He walked slowly towards the bed, wishing more than anything he could wrap her in his arms, protecting her forever.
Sitting down in the chair that was next to her bed, he reached out and took hold of her hand in his. Her skin was soft and tender, just like he had remembered it was.
“Lexi,” he whispered as his thumb softly stroked the back of her hand. “Baby, I’m here.”
He waited for some kind of reaction, but there was none. She was fast asleep.
“Lex, I’m going to get the asshole that did this to you,” Liam continued on. “I’m going to make him pay. I give you my word. So you never have to worry or be scared again.”
Again he stopped and waited, but the only response he got was a long, deep sigh.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered as he reached up with his other hand and softly touched her face. “I should have never let you leave tonight. I should have made you stay and talk to you. I should have told you how much I am hurting without you. How you are the only thing I can think about. I should have told you that you are the only woman I will ever love.”
Lexi sighed again, and this time she moved. This time she opened her eyes.
Liam held his breath, not sure what he should say or do, right at that moment.
To his surprise, Lexi just smiled.
“Hey,” he said as he leaned in closer to her. “Lexi, I love you so much. I’m sorry for every stupid thing I have ever done.”
Lexi smiled once more but didn’t reply. Instead, she leaned into his touch with her cheek, then closed her eyes and fell back asleep.
“Lex!” Liam whispered once more, but he knew she was gone back to sleep. “I love you, Lexi Daniels.”
He smiled to himself, as he watched her sleep.
He didn’t know how, but he knew he was going to do whatever it took to win her back. He had to because he couldn’t go on living his life without her in it.
He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it softly. Then he set it back down on the bed. He needed to go before someone came and caught him there with her.
He released her hand from his and began to pull it away, but to his surprise. Lexi grabbed his once more. He looked up and was surprised to see her beautiful, amber eyes staring back at him.
“Don’t leave me alone,” she whispered, giving him a tired smile. “Please.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” he assured her as he wrapped his long fingers back around her small, delicate hand once more. “I promise you. I will never leave you again.”
Lexi just smiled, closing her eyes once more.
Liam smiled to himself as he watched her sleeping. He didn’t care who found them now. He promised he wouldn’t leave her, and he intended to keep that promise.
Resting his head down on the bed, next to her hand, he listened to her soft breathing. Something he had done so many times before. Finally, his eyes grew heavy. Closing them, he drifted off to into a restful sleep.
Chapter 13
Lexi
Lexi woke slowly, her head feeling like a grenade had gone off inside it. Moving cautiously, she felt someone lying next to her. For a moment she thought she was at home in her bed, Eric sleeping next to her. But something felt off. Everything smelled different; like disinfectant. And Eric’s aftershave, it wasn’t what he normally wore. Still, it was familiar.
She slowly opened her eyes. The early morning sun that filled the room hurt her eyes, so she quickly closed them once more. She felt slightly nauseated. She needed to sit up, and she needed some water.
Opening her eyes once more, it took a moment for her vision to focus. When it did, she was surprised for a moment to find herself in fact, not in her bedroom, but instead, in a hospital room.
Closing her eyes again, the events of the night before came crashing into her head like a freight train. Bumping into Liam at the bar, the conversation back at his apartment. Then finally the intruder that was in her apartment when she returned home.
Instinctively she reached up, touching her head, feeling the bandage on her head, and she remembered why she had the headache from hell. She vaguely remembered waking up in the emergency room, her head hurting her like it never had before. She remembered that Eric was there, and she got very upset, then nothing.
Eric! She thought to herself, as she opened her eyes, as she turned to look at him, but Eric wasn’t who she found sleeping next to her.
It was Liam.
Liam was there, sleeping next to her. He looked like he’d been there a while. So where the hell was Eric?
She held her breath as she lay there and watched him sleeping.
Lexi vaguely remembered him holding her hand the night before. She remembered waking up, and he was there, and somehow, she felt safer. She just had no clue what he was doing there.
Lexi watched him for a few minutes as he slept. She thought about all the nights she had watched him sleeping when they lived together. She remembered how he would sigh in his sleep, then whisper her name.
The memory made her smile. She knew she missed him, but looking at him lying there, sleeping. She longed for the life they once had. She longed for him.
Reaching out slowly, she softly brushed his hair back from his face. Her heart hurt from how much she loved him. She wished more than anything she could just tell him what he wanted to hear, but she was scared. What if his feelings changed once he realised the future they planned together was no longer a possibility.
Suddenly he released a long, contented sigh; then he breathed out. “Lexi.”
Lexi stilled, her heart hammering so quickly in her chest.
“LEXI!” Liam repeated, but this time he cried out as he bolted up straight in his seat, his breathing was a little ragged, he looked almost terrified. It took a moment for him to register where he was, but the moment he did, his eyes instantly searched for Lexi.
When his eyes met hers, he stared at her for a moment, as if he was unsure of what he should do next. But then, the biggest, most breath-taking smile filtered across his face. Lexi couldn’t help but smile too.
“Hey,” he said as he leaned forward in his seat.
“Hey, yourself,” she replied, suddenly feeling a little shy, though she didn’t know why.
“How are you feeling?” He asked, this time his expression was one of concern. “How’s the head?”
“It feels like my brain has exploded,” Lexi replied, giving him a reassuring smile. “But other than that, I guess I feel okay. Better than last night.”
“Lex,” Liam said, reaching out, taking hold of her hand. “I’m so sorry for the things I said… if I hadn’t upset you, you wouldn’t have left and you wouldn’t…”
“NO!” She exclaimed, cutting him off mid-sentence. “Don’t you dare, Liam Murphy! This was not your fault.”
“But if you hadn’t left my apartment,” Liam argued, but Lexi was determined that he would not blame himself for one more thing.
“And if you hadn’t taught me how to defend myself,” Lexi said as she placed her other hand over his. “I have no clue what I would have done. I just know that when he grabbed me, everything you ever taught me came crashing into my head. So I kicked out and knocked him off balance. That’s how I got away. I knew that because of you.”
“I’m glad you did,” Liam replied, his eyes now locked with her. “I don’t know what I would do if…”
Before he could finish, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his, stopping him from finishing his thought.
Slowly she pulled back, parting her lips from his.
“I’m sorry,” she said, giving him a nervous smile. “I probably shouldn’t have done that.”
She didn’t know why she had kissed him; it just seemed the right thing to do at that moment.
“Lex,” Liam whispered, but before he could say another word, the door to her room opened, and Dylan appeared in the doorway. Lexi instinctively pulled back as Dylan stopped dead in his tracks for a moment, a look of surprise on his face.
“My head hurts,” Lexi replied honestly, smiling at Dylan too. “But I feel a little better. A little less shaken up.”
“I can get you something for the pain,” Dylan replied, once more glancing at Liam. “The nurse will be in shortly to check your vitals; then Doctor Abrams should be by to check you over once more. After that, you should be able to go home.”
“Thanks, Dylan,” Lexi replied, sensing that there was an atmosphere between the two brothers. Dylan gave Liam another look, as if he was trying to tell him something, Lexi just didn’t know what. She was just about to say something when the door opened again, and Eric came hurrying into the room.
“Sweetheart, I’m so sorry,” Eric said, rushing to the bed, taking her face in his hands, kissing Lexi softly on the lips. “I just went to the on-call room for some sleep, but then this kid came in with a ruptured appendix, and I got sucked into surgery. I’m so sorry I wasn’t here when you woke up.”
“It’s fine,” Lexi replied, giving me a nervous smile before she glanced up at Liam. His face was completely unreadable, but Lexi knew enough to know that Liam was far from happy. “I’m okay.”
“I was so worried about you,” Eric continued, kissing her once more before he reached for her hand. “But I’m here now. So you’re safe. No one will hurt you again.”
Liam stood up suddenly from his chair, causing a scrap across the floor and released a frustrated sigh. He glared at Eric for a moment, before he returned his attention back to Lexi. She had no clue what thought was thundering through his mind, right at that moment, but she knew whatever it was, it wasn’t good.
“I’m glad to see you’re feeling better,” Liam finally said, his voice completely emotionless. “We will still need to take your statement. If there is anything you can think of at all to help identify this man, please let us know.”
“I will,” Lexi replied, hating that Liam was being pushed out. After all, he was the one that had spent the night with her. He never left her side. And he was the one she really loved. She wanted to beg him not to go. To tell him that he was the one she wanted, he was the one that made her feel safe, but something stopped her. Instead, she just stared at him.
To her horror, hot tears, suddenly burned her eyes, but she quickly blinked them back.
“Sweetheart, it’s okay,” Eric said, clearly sensing she was upset. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her softly on the top of her head. “I will be with you the whole time. Then we can go home, and I promise you, I will take good care of you.”
“I know,” she whispered, still refusing to give in to her tears.
“Does this really have to be done now, Detective?” Eric asked impatiently as he turned to Liam, and Lexi cringed at the tone of his voice. “I’m sure you’re aware that Lexi has been through a horrible ordeal. She needs time to recover…”
“The sooner we get her statement,” Liam replied, cutting him off, this time he didn’t even look at Lexi. Instead, he just stared at Eric. “The sooner we can leave you in peace, and she can get on with her life.”
Lexi tried to swallow the huge lump of grief that was almost choking her. She couldn’t even look at Liam anymore, because if she did, she knew she wouldn’t be able to hold back her tears any longer.
“Liam,” Dylan finally said, pulling his attention away from Eric. “Can I have a word with you outside?
“Sure,” Liam replied forcing a smile on his face, before glancing at Lexi once more, just as she allowed her eyes to find his. Instantly she could see the hurt in his eyes, and she couldn’t hold back the tears any longer. Liam hesitated for a moment, before releasing another long, frustrated breath, then turned to follow his brother out of the room.
“Lexi, sweetheart,” Eric said, as he noticed the tears that were now trickling down her face. “It’s okay; everything is going to be okay. I’m here now.”
“I know,” she sniffed, trying her hardest to remain composed, but it was no use. A sob escaped from deep inside her, as her heart broke. “I’m just being stupid.”
“It’s not stupid, though,” Eric assured her as he wrapped his arms around her. “What happened to you was so terrifying. And it could have been so much worse. If you hadn’t have gotten away from that… that dirtbag, I don’t even want to think what might have happened.”
Lexi didn’t reply. Instead he just buried her face into his chest, and cried harder.
“It’s okay,” Eric whispered once more, clearly not knowing what else to say to comfort her. Lexi just held him tight and cried until there were no tears left, and her headache was a thousand times worse than it had been,
Thirty minutes later, Lexi was sitting there, still wrapped in Eric’s embrace, quietly lost in her thoughts when the door opened once again.
Lexi looked up to find Liam standing there, but this time, another detective was standing there next to him. Liam’s face was completely unreadable.
The moment she saw him, she instinctively sat up, pulling herself from Eric’s embrace. She nervously brushed her hair back from her face, wishing right at that moment, she was anywhere but there.
“Lexi,” Liam said, his eyes meeting her briefly, but he quickly turned away. “This is my partner, Detective Matt Lambert. Are you ready to give us your statement?”
“Does she really have to do this now?” Eric said as he climbed up from the edge of the bed. This time she could hear the edge in Eric’s voice too. One she had never heard before. She looked up at him, but his focus was solely on Liam.
“It’s okay,” she said, reaching out and touching his arm. “I’m okay to talk now.”
“You don’t have to,” Eric said giving Lexi a worried look, and Lexi knew something was bothering him.
“I want to,” Lexi assured him, giving him a weak smile.
“If you’re sure,” Eric said, giving her a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“Okay then,” Matt said as he took the seat next to the bed. “So, you were out last night, is that correct?”
“Yes,” Lexi confirmed with a nod before she glanced at Liam. “I was out with my friend, Nikki.”
“And you arrived home at what time?” Matt asked as he wrote notes in his little book.
“A little before eleven,” Lexi replied, suddenly realising she might have to say she was with Liam the night before and a feeling of panic settled inside her.
“When you arrived at your apartment, did you notice anything strange,” Matt continued, glancing up at Lexi. “Like, was the door opened, or the lights on?”
“No,” Lexi replied. “The door was locked, and the apartment was in darkness. But…”
“But?” Matt asked, giving her a questioning look.
“I don’t know,” Lexi replied. “It’s just, as I walked into the living room, I don’t know why, but I stopped. Something felt… off somehow.”
“In what way?” Liam asked, finally letting his eyes meet hers.
“I don’t know,” she replied holding his gaze with hers. “I just got this feeling, and I stood in the middle of the living room for a moment. But there was nothing out of the ordinary. I thought I was just being silly. I began to walk again, that’s when I heard a noise.”
“Where did the noise come from?” Matt asked.
“It sounded like it came from the bedroom,” she replied, returning her focus to the other detective as the words came out in a rush. “So I turned around quietly. I knew I needed to get out of the apartment. I was heading for the door, when I heard a noise from behind me, I turned, and this person appeared from the hallway to the bedroom. I panicked and ran for the door, but just as I reached it, he grabbed me from behind. He lifted me up, so I… I lifted my legs, then putting my feet against the door, I pushed back, knocking us both to
the ground. That’s when I banged my head. I felt a little dazed, but I knew I needed to get out of there. I managed to climb up from the floor but he caught my foot, and pulled me back down. I grabbed this…this ornament from the hall table, I… swung out and I hit him. That’s when he let me go again. I climbed up from the floor again, and I got out of the apartment before he could grab me once more.”
“Can you describe the man that was in your apartment?” Liam asked as he sat down on the far end of her bed. Lexi looked up and smiled at him.
“He was tall, at least six feet, muscly build, but he was wearing black, and his face was covered,” Lexi said giving him a sad smile. She wished she could have told them more, but that’s all she knew.
“Was there anything else you noticed about him?” Matt asked, giving her a pleading look. “Anything at all that might identify him?”
She closed her eyes and tried to remember the events of the night before. She remembered him grabbing her, lifting her up. She remembered looking down at his arms around her. As she struggled against him, his sleeve had ridden up his arm. There was a tattoo.
A tattoo!” She exclaimed suddenly as she opened her eyes once more. “There was a tattoo on his forearm. It was a skull… a skull with a dagger through it.”
“Perfect,” Liam replied, giving her a warm smile. “You’re doing really well, Lex.”
Lexi couldn’t help but return his smile, feeling somewhat relieved that he didn’t appear to be quite so mad at her as he had been earlier.
“You said you were out with your friend?” Matt continued, and instantly Lexi felt her stomach clench with fear once more. She knew where this was going.
“Yeah, Nikki,” Lexi nodded, as she nervously glanced at Liam. “But she wasn’t with me when I got home.”
“While you were at the bar,” Matt continued. “Did you noticed anyone watching you? Anything out of the ordinary happen?”
Liam (The Murphy Boys Series Book 4) Page 13