Page 5 of His Daggered Heart

The more tears fall, the angrier I get. Crying makes me feel weak, and feeling weak triggers me to feel like I need to protect myself. Fight or flight and it’s almost always fight. Strike first and strike harder. This is Cora, though, so I don’t want to hurt her. I need to get out of here. I take a deep, shaky breath to calm down.

“Listen, Cora, I love you but you are overstepping here. You have to trust that I know what’s right for me. I know what I’m doing, and Kohen isn’t the only one hurting.” She sniffles as if she is crying but I can’t tell.

I open the door and lock it behind me before I shut it. Levi is leaning on the wall in my little hallway. Compassion and understanding are in his ocean eyes as he opens his arms for me to step into a hug. He wraps his long limbs around me and I bawl against his chest, tears and makeup staining his crisp button-up work shirt. He dresses like he’s ready to go work at the refineries, always in Wranglers or Levis and his cowboy boots. I often make fun of the fact that he doesn’t ever just dress comfortably in some basketball shorts and sneakers. He swears what he wears is comfortable but I don’t see how in this Texas heat.

His hand runs through my hair and he rests his chin on my head, squeezing me gently.

“How is this my fault, Lee?” The nickname I gave him drives him crazy since his name is only two syllables. I use it anyway because I know he secretly loves it. “It’s his fault too, I mean I know I’m a lot but I loved him.”

He moves back to look at me, taking his thumbs to wipe away the tears running down my face. “Sugar, you are not too much. You are just enough, and even if you were, he can go find less. I guarantee he will be looking into the eyes of every girl he meets searching for you, and he won’t find you because you, Alex Larae, are one of a kind, special, and you deserve all the love in the world, sweetness. Trust me.”

As if the day hasn’t already been on everyone else’s side, Cora walks out of the restroom in her towel, her eyes roaming from Levi to me, and then zoning in on the place where his hands meet my cheeks. It looks intimate. Like he is about to kiss me but it feels redundant to try and explain that this is not what it looks like. I’m not even going to try.

“Hello, ma’am,” he tells her, removing one of his hands from my face to tip his baseball cap to her.

“Hello…” She pauses. “Sir?” I understand the confusion in her voice as she is treated with the utmost respect by Levi, respect that we aren’t used to in this god-forsaken city. He extends his hand to her and she takes it. Meanwhile, I’m staring at their interaction as his other arm is still holding me tucked into his chest. He twists her hand in his and brings her knuckles to his lips and kisses them. Her eyes go wide and he smiles that award-winning smile at her.

“I’m sorry about the circumstances in which we are meeting, little lamb, however, it is a pleasure to finally meet you. Miss Alex has told me so much about you. I’m Levi.” He releases her hand and her cheeks turn a bright shade of pink as she clutches it to her chest.

“I wish I could say the same. Levi, is it?”

“Yes, ma’am. My apologies, that was up to Miss Alex, it’s her story. I’m nothing but a page in it.”

I nudge him gently with my elbow, signaling that I’m ready to leave.

“Excuse us, we have a lunch date.” And with that, he tips his hat once more and whisks us out of the hallway and down the stairs.

I look back and see Cora standing at the top of the stairs, watching us. He rushes ahead to open his truck door for me and I climb up into the cab. My purse and overnight bag are at my feet. Levi is an absolute dream. He climbs in.

“Where to, sweetness?” The truck roars to life, the rumble beneath my seat reminding me of the times Kohen and I fucked in his truck.

“To eat,” I say simply.

“What the queen wants, she gets”

“You are the best, Lee.” He winks at me and I smile. I pull the mirror open to look at the mess I created on my face. “Hey, Lee, do you have any napkins?” I turn to look at him, waiting for his response. He already has travel wet wipes ready and waiting. “You really are the best,” I say again.

“If I’m the best, then you’re the best.”

We drive to our lunch destination. When Levi takes the wheel, I’m confident everything will be okay. I close the mirror, sit back, and enjoy the ride.

Chapter 5

Alex

“Thisisbullshit!”Islam the car door. Levi started training this week and I already miss him. Especially like now when I walk out of class to a fucking flat tire.

I pull my phone out of my pocket and voice message him. “I’m dying without you, I hope you know that.” I hit send and stuff it back in my pocket. He won’t be able to answer for a while. Well, I don’t really know because I still haven’t allowed him to tell me what he is training for. I have this gut feeling that it’s for the gymnastics team and I don’t want to know.

I can’t call Cora because I haven’t talked to her since the other day and I haven’t been back home either. I know how to change a tire thanks to Cora’s dad but no matter what I’ve tried, the lug nut is stuck. I even tried jumping on the damn thing.

It’s hot as fuck and I’m getting frustrated, so I turn on the car and blast the air conditioning before I lose my shit. I lean my head back and close my eyes, trying to relax. My phone notification goes off and I tap the screen to see a voice message from Levi. I rush to open it.

“Hey, sweetness. I’m just about done here. I took a break to check on you and let you know but it’s going to be about an hour. Is everything okay?”

I respond immediately, hoping he will hear it and leave early. “No, I’m miserable. It’s so fucking hot and I have a flat tire. The lug nut is stuck. Come save me!” Instead of hitting send, I delete it because it’s selfish to want him to leave his first practice.

“I’m good. I have a flat tire but it’s all under control. I will see you in about an hour and we can go eat.” He doesn’t respond but I didn’t expect him to. I got this. I shut off the car and climb out. I’m going to try and get this shit done. I have all of the lug nuts off except that one, and I know I can get it done. I bend over to get the tire iron back onto the lug nut and it still doesn’t budge. Placing both hands on the roof of my car, I steady myself as I prepare to jump on it.

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