“You haven’t,” Lexi replied, knowing that wasn’t strictly true. She was upset; just not about what Eric thought she was upset about.
“Yes I have,” Eric said, taking her face in his hands. “And I am a stupid, stupid man. But I am a man who loves you so much.”
“I love you, too,” Lexi replied, giving him a warm smile.
“I know coming back here was a big deal for you,” Eric said softly brushing across her cheek with his thumb. “And I won’t pretend that I know why. But I want to make a future for us here. I want to make you happy; I want to see you smile every day.”
“I am happy, Eric,” Lexi replied, knowing that wasn’t strictly true either.
“I hope you are, Lex,” Eric whispered before he kissed her softly on the lips. “Because you are my happy place, and I so want to be yours.”
He kissed her again, as he slipped his arms around her waist, drawing her closer to him. Lexi slipped her arms up his chest, then around his broad shoulders.
She needed to connect to Eric once more and push Liam from her thoughts. Eric didn’t hesitate. His kiss deepened as he pulled her closer to him.
Lexi needed him. She needed to lose herself. She needed to forget.
Reaching for the buckle of his trousers, she made short work of his belt and zipper. Slipping her hand into the front of his trousers, her fingertips glided across the slick head of his erection, making Eric cry out.
Suddenly, Eric took hold of her hand pulling it from his pants, as his lips breathlessly parted from her.
“Lex!” He exclaimed breathlessly. “I can’t do this. You’re upset and I need to know you’re okay.”
“I…I’m fine,” Lexi assured him, feeling almost embarrassed to have been rejected by Eric.
“No, you’re not,” Eric insisted, giving her a sad smile. “And I do wish you would talk to me.”
“There’s nothing to tell,” Lexi sighed, as she stepped back, pulling her bathrobe tighter around herself once more. Suddenly she couldn’t bring herself to look at Eric any longer. “I… I should get into the bath before the water gets cold.”
“Lexi,” Eric said as she hurried towards the bathroom door.
She stopped at the door, but she didn’t turn to face Eric.
He didn’t speak for a moment.
Instead, he released a deep breath, before he continued to speak.
“I’ll start dinner,” he said softly.
Lexi just nodded, before she continued into the bathroom. Once inside, she locked the door, then pressed her head against it. She didn’t know why, but she had the overwhelming urge to cry.
Stripping off her bathrobe, she walked to the bath filled with steaming water and bubbles. Stepping in, she lowered herself down into the water. She sat there for a moment, letting the hot water soak into her tired body.
A sudden sob escaped from deep inside her. Instinctively she covered her mouth with her hand, not wanting Eric to hear her. But she couldn’t hold back no longer. She buried her face in her hands and sobbed, letting every bit of sadness inside her pour out.
Maybe she needed to just go back to New York. Life just seemed so much easier back there.
Chapter 7
“Liam!” Matt Lambert, Liam’s partner, said as Liam pulled out his chair, sitting down at his desk. “How’s your dad doing?”
“Good,” Liam replied absentmindedly as he logged into his computer. “He’s home.”
“That’s fantastic news,” Matt said as he sat down on the edge of Liam’s desk. “So, I guess it’s back to normal for you.”
“I guess,” Liam sighed, as he clicked open one of the case files that was on his computer. He had missed so much work with his dad being sick; he needed to jump back into work and catch up with it. He also knew that keeping busy was the best way to keep Lexi out of his mind.
It was three days since he’d seen her at the hospital. Once Liam had dropped his mother and father home, and made sure they were both settled, he headed back to his apartment where once more he found his escape in the bottom of a glass. This time, however, he just stayed alone in his apartment, choosing not to go out to look for comfort in the arms of another girl. Liam knew that nothing except alcohol was going to numb the pain he was feeling in his heart.
His phone rang off the hook for the three days he was locked away. Also, each of his brother’s had called to his apartment, Dylan several times, but Liam refused to answer the door. He just needed some space.
It wasn’t until the night before, when Georgie turned up, that Liam dragged his drunk ass off the sofa and finally opened the door.
“Jesus, Liam,” she said when she saw him standing there, his bloodshot eyes, and his unshaven face. Liam didn’t reply. Instead, he just turned and walked back into his apartment. She followed him inside. “You know you have everyone worried sick about you.”
“Well, as you can see, I’m fine,” Liam grumbled as he flopped down onto the sofa. “So you can go back and report in that you’ve seen me, and I’m still alive.”
“You think I came here to spy for your family,” Georgie sighed as she stood there, watching him, looking almost hurt. “I came here to see if you were okay because I care about you, Dumbass. Though right now, I don’t know why.”
“Look, if you came here to give me a hard time…” Liam sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to relieve the headache from hell.
“I came here because we are worried about you,” Georgie replied, cutting him off mid-sentence. “You’re family; the people that care about you most in this world, are worried about you.”
“I thought you said you weren’t here to spy,” Liam grumbled.
“I came here because I thought we were friends,” Georgie said, sitting down on the sofa next to him. “Liam, this is so unlike you. You, out of all the boys, are the one that always puts family before everything else. You are the one that is always there for your brothers. Why are you shutting them out now?”
“I’m not,” Liam groaned, rubbing his eyes. “It’s just… it’s just complicated.”
“Why does it have to be?” Georgie asked, giving him a smile. “Look, I know I’m not family yet, but I’d like to think that you felt like you could always talk to me. I know you’ve always been there for me. I don’t know if Callum and I would have ever made it if you hadn’t pushed him.”
“You guys were always going to end up together,” Liam sighed, giving her a weak, but genuine smile before he added. “And for the record, you are already family to me.”
She just gave him a smile, and reached for his hand. But she didn’t say a word. She just waited. She waited till he was ready to talk.
He loved Georgie. Of course, he loved Amelia and Emmy, too. But of the three girls that were with his brothers, he felt closest to Georgie.
It seemed crazy now to him, as he looked at her sitting there that there was a time Callum was jealous of him and Georgie because now she just felt like his kid sister. A kid sister he loved more than anything. She was the one that got him. She laughed at his jokes when everyone else rolled their eyes. She never judged him, never made him feel stupid or pointless.
“I fucked up, Georgie,” he said, finally saying the words that had been whirling around his head for the last three days.
“How?” She asked reaching for his hand. “Is this about that girl Lexi?”
“You know about her?” Liam asked realising that his family must have been all gathered somewhere discussing him and his issues. This thought made his stomach knot with annoyance.
“Callum mentioned there was a girl,” Georgie shrugged and smiled. “But I told him that if you wanted me to know about her, you would tell me.”
Liam smiled at her words. She really was very sweet, and he knew she meant what she said. Talking about him behind his back is something he knew she would never do. He gave her a smile, then took a deep breath before he spoke.
“She was the one I let get away,” he sighed, knowing that t
here was no point in lying now. “Well, I say get away, but the truth was I lost her because I was an idiot. I made such a huge mistake, and she couldn’t see past it. Not that any of this is her fault.”
“You cheated on her?” Georgie asked, her words hurting him to hear them out loud.
“Yep,” Liam nodded. “And I broke her heart. I know I did. She would have loved me for the rest of my life, but I was stupid, and I let her down. It was a stupid, stupid mistake, one that I will regret for the rest of my life.”
“So why is this getting to you now?” Georgie asked, giving him a questioning look. “What’s changed?”
“Well, she’s back in San Francisco,” Liam explained, then sighed before he added. “But, if I’m honest I think it’s more than that. It was the night Dad got sick. I was there in the waiting room, and I look at you with Callum, Landen and Amelia, and Finn with Emmy. I realised that I wanted more. I wanted Lexi back.”
“Then she turns up out of the blue?” Georgie added, more so than asking. “Wow!”
“I know,” Liam sighed. “Like why now? Why did I have to bump into her again, right when I was feeling so miserable?”
“And there is no chance…” Georgie asked the other question Liam had asked himself so many times over the last few days.
“Honestly, I don’t think there is,” he admitted to her, giving her a sad smile. “Besides, she is with someone else. Some asshole that works in the hospital where Dylan works.”
“Some asshole?” Georgie repeated with a laugh.
“Okay,” Liam sighed, smiling too. “Maybe he isn’t an asshole. Maybe I just want him to be because then there would still be a chance she would pick me.”
“Is that what you want?” Georgie asked, watching him closely.
“Of course it’s what I want,” Liam replied, but then sighed before adding. “But the truth is, he seems like a good guy. The better guy for her, if I’m honest. He will probably never hurt her. He will give her the future that we should have had. Just seeing them together; it was hard. The way he touched her, the way he looked at her like she belonged to him and he wanted the world to know it… I don’t know, it just… it just sucks so bad.”
“I’m sorry, Liam,” Georgie said, leaning closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder. “And for the record, I think he sounds like a real asshole.”
“Thanks,” Liam chuckled, grateful for her words.
“But you know,” she added, and Liam sighed, knowing what was coming next. “Locking yourself away here is not the answer. You have people that are worried about you. People who love you so much.”
“I know,” Liam nodded, giving her another smile.
Liam knew that Georgie was right. Locking himself away was not the answer to his troubles. He needed to get back to his life, and moving on just as Lexi had.
Right now he had a ton of work he needed to catch up on. If nothing else was good in his life right at that moment, he had his job. So he came back to work, determined to lose himself in his work, forgetting about Lexi, and just how messed up his life was.
“So what’s been happening here,” Liam finally asked, looking up from his screen to his partner, giving him a questioning look. He needed some good news, right at that moment. But good news was not what he was going to get.
“It’s not good,” Matt sighed as he sat on the edge of Liam’s desk. “There was another couple of robberies. We believe it’s the same asshole, but still, no one knows who he is or what he looks like. The last victim was a lady in her sixties. She didn’t even hear him till he was taping up her mouth. He beat her up once he had her restrained. He broke her nose, and cracked a couple of her ribs. He is definitely upping his game.”
“Jesus, this asshole needs to be stopped,” Liam sighed as he turned back to his computer, pulling up the file on the screen. He had let the ball drop on this case. He needed to get this asshole off the streets.
There had been a string of robberies in the bay area over the last three months. Some guy was breaking into apartments. Tying up the occupants, usually a single woman, or women home alone, and robbing them. In the beginning, it was just about robbing them, but the last few robberies something had changed. He had become angrier. He was lashing out, hitting the women to get more control over them, then spending a long time tying them up. But breaking this woman’s nose, this was another level yet again.
Liam knew they needed to catch this guy before it was too late. He didn’t know why, but he was sure that it was merely a matter of time before he turned his attention to the women completely and one of them would get really hurt, or maybe worse.
A wave of guilt washed over Liam. He knew he’d been distracted the last few weeks. His mind was on everything, except his job. Maybe if he’d focused more, he would have caught this scumbag before now. Maybe there wouldn’t have been as many victims as there were now. He needed to change that. He needed to catch this guy.
“What about the security cameras in the building?” He asked, giving Matt another questioning look. “Didn’t they pick up anything at all?”
“Nothing we can use,” Matt replied with a sigh. “He keeps his back to the cameras at all times.”
“So he knows exactly where they are,” Liam said, opening up one of the video files on the computer. “He knows these buildings. He is casing them before he robs them.”
“I was thinking the exact same thing,” Matt said as he stood up, moving behind Liam so he could see the computer screen clearer. They both watched the image on the screen for a couple of moments, before Liam released a long, frustrated sigh.
“Then we need to go back further,” Liam said, pausing the computer with a back shot of the burglar. “This guy has been in the building before, probably more than once. At some point, the camera must have caught his face.”
“I’ll get back on to the buildings,” Matt said, walking back around to his seat at his desk, in front of Liam’s. “I’ll ask them for a copy of their security videos, going back the last four months.”
“That’s gonna be fun to go through,” Liam grumbled as he returned his focus to his computer. “Maybe I should have taken a few more days off.”
“Too late, you’re already back,” Matt replied with a laugh, watching Liam closely for a moment before he added. “Liam, is everything okay?”
“Yeah,” he replied, looking up from his computer screen once more.
“Are you sure?” Matt asked, raising his eyebrow, giving Liam a look that said he knew something wasn’t right with him. “The PC is okay, isn’t he?”
“Ye… yeah,” Liam laughed, surprised by his friend’s question. “He’s fine. I mean, he has to take things easier, which he isn’t thrilled about, but he’s doing okay.”
“Then what’s up?” Matt asked, giving him a knowing grin. “Because I know you. Normally we can’t keep you away from this place, and your dad has been home, what, three days? Plus you look like crap, so…”
“So?” Liam repeated, with a sigh.
“So are you going to tell me what the hell is going on?” Matt asked, leaning back in his seat, his eyes holding Liam.
“It’s nothing…” Liam replied, knowing that he couldn’t flat out deny there was an issue.
“Then there is something,” Matt said, giving Liam a worried look. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” Liam assured him. “I’m fine, and I swear, it’s nothing you need to worry about. I give you my word.”
“But you know I’m here if you need to talk,” Matt replied, giving Liam a smile.
“I know,” Liam nodded, giving him a grin as he switched off his computer, then stood up. “Now, how about we go talk to this latest victim again. Maybe there is something she didn’t say when she first gave her statement. While we are there, we can get the security video from the building. Once we’ve seen that one, we can work backward from there.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Matt said, standing up too, grabbing his badge and shield from his drawer, bef
ore he slipped on his jacket.
“I’m driving,” Liam said as he too slipped on his jacket.
“Crap!” Matt groaned, giving Liam a pleading look. “Do we really have to take the bucket of bolts?”
“There is nothing wrong with my baby,” Liam groaned, then added with a chuckle. “I know you’re all just jealous of my gorgeous girl.”
“Right,” Matt laughed as he turned and started towards the door. “You need to think about getting yourself a real woman, and let go of that piece of junk.”
Liam smiled, but he didn’t reply. His thoughts instantly went to Lexi. He hated that they always did, but she was there, in the back of his mind, niggling away. Part of him believed she always would be.
Shaking his head, he pushed her from his mind for now and followed Matt out of the squad room. Right at that moment, he had to focus on the task at hand and nothing more.
Liam and Matt arrived at the apartment of the latest robbery victim about twenty minutes later. A lady called, Daisy Miller, was recently widowed. She had been kept in the hospital overnight, but was released the following morning, and now she was beyond terrified to be living in her own home.
Liam thought of his mother as he sat there talking to this once confident lady. She looked around the same age as Nell. He couldn’t imagine what it would be like for her to be as terrified as this sweet lady was.
Her two eyes were black and blue, no doubt because of the broken nose. There were bruises shaped like finger print marks around her mouth, where he must have grabbed her face. And she moved like even just to breathe hurt her. Liam could barely look at her, without thinking how he would feel if this was his mother.
“Is there anyone that could come and stay with you for a while, Ma’am?” Liam asked, giving the woman a warm smile. He hated the thought of her being home alone.
“My son’s in London on business,” Daisy explained giving Liam a weak smile. “I don’t want to call him, and have him worrying about me, being so far away from home. I don’t want to worry his wife or children either.”
“I’m sure he would want you to call him,” Liam replied as he reached out taking hold of her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “If it were my mom, I would want to know.”
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