Page 102 of Goode to Be Bad

I took her hand. “I’ve already been texting with Zane and Dru. And in fact, your mom’s client this morning is actually me. All those emails I was working on, on the way here? It was with your mom, Zane, and Dru, looking for a place for us up here.”

She blinked. “Wait. Really?” A frown. “Mom and Dru as realtors, but why Zane?”

“Because him and Rome have a side hustle as builders and renovators, with Lucas helping out as needed. Your mom and Dru found a place, but it’s gonna need some TLC, and so she and Zane and Rome are checking it out today, going over plans. They’re coming here afterwards and they’re gonna show us their ideas.” I grinned. “It was gonna be another surprise, but this works, too.”

“I know you love Texas, Myles. I don’t want to keep you away, I just…”

I snorted. “I grew up there, sure, and it’ll always have a special place in my heart because of that, but there’s really no one there for me anymore. It was just my home base out of convenience, because it was what I knew. Here? Your family is here. Crow is here.” I held both of her hands. “Ofcoursethis is where I’d want us to make our…” I held my breath. “Our home.”

She swallowed, tearing up. “Damn you, Myles North, you’re making me so fucking emotional all the time. Thank you.”

“You really think I’d settle for a shitty little apartment? Hell no. We’re doing this right. This is your home, my home—ourhome. So it’s gonna be fuckin’ pimp. And you’re gonna make it ours. Okay?”

A few hours later, Zane, Rome, and Dru left Liv’s condo with sketches and plans in hand, our new home taking shape—a warehouse conversion like Zane and Mara had. Just…on steroids.

And then it was just Liv, Lexie, and me.

And we all knew what was next. Liv sensed there was something, but she didn’t know what.

Liv eyed Lex, sighing. “So. Is this a good time for the other thing you had to tell me?”

Lex swallowed hard. “Yeah, I…I guess. It’s not…it’s not an easy thing I’m going to tell you, Mom.”

I prepared to stand up. “I think you guys need privacy for this.”

Lexie snatched my wrist and gripped me so tightly my bones ground together. “No, I…I don’t think I can do this without you, Myles.”

I sat down. “Okay. Whatever you need.”

Slowly, then, haltingly, Lexie told Liv her story, almost verbatim as she’d told it to me, clutching my hand in a death grip. Sparing no details. She cried through much of the telling, but remained strong. Liv seemed unable to process what she was being told. When Lexie was finally finished Liv sat, stunned, tears streaming freely down her face.

“Can…Can I have a moment?” she whispered.

She didn’t wait for an answer—shot to her feet and beelined for the bathroom. She was in there several minutes, and emerged with a box of Kleenex and red eyes, no more composed than when she’d gone in. “Lexie, I…I don’t even know what to say. I had no idea.”

“I know you didn’t, Mom. I hid it from you, from everyone.”

Liv cracked, sobbed. “I should have known. I should haveknown. Oh god, oh god, Lexie.” She peered at her daughter through a screen of tears. “I’m sorry, Alexandra. I’m so, so sorry.”

Lexie left my side and sat on the love seat by her mother. “It’s not your fault, Mom.”

“Yes, it is. I should have known.”

Lexie sighed. “You know, there is a part of me that wants to blame it on you. But I can’t. I hid it from you, and I’m a damn good liar. You couldn’t have known.”

Liv shook her head. “It’s not okay. I’m not okay with this.”

“Neither am I, Mom,” Lexie said. “But I have to learn to be. Getting it out is a big step. It’s not a secret anymore—and I’ve been keeping that a secret since I was thirteen. I’m free of it, now. Myles is to thank for that, honestly.” She smiled at me. “It’s going to take time to heal, for me, and for you, and for us.”

“It explains why sometimes you were so sharp with me, almost angry,” Liv said. “I could never understand, and now I do.” She sighed, long and deep and painful. “I am so, so sorry I didn’t protect you from that, Lexie. I should have. I feel like if I’d been paying closer attention, less busy with my career, with your sisters, with my marriage I’d have seen something...”

“There’s no point playing what-if, Mom,” Lexie said. “You think I haven’t spent the last eight years playing what-if? What if I hadn’t insisted on music lessons? What if I hadn’t said this or done that? What if something I did or said made him think I wanted it? What if I’d said no? What if… what if I hadn’t been too confused and scared to say no? What if I’d told you? What if I’d let you see how badly I was hurting? There’s a million, billion what-ifs in a situation like this, Mom, and not a single one of them will change what happened. We just have to move forward.”

“I don’t know that I’ll ever forgive myself,” Liv whispered. “Four years. Every week forfour fucking years.” She hissed the last part, her use of a curse word a testament to the depth of her pain and guilt. “I’m so fucking sorry, Alexandra.”

Lexie wrapped her mother in a hug, and they stayed like that for a long time. Eventually, both of them sniffling and teary-eyed and clutching Kleenex, Lexie held her mother’s eyes. “I’m going to be okay, Mom. I survived it, I’m past it. I have Myles. I have you, and Charlie, and Cassie, and this whole crazy clan of people up here. I’m in a band! A world-touring, hugely popular, Grammy-winning band. I’m going to have a home, here, near you guys. It’s going to be okay, Mom. It will.”

Liv nodded. “You’ve had all these years to deal with this, Lex. I’m just now finding out. It’s going to take me time to work through it.” She took a deep breath; held it, let it out slowly. “Thank you for telling me.”