Page 16 of Shielding Lexi (Temptation)

My teeth grind against one another at the stupidity of his comment. “We’ve seen the Daggers’ boat. We know they’re looking for her.”

“We don’t know dick,” he growls, pulling open the screen door. “You coming?” he asks, looking back.

I stand and turn toward him, Lexi’s crocodile tears already bellowing their way out into the porch. “You guys okay?” Lexi asks the second we step inside. She’s sitting in the kitchen, facing the entryway, her head buried in her hands as though she’s been crying. Hawk is by her side.

Of course he is.

I roll my eyes and stomp my feet on the mat as I take off my jacket to hang on a hook by the door. “We’re fine. Just going over our exit strategy.”

“Have you heard any more on the stor—”

“Should be over by Friday,” I say. “We’ll head out first thing.”

She nods and lowers her head again, and for some reason a flicker of guilt runs through me. If I’d met her any other time and place, I’d feel bad for her situation. I may even want to help. Hell, I may even want to hold her, because those fucking tears look really fucking pathetic.

Hawk leans in toward Lexi, his hand on hers. “They heard us talking last night,” he says, “We need to tell them about the thing you told me.”

She looks up at Hawk, her lip quivering, her eyes welling with more tears. “Okay… let’s do it.”

7

Lexi

The room is silent except for the rain and Reaper’s heavy breathing. Hawk keeps his hand on my back and Kane stays close to my side. He’s trying to be comforting as well, I can feel it. Reaper though… his eyes are narrowed and his nostrils are flaring like he’s going to lose his shit.

“Spit it out, Lexi,” Reaper growls.

“She will Reap. Just give her a second for fuck’s sake,” Hawk sighs, still rubbing my shoulders. If he wasn’t here with me, I think I’d be balled up in a corner crying. Reaper is so damn intimidating and I wonder what it would feel like to have him in my corner for once. I’m getting sick of being his opponent. I may not remember much about myself, but I know I don’t do well with conflict.

I take a deep breath and look toward Reaper, then away, before gathering the courage to speak.

“Yesterday, when I remembered Brick, I also remembered something that I’m pretty sure is going to upset you,” I say the words slowly, dripping them through my lips as though there’s a leak.

“Yeah,” Reaper grunts, his eyes wide as he waits impatiently.

“Well…” I drawl, “I remembered that Brick and I…” my stomach clenches, “I remember that he was my boyfriend.”

The room goes silent, and Kane’s eyes hold steady on Reaper, as though he’s gauging how hard he’s taking the news. I can’t see Hawk, though his hands are still on my shoulders. He’s stopped moving them.

“What did I fucking tell you?” Reaper growls, thumping his fist on the table with enough force to shake the ground, before scraping his chair away from the table. “I told you guys she was with Brick.” He angles his eyes back in on me, as he leans toward me. “Did you know Julie?” His voice cracks when he speaks.

I shake my head. “No… I swear, I didn’t know her. The second I heard Brick was doing anything shady, I jumped. We met online and I thoug—”

“You really think I’m going to fall for some bullshit like you didn’t know who he was? Come on, you’re young… but you’re not dumb.”

“Reaper, just give her a second to explain. I’m sure there’s a perfectly good—”

“Seriously?” he shouts, slamming his fist down on the table. “You’re kidding me, right? You still believe her? I’m sure she was there for the whole thing. She saw how Julie died, what he did to her.” Reaper’s voice is shaking, his face is red, and his jaw is clenched. I should’ve known this was a terrible idea. Why did I decide to be a hero? I should have kept my damn mouth shut.

“I really didn’t see anything. I swear to you, I didn’t.”

“And how do you know? You can’t remember anything… remember?” he scoffs.

I feel tears begin to work their way onto my cheek, but I wipe them away quickly. I can’t look weak.

“Reap, calm the fuck down,” Kane says, standing from the table. He’s big and bulking with dark features and a black t-shirt. Until now, he’s been pretty quiet, and I wasn’t quite sure how to take him. He’s nice, well… nicer than Reaper, but not quite as kind as Hawk so I thought he was indifferent. I definitely wasn’t expecting him to stand up to Reaper like he is.

“Really Kane? You too?” Reaper says, throwing his hands in the air. “I give up. You two fuckers just keep drinking the juice and I’ll be in the fucking boathouse if you need me.” And with that, he couldn’t make his feelings for me any clearer. I won’t take his shit lying down. He’s wrong, and he needs to hear it.

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