Sophie Oak - Siren Beloved

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.”

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.