Page 23 of Lennox Lane

Me: He brought Depends to my table.

Nova: HE BROUGHT WHAT?

Cadence: I’m sorry I’m concerned, but also WHAT?

Lane didn’t respond as she slid her phone into her handbag before stepping toward the curb and heading to her car. Lennox Jackson had embarrassed her in public by sabotaging her date and paying the check before vanishing like the petty cyber-goblin he was.

He wanted to play? Bet. Lane smiled as the valet pulled her car around. By morning, Lennox would learn something important. Urinary incontinence was nothing to be ashamed of, but neither was revenge.

CHAPTER FOUR

ACCESS DENIED

Lennox knew Lane was going to cuss his ass smooth out. He also knew he deserved it. That didn’t stop him from sitting in the passenger seat of her car like he had been invited.

He leaned back against the leather with one ankle crossed over the other. He had his phone in his hand and his eyes on the steakhouse entrance through the windshield. He’d bribed and threatened the valet to let him bring Lane’s car around. Somewhere inside, Devin Halstead was probably trying to recover from having a pack of Depends placed beside his bread plate.

Lennox smiled. He should have felt bad, but he didn’t. Well, not completely. The Depends had been childish. Petty. Unhinged. Possibly actionable if Lane wanted to get creative with local law enforcement.

But the look on that square-ass nigga’s face?

Worth every dollar.

Lennox had lasted exactly twelve minutes after leaving KC and Cadence’s house before deciding he had no intention of letting Lane have a peaceful dinner with a man whose email signature included the phrase ‘Strategic Cultural Alignment’. Then he stopped at a pharmacy to buy the largest pack of adult diapers he could find and made his way to Valentina’s with the calm focus of a man committing emotional vandalism in designer shoes.

He was proud of the execution. Less proud of how badly he wanted to walk back inside when he saw Devin escort Lane toward the front.

Devin looked irritated.

Good.

Lane looked furious.

Better.

Lennox had seen them hug when Lane arrived. He had seen the way Lane’s body gave nothing back. There was no spark, no tiny involuntary pause like the one she gave Lennox when she was pretending not to feel anything. Devin Halstead had been dead on arrival; Lennox had merely handled the funeral. Still, watching him dismiss Lane like he had better options made something ugly move through Lennox’s chest.

Still, he continued to watch as Lane and Devin separated beneath the awning. Devin walked toward the valet stand. Lane stood there for a moment with her phone in her hand, without a doubt texting Cadence and Nova.

She finally headed to her car, and Lennox lowered his phone, waiting. Her curls perfect, her makeup flawless, her handbag tucked beneath her arm as her hips moved like she was walking toward a murder she had already planned and not an innocent vehicle.

Lane pressed the unlock button. The car chirped as Lennox shifted in the seat. When the driver’s side door opened, Lane slid inside, pulled it shut, and turned her head. She didn’t jump or scream. She didn’t even blink as she looked at him sitting in her passenger seat.

Lane inhaled once through her nose and said, “I want you to know the only reason I’m not shocked is that disappointment has made me adaptable.”

Lennox’s mouth twitched. “Evening, Sanders.”

“Don’t evening me, you Wi-Fi gremlin!” She yelled.

“There she is.”

“Do not ‘there she is’ me like I’m the unreasonable one. You just ambushed my date with adult diapers and then broke into my car like a raccoon.”

He looked offended. “Broke in is an ugly phrase.”

“It’s accurate, as fuck,” she hissed.

“I prefer gained access.”