Page 87 of Lilacs and Leather

“Her dad,” I retort, trying to cool the heat in my blood.

Lucas makes an exaggerated gagging noise that breaks the tension perfectly. As we’re laughing, Alexandra pauses and pulls out her phone. Her brow twitches down for a moment before she answers.

“Rhett, how did things go with—”

Alexandra’s question is cut off suddenly as she listens to whatever Rhett is saying on the other end. With the noise of the restaurant, I can’t hear the words, but the words make the color drain from Alexandra’s face as her eyes go wide with mute horror. Lucas and I both tense, waiting for her to say something.

“I’m calling Ted. Meet me at the office… No.” Alexandra’s eyes flick to me for a moment. “She is… Okay, I’ll let her know… No, not yet… We can—...I’m leaving now. We’ll talk about it later.”

Alexandra hangs up and looks at me with a guarded expression. “Rhett and I have to have a very urgent meeting. Mateo’s going to come keep you company until we’re done, okay?”

“Lex, what’s going on?” Lucas asks sternly.

She shakes her head, looking down at her phone as she taps rapidly through it. “Seth. He showed up at Alice’s.”

Thirty-Three

Mateo

I throw my SUV into park outside The Valencia, cutting the engine with a sharp stab to the ignition button.I sit for a moment and take a long, deep breath. SethfuckingDouglas. Just when everything was finally going our way, he had to show up and throw a wrench into it. When I’d gotten the call from Rhett telling me to haul ass to be with Lydia, I didn’t hesitate, even if I had a thousand and a half questions. But Rhett was as calm as I’ve ever seen him, compartmentalizing better than Marie Kondo in a junk drawer. He’d deal with his emotions later when he could punch it out.

My phone buzzes as I close my door and start toward the lobby.

Rhett: Just got to the meeting with Lex. I’ll keep you posted.

Me: Drag his ass, brother.

Rhett: With. Pleasure.

I smirk as I shove my phone into the pocket of my slacks, and shoulder open the door. The lobby is packed with people trying to check in and get a seat in Carter’s, the restaurant and bar. I work my way through the crowd, and I feel my shoulders relax as I find Lydia sitting at the end of the bar. She’s leaning heavily on the bar top toward Lucas, the two in a deep, intense conversation. I purr a little to myself as I look her over. Her shirt is loose but flattering, tucked into the high waist of her shorts. I let my eyes linger on the lightly tanned skin of her shapely legs before forcing them back up to her face. Most of her caramel-colored hair is down with sections pulled back out of her face, which has a light touch of makeup. She always looks so effortlessly beautiful, whether she’s done up to the nines, or just waking up with bedhead and a bare face.

I can tell when she catches my scent, as her back straightens and her head turns instinctively in my direction. I smile, trying to keep my own worries from my face. Crossing to her, I position myself against the wall so I can watch the room behind her. I cup the back of her neck and press a kiss to her temple, taking a long inhale of her scent. My grip tightens as I detect the acrid burnt-sugar fear on the edges of her lilacs and lavender.

“What’s going on, Mat?” Lydia asks, tucking her face into my chest as I pull her close.

“All I know is that Rhett was at Alice’s and Seth showed up. Something about interviews,” I reply with a shrug.

Lucas lets out an exceptionally colorful expletive. “The bartender interviews,” he spits under his breath.

Lydia and I look at him, waiting for him to elaborate. Lucas wipes at a nonexistent smudge on the counter, shifting on his feet.

“We’re down a bartender while Kaylee’s out on maternity leave. There were open interviews today. That’s why Rhett had to stop in, to discuss the candidates with Dominic, the hiring supervisor,” Lucas explains heavily, not looking up at us.

“He seriously didn’t think y’all would hire him, right?” Lydia asks in a deadpan.

“Fuck no. I’m sure that this was just a convenient excuse to violate the stay away order,” Lucas spits.

I sigh, hand threading through the hair down Lydia’s back. She relaxes into my touch, and I sigh. The stay away order. It was supposed to keep him at a distance, to avoid exactly this situation. We didn’t want to have to live our lives constantly looking over our shoulders. But Seth had a way of taking all of our carefully laid plans and turning them inside out. I look around the room, only half listening as Lydia and Lucas speculate about why Seth could have chosen this moment to show his face.

The Valencia used to be one of my favorite buildings in the entire city. The design elements fit my style perfectly, and there was a certain air of intrigue about the lobby and restaurant. It would be the sort of place that Cold War spies would meet in for dead drops, or perhaps a place where James Bond might come to get a martini and encounter the femme fatale. But now, all I can see are the ways Seth tainted this room, this entire hotel, with his lies.

“So, what does Seth evendo? He can’t just sit around spending y’all’s money,” Lydia asks incredulously.

Lucas snorts. “He’s an influencer. He goes to the gym and posts mirror selfies and tells people that the laxative tea of the week will get them skinny.”

I roll my eyes. Seth’s “career” was more of an annoyance than anything. His fans worship him, and it makes it that much harder to distance ourselves from him. Lex’s public relations team sends me at least one post a week where he basically talks about missing us without ever naming us. Toeing the line of our separation agreement. Again.

“I’d look him up, but I don’t want to give him the clicks, if that’s how he makes money,” Lydia grumbles, shaking her head.

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