Page 48 of Lavender and Lightning

“Ms.St.Clair,Mateojust arrived.”

Erica’s voice comes through the intercom on Lex’s desk, and there’s no small bit of surprise in my chest as I check the clock on the wall. He’s… on time. Not just on time, but actually a few minutes early. Lex and I share a look, but we don’t get a chance to comment on it as the door opens and Mateo strides in. He’s dressed in a button-down, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, but it’s tucked into a pair of dark designer jeans.

“I thought you had a client meeting,” Lex comments, standing from her chair behind the massive glass-top desk.

“I did. They were a couple of Yankee trust fund babies with more money than they know what to do with, so I was frankly a little overdressed. But I did get them to sign on the dotted line, despite not wearing my Sunday best,” Mateo returns, making a beeline for the bar cart and pouring himself a couple of fingers of the expensive bourbon.

“Should that be enough for your project, Rhett?” Lex asks, perching on the arm of an armchair near where I’m lounging.

I nod, accepting the glass Mateo puts in my hand before he throws himself down onto the pristine white leather couch. Lex glares in his direction as he puts his shoes on the cushions, but doesn’t say anything to correct him.

“I got a call from Officer Nyueng today. He’s running out of leads,” she says, letting out a long exhale.

I growl low in my throat, knuckles going white on my glass before I take a sharp swig. Everyone knows that Seth and Darren are working together, but we can’t prove it. And we’ve yet to find any connection between either of them and the bastard who broke into Lydia’s apartment. Knowing that she has a bodyguard helps calm my nerves, but the irritated itch in the back of my mind that only appears when Lydia isn’t in my line of sight resurfaces.

“Do they have any suspects?” Mateo asks, sitting up and leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees.

The serious angle of his frown, the way his brow furrows with concern, softens something in my heart. Mateo has been in plenty of relationships before and after Seth, but I’ve never seen this depth of emotion from him. He worships the ground Lydia walks on, and I can’t say I blame him. Lydia doesn’t know it, but she has at least two alphas who would do just about anything for her. I look away from his face before I can think too long on the feelings stirring in my chest.

“A few, but the descriptions of witnesses are so vague as to be useless. Male, but no one can agree on height or build. And you didn’t recognize the voice at all?” Lex starts, turning her question to me.

I shake my head. “I speak with too many people on a weekly basis that unless someone has something distinctive about them, I wouldn’t remember.”

“Have we asked Lydia if she recognized anything? The voice, or even a scent? You wouldn’t have been able to catch anything out of the ordinary, but she might have,” Mateo suggests.

“She’s under enough stress. I don’t want to ask her to relive her trauma again,” Lex snaps before I can even fully open my mouth to reply.

Mateo and I both stare for a moment, taken aback by the heat in her voice. Lex doesn’t back down, turning her hard stare to each of us, almost daring us to try to challenge her. Her back is straight, hands in fists. She’s… protecting Lydia?

“Did something happen?” I ask gently.

“No, not that it should matter. Lydia has been through enough in her life, and we should not ask her to dredge up those bad memories without reason. It’s cruel, and we’re better than that,” Lex retorts, looking away.

If I didn’t know any better, I could swear that there’s a hint of color to her cheeks, a softness to her eyes as she speaks about Lydia that I’ve never seen before. I sit up a little straighter, and I catch a hint of citrus in the air before it drifts away.

“Did something happen between the two of you?” Mateo pushes, a teasing edge to his voice.

“I don’t ask you to kiss and tell, Mateo,” she volleys, and by her expression, that’s not what she’d meant to say.

Mateo’s face lights up, a grin replacing the frown. There’s no mistaking the blush on Lex’s cheeks and neck now, and I resist the urge to needle her for more details. Lydia’s relationship with our prime alpha is her business, but I can’t deny the burning curiosity to know more. How far have they gone together? What is their dynamic like? Lex can be intense in her play, and while I trust her to make sure Lydia is safe and comfortable, I won’t deny the part of me that wants to witness their play firsthand.

“Regardless, unless we don’t have another choice, Lydia shouldn’t be involved in this. She deserves to have some semblance of normalcy,” Lex goes on, brushing her hair over her shoulder.

I nod my agreement, but Mateo sucks his teeth before taking another drink of his bourbon.

“If you have something to say—”

“Oh, I do. We can’t expect her to take this situation seriously if she doesn’t know the stakes,” Mateo says, tone light but eyes hard.

I purse my lips as I consider that point. He’s not wrong, even if it does pain me a little to admit it. But the desire to keep Lydia from constantly being on the verge of a panic attack or nervous breakdown wins out.

“She’s aware of more than I think you’re giving her credit for. We don’t need to make it worse,” Lex says, voicing my thoughts.

“So, we’re not going to tell her about the tracker? Or about the articles your people have been squashing?” Mateo goes on, words taking on an accusatory edge.

I look at Lex in alarm. The tracker wasn’t news, despite it coming to a dead end. But I have not heard anything about articles other than the one published last week. Lex has the decency to look slightly abashed for a moment before she regains her composure and returns Mateo’s glare with one of her own.

“No, we don’t need to tell her about it,” she says simply.

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