Page 45 of Consequences

Reaching out to her mom, Lex gets brushed off. Her mother’s pain at the hands of Zane makes her even angrier, and she glares at her father. “He’s never apologized for a thing in his life, and you sure as hell have never made him. Why the fuck do you think he’d start now that he’s over the age of forty?”

“You don’t understand!” he snaps and shakes his hands out at his sides. The hands he’d had balled into fists as he glared at his daughter. “How am I supposed to tell my son he’s not allowed to feel upset that I moved on before he even lost his mother? When we both lost the love of our lives.”

The collective gasp from a few of the club members audibly expresses Lex’s feelings of shock. Her father just said he loved his dead wife more than he loves Emma. On what was meant to be their wedding day. That has to be a punch to the gut, among other things.

Shaking her head, Emma takes off her engagement ring and sets it on the counter where she found a rare dry spot. “He was always allowed to torment our daughter because you made decisions you clearly regret. I used to understand to a small extent, but you just admitted to loving him and Maggie more than you’ve ever loved Lex and me.”

“Em—”

“I’m done, Nash. For good this time.”

“Em, that’s not what I meant—”

“Don’t,” she says. “You refuse to open your eyes and see what’s staring you in the face. You’re blinded by your own guilt and regret, and you’re just as much to blame as he is.”

He runs a hand over his face as he takes a few deep breaths. “This is coming out all wrong.”

“I never felt a comparison to Maggie until right now, but it’s always been there, hasn’t it? No matter what, I’ll never be her.”

“I’ve not asked you to be!”

“You’re settling by marrying me, and I don’t deserve that. I should’ve taken Lex away from you long before I did.”

The looks he gives her makes Lex angry. He doesn’t get to look like he’s just been stabbed in the chest by a shard of glass that was once her mother’s’ crystal.

“You don’t mean that,” VP says.

“If I’d had the strength to move on from the toxic environment you and Zane put us in, maybe Lex wouldn’t be living in a state of constant survival. That she wouldn’t take the entire world on her shoulders until she breaks.”

“This isn’t about Lex—”

“The hell it’s not!” she shouts. “When you all but said you regret us, it’s about her as much as it is about us. Without us, there is no Lex. Maggie’s the love of your life, and I’ve been letting you get by, turning a blind eye to the abuse Zane put ourdaughter through. This is the exact reason Lex believes she has to be strong all the time. Because of you.”

“We have an extra room, Mom,” Lex says. “Why don’t you stay with us for a while?”

Nodding, Emma wipes her eyes. “I’ll pack my stuff up. I only need an hour to get the essentials, and when I figure out a new place to live, I’ll get the rest of my stuff.”

She leaves, and VP moves to follow her, but Lex cuts him off. Shaking her head, she says, “Let her go.”

“I love her.”

“Not enough. You made your choice, and that choice is Zane. It always has been, and you just lost the best thing to ever happen to you since you lost Maggie. You lost your daughter today, too. Congrats, VP, it’s just you and your son. Just like you always wanted.”

“Lex, that’s not true, and that’s sure as hell not fair. I know you’re angry right now, but you don’t mean that.”

Wiping her eyes, she just shakes her head. “Yeah, I do. You’ve always been a father to Zane and fallen short with me. The fact you don’t look at this and remember every time he’s done it to me tells me as much.”

“Lex—”

“I always thought you refused to acknowledge what he did out loud because you were ashamed of how he acts. The truth is that you love him. I was an accident.”

“No, Lex—”

“I’m done. Look around you.Youdid this. You let your guilt stop you from being a strong parent that Zane clearly needed. You’re not a father to either of us, but at least you love him enough to make excuses for him. I just hope he doesn’t go too far to come back from this.”

“I love you.”

Swallowing, Lex laughs. “I don’t believe that for a second.”

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