“I bet your parents are proud of you now.”
She had probably bought them a place. Somewhere with lots of land. Expensive furniture and a pool. Linc and I made sure our parents were taken care of. Last year I bought my mom a new Lexus. She loved that damn car. My dad hated she had gone with cherry red.
“They aren’t around.” Her voice softened.
I was going where I never went. Asking questions. Digging deeper.
“What happened, Alexa?”
“It’s embarrassing. No one knows except Jake, and he doesn’t want the press to find out and dig up a bunch of dirt on the whole thing.”
“What is it?” I didn’t know how it was possible for people to keep many secrets anymore.
She exhaled slowly. “My dad went to jail for a long list of petty crimes. Check fraud. Tax evasion. He was just trying to find ways to pay bills.” Her expression was anguished. “He’s not a bad guy. He just did things because he was desperate. He never would have tried them if he had money. He wouldn’t. He was laid off from the plant and things spiraled.”
“And your mom?”
“She lost the house when my dad went to jail. Her car was repossessed. She was in worse shape than he was. She was an aid at the library. Do you have any idea how much she made?”
I saw Alexa wipe at her cheeks with her palms.
“No.”
“Not enough to pay bills. It got worse. Much worse.” Her voice cracked. “She was alone.”
“What happened, Alexa?” I had to coax the story from her.
“With my dad in jail and no money she met someone online. And she left with him.”
I had stopped watching the game. I hit mute on the remote. “Where did your mom go?”
“To Mexico.” Alexa wiped at another tear. “But I don’t know if she made it. I don’t know if she’s there. All I know is that I can’t find her. And I’ve looked. I’ve hired investigators. I’ve spent money looking for her. Nothing has turned up. She’s a ghost. I think she’s dead.”
“Shit,” I whispered. That was fucked up. Fucked up for her. For her mom. For her dad. I didn’t know if I should hold her or get a detective on the phone myself. I wanted to do something.
“Yeah. See why it’s not something I talk about? It’s an embarrassment. My dad is in jail. My mom cheated on him. Ran away and she didn’t even bother to worry about her daughter. Not exactly the picture perfect story Jake wants out there for the country sweetheart I am.”
“What did you do? Where did you go when she left?” I didn’t give a shit about Jake right now. That asshole only had one priority and it wasn’t Alexa.
She sniffed once more, but I couldn’t tell if she was about to cry or if she had stopped herself. That was the end of the tears. “I moved to Nashville. I met Jake and the rest is history.”
“But she could be out there? You don’t know for sure.” There was a lot of uncertainty in Alexa’s past.
“I don’t think so. Wouldn’t she have come back by now? If you had a daughter who was worth a bajillion dollars, wouldn’t you show up?” she asked.
“Maybe she has too much pride. Maybe she doesn’t want to admit what she did was wrong.” I didn’t know her mom and I wasn’t taking the woman’s side. I didn’t know why people made shitty decisions. I’d made more than enough.
“I knew you were strong, but I didn’t know exactly how strong.” I wrapped my other arm around her. “You amaze me, Alexa.”
“Really? That entire story didn’t turn you off? You don’t think differently about me?”
“I do. I think you’re one hell of a woman. My woman.” I rolled her to face me. Her breasts draped over me, her nipples brushing my chest.
“I didn’t grow up like you and Linc. You don’t care?”
“No. Doesn’t matter what happened before the night I paid twenty-five thousand dollars to hear you sing.” I tried to make her smile.
“It’s such a dark secret,” she whispered.
“I know it is. But I’ll keep it.” I kissed her cheek, tasting the saltiness of her tears.
She rocked forward. “You promise, Luke?”
Her hips ground into my cock and it hardened into a thick rod. Holy fuck.
“I promise. I’ll never tell.”
I kissed her other cheek, my hand sliding over her ass and dipping between her legs, searching for her swollen clit.
She hissed as I eased one finger and then another inside her. She jerked up, sitting back on my fingers.
“Feel good?” I asked.
She closed her eyes. “Yes.”