Page 44 of Lennox Lane

“And you resented her for that.”

His eyes closed briefly. “Yeah.”

The honesty landed heavier than a prettier answer would have.

“I hated him for humiliating her,” Lennox said. “Then I hated her for staying humiliated. Then I hated myself for hating her, because she was my mother and I could see what he was doing to her. It was a mess.”

Lane reached out, resting her fingertips against his chest.

Not comfort exactly.

Presence.

Lennox covered her hand with his.

“There are outside children,” he said after a while. “At least two I know of.”

Lane’s brows lifted. “At least?”

“My father collected secrets the way other men collect watches. I don’t assume I know all of his.”

“Do you know them? The children?”

“One. A little. The other, no.” His thumb moved over the back of Lane’s hand. “That’s complicated too. None of us asked to be born into his mess, but children always end up inheriting the cleanup.”

Lane realized that she and Lennox had more in common than either of them cared to admit. There was a kind of grief in Lennox she hadn’t expected. Not because she thought he was shallow. She knew better than that now. But his grief was dressed differently than hers. Lane’s had grown up in empty cabinets, broken locks, motel rooms, and a mother who never searched. Lennox had grown up behind gates, beneath expensive ceilings, beside a woman in silk robes pretending not to hear another woman’s name on her husband’s phone.

Different wound.

Same lesson.

Love was dangerous when the wrong person held power.

“I never wanted to be him,” Lennox said.

Lane’s hand stilled beneath his.

“The Midnight Ledger?”

He nodded. “I never wanted the name. Never wanted the underworld mythology. Never wanted men whispering like I was a ghost story they could hire when they needed something buried or exposed.”

“But your father wanted you to.”

“He found out what I could do.” Lennox laughed once, sharp and humorless. “I was maybe thirteen the first time I got into something I wasn’t supposed to. School system. Changed a grade for a kid who paid me fifty dollars and half a pack of Starburst.”

Lane blinked. “You risked cyber prison for Starburst?”

“Red and pink only.”

“Still stupid.”

“I was thirteen.”

“You were thirteen with criminal intent.”

His smile flickered. “My father found out before the school did. I thought he was going to punish me.”

“But he didn’t?”