Page 95 of Lennox Lane

The hope in Jeanette’s face dimmed, but she nodded anyway. Lane looked at her mother, and Lennox saw the confusion in her. The daughter who needed to be wanted by her mother and the woman who knew that need could become a trap if she weren’t careful.

“Maybe,” Lane said, voice barely holding steady, “if you do the work and you show me over and over that this isn’t just guilt because Daryl got arrested, there could be hope for us, but for right now?” Lane shook her head. “No.”

Jeanette finally collapsed on the couch and cried as Lane turned toward the door. Lennox moved with her immediately. Jalen stayed behind to handle the officers and the cleanup, knowing g Lennox needed to be there for Lane. He gave Lennox one nod as they passed, and Lennox returned it before following Lane into the stairwell.

She made it to the car before her hands started shaking. Lennox opened the passenger door. Lane looked at him with her defenses high as the Burj Khalifa.

“Don’t,” she said, pulling away.

He didn’t ask why; he knew. Don’t touch me yet and don’t say the thing that’ll make me fall apart where I can’t control how much of me spills.

He nodded. “Okay.”

That word nearly did what his arms would’ve. Lane got in as Lennox had Jalen call another member of their security team to come and get Lane’s car. The quiet was deafening even before they pulled off, and the drive to KC and Cadence’s house was bruising. Lennox didn’t turn on music or ask questions. He didn’t tell her he was mad, though anger still lived hot beneath his skin. He kept one hand on the wheel and the other on the console, close but not touching. The best way for Lennox to support Lane in the moment was to be quiet and allow her to feel and process her emotions.

When they pulled up to Khalil and Cadence’s house, Lane finally turned. “Why are we here?”

“Because you need your people.”

“I didn’t ask for that.”

“No.” He put the car in park and looked at her. “I did.”

Her eyes flashed. “Lennox⁠—”

“We’re still discussing what you did later.”

“What I did?”

“Yes, Lane.” His voice stayed low, but anger slipped through, controlled and restrained, shaking. “What you did.”

She looked away first, making him happy. Not because he wanted to win but if she kept looking at him like that, he might forget he was angry and start begging her not to scare him like that again.

Inside, Cadence took one look at them and stopped mid-sentence. She stood in the kitchen with one hand resting on her belly, a glass of sparkling water in the other. KC sat at the island with a plate of fruit and what looked like half a sandwich. Nova was perched on a stool eating grapes straight from the bowl. Tariq leaned against the counter with a ginger ale, clearly in the middle of saying something ignorant before the energy in the room snatched the joke out of his mouth.

KC rose first as he peeped Lennox’s body language. “What happened?” He asked.

Lane folded her arms. “Nothing.”

Lennox laughed. Not because it was funny, but because if he didn’t laugh, he might put his fist through KC’s very expensive wall.

Nova’s eyes narrowed. “That’s a nothing face.”

Cadence set her glass down. “Lane?”

Lane’s mouth tightened. “I went to see Jeanette.”

Nova put the grapes down. “Alone?” Nova asked.

Lennox stepped forward. “Ask your little friend why I told her not to go confront her mother alone, and she went anyway, putting herself in danger.”

Lane turned on him. “Little friend?”

“Yes. Little friend. Tiny menace. Lavender problem. Whatever we’re calling you today!” His voice rose.

Her eyes widened. “You are not about to yell at me in front of company.”

“I’m not yelling,” he calmed down.