last thing she needed was a Jack/Lucas throwdown. She was fine with fighting with her stepfather, but she couldn’t stand the thought of Lucas going toe-to-toe with his brother. Jack was the only family Lucas had. She didn’t want to be the reason Lucas lost him. Damn it. She hated being reasonable. “Stop. Let’s hear him out.”

She owed that much to Jack. The man had made the last few years infinitely more comfortable for her. He’d never turned her down when she needed a favor, and he always seemed to care. If something had changed, Lexi wanted to know.

Reason didn’t seem to be something Lucas was interested in at this point. “We don’t have to hear him out. He’s a manipulative son of a bitch who can’t keep his goddamn fingers out of other people’s business. I know exactly what’s going on here. Do you really hate the fact that I’m with her so fucking much that you need to bring back the jerk who broke her heart?”

Jack blanched, the blood leaving his face in an instant. “Lucas, how can you even think that?”

Lucas was standing tall, his shoulders thrown back. There was a blank expression on his face that told her he was feeling inconsequential. It was the same look he had when he talked to his father. “I’m not so far outside the tabloids, am I, Jack? You can’t forget how you met me. I tried to blackmail you. I was known as a drug user and a queer. I’m the black sheep of the family. Guess I’m not great son-in-law material.”

Lexi flinched. Jack couldn’t think that, could he? When Lucas had met Jack, he’d been the darling of the tabloids. Lucas had been young and lost. His father had cut him off. Lucas had lashed out by being the baddest boy around. But Jack knew it was an act, right? Since Jack took him under his wing, Lucas had blossomed into the most responsible man she knew. Lucas was the one who took her car in for service, and fixed things in her apartment. Lucas brought her lunch when she forgot it and took care of her when she was sick.

“Lucas is good for me,” Lexi said, holding on to him.

Jack ignored her, choosing to stare at Lucas. “What the fuck are you talking about? You are my brother. Don’t you ever fucking talk about yourself that way. You’re the black sheep? Hell, son, I’m the bastard Dad swept under the rug. You never used a drug once in your damn life. I don’t care how many tabloids you showed up on trying to get the Senator’s attention. I love you, Lucas. I am proud of the man you’ve become. I would be thrilled if you would marry Lexi. I’ll open my wallet and pay for the whole damn thing. I’ll write you a blank check, but that won’t happen because you need him.”

“We do not need him. He walked out on her.” Though his words were stubborn, Lexi felt a bit of the fight go out of him. His shoulders relaxed slightly. Jack had said the right thing.

Jack deflated, the righteous anger leaving him like a balloon that had just been popped. “Oh, Lucas, he left you, too. I know the whole story. He told me everything, and he didn’t leave out a single bad thing he did. He left both of you, and you haven’t been the same since.”

The room seemed to calm, and Lexi was finally able to ask the question on her mind. If she knew one thing in the world, it was that Jack Barnes loved her mother. “Why would you risk pissing off Mom?”

Jack’s lips pursed, and he sighed, a long, sad sound. “Because you need help, baby girl, and this was the only way I knew to give it.”

“Help? I’m fine.” She was. She was making it just fine.

Jack’s head shook. “No, you’re not. You drink too much, and you’ve utterly given up on your dreams. You’re a writer, a good one, but you haven’t written a word in years. You’re wasting your life. You’ve had three jobs in two years. I can’t stand it. I worry about it all the time. I know I’m not your father, Lexi, but I swear I love you like you were my own. If I thought rehab would fix you, I would have you hauled to a clinic.”