Page 24 of Consequences

“Can we talk?”

Scrunching her nose, Lex looks her over as though scrutinizing everything about her. Not since high school has Marnie felt as though she’s not quite cool enough to talk to the popular kids, and just when she’s certain Lex will tell her to fuck off, she nods and stands.

The movements make Marnie question if Lex was in a car accident. Her face shows a small bruise covered by makeup, but she’s not as gracefully in her movements as she normally is.

They walk into the Chapel, and Marnie feels uncomfortable. This would never fly in Summerville, but she supposes there are perks to being the President’s wife. “What’s up?”

“I moved to Griffin’s Beach a few weeks ago.”

In this light, the bruising is more visible on Lex’s cheek, and Marnie wants to ask what happened. If things were different, she would, but she has no right to ask that. Not yet. Maybe one day they’ll get to a place where she can.

“I heard,” Lex says and shifts to sit on top of the table. Another no-no.

There’s something different about Lex. Not just the fact that she took some type of beating, but the air about her is different. And it’s incredibly intimidating.

Swallowing, Marnie refuses to drop their gaze. “Venom told you?”

“Yep.”

“What did he tell you?”

“That you moved to Griffin’s Beach.”

Yep, she’s the daughter of a biker, all right.“That all?”

“What do you want, Marnie? Why are you here? And I’m not just talking about this town but this clubhouse. Right now. Talking to me.”

“I need Venom to see that I know I screwed up. I don’t think he believes me, but I meant it when I said I wasn’t giving up. Not until he can look me in the face and tell me he doesn’t love me. Until then, I’m going to do whatever I can to prove I’m in this. I want him, and I want us.”

The look Lex gives her makes Marnie want to curl up into a ball in the corner and hide until she leaves, but she refuses to back down. She needs the curly blonde who happens to be Venom’s best friend to know that she’ll do whatever it takes in order to win him back.

“That doesn’t explain this little pow-wow.”

“Part of making things right with him means I need to make things right with you. And I want to do that.”

“Hurting someone I care about will never be okay, and you’re lucky I didn’t drop you where we stood during the few confrontations we had.”

Tears sting at her eyes. “I love him, Lex. I was just too stupid to see it before it was too late, but I can’t give up. If that means I have to do something humiliating to get back on your good side and show him how much I’m willing to do, so be it.”

“Backon my good side? Girl, you have only ever been on my bad side. At least, once you appeared on my radar with that shit you pulled with Venom,” she says, her eyebrows raised.

“I’d like to be on your good side. Do you need me to beg? I’ll beg.”

“He’s moved on, you know.”

Seeing Venom with another woman makes her sick to her stomach. “He still loves me. He told me he does, and until that love goes away, I don’t care who he’s with. I’ll do whatever it takes to prove I’m here for him. That I’m the one he should be with.”

“Her name’s Cinder.”

“I don’t care.”

“You should. She’s crazy as shit,” Lex says, and it feels more like a warning about the woman rather than a warning to stay away from Venom.

Shaking her head, Marnie stands even straighter. “I don’t care. I’m not scared.”

“You should be. I wouldn’t put it past that girl to cut you just for blinking wrong.”

“I’m not here to talk about Cinder. I’m here to talk about what you need from me to make things good between us. What do you need me to do?”

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