Chapter 241

Lexie

Hi.

It’s Lexie.

Yeah. That Lexie.

I know—I probably wasn’t your favorite person when I first showed up. I wouldn’t have been either. I arrived like a complication. A third wheel. A very inconvenient variable in a story that already had two people very clearly meant to collide.

And for a while, I hated that about myself.

I hated that it took me a hot minute to realize Noah didn't really like me the way I liked him.

I hated that I introduced Noah to my father.

I hated that I stood between him and Aiden—unintentionally, yes, but still.

I made it easier for my father to notice him. To want him. To use him.

That part will probably always hurt.

But here’s the thing I learned the hard way: loving someone doesn’t always mean keeping them. Sometimes it means stepping aside without bitterness. Without resentment. Without making it about your own bruised pride.

And the moment I knew—really knew—that Noah loved someone else, whatever I’d felt for him shifted instantly. Not slowly. Not painfully. Instantly.

Like a switch flipping.

Because I didn’t want him.

I wanted what was best for him.

So I stayed.

I protected.

I helped make it work.

Then tragedy came like a tsunami and swept us all under.

The accident. The forced wedding. My father’s murder.

It all felt surreal, like it belonged to someone else’s life instead of mine. And maybe I’ll never fully get past it. But somehow—right in the middle of all that—life surprised me.

Enter Micah.

I won’t pretend I liked him at first. He annoyed the hell out of me. He was loud, inappropriate, shameless, and far too comfortable in his own skin. He had zero respect for emotional distance and an alarming talent for poking exactly where it hurt.

Which, in hindsight, should’ve been my first clue.

Micah has this way of getting under your skin before you realize you’ve let him. Of making you laugh when you’re trying very hard not to. Of reminding you—constantly—that survival doesn’t have to be quiet or dignified.

And somewhere between hospital visits, late-night talks, terrible movies, and him refusing to treat me like I was fragile glass, he became… essential.

Not a replacement.

Not a distraction.

Something else entirely.

Of course, there was one itty-bitty detail I’d been very deliberately not looking at too closely.

Micah didn’t come alone.

He came with someone else. A man.

Master Hale.

Not in the same way Noah belonged to Aiden—not like that—but still in a way I wasn’t sure I knew how to hold without it cutting me somewhere sensitive. We’d never sat down and talked about it, not really. But I wasn’t stupid either. I was about fifty percent sure they’d slept together before.

Okay—more like ninety.

And maybe—this was the part I hated admitting—even a small, annoying part of me wondered if they still were.

I told myself it probably stopped after the accident. Or after me. Or maybe it had never been what I was imagining at all. But the truth was, I didn’t know—and not knowing was starting to itch under my skin.

So when Aiden suggested we all give the Dominion another shot that Saturday, I felt… everything.

Surprise, first.

Not the polite kind—the kind that hits you in the chest and makes you realize something about yourself you hadn’t admitted yet.

Because a part of me wanted to go back.

Not for sex. Not for distraction.

For the freedom I’d felt there the first time. For the strange relief of being in a space where power was structured, consent was sacred, and no one expected me to pretend I knew who I was supposed to be.

That realization startled me more than anything else.

And then came the fear I’ve talked about.

I was scared of seeing Micah—with another man.

That one hurt to admit, even to myself. Because whatever was growing between us wasn’t labeled yet, but it was real. Tender. New. And the idea of watching him kneel for someone else—of watching that connection from the outside—twisted something in my chest I didn’t have a name for yet.

I was also scared because I would be just as close to that same man.

The first time Master Hale had come near me, I’d felt something sharp and immediate—nothing to do with love, and everything to do with gravity. Yeah, the guy was sexy as hell, I gotta admit, but he was so much more than that… He was commanding in a way that didn’t threaten. Powerful without being cruel. Magnetic, yes—but also safe. Protective. Grounded.

For a moment back then, I’d wanted to drop to my knees and ask him to keep me close. To tell me what to do when I didn’t even know what I wanted anymore.

I imagined Micah had felt the same.

Hale was a rock in an ocean where we were both drowning.

So, me wanting to go maybe wasn’t just about curiosity.

Maybe it was about clarity.

About finally seeing what existed between Micah and Hale. About understanding where I fit—if I fit—inside a dynamic that already had its own gravity long before I stepped into it.

And if I was going to keep moving forward, pretending that question didn’t exist wasn’t an option anymore.

The next day, when Noah came to visit, I tackled him in the kitchen while he was making a couple of drinks.

“I need to ask you something,” I said.

He looked up immediately. “What’s up?”

I hesitated, then forced myself to be honest. “How did you do it?”

He frowned. “Do what?”

“How did you handle seeing Aiden with someone else?” I asked quietly. “Because I don’t know if I can.”

Noah didn’t rush to answer. He never did, not anymore.

“I didn’t,” he said finally. “I freaked out.”

That surprised a laugh out of me. “You?”

“Very much me,” he said. “I hated it at first. I was jealous. Scared. Convinced I’d lose him if I blinked wrong.”

“And yet,” I said softly.

“And yet,” he agreed. “We talked. Over and over. Drew lines. Tore them up. Redrew them. What made it survivable was trust.”

He stepped closer, lowering his voice. “In your case… it helped that you and Micah found each other almost at the same time you guys found Master Hale. That this wasn’t about replacement. It was about building something shared.”

I swallowed.

“As long as everyone is honest,” he continued, “and the boundaries are clear—what you want, what you don’t, what you won’t cross—it can work. But if jealousy gets in the middle? It’ll burn everything down.”

I nodded slowly. He wasn’t sugarcoating it. He never did.

“But if you trust each other,” he finished, “it can also be… really good.”

I leaned in and kissed his cheek.

“You’re right,” I said. “It’s time to have that conversation.”

I smiled, steadier than I felt. “And, about Saturday, count us in.”

The moment Noah left, I did the bravest thing I could think of.

I picked up my phone and called Micah.

He answered on the second ring. “Hey, beautiful billionaire. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

I smiled despite myself. “Hi. Um… would you like to come over for dinner tonight? At my place.”

There was a pause. A dramatic one.

“…Is this an official date?”

“It’s dinner,” I said carefully. “At my house.”

“Uh-huh.” I could hear the grin in his voice. “And is it just you and me?”

“Yes.”

Another pause. Shorter this time. Dangerous.

“So,” he said slowly, “we’re having dinner together. Alone. At your place.”

“Yes, Micah.”

“That,” he announced, “sounds exactly like a date.”

I laughed, shaking my head. “Let’s just say we’re having dinner and… a talk.”

“Ohhh.” His tone shifted immediately. “Is there going to be a talk?”

“There is,” I admitted. “A real one.”

“Well, damn,” he said cheerfully. “A talk-date. I’m intrigued.”

“Tonight at seven?” I asked.

“Seven it is,” he replied. “Should I dress like I’m trying to give you a good first impression?”

I rolled my eyes, smiling anyway. “You’ve given me a lot of impressions by now, Micah.” I laughed. “So I guess that ship already sailed… The talk is more about what to do with them.”

He chuckled. “Now you’re just making it mysterious. I’ll be there.”

When the call ended, I stared at my phone, and as usual, I had to smile. Just then, I secretly hoped our “talk-date” could end up as something more.