Page 56 of Beautifully Wounded

After about an hour of just holding her and watching how her tears dry on her cheeks, and how her frown smooths out to finally show gentle peace, I carefully move her to the bed, laying her on top of the covers before draping a spare sheet over her.

Not that she needs it with that fucking hoodie still on, but I’m not about to disturb her to remove it. She’ll wake up and take it off if she gets too hot.

Joining Abbey on the bed, even though it’s late, I redial the number of the burner phone I arranged to be sent to Lexi, and she answers on the second ring.

“Yeb?”

I frown. “Who the fuck is Yeb?”

Lexi giggles. “Oh hi, Ringo. Sorry, I thought it was Abbey.”

“But you called her Yeb?”

“Well, yeah. I can’t say her real name until I know it’s her calling. What if the cops had gotten your phone and called me? I can’t let them know I’m in on Abbey’s kidnapping.”

“True,” I say, relaxing back against the shitty cane bedhead, glancing down at Abbey’s sleeping form, her lips parted as she snores quietly. “But why Yeb?”

“Yeb was her code name when we were kids. We wrote our names backwards and took the first three letters to make our code name.” Lexi giggles. “Genius, right?”

I chuckle. “Sure.”

“You’re just jealous you weren’t as cool as we were when you were little.”

“You have me there. I was nowhere nearthatcool,” I tease sarcastically.

“Especially since your name would have been Nor.”

“Fucking hell.” I snarl as Lexi laughs uncontrollably. “Why do you know so much about me?”

The fact that she knows my real name is annoying. Not that it matters, but in my line of work, we stick to road and nicknames.

Lexi sighs, turning serious. “I visit Muz’s grave every month, Ringo. Your name is on his headstone.”

I forgot about that.

Shit.

“Every month?” I ask and she sighs.

“The stupid lockdowns have made it harder, but I try.”

Shit. I don’t even go to his grave that often.

I’m a crappy brother.

“Is Abs okay? The call disconnected earlier.”

Reaching out, I stroke back some of Abbey’s blonde strands that have escaped her braids. “I think she had a panic attack. I managed to get her to breathe properly again, but then she just broke.”

Shit. My voice cracks as I speak, and a moment later, I hear Lexi sniffling on the other end of the line.

“Ringo, she’s a good person. She’s going to tell you she isn’t. Be hard on herself for some of the shit that went down eighteen months ago, but you have to remind her that she’s still a good person for me, okay?”

“I can try, but I don’t know if I’m helping her or making it worse. There’s a fucking orgy happening outside my room right now, and given her reaction to some of the stuff that’s happened…” I trail off, not able to finish, but Lexi already knows.

“She may befragile, but the girl I knew before all this stuff happened was excited about life, about love, was super curious about sex. Hell, she lost her virginity before I did. Yes, she’s been in a really fucked up situation, but if you give her time, she’ll learn who she can trust again.”

“I don’t know if I’m the man for the job, Lex.” I remind her, my gaze never wavering from the angel asleep next to me.

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