Page 8 of Midnight Dissonance

“And you still defend them. When are you going to realize all they do is sit in judgment of me? And even if I had continued with their life plan for me, I still wouldn’t be the apple of their eye like you. I would somehow still be disappointing them because I chose the wrong kind of medicine to go into. Or didn’t get the best internship. And the list goes on and on.”

“I know they’re hard on you, but they do it out of love.”

Lexi snorted at the absurdity of Lisa’s statement. “For you they do. Me they tolerate as their great disappointment.”

She sighed. Long ago she realized that no matter what she did, she would never live up to their standards. It didn’t matter how hard she tried or what she accomplished. It was never good enough for them.

Ever.

Lisa scowled, looking more like their mother. Even for a night at home, her blonde hair was perfectly styled without a single hair out of place. “No, they don’t. You’re being dramatic again.”

She bared her teeth in disgust. “You’re just as blind as they are if you truly believe that.”

Lexi sailed out of the kitchen with that as her parting shot. She strode down the hall to the room she rented and slammed the door. Tonight had been a study in just how wrong her life could go.

And it had started going wrong the moment she pulled Josh Ryan’s marker.

3

During the week following the botched singles night, Josh struggled over how it all went down that night. He hated how worried he was for Lexi. But it was in his nature as a Dom to protect and defend those weaker than him. And Lexi needed help. That much was clear with the way she acted.

He was worried about her enough that last night, he’d contacted Gabe to get Lexi’s phone number or address. He figured if he could just check in on her, make sure she was doing all right, then he could drop it. Not that she would want any help from him. But he had to check on her. And once he did, perhaps then he could finally move on and stop thinking about her or her perfect ass or how many times he’d fantasized about taking that ass this week.

Except his cousin had refused to hand it over. The information was confidential, and he wouldn’t break members’ trust, not even for family.

Josh just wanted to talk to her. Her rejection bothered him.

Maybe if he understood where she was coming from, he could lay his own demons from that night to rest. And sure, he was cavalier with the subs at the club. Was he too cavalier, though? Had he taken his desire to avoid a committed relationship too far?

Probably. All week long, he’d felt cheap.

He’d vacillated between anger, shame, and concern for Lexi. Josh didn’t care for her attitude. Nor did he want to scene with her. But he couldn’t move past the idea that she was struggling. And he wondered if he could offer her—what?

It was clear the woman wanted nothing to do with him. He doubted if he appeared on her doorstep that she would even open the door for him.

He wasn’t even in the mood to go to dinner. But his coworker Lisa had invited their team to her house for dinner. They had been slaving away the last few weeks on this contract deal for RMD Industries that will make the company a ton of money. And if the acquisition goes through, he and his team stood to make hefty bonuses.

He liked his life here in the States. His mum and da missed him and his brothers, but coming to America had been the best for them. He’d scored a lead counsel position with his own team. In Ireland, he had still been a junior partner, working eighty hours a week for pennies.

Less than two years in Colorado, and he had a penthouse in the city. He had stock options, retirement savings, and a car he adored.

Granted, after moving here, Josh had to learn to drive on the wrong side of the road and the wrong side of the car. But he’d acclimated easily enough.

And he fecking loved the mountains. It’s why he bought his place. So he could look at them whenever he was home.

Thornton was a short drive up Interstate 25 from downtown Denver. Although driving Interstate 25 was like entering a demolition derby, and only the strongest would survive. Yet he liked it up here; it was nice up here.

When he’d bought his penthouse, Gabe had warned him he’d eventually want a house out in the suburbs too. And the older he got, the more he saw the appeal. But he didn’t want any prefab home or something cookie-cutter. He had been socking money away because he wanted to build on his own land.

He’d already mentioned to Brody to start drawing up plans. He had his eye on a parcel of real estate close to the mountains in Arvada. And when the acquisition deal went through, he would have the funds to buy the land outright.

But he loved his penthouse and had no intention of giving it up anytime soon, if ever. It was the best place for him after a long day at the office.

The tree-lined subdivision was an older one. But it had charm. Although he could do without all the bloody roundabouts. But he found Lisa’s home easily enough. It was a modest ranch home in a steel blue.

He parked his Mercedes in the street, grabbed the bottle of wine he’d picked up for the hostess, and headed up the walkway.

He rang the bell and pasted a smile on his face. As much as he appreciated the offer of a free meal, he wanted the evening over. He planned to stay long enough to eat dinner and act like a team player. But then he was heading home for the night.

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