I offer him a small smile and wave before looking down at the paper and reading the list of things that need fixing around here. Some of the things I know I probably won’t be able to do, but I’ll give it a good go anyway because I want to learn new things: this is my perfect opportunity to do just that.
Grabbing the room schedule as I walk into the office, I sit behind the desk and search for today. Evan doesn’t have a class today and the only other room rented is upstairs until eight. After that, it’s just a matter of cleaning the whole place so I may as well get a start on this list.
I frown at the crumpled paper, working out what to try to fix first. I feel like I’ve been given a lot of responsibility—responsibility that I’m not sure I’m ready for.
Why does Roy trust me to do this on my own? He’s even having me take the deposits to the bank in town every Friday. He knows my history, and I don’t know why, but the thought of being trusted to this extent has tears springing to my eyes. I fight them back, not willing to let them fall.
The sound of children running out the front doors has me gasping and I look up at the clock that hangs over the door. How have I been here for two hours and not done a single thing?
I shake my head at myself and stand up, locking the doors behind the children as they all get in the van that will take them all home.
Right! List.
FIX BROKEN BOARD IN MAIN ROOM DOWNSTAIRS.
Huh. I think I can do that.
I grab the tools from the office and make my way to the main room—the room that Evan always uses. Switching on the light, I scan the floor, looking for the broken board.
As soon as I see it, I walk toward it, kneeling down and inspecting it as if I have any idea what I’m looking at. All I know is that it needs replacing, the crack running down the middle tells me that much.
Opening the red tool box, I locate the hammer and turn it around in my hand with a smile on my face. I’m assuming the first thing that I need to do is take the old board out.
I sit down on my ass, legs wide apart as I use the back of the hammer to try and pull the board up.
Five minutes later, I still haven’t got the blasted thing free. I lean up on my knees, putting all of my strength behind it, and pull as hard as I can.
I squeal as the board splinters free and comes at me, smacking me in my left eye, the splintered part digging into the soft skin of my eyelid and under my eye.
I drop the hammer next to me, the thud echoing around me as I hold my hand over my eye and scramble back.
Fuck me, that hurts!
I grit my teeth as I feel wetness on my hand and pull it away. Seeing the red blood coating my palm has my stomach rolling. I’m going to puke.
Standing up on shaky legs, I step toward the wall of mirrors, wincing as I get closer. The sight of the blood is all I can see and I immediately turn away and walk out of the room. My hands shake and my stomach lurches. I can’t stay here, I need to get outside in case I throw up.
I pick up the keys off the desk, not thinking to grab anything else as I walk out of the doors and lock them behind me. The fresh air whacks me in the face, almost knocking me over as the cold wind picks up and skates across my skin.
I don’t think, I work on autopilot, picking my feet up and walking back toward Livvy’s. The walk soon turns into a run the more I feel the blood coat my hand from the broken skin around my eye.
The blood now drips down my neck and I hate it. I hate what it reminds me of. Of all the times that I bled while in prison—of the day that changed my life. I can’t stop the flashbacks: the image of my face full of bruises, the officer on the floor surrounded in the sticky redness. The lock I felt around my throat at not being able to say how I got hurt in prison, the threats I felt every time I went out of my small room that I shared with one other person.
They all mix together, creating a montage of images that has me wanting to scream.
I’m still that scared girl, the one afraid to walk out of her room, the one afraid to say or do the wrong thing.
My boots sink into the grass of Livvy’s front lawn and I run into the house, banging the door behind me and leaning against it, catching my breath.
“Lexi?”
I jump and scream at the voice in front of me, popping my eye open and wincing at the pain that spreads through it.
“What the hell happened?”
I stare at Evan, seeing the confusion on his face as he steps closer. He scans my entire face, and when his eyes finally settle on the hand covering my eye, he takes two big leaps for steps and clasps either side of my neck, pulling my hand away.
I swallow against the feeling of his calloused hands on the soft skin and shiver. I’ve never felt safe, not in the way that he’s making me feel right now.
“I had an accident with a hammer and a floorboard.”
“I—what?” He frowns.
“I lost.” I pout but the action has me wincing so I say, “Roy’s gone away to his sister’s.”
“I know that,” he answers, his voice deeper now as he narrows his eyes at me. “But what does that have to do with your eye?”
I bite my bottom lip, squirming in his hold. How can I want to move away but want to step closer all at the same time? I don’t get it; I blame not being around men for so long.
“He left me a list—”
“The fuck?” He lets me go so fast that I stumble slightly and wince at the thumping in my head and eye. “I told him I’d fix anything that needed doing.”
I don’t know who he’s talking to because he’s now walking away, still muttering stuff under his breath. I stare at the empty space where he stood only moments ago. I’m so confused, maybe I have a concussion?
I take a step forward, my legs feeling like jelly and blood now dripping down onto my chest. I can’t even stomach the thought of going to the hospital and needing stitches.
I hold onto the wall as I make it into the kitchen and take a deep breath. In and out. In and out. That’s it, just breathe.
“Whoa.” Evan catches me as I start to slide down the wall, feeling like I’m going to pass out any second. It’s not even the actual cut that’s making me feel like this: it’s the sight of blood. I was always like this with blood, that’s the reason why I got caught and sent to prison. If it hadn’t been for that growing pool of red—No, don’t go there, not right now.
“We need to get you to the emergency room,” Evan says, his voice so close to my ear as his arm bands around my waist from behind, trying to keep me upright.
“No!” I shout so loud that I wince as it bats around my head like a ball in a batting cage. “No hospitals.”
He turns me to face him slowly, his worried eyes watching me intently. “You need stitches for sure.”
“I—I can’t go to the hospital,” I whisper, my voice cracking on the last word. “I’ll be fine.”
Evans huffs and blows out a slow steady breath, making me shiver as it whispers across my skin.
“Can you walk?”
“I said no hospital,” I repeat, my voice still coming out weak.
He shakes his head like I’m crazy and lifts me into his arms. I gasp and hold onto his neck as he grabs a bag off the floor and walks out of the house. I watch as a muscle in his jaw tics as I touch his neck, but he doesn’t acknowledge it as he walks us out of the front door and locks it behind us.
My head swirls with questions: Where is he taking me? Why is he here? Why am I all of a sudden really hungry?
I don’t ask any of them out loud though, because for some unexplainable reason, I trust Evan. I also don’t want to bring up the fact that I really want to eat fries and ice cream. So instead of opening my mouth to ask the questions, I lean my head on his chest, wincing as my cut touches the softness of his white t-shirt. I release a breath that I didn’t realize I was holding and relax in his arms.
“I’m going to slide you into the seat,” he says when he’s at his car. I nod my head in answer and then grimace
at the thump that follows in my head. Just stay still dammit!
Once he’s slid me in the seat, I lean my head against the headrest and watch him as he gets into the driver's seat and turns the key, the engine roaring to life and vibrating through the leather seats.
He reaches over me, opening up the glove compartment and pulling out a wad of tissues. “Hold that over it.”
I take them from him, our fingertips touching. My stomach bottoms out, almost like we just drove over a really big bump in the road or the dip you get when you’re on a roller coaster.
“I didn’t lock the center up,” I blurt out as he drives past it.
“I’ll get someone to sort it,” he tells me, not taking his eyes off the road.
“Wait… I think I did… I can’t remember.” I look off to the side, trying to remember if I did lock up or not.
I give up the battle as the vibrations of the car and Evan’s easy driving start to lull me into a sense of peace and I close my eyes; just for a second, I tell myself.
“Stay awake,” I growl, extending my hand to her thigh and squeezing. She moans softly in response.
My gaze flicks from my hand to her face, and I can’t stop the urge to protect her from rolling through me. When she walked into Livvy’s house with blood dripping over her hand I immediately thought the worst—that someone had hurt her.
She wasn’t meant to have been back for hours, which is why I was there, checking the place for any bugs that Darrell may have planted: I found nothing.
I knew that I couldn’t leave her, not in the state she was in, she looked like she was going to pass out any second, so I made the snap decision to take her to the emergency room. That soon changed when she demanded no hospitals. The fear in her eyes and the shaking of her hands told me that she had a genuine fear of being in one. I understood because the last time I’d been in a hospital as a patient was when I was a kid and I’d finally escaped from the evil woman who brought me into this world. I knew I had to help her, I just didn’t know how.
Until Luke popped into my head. He’d be able to stitch her up no problem, but bringing an ex-con onto the compound wouldn’t bode well for me. I knew that, yet here I am, pulling up to the gates and pressing the button on my steering wheel for them to open.
“Lexi,” I call again as I pull up outside of the warehouse. Her silence has me panicking so I jump out of the car and run around to her side, yanking the door open. “Lexi!”
“Stop… shouting,” she whispers, cracking her eyes open and wincing as she moans, clutching her head. “That hammer is in my head.”
I chuckle and help her out of the car, shutting the door behind her as she leans against the side of the hood.
“Where are we?”
I clear my throat. “Work and home,” I tell her simply.
I wave my hand in the air to tell her to follow me and walk past her; she follows me but then I hear a bang. I spin around to see her leaning against the front of the hood. “Shit.” I take a step toward her and scoop her up into my arms without a second thought. Her hands go back around my neck and I pull her closer, loving the way her body fits in my arms but berating myself for thinking about that right now. She’s hurt, and here I am, loving the way her face presses against my chest.
I manage to pull the door to the warehouse open and step inside, walking over to my work station and placing her down gently in my chair. “Stay here,” I tell her, holding my hands up.
I walk backward over the mats until I get to the office door and push it open to see Luke and Ty sitting on the sofa talking.
“I need your help.”
They both look at me and stand up, their bodies on high alert. “What happened?” Ty asks, his eyes wandering down to the blood that coats my t-shirt. Damn! This was one of my favorites!
“It’s not me,” I say quickly.
“Kay? Kitty?” Luke asks, his feet already following me out of the office and into the warehouse. He stops all of a sudden in the doorway, his head slowly turning toward me. “Who’s that?”
I clear my throat and look over at Lexi who is sitting staring at the three of us, her face pale and her hands clutched in her lap.
“I bled on your floor,” Lexi blurts out, cringing when Luke keeps staring at her. I try to push past him, but his hulk of a body won’t let me past as he blocks the way.
The sound of the warehouse door opening gains his attention and he moves slightly, finally allowing me to push past him.
“I work with her at the community center,” I tell them, walking across the mats and crouching down in front of her. “How do you feel?”
She looks behind me and then back at me, her eyes clashing with mine. I can see the nerves and apprehension in her hazel orbs but when I give her leg a small squeeze, she steels herself and tries to straighten up. “My eye and head hurts.”
I chuckle. “That’s what happens when girls DIY.” I wink and give her a cheeky grin. Her answering snort tells me that she got my joke—something that Geena never would have got. Nope, don’t think about her right now, Evan.
“Can you stitch her eye up?” I ask, standing up and facing Luke.
“Take her to the emergency room,” he growls, shaking his head and taking a step away from us.
“Please,” she softly pleas. “I—I can’t go there, the blood—I just…”
I cut my eyes at Luke, my nostrils flaring. “Fucking stitch her up.” My fists clench at my sides, my muscles growing taut the longer he refuses to help her. I don’t know why I’m so insistent, I don’t know why I brought her here, it just felt like the right thing to do.
Luke stares at me for five seconds—I know because I count them in my head. He may think that I can’t take him, but he’s never seen me pissed, and right now, I’m pissed.
“Who is she?” he asks, his voice a rumble echoing throughout the warehouse.
“I just told you, I work with her at—”
“No.” He steps toward us. “Her name.”
“Lexi.”
His gaze flicks to Lexi, raising his brows and waiting while she watches us, still with that nervous look in her eyes.
She takes a big breath and opens her mouth. I can tell she’s about to lay it all out, and as much as I like the fact that she’s nothing but honest, I can’t help but cringe because I know the reaction she’ll get.
“I’m Alexis Deacon. I moved here six weeks go after I was released from prison. I’m an ex-con, and I’m guessing by the flaring of your nostrils and the murderous look in your eyes that you’re not happy about that?” She stops, catching her breath and then turning to face me.
I give her a small reassuring smile. This girl—woman—has nothing to hide. She’s an open book, and I think that’s what draws me to her. There’s nothing secretive about her, she just blurts out what she thinks, having no brain to mouth filter.
“You brought an ex-con here?” Ty thunders, moving around to my other side where I’m standing in front of Lexi.
“Look,” I say exasperated. “She’s bleeding, can you just fix her up and then I can take her home?”
“Un-fucking-believable.” Luke storms across the warehouse and turns as he pulls open the door. “I’ll get my kit, but you owe me one for this, Evan.”
I salute him and take a breath of relief when the door closes behind him, that is until Ty growls, “As soon as she’s gone, I want you in my office.”
I turn to look at him, seeing the anger roll through him in waves and nod. The last thing I want is to do this in front of Lexi, who right now starts to sag in the chair and closes her eyes.
“Lexi?” I crouch down in front of her. “Lexi!”
“Will you stop shouting? I just want to have a few seconds where I don’t get daggers stared at me.”
“You need to keep your eyes open; these guys won’t hurt you.” I turn back to Ty. He must see something in my eyes because he backs away a step and lets his arms drop to his side as he gives me a nod of acknowledgement. “I
can promise you that.”
The sound of the warehouse door opening gains my attention, and I stand, waiting for Luke to come over and fix her up. Only it’s not Luke, and my day just became a whole lot more difficult as Seb and West come walking inside.
“What the fuck?” Seb practically shouts
“Balls,” Lexi whispers. “You didn’t tell me the evil twosome would be coming here.”
I smirk and hear Ty chuckle behind me despite his angry mood.
“What have you done to her?” West asks, coming closer but with a look of concern on his face. “Gran is gonna be pissed.”
The room is silent for a beat, the atmosphere crackling as they stare at her, waiting.
“He hasn’t done anything. I had a fight with a floorboard,” Lexi says, blowing out a breath before she turns and winces. “Floorboard won.”
They both seem to breathe a sigh of relief, and I can’t help but wonder why. Why do they care so much?
“I can see that,” West chuckles, coming to stand beside me.
The door opens again, only this time it’s Luke, complete with his kit. “Can’t believe we have an ex-con in the fucking warehouse,” he mutters.
“Try living with one,” Seb groans.
Luke whips his head around to him, his brows raised. “You live with her?”
My nostrils flare and I move in front of Lexi protectively. I don’t like the way he’s acting, and there’s no way that I’m going to force him to do this. I have enough connections, I’m sure that I can find another way to get her eye stitched up without having to take her to the hospital.
“Watch your fucking tone,” I growl, causing all eyes to swing my way. “If I thought bringing her here was a danger, then I wouldn’t have. I’m asking you to fix her eye, not be her best fucking friend.”
The atmosphere becomes thicker as we stare each other down. I’m never like this, and they all know it. I never ask for their help, but when any of them need anything, I’m there, no questions asked. It’s time that they started paying me the same no-questions-asked respect that I give them.
“Jesus Christ, Evan,” Luke grunts, running his hand through his blond hair. “I can’t believe—”
ReBoot (MAC Security Series Book 4) Page 14