"I know. Alexis doesn’t keep anything from me, Lazarus. Please, just get to the point."
"As I said, today I found out that my sister lied. During that weekend with Alexis, I got a call from my brother saying that my cousin and an ex-girlfriend of mine had been in a car accident. I won’t go into all the details—it doesn’t matter for this—but you need to know that this woman, Jodie Walton, was pregnant with my child. I had no idea until she was brought into the hospital. I won’t get into everything because that’s between me and Alexis, but Lois admitted today that she told your daughter my 'fiancée' had died."
"Yes, that’s what Alexis told me. That’s one of the reasons she hates you so much."
"Oneof them?"
"Your words, Lazarus—it’s between you and Alexis. I think you two have a lot to talk about. But go on. I want to hear more about your wretched lying sister."
"I pressed her, and she admitted she deliberately told Alexis that my fiancée and our baby had died. There was no engagement, and even if there had been, by that point it would’ve been over between us. Jodie couldn’t accept that it was finished."
"The newspapers?—”
"Newspapers lie. They exaggerate. I had just found out the baby didn’t make it. My cousin—one of my best friends—was in a coma, and my father had a heart attack and needed emergency surgery."
"Jesus!"
"I promised Alexis I would come back. I also promised I’d never lie to her. I broke the first promise but never the second."
"So you’re telling me you were a free man when you were with my daughter?"
"That’s exactly what I’m saying. Alexis told me about her life. About your accident and how long it took you to find her again. I would never play with her trust like that. My head was a mess. I couldn’t leave here, and honestly, I didn’t want to drag her into all that chaos. Jodie’s family blamed me for everything. I almost lost my father too, like I said. So I asked my sister to fly to Cape Cod and explain to Alexis why I couldn’t be there myself."
"She never showed up. My daughter called you, and your sister answered. She insulted Alexis and told her not to bother you again that first time and . . .”
Silence.
"Did Alexis try to reach out to me again?"
Marla stands up, and I know she’s trying to avoid the confrontation. "I have to go, Lazarus. I believe what you told me, and I’m glad you’re not the bastard I thought you were. I’m sorry for your loss, too. But whatever’s between you and Alexis, that’s for the two of you to sort out."
"I don’t know what to do right now. I can’t talk to her yet."
"I don’t think she wants to, either. If you spent any real time with my daughter, you should know this—Alexis is a fighter. She’ll want to face you when she’s strong enough to say what she needs to say. But let me give you a word of advice, mother to man: talk to your sister. Tell her to stay the hell away from us—away from my Alexis. I don’t care about your fancy last name. If she hurts my daughter one more time, I swear to God, I’ll wring her neck myself."
Alexis
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Alexis’s Discharge Day
"I can’t takeit anymore, Mom. I miss my son so much."
"I know, sweetheart, but I had to send him back to Cape Cod with Badger. How could I have kept him here? He needed to be at the restaurant, and the only alternative would have been bringing the boy here with me. You still haven’t told LJ about Sedric."
"I’m planning to do it today."
"Really?"
I nod, trying to look confident even though I feel anything but.
Mom talked to me and explained what that viper of a sister of his did. Lois lied to me the first time we spoke on the phone, and while there’s a good chance she lied the second time too—when I reached out on Instagram asking for LJ’s number—I can’t be sure.
"I don’t think we should move into that apartment, Mom. Not until he knows the whole truth about our son. He might hate me after that."
She doesn’t say anything, and I know why: my mother doesn’t lie. She’s also not the kind to sugarcoat things she believes are wrong. We’ve had countless conversations while Sedric was growing up, and in every single one—even when she seemed to despise LJ, which I now know has changed since she told me he wasn’t engaged to the woman who died—she always insisted I should have told him the truth.
I feel partly guilty for not trying harder to reach him, but the only excuse I can offer myself is that I was afraid of my son being rejected.
