Page 91 of Secrets

"That's not true."

"Then why keep him a secret?"

Nothing she says can counter the accusation. "It's complicated."

"I'm the product of an affair while my father's wife was dying. I get complicated. I come from complicated. This isn't complicated, this is you being selfish. You want your cake and eat it, too. The problem is, your actions hurt him. You think he wants to be kept a secret? To know he's looked down upon by someone he cares about? He's not coming around unless he has to, so stop looking for him. Leave him the fuck alone."

"Lex," she says. "I need to talk to him."

"No, you don't. Youwantto talk to him. Youwantto make yourself feel better and maybe get what you've been getting from him, but at the end of the day, you won't change. You aren't going to suddenly decide you're going to tell your dad about him. You're not going to see him as anything other than something you can use. You don't get to have that anymore. Your princess days are over, sweetheart."

Anger flares. "You think you get to make that decision? You're so damn powerful?"

Getting in Marnie's face again, anger flashes in Lex's blue eyes, and for the first time, Marnie feels real fear of the woman. "He made that decision. I'm helping enforce it. You want to see how powerful I am, go ahead and tempt me. Give me one reason to smack some sense into that thick head of yours. Please, do it."

"Fine. I'll stay away from him."

"Good. Stay away from me, too, while you're at it. I'd hate to have to kick your ass and explain to Mommy and Daddy why."

Lex walks back into the clubhouse, and Marnie lets out the sob she'd been holding back. She never thought about how Venom felt about their little situation other than pleasure. Did she really hurt him? The last thing she wanted to do was hurt him, but this thing with them would never work. No matter how she feels, her father would never allow it. She's doing this just as much for him as she is for herself. But if that's the case, why does she feel so damn guilty?

Chapter Thirty-Three

Summerville

Daphne

Holding back tears, Daphne finishes the last of four sessions she's had with Dax for his memorial tattoo of Dani. She came into the club when she started dating Nelson, but it was after Dani had died. She'd heard stories about her, though, and the picture Dax gave, a worn out one he keeps in his pocket, shows a beautiful, radiant woman.

"I want Dani with rays of sunlight behind her." It's all Dax gave her when he came to her asking for a tattoo, and she'd taken the picture to draft up what she thought he'd like. On a whim, she'd added a few clouds and a rose. The drawing she provided him made him cry, and it was harder each session as the features of the woman he lost came into full view.

The way he seems to relish the pain as she inks him tells her how much pain he's in emotionally. It's so palpable that it takes everything in her not to burst into tears as though she's the one who lost someone. To know how much this man loves the woman he lost breaks her heart. She prays she never has to experience this kind of pain.

"I think we’re good unless you need touch-ups once it heals," Daphne says, wiping her tears before handing the handheld mirror to Dax.

He moves to the large mirror above the dresser in his room at the clubhouse, his eyes staring hard at the reflection of his wife. "You almost captured her beauty, Daphne."

"Is there something you'd like me to change? Something I missed?"

"No, it's perfect. I don't think it's something that can be captured in a photograph or tattoo or painting. It was something you saw in person. Felt. It was overwhelming sometimes how gorgeous she was."

Her lip quivers, and she looks away so he doesn't see her tears. "I know I never met Dani, but I'm so sorry for your loss, Dax. I can see how much you love her. I hope to have a love like that one day."

"It sucks," he admits. "But I wouldn't trade any of my time with Dani for anything in the world. Even if it took this pain away, I love every moment I had with her."

"It's a double-edged sword, huh?" she says and packs up her stuff. "You love with everything in you, and when it's gone, it's empty. A void you can't fill, and it feels like a pain you never heal from. As scared as I am to find that, I'm almost more scared not to. I want to know how you feel. To love someone so completely that nothing changes or diminishes it."

"Thank you, Daphne."

When he turns to look at her, there's an intensity in his eyes that almost makes her gasp. "You're welcome."

"Not just for the tattoo."

Tilting her head, she stares for a few moments, trying to think back to what else has been shared between the two of them. "For what?"

His tongue licks his lips, and he lets out a long sigh. "You're the first person in a long time who hasn't told me that IlovedDani. Past tense. Like just because she died, my love also died and became part of the past when it didn't. We promised forever and always, and I don't think it'll ever change."

"Just because someone's gone doesn't mean the feelings go with them. It doesn't make everything in the past because even the past can very much be present."

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