Page 77 of Midnight Dissonance

On Monday, Josh sat in his office, reviewing the latest amendments to the buyout contract and thinking about his weekend with Lexi. Their relationship had changed, but for the better. They’d spent all day yesterday in bed and screwing on every available surface.

He was sunk. He knew she was his future.

They fit. And he knew what it would look like given their age difference. But he didn’t give a fuck. His place finally felt like home. And it wasn’t because of the place; it was her. She felt like home to him.

Her beauty reminded him of Ireland. She was wild and untamed, but for the right man, she blossomed. He felt her. She had crawled beneath his skin.

And she’d wiggled her way inside his heart. Something he never thought another woman would ever do. But she had him considering a real future with her, not just as Dom and sub, but as husband and wife. And what it would be like for them to have kids.

He knew she was working on her music career. And he was happy to support her. If she wound up having to tour, they would work it out. He couldn’t necessarily travel with her all the time, but it was something they could hash out together.

At the knock on his door, his head shot up. “Come in.”

Lisa poked her head inside. “Hey Josh, do you have a minute?”

Before he began seeing Lexi, he considered Lisa a respected part of his team. And now, he wanted to chew her out over her treatment of her sister. He knew families were complicated. But they were supposed to be there to support you, not tear a person to shreds.

“Aye, come have a seat.” He nodded toward one of the empty leather chairs across his desk.

Lisa sat in her trim lavender suit, her blonde hair in an updo, makeup understated, and her smile fell. “Look, I wanted to talk to you about Lexi.”

He arched a brow. “My relationship with your sister is not up for discussion. I apologize if that makes you uncomfortable. But she’s an adult who knows her own mind.”

“No, there are things about her you don’t know.” She clasped her hands together in her lap with a somber expression.

His heart stuttered. Worry besieged him. It couldn’t be that bad. Lexi had told him about her life. He didn’t believe she was hiding anything. But they’d only known each other a few weeks. How much could they really know each other? And he hated that one simple question mired him in doubts. “Like what? How your parents have no legal standing for withholding her trust? Or the fact that you’ve done nothing to help your sister out in that regard?”

“My parents don’t want her to use it. And she’s so massively in debt because of leaving school like she did. She has almost two hundred thousand in college debt.”

Alarm bells went off inside him. “But your parents are wealthy. Why didn’t they pay for her schooling?”

“They made each of us a deal for college. The basics of it was that we take out the loans to finance our education. And once we had earned our degree, they would pay them off. It was a whole taking responsibility for one's actions type of deal they wanted to teach us. We even had a contract and everything. She had a partial scholarship, or her loans would have been more. But she left school a semester before she graduated, so it made the contract null and void.”

He kept his face impassive, just like when he was in a courtroom or in heated negotiations. But the news of her huge loan blindsided him. It was like Evelyn all over again. Why hadn’t Lexi told him about this? Had she decided he was her meal ticket? Was that why she had a sudden change of heart regarding their relationship? Was he even now being played for a fool yet again?

He wanted to say no. He wanted to believe in her. But his past wrapped its fingers around his throat and squeezed.

“Be that as it might be, I’ll say again that our relationship is really none of your business.” He wasn’t going to discuss this with Lisa. It had nothing to do with her. This was about his relationship with Lexi. And the fact that she had hidden something this important from him.

Lisa’s face fell. “I understand that. I just thought you should be aware.”

“Appreciate it. Now, I’ve got work I need to see to, if you don’t mind.” He nodded toward his door, dismissing her.

“All right,” she rose and headed for the door. “I really am sorry. You guys seem really happy together.”

And then she was out his door before he could respond. He stared at the door, his thoughts churning.

He had thought that they were happy too. But as he tried to work, he chewed over this new bit of information. Over two hundred grand in student loan debt. No wonder she had been living with her sister. His place was quite the upgrade.

The more he thought about the loan and the fact that Lexi hid it from him, the angrier he became. And he started to believe he’d been played for a fool again. That he was being used to support her and pay her bills. But once she got him where she wanted him, where he was willing to do anything for her, she’d drop the bill in his lap. And once it was paid, she’d walk out on him. Just like his ex-wife. Had he really felt the click?

He hated the doubt the revelation had stirred within him.

But he couldn’t move past it. Because it burst his happy bubble. It left him questioning if the emotions she felt from him were real or if they were all part of her act. And once she got him to pay off her loan, she’d be out the door in a flash.

There was a fourteen-year difference between them. How could they possibly be right for each other? She had to be with him because of his money. There was no logical explanation otherwise. Perhaps her refusal to scene with him at the club was all part of the act.

He left work at four because he frankly wasn’t getting anything done. And his thoughts and doubts were spiraling out of control. The only thing that would fix it would be to confront her.

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