“Oh my God. That’s my fault too.” Kendall looked up at Lexie with big, watery eyes. “I’m sure you can fix things. He knows it wasn’t you, and he isn’t pressing charges against me. That’s got to be because of you. Because he loves you.”
Lexie shook her head hard. Love? She was pretty sure he considered himself well rid of her. She brought complications no man in his right mind needed in his life. Because of his relationship with her, he’d ended up vulnerable to Julian’s manipulations.
“Don’t worry about me,” Lexie murmured. “Let’s talk about you.”
Her sister let out a harsh laugh. “What about me? I think I’ve hit the proverbial rock bottom.” She looked away. “I called Dr. Kay and told him I wanted to check myself into an inpatient facility and get help.”
“Kendall!”
“Long term, this time. Not a two-week-and-I’m-out sort of deal. I have to learn to function on my own. To find the right cocktail of meds, to have the correct therapy. I can’t go on like this anymore. The ups and downs are killing me, and worse, they’re hurting you, and I’m so, so tired of hurting too.” Her sister’s rocking continued as she broke down in gulping, loud sobs.
Lexie couldn’t believe her sister was finally reaching out for real long-term help. Admiration welled up inside her.
She crawled over the bed and grabbed her twin, hugging her tight. “It’ll be okay,” she murmured. “I’m so proud of you. So proud. And I’ll be by your side the whole time. You can do this. I know you can.” She stroked her sister’s hair and whispered comforting words in her ear, doing all the things a mother would do. If only they had a capable mother.
Kendall held on to her as she cried like a little girl while Lexie choked back her own tears. Tears for her twin, for the hard life Kendall had, and for Lexie’s own choices and losses.
For Kade, the man who meant everything to her. And the man she had to let go.
* * *
Kade shouldn’t have been surprised when Lexie didn’t show up for work the next morning. He’d fired her. Not just fired her. He’d told her to get the fuck out. Despite all that had gone down with her twin sister yesterday, he hadn’t asked her to come back to him. Not as his PA and not as his woman.
The PA had been a mistake. On a professional level, he needed her to keep things running smoothly. She was always two steps ahead of him and the perfect assistant for a man like him.
Coming back to him, that was another story. Without a doubt, he knew he wanted and needed her in his life, by his side for the long haul. But he was about to make some extremely drastic moves, and he didn’t think it was fair to ask her to stand by his side as he made them.
“Kade.” Luke walked into his office, Derek right behind him.
“Shut the door,” Kade said, walking around his desk and joining his friends.
“I don’t know why. You don’t have an assistant to overhear anything,” Derek said, his sarcastic tone indicating he wasn’t happy with Kade.
He got it. He wasn’t happy with how he’d treated Lexie in this very room yesterday either. He still had to apologize for that, and would when he explained why she no longer had a job. He didn’t want her thinking she was fired. It was more complicated than that. But this meeting had to come first. When all was said and done, he might not have a position for her to return to.
“Let’s sit,” Kade said, easing himself onto the edge of his desk, facing his friends.
Derek and Luke eyed him suspiciously as they settled into their chairs.
“What’s going on?”
Kade cleared his throat. “First you should know I admire the hell out of you two. You’re my brothers, and there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you. Which is why I’m pulling out of Blink.”
Derek was out of his seat, but Luke, ever the more rational and calm when it came to personal decisions, pulled him back.
“Let him explain,” Luke said.
“I went to see Julian. He’s not going to back down until he gets what he wants, and he’s demanding one quarter of what we’ve built.” He curled his good hand around the desk. “No fucking way will I let that happen.”
“You know we can fight him,” Derek said.
“And we’re willing to go all the way.” This from Luke.
Kade shook his head. “That’s why you’re my brothers. That’s also why I won’t let you. He’s proven he’s willing to play dirty and hurt people who don’t deserve it. People who won’t see him coming and aren’t capable of fighting back.”
“Lexie,” Derek said.
Kade nodded. “And her twin. Her sister is bipolar,” he said, trusting these two men with the truth. “And that bastard used her and dumped her like yesterday’s trash.” He couldn’t get Lexie’s face out his mind, the concern for her sister, the fear in her eyes aimed at him. “I won’t add to that.”
Derek groaned. “Let’s take a breath and regroup.”
Kade shook his head. “I called a tech mag reporter I like and trust. I’m telling the truth about my past and signing over my shares of Blink evenly between the two of you. I’m taking away Julian’s power to destroy Blink.” And to destroy his best friends and their legacy.
“Fuck no.” Derek rose and Luke did the same.
“For the record, I agree. You are every bit as much a part of this as we are,” Luke said.