Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 103753 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 519(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103753 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 519(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
Protectiveness. I feel protective of Lexi.
I don’t know what to do with that.
Shaking her head, her eyes meet mine and she forces a smile. “Everyone’s got a story. It could’ve been worse though. My neighbors growing up, they…” Her brow furrows. “They weren’t nice people. I was just a baby, maybe five or six, and I would hear them every night. Yelling and hurtin’ on their son.” She whispers, “He was just a boy. And I would sit in my room and…and just cry. Cry with him.”
Her voice sounds pained, and my heart races.
She adds quietly, “I met him once. I saw him limping into my backyard. He was hurt. And when he fell, even though I was just a kid, I couldn’t imagine leaving him there, all alone and scared.” She whispers again, “He was just a boy. A little boy. And he was hurt bad.”
Pulling her hand to bring her closer to me, I wrap an arm around her waist and she buries her face into my neck. I need to know. “What happened with the little boy?”
She inhales deeply and replies on an exhale, “He tried to fight me.” And I smile at her temple. She must feel it because she laughs softly. “Yeah. He was a tough one. Not wanting help from anyone, especially me. Very wary and suspicious.” Then she says something that makes my chest ache. “He was a little like you, Twitch.”
Snuggling into me, she speaks into the side of my neck. “He didn’t want to tell me his name. But I got it out of him. He told me I’d forget once he was gone and I promised I wouldn’t. I remember trying so hard to make sure I didn’t forget it.” She smiles at my throat. “I even carved his name into the huge oak back home when I was ten.” She chuckles, “It’s like I wanted to prove to him that I kept my word.” Silence, then, “It didn’t matter, though. The day after I met him, there were ambulances and police cars all over his house. I hid in my room, covering my ears ‘til they left. And I knew…I just knew he was gone.”
My aching chest is soothed when a feeling of warmth settles over me.
Lexi yawns. “I guess that’s why I do what I do. You know? Help the kids I help. It’s sorta because of him. I’ll never forget him. He was a fighter. I always thought of him as a survivor.”
I don’t want to ask. I don’t want to ask. Don’t ask. “Do you remember his name, baby?”
Half asleep, she whispers, “Antonio Falco.”
My body tenses, solid as a rock. I listen closely as her breathing deepens then evens out, and her body softens as she falls into a deep sleep.
Fuck me. Fucking hell. I don’t believe this shit.
Breathing heavily, my jaw tightens and I pull Lexi deeper into me, savouring her warmth and sweetness. Everything I’m too stubborn to let go of.
Goddamn it! This wasn’t meant to happen. This… Fuck me… This changes everything.
Lexi remembers me.
A piercing shriek in my ear makes my entire body jolt.
The shriek sounds again. Then again.
My bedroom door bursts open, and Happy stands there in his boxers, as well as Ling in a skimpy nightie, both looking just woken. When Ling spots Lexi at my side, she scowls. Lexi lifts her head and mumbles, “What’s going on? What’s that freaking noise?” Blinking, she looks to the door and yells, “What is she doing here?”
One question at a time, young grasshopper.
Answering all her questions out of order, I say, “That’s the alarm; someone’s breaking in.” I look to Happy, who nods in confirmation. “And Ling lives here, Lex.”
Ling smirks.
Lexi’s brow furrows. “Why?”
Not wanting to embarrass Ling, I pretend to kiss Lexi’s temple and whisper, “Got nowhere else to go.”
Lexi pushes her temple into my touch before pulling back wide-eyed and screeching, “Someone’s breaking in?”
Happy chuckles and Ling mutters, “Rookie.”
I grin. “Don’t sweat it. Happens all the time.”
Her eyes drift down to my chest as she stutters, “Ha-ha-happens all the time?”
Slipping out of bed, I pull on a pair of boxers and order, “Stay up here. Whatever you hear, do not come down. You hear me?”
She pulls the covers up to her neck and whispers, “I can’t promise that, but I’ll stay up here ‘til I can stay up here no longer pondering your imminent death.”
Stopping in my tracks at her overly dramatic explanation, I ask, “How long you think that’ll be?”
Looking up in thought, she mutters, “About five minutes.”
“Deal.” Pointing at her, I order, “Do not come down. For five minutes.”
As I walk out into the hall, Ling walks back to her room, closing the door behind her, while Happy follows behind me.
I ask him, “What do we have today?”
Happy snickers, “One guy. Looks drug-fucked. In the dining area, searching like a mad man.”