Page 51 of Midnight Dissonance

“They don’t care.”

“But—”

She put her fingers over his mouth to stop him and gave him a serious look. “I appreciate that you’re trying to fix this for me. I know as a Dom, you can’t help yourself. But you need to understand my parents are the worst narcissists imaginable. Lisa could do no wrong. She literally could show up for dinner, tell them she murdered someone, and they would celebrate her. While no matter what I did or said or how much I racked my brain to do things they would find worthwhile, they always disapproved of my life choices. They consider me their failure and problem child. Talking to them is futile because they will never listen to what I have to say. They never criticized Lisa. But me, I bring home a GPA better than my sister, and they found nothing but fault with it.”

The more she described her upbringing, the angrier he became. “What had you been studying in college?”

“I was premed.”

“Bloody hell, seriously, you were premed?” He knew she was smart. But he hadn’t realized she had such a brain on her.

She nodded. “Yep. I attended Northwestern and had already been accepted to their med school. I was a semester away from graduating.”

“Why did you leave?”

“Because I realized the only reason I was pursuing that career was to appease my parents. I didn’t have a passion for it, not like I do music. If I had stayed and continued with my education, I might have made an okay doctor, but it would have leeched out my soul until there was nothing left.”

“But where did you learn to play guitar? Because you’re excellent.”

She grinned at the compliment. “In high school. I had to take an arts elective, and I chose Intro to Guitar. Since it was acoustic, my parents were okay with it. But I was hooked from the moment I started learning. And learning music took on a life of its own. Any free time I had, I spent playing and practicing.”

Fuck, she was amazing and didn’t realize it. And it was part of her charm. “You know, if you have a copy of the trust documents, I’d be happy to review them for you. Free of charge, of course. And we’ll see if there’s a loophole where you could gain access to your trust fund now instead of needing to wait until you’re twenty-five.”

“Really? Do you think there’s a possibility of there being one?” She acted so surprised. But he was pissed. Why hadn’t her sister done something to help her out? Lisa was a fecking attorney and should have helped her sister. But it made him realize how lucky he had been with his brothers and his parents.

At her question, an uber-confident smirk curled his lips. “I can always find a loophole. If you get me a copy, I’ll review the documents and see if there are any stipulations they can enforce to deny you access to it. Because technically, you’re an adult who shouldn’t be denied access just because your parents don’t agree with your life choices. Officially, it’s already your money. They’ve simply been the gatekeepers. But if they are holding on to it because of unreasonable conditions, then there may be a way to get them removed as the executors. I’d have to read the trust documents and will from that estate.”

“I’ve got copies at home. I’ll grab them after work tomorrow. But enough about me. Why did you decide to move from Ireland to the States?”

Pleasure zinged through him at her interest. He was making inroads. It was slow going, and they had kinks to work out, but it was progress. “A couple reasons. There was more opportunity for advancement here than back home. Being cousins with Jase and them didn’t hurt either. When the lead counselor position opened up at RMD, Jase contacted me. At the time, I had been working a shit job as a solicitor, making peanuts. The job offer from my cousins was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.”

“And what’s the other reason?”

“I had to get away from my ex-wife.” Something he’d not told any of the subs at Eros. He’d been tight-lipped about his personal life. Partly because he hated how much his ex-wife had played him for a fool. He’d loved her, and she used him to support her through law school. The moment she got her degree, she left him for a partner at the firm where she’d interned.

“You were married?” Her eyes widened.

“Yep. And it didn’t end well.” Which was the short version. As much as she had divulged, he knew he needed to do the same. But his ex-wife was a sore spot. He didn’t want to talk about her.

“How long were you married?” Her fingers teased the ends of his hair. And he wished he could ignore the question. But if he wanted her to trust him, he had to do the same with her, no matter how uncomfortable the topic made him.

“Four difficult years. But we’ve been divorced almost a decade.” And he hadn’t been in a serious relationship since. He’d been unwilling to allow any woman into his heart.

“And why did you need to get away from her?”

“Because she’s running for public office and is bloody everywhere.” Her face had been plastered on street signs, on every newspaper and television station. It had been bloody infuriating because he’d not been able to escape her. It was bad enough to see how much of a social climber she’d been, but the proof of how effectively she used men to climb her way to the top infuriated him. Because she’d played him for a bloody fool, and he’d not seen it coming until he discovered her infidelity.

But he didn’t want to talk about her anymore. He wanted to sink into Lexi and continue his campaign to make her his. He tugged her closer until there wasn’t an inch of space between their bodies. He adored her curves and the way her tits pressed against his chest. And since she had to be up early for work, they would start the festivities early. “Enough about my ex and your family. I want to take you to my private playroom.”

She gasped. “You have your own playroom? Really?”

“I do.” He let his gaze travel over her form. “And as much as I know I should take you out for drinks for our first official date, I need to fuck you.”

Her mouth parted on a small moan. With her eyes wide and her pupils dilated, she breathed. “Show me your playroom, Sir. I even promise to kneel for you this time.”

15

Hand in hand, they headed upstairs. Josh felt her nerves and excitement since this would be their first scene together.

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