Page 10 of Inked Beasts

She’ll break my heart beyond repairing if she doesn’t let me, so I need to not fuck this up.

GAGE

“It’s obvious what’s going on up there,” Thorn says, leaning against the wall, his body angled to watch the elevators.

“Knowing your brother, yes.”

He lets out a heavy breath. “Guess that’s all wrapped up, then.”

Thorn doesn’t have any problem getting women, but he grew up in Kai’s shadow. When we were kids, he was the little brother; Kai and I were the leaders.

But all three of us, in ways that are only clear to me now, revolved around Lexy. She was the sun in our personal solar system.

“Don’t count yourself out.”

His head comes up, his eyes intent on mine, his brow furrowed.

“Lexy was always ours. She was never only his.”

He frowns, thoughtful. “Yeah, but do you really see him sharing?”

“It’s not his call to make.”

He stares at me a moment longer. And then he smiles.

LEXY

Sure enough, my dad and Belinda are gone when I get back to the reception hall. The DJ’s gone, too, and the guests, including Ava. There’s just the staff, cleaning up.

And Gage and Thorn, waiting patiently so we can go to family dinner.

I check with the staff to make sure the rest of the cake was sent home with the designated friend of the couple, who will store it safely in their freezer. It was, and they have everything else well in hand, so there’s really nothing for me to do here.

I grabbed a shower and changed my clothes before we came back down. My excuse, if Gage or Thorn says anything, is that I needed to freshen up before we went to dinner. Not that they’ll be fooled.

They both looked right at me when Kai and I came back in. No embarrassment, no apology. No anger, either; just frank assessment.

Part of me feels guilty, even though I know that doesn’t make any sense. But I feel as though I owe Gage the truth. I’ll find a moment to talk to him before I leave town.

Wait. Leave town and go where, exactly? There’s nothing to go back to. My mom’s still there; but my job, my boyfriend, even my home are gone, because I lived with Scott.

My stomach feels like a small freighter has capsized there, but my organizational superpowers are already at work. I can ask my friend Hillary to go over to Scott’s place and pack up my things before he does something petty, like give them all to the charity shop. Because part of me can imagine him doing just that.

Our finances are separate, thank goodness, so that’s one worry I’m spared. I have enough saved up that I can take a few days here, enjoy my reunion, and then decide what’s next.

Resolved, I turn toward the exit doors to see a woman standing in front of me. “Oh! Hello.” I vaguely recognize her as one of the guests. “Is everything all right?”

The woman smiles. She’s probably around my dad’s age, fit and elegant, with an easy poise that I envy. “It was a beautiful wedding, despite the last-minute disruption.”

I flush. “I apologize for that.”

She waves away the rest of what I was going to say. “It wasn’t your fault. That young man was completely out of line; I wasn’t entirely sorry when Kai knocked him down.”

I blink. “You know Kai?”

“His brother works for me.” She holds out a hand. “Clare Hoffman. I own Belle Epoque Resort.”

“Pleased to meet you. I’m Alexandra Arden.” Thorn works for a fancy resort? Doing what? I’ll have to ask him.

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