Page 23 of Going Home

Chapter Nine

Griffin's Beach

Lex

Lexdoesherbestto prove to everyone she's fine. It was going well.No, actually, it's not going well at all.

She's anything but fine, but she can't admit it. It would be like admitting failure, and she is not a failure. Yet. It's only been a few days. If she caves now, what does that say about her? She's gone soft if she crumbles now.

No matter how much work she's put into herself, Zane can bring her right back to the person she needed to escape from. The emotionally damaged little girl who has been told her entire life she was a mistake and never should have been born by the only man she's fought to get to love her. But with everything going on, his hatred hits differently now. Or maybe she's not as tough as she was when she left. Her skin is a bit thinner, maybe.

She'd glanced over Colt's shoulder as he worried about her to see Venom walking back to his apartment with Kandi. Her stomach churns at the image, but that's only because she hates that woman.

Colt finally accepts she's fine, and they move to the bar where she takes a quick shot and downs a bottle of water. The tequila calms her nerves, and the water helps counter it. The last thing she needs is to be drunk right now.

"Where'd Venom go?" Colt asks.

"He walked back to his apartment with Kandi."

"At least he's not as hung up on Marnie."

Tilting her head, she looks out at the hallway. "No, I'd rather he fuck Marnie. These bunnies quickly forget what it's like to have their faces bashed into hard surfaces, but I can still scare Marnie. I like him with Marnie than any of the fucking bunnies. Especially Kandi."

Jace's son pulls out a new bottle of water for her when the front door slams open, and Lex hears her name. Sighing, she closes her eyes for a brief moment. All she wanted was to get a drink before going into the apartment with Colt to get rubbed down in the most delicious places and forget the terrible parts of the day. Instead, she turns around to see an angry brunette stomping her way before pushing Lex, making her stumble on the bar stools.

Ky grabs Felicity before Lex can get her bearings together enough to take a swing, and she finds herself more upset with Ky than Felicity. He should know better than anyone that hitting her back is the only way to make this better.

"I am not in the right frame of mind to fight with you right now, Felicity," Lex says as she stands straight. "Not unless you want to wind up bleeding in the emergency room. Raincheck, 'kay?"

"You don't get to call the shots everywhere you go, you know. You're not the one wearing that President patch, and you sure as shit are not a patched member, so get off your fucking high horse. Bitch."

Eyebrows lifting, she crosses her arms as Ky releases Felicity after she fights against him hard enough to make him understand that whatever's going to happen will. His eyes are as wide as saucers. No, not just saucers. If eyes could be the size of dinner plates, that would be the best way to describe how shocked he is right now.

"Fine. You wanna fuck, let's fuck."

"Baby, this isn't good timing. Something—"

"Shut the fuck up, Ky," Felicity snaps at her husband, but her eyes never leave Lex. "You've had your chance to speak for the past twenty years, and you didn't. You don't get to open up your lying, cheating mouth now."

Twenty years? Cheating? Fuck.

"Says the woman also not wearing any type of Drifter leather," Lex says, her tone calm. "Hypocritical much?"

Laughing, Felicity shakes her head. "You think everyone fucking loves you, but what I've learned to be the real truth these past two years is that you're nothing but a piece of shit. If Colt hadn't claimed you, you'd be nothing more than a fucking club bunny."

Everyone around them gasps, but Lex, likely on the verge of a mental breakdown tonight, laughs. Her father stares with wide eyes, and she doesn't remember him coming back into the clubhouse. No one seems quite sure what to say or do, but everyone, Lex included, looks certain she's lost her damn mind.

Jennings's wife, Tess, who Lex also hadn't noticed, walks up and rests a hand on Lex's shoulder. "Felicity, those are fighting words. You better be ready to get your ass kicked because I'm pretty sure Lex has cracked just enough to kill you."

"Go home before you hurt yourself," Lex says and wipes her eyes as the laughter finally subsides. Her sides hurt, but she wouldn't mind throwing a couple of fists if Felicity doesn't heed her warning. "I've nearly reached my limit of patience for the day, and you're about five minutes away from pushing me past it by miles instead of inches."

"You were always Ky's friend, not mine," she says, shaking her head. "I defended you over and over again. Do you have any idea how many people actually hate Alexis Dalton? And marrying Colt and becoming Alexis Nichols hasn't helped you any, either. The number of people who think you're nothing but trash your daddy should've thrown away with your mother is astounding."

The words sting after the verbal beating her brother delivered, but she refuses to let it show. She can’t believe this is coming from Felicity. The two haven't been friends since that disastrous meeting at Lily's house, but she didn't realize they'd fallen this far apart.

Colt stands up on a chair and looks around the room. "Who here doesn't like my wife?"

"I don't fucking like her!" Rocco Hansen shouts from across the room.

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