Page 25 of Redemption

Psycho laughs. “Do you remember where my old room was? Right across the hall from yours. Trust me, I’ve heard it all. Come to think of it, I’ve heard you not having sex less times than I’ve heard you going at it like gorillas in a zoo. I didn’t know there was any shame.”

Jace falls silent as he stares at her, his lips clenched shut.

“What’s with the face?”

She sighs. “We’re fighting because he stopped me from murdering Colt.”

The hair on the back of his neck stands on end. Is that why Lex’s number suddenly stopped working? “Why do you want to murder Colt?”

“Because he’s an asshole motherfucker who deserves to be beaten to a bloody pulp.”

His eyes turn to Jace, shocked at the venom dripping from her words. “What’s she talking about?”

“He’s in the doghouse because he sided with Colt. Just like Ky did. And Ky’s stuck sleeping here while his wife stays at the house with the kids.”

“Took Colt’s side about what?” His skin prickles, and he doesn’t like it. Something’s obviously wrong, especially if these two aren’t fucking each other’s brains out and Ky and Felicity are fighting.

“You should probably talk to him, man,” he says.

“I’m talking to you,” he growls. “I’ve been trying to get in touch with Lex for a fucking month, and as of yesterday, her phone’s out of service. What the fuck’s going on?”

Colt sits with Ky at one of the tables with a water in front of him. Considering how he’d been drowning his sorrows in vodka, this is a new development. Yes, something bad happened, and he needs to know what.

“Tell me,” he growls and looks at Melanie.

She jumps closer to Jace out of self-preservation, her anger gone for the moment. “Lex left Colt. Took the kids and moved out.”

“Left her phone at the house and worked out an arrangement for kid exchanges with Karmen,” Jace says. “She’s dropped the club, too.”

His eyes move to find Shep sitting at the bar with a beer in his hand, his eyes glaring at Colt. Heidi attempts to distract him, but it doesn’t appear to work. Standing, he walks over to the man. “What the fuck happened? Where’s Lex?”

“Don’t know where she is,” Shep says, his leg bouncing. “If I did, I’d be there right now talking to her instead of sitting here thinking of all the ways I want to murder that asshole.”

“She’s done with the club?”

“Thanks to him.”

He turns and sees Colt watching him. Large bags hang under his eyes, and he recognizes the look of sleep deprivation. His greasy hair could use a long, hot shower, too. Oddly enough, he doesn’t seem to have any reaction to Psycho. “What the fuck happened?”

“Diane in Black Valley,” he says. “Don’t know much else.”

“That bitch better hope I never see her again,” Heidi says. “I’ll show her what fucking with an old lady gets her. I doubt that sonogram’s real, but if it is, Colt better pray the kid ain’t his.”

“Wait, this doesn’t make sense. Lex doesn’t give up, especially when it comes to him.”

Shep clenches his fist. “You should’ve seen her, man. I wanted to break Colt’s fucking face. She’s broken. More broken than she was when she caught him with Eva. Looked like a damned ghost she was so pale. She’s been avoiding the clubhouse for a long ass time and said she needs distance. How did we miss it all? How did we not see her?”

“From the club? This is her club.”

He sighs. “No, she says it’s his club. She hasn’t told anyone where she’s staying because she doesn’t trust anyone anymore. Not even the girls. Says her husband is the club, and we have the same code. God, Psycho, it broke my damn heart watching her. She wouldn’t even look at him.”

“I think Lily knows, but we all know she’s unbreakable. She’s also the only other woman who has any idea what Lex feels.”

Pulling out his phone, he calls his wife. “Lace, is Diane fucking pregnant?”

“Hello to you, too, Carson,” Lacey jokes. “I’m glad to see you made it there safely. But, no. I mean, I guess, not that I know of. She’s shooting back shots, but that doesn’t mean she’s not newly pregnant. She doesn’t really strike me as the responsible type.”

“Thanks,” he says. “Love you.” Hanging up, he looks at Colt. “Diane’s not pregnant.”

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