Page 89 of Lilacs and Leather
Lydia nods solemnly. “Did he and Seth…?”
“No, nothing like that. Seth always tried to top from the bottom, even with me. Rhett and Lucas play their little game, but it’s just that to them. Seth wanted… still wants, really, control.”
“Narcs are like that. If they’re not in control, then it’s meltdown city,” Lydia says seriously.
“Narcs?” I echo, confused.
“Narcissists. Everything you’ve told me makes me think that Seth is one, like my ex and my mother,” Lydia explains, looking away at something in the middle distance with unfocused eyes.
I nod, considering her words. Seth was certainly self-absorbed enough, but I didn’t know if he was a full-blown clinical narcissist. I want to press Lydia for more of her reasoning, but the sadness in her eyes, the haunted look on her face as it pales makes me dismiss the idea.
“Do you want something else to drink?” I ask, trying to redirect.
Lydia shakes her head, still lost in her thoughts. I push her hair to the side and cup the back of her neck, massaging gently. She relaxes almost instantly at the touch, eyes falling closed with a little whimper of pleasure.
“Any word from Rhett?” Lucas asks, appearing out of nowhere.
Lydia and I both jump, turning to face him as he leans with locked arms on the bar. I shrug, telling him about the text, and I watch Lucas’s shoulders slump.
“What are they trying to do?” Lydia asks, voice still a little distant.
Lucas shrugs, looking at me for answers. Lydia follows his look, and I try not to let my face show how much her little frown of worry makes my heart pulse with pain.
“If it’s anything like before, they’re probably trying to get him to agree to a settlement of some kind in exchange for not pressing charges,” I start with a sigh.
“He’s done this before?” Lydia asks, speaking before I even finish.
Lucas nods. “He’s never been this bold about it, but yeah. We’ve had to hire extra security for the offices and hotels after he kept showing up, though it finally stopped once we got the stay away order. Still hasn’t stopped him from having his little groupies hang around, but we’ve gotten good at recognizing them. They aren’t exactly subtle and aren’t smart enough to keep quiet about who pays them to take pictures of us.”
My blood runs cold at the memories of those days when we could hardly go outside our front door without being mobbed. We’d developed a variable schedule to prevent them from tracking us too closely, and it worked after a few months. We’d finally stopped seeing Seth’s flying monkeys around the same time we met Lydia, a fact for which I’m grateful every day. I could only imagine what abuse and harassment she’d be subjected to if anyone found her. Not to mention the risk of her family realizing where she lives.
“Do you think it’ll work?” Lydia asks, drawing my attention back to her.
I shrug. “Rhett is pretty steamed this time. He’s getting close to his breaking point with Seth.”
“Maybe he’ll find Seth on top of a roof one day, and it’ll be a shame if Seth trips over the edge,” Lucas spits.
Lydia laughs. “You think Rhett would really murder someone?” she asks incredulously.
“Yes.”
“Absolutely.”
Lucas and I speak at the same time, not a moment of hesitation. I’ve known Rhett for nearly ten years, and his fuse is microscopic on a good day, with a protective streak as wide as the day is long. If any of us were in danger, if Lucas or Lydia specifically were in danger, I had not a shred of doubt in my heart that Rhett would burn the world to ash to keep them safe. Judging by the expression on Lucas’s face, he’s thinking the same thing.
The wild card in all of this nonsense is Lex. Her relationship with Seth has never been something I’ve understood, but I can’t say that I’ve put much thought to it. Lex rarely backs down from anything or anyone, but Seth seems to have some sort of spell over her. She handles him with kid gloves, and I’ve never been able to figure out why. She keeps her thoughts very close to the chest, and never talks about the whirlwind few months when Seth had us fooled into loving him. But she has to know that this can’t go on like this forever. Not now that we have Lydia.
We’ve talked as a pack about the future over the last few weeks, and Lex is well aware of how Rhett and I feel about Lydia. We want more than just a fling, and it’s killing us not to be able to make plans when we’re stuck in this holding pattern. Rhett has already started making plans and taking steps to bring Lydia more into the fold, and it was only a matter of time before he revealed them to her. Lex is aware of his intentions, and while she hasn’t given her full blessing, I know she’s thinking about it.
As Lydia and Lucas start up another conversation, I lose track of the topic, lost in my head. I need this to work, more than I’ve needed anything. I want Lydia to be part of my future, but I can’t ask that of her until I can give myself to her completely. Until I can be her alpha, andonlyher alpha.
My phone vibrates again, and I pull it out right away. My stomach drops as I read the brief, stilted message.
Rhett: Lucas needs to clock out and come home, alpha’s orders. Bring Lydia with you to the pack house. We need to talk.
Thirty-Four
Lydia