Lexi huffed, utterly shocked at the accusation. Sure she’d had some trouble with jobs, but it wasn’t her fault all her bosses had been jerks. And she didn’t want to write. It wasn’t like it was a crime or something. “I am not an alcoholic.”

“That’s why you’re not in rehab, but can you honestly tell me you haven’t been drinking too much? Can you tell me you aren’t using a bottle of wine to dull whatever pain you’re in?”

It was just a glass to help her sleep. That was what she’d told herself, but then one became two, and three. All so she wouldn’t dream about it at night. The nights with Lucas were easier. She didn’t want him to suspect, so she curbed it. She kept it to one, but when Lucas was gone, sometimes she lost count, like the night before.

“Lexi?”

Lucas’s quiet question made her want to retreat. She stared at the floor so she didn’t have to look at Lucas.

“Damn it, Lexi.” He pulled her close.

Suddenly it was all just a bit too much. Between Jack and Lucas, she felt so small. They were in control of their lives, and Lexi just wasn’t. She was drifting. She knew it, but she couldn’t stand the thought that she was just a fuckup they needed to take care of. She was such a screwup that apparently they needed to bring in yet another man to spread the load of taking care of her.

Lucas looked so hurt as she pushed him away, but she couldn’t stand to be coddled at that moment.

“Don’t. I just need some time,” she muttered, grabbing her bag. “I won’t go far, just up to the suite, but I need to be alone. And I promise not to fall into an alcoholic haze. Tell room service not to deliver. I’m sure I can’t be trusted.”

“Alexis,” Jack began in a tone that let her know he was reaching the end of his patience.

It didn’t matter. Her patience was a live, frayed wire waiting to explode. Lexi needed to get out of here. She had zero intention of staying in The Club, but she wasn’t about to let them know that. She needed to be alone.

“I’ll talk to you in the morning. I…I have to go.” Lexi fled the dressing room like the devil was after her.

* * *

Lucas slumped down on the small sofa and let his head fall into his hands. How had the night gone so fucking wrong? One minute it was perfect bliss, and the next it was an avalanche of their old baggage hitting him squarely in the nuts. Now Lexi had retreated. Not exactly how he’d seen their first real sexual encounter ending.

“Here, drink this.” His brother pressed a glass of Scotch in his hand.

The irony was not lost on Lucas. “Pot, meet kettle.” He still took a swig.

Jack sat back down. “It’s not the same, Lucas, and you know it. And you know she’s a little out of control. She has been since that goddamn accident.”

“What do you know about that?” Lucas stared at his brother, willing him to change the subject. Jack could be a manipulative SOB when it came to his family. He often knew things about Lucas’s life and his job before Lucas knew them. It was one of the many things Lucas admired about him. Did Jack know something he wasn’t telling? Lexi had been adamant about not talking about what really happened that night. Lucas thought she was wrong, but she wouldn’t listen to reason. It would almost be a relief if Jack had found out.

Jack’s mouth became a flat line of frustration. “I know hospitals are a bitch to get information out of. I even tried bribing some people to get records. Julian could do it. You know he’s got shit on just about every power player in Texas, but he’s gone all ethical on me. He’d change his tune if it was Dani or Finn. But I have my suspicions.”

Lucas couldn’t confirm or deny Jack’s suspicions. He’d been sworn to silence. And he wasn’t sure Lexi could handle being confronted with the truth right now. “I never should have left her alone.”

Jack shook his head. “Lucas, you can’t be with her twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. I meant what I said. I would love for you and Lexi to get married, but I don’t think it can work unless you two deal with him.”

Lucas took another drink. Now that he was calm, he knew his brother had his best interests at heart. He just didn’t always go about serving those interests in the way Lucas would prefer. “Is that why you brought him back?”

Jack’s lips quirked up slightly. “I didn’t go looking for him, Lucas. He came to me. He’d been discharged from the Army.”

Lucas had to take a long, deep breath. Aidan had gone into the Army? Aidan had obviously seen some combat. God, he couldn’t imagine fun-loving, creative, playful Aidan with a gun in his hand. Aidan had always been very alpha male, but he’d preferred his music over anything else. Why had he done that?

Guilt gnawed at Lucas as he decided he knew the reason. Aidan had escaped. He’d needed to prove he was still a “man” after the night he’d spent with Lucas. That one night seemed to have ruined a lot of lives.

“Lucas, I think you need to talk to him,” Jack said slowly, as though he wanted the words to permeate Lucas’s thick brain.

Lucas nodded. He did need to talk to Aidan. Lexi could probably use some closure, too. “I get that, but don’t you think that maybe Leo’s office would have been a better place for a therapy session?”

Now his brother smiled outright. “Hell, no. I think, in this case, a scene was the only way to go. Did Aidan fuck up? He wasn’t supposed to tell you who he was until you were comfortable with him again.”

“He has a scar over his left eye. His mask slipped.”

“Yeah, it’s the little things that trip you up.”

“I’m still pissed at you.” Hearing Jack say he was all right with him marrying Lexi went a long way to mending the fence, but they still had some problems. “You should have told me.”

“Yeah, because then you would have been totally reasonable about it. Neither one of you has said his name in years, and yet he’s always there between you. I could plead his case for him, but in the end, you need to talk to him.” Jack leaned forward, his face serious in the low light. “Look at me, Lucas. I love you, brother, and I love Lexi. I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t think it was important. I wouldn’t allow him close to my family again unless I was damn certain that boy had changed. I believe in him. You need to make that decision for yourself, though. But you think about it. I believe in you, too. I’m a damn good judge of character, and I don’t hand out second chances like they were candy. I gave you a second chance, and I’ve never regretted it. I never will. You talk to him, and maybe you can come to the same conclusion that I did.”

“What’s that, Jack?”

“That life is far too short to waste on grudges. Love does not come along often. When it does, you can’t throw it away because it isn’t perfect.”

Lucas felt his fists clench. “That was what Aidan did.”

“I know. He knows. Don’t make his mistake. You and Lexi are an awful lot like me and Sam. You two are halves of a whole. I knew it the minute I saw you two together. You’re too alike. Just like me and Sam. If Abigail hadn’t come along, we would have gone on, but we wouldn’t have been complete. We wouldn’t have found the love that was always there. Abby made that possible. I believe Aidan can do that for you and Lexi. Tell me something. Was he selfish tonight? Did he use the two of you?”

“No. He brought us together.” But he could have. Aidan could have ordered them to pleasure him, and they would have. He and Lexi had both been under his spell from the moment he took charge. He’d called Lucas his partner when he didn’t have to. Lucas had signed up to bottom for him. Aidan could have shoved him to the side and taken Lexi for himself. Yet, he’d given Lucas his fantasy.

“He loves you.”

“He told Lexi he loved her, too. He left her.” Lucas didn’t like the way he was already softening. He was already feeling the need to talk to Aidan. Why couldn’t he be a ruthless bastard? Why couldn’t he be cold? Aidan had walked out on them, but was Lucas able to turn away without a second thought? Fuck no. He was sitting here, wondering what had happened and how Aidan had felt when he’d been injured. Had he been alone? Had he been scared?

Fuck.

“Talk to him.” Jack stood, and he held out his hand, pulling Lucas up and enveloping him in the type of bone-cracking, backslapping bear hug Lucas had missed for the first twenty-three years of his life. Lucas gave in. He couldn’t withhold his affection from the man who had given him his new life. Without Jackson Barnes, he wouldn’t have become a lawyer. He wouldn’t have met Lexi. He wouldn’t be a man.

He was going to have to talk to Aidan.

“You’re an asshole,” he said as he finally pulled away.

Jack grinned. “You know, I get that a lot. Good luck, Lucas. I’m heading home. I have to talk to Abby before she hears the story from someone else. I might be sleeping in the barn for a week or two. If you need anything, just call. At least Sam will still be able to answer the phone. There are a lot of nice things about sharing a woman. One of us is usually in good with the wife. Good night, Lucas.”

The door closed behind Jack. Lucas picked up his shirt and shrugged into it. He couldn’t help but look in the mirror. He could still see hints of that scared, desperate boy who had first walked into this club all those years before. Lucas had walked in to blackmail his brother, but what he’d found was something like salvation. Was that how Aidan had felt when he walked through the doors?

Jack was right. If anyone understood the value of a second chance, it was Lucas Cameron. He was just going to make damn sure Aidan O’Malley deserved one.