Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 56232 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 281(@200wpm)___ 225(@250wpm)___ 187(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56232 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 281(@200wpm)___ 225(@250wpm)___ 187(@300wpm)
“Nobody,” he whispers.
“Calling the cops on Lexi?” I say, then glance up when the security guard walks over. He’s an out-of-shape guy around my age. I look at him once and shake my head. He senses the situation and steps away, though he lingers. Maybe he’s trying to work up the courage to do something.
I kneel, leaning forward, speaking quietly so only the rat fuck can hear. “Lexi is going to give me your full name. With that, I’ll have your address. Just remember that.”
I turn and walk away.
“Mr. Powell,” the security guard finally pipes up.
“It’s nothing,” the panicked Mr. Powell whines. “Just get back to work. Everybody, get back to work!”
CHAPTER 27
Lexi
“What was that about?” Colt says as he drives through the city.
I told him just to drive when he came storming out of the club. He had this intense aura. For a second, I was convinced he’d just gone in there and killed Ralph, but then I heard Ralph yelling from inside.
“About…” I pause, warning myself not to cry again. I have to speak slowly because I feel constantly on the edge. It’s not like Friday on the edge, though, with the water and the heat. This is like the past tearing a hole in me and forcing something through.
“About something he did,” I go on. “Or tried to do… to Mia. It was a video of him spiking her drink on Saturday.”
“He… he spiked Mia Marino’s drink?” Colt says. His tone is disbelieving. “What an idiot. So you were standing up for your friend?”
I want to tell him yes. He’s given me an easy escape right on a platter. I could tell him it was just about Mia, nothing else, but something stops me. Still, I can’t say it. I grip my hands in my lap, almost like praying, and say nothing. I wait for Colt to talk. It takes a while. He seems to think I’m going to say something.
His tone is grave like he senses something terrible. “Or did he do something to you, too? Lexi, did he spike your drink?”
“He grew up on my street,” I whisper.
“Lexi?” he says because I barely make any noise.
I take a deep breath. We’re sitting in traffic. Suddenly, I hate this city, the number of people, and the surging activity. I wish we were on a long, lonely road surrounded by emptiness.
I clear my throat. “He grew up on my street.”
“Okay…”
“H-he’s just not a good guy, Colt.”
“What did he do?” Colt says.
I wasn’t supposed to tell him this, but his voice is flooded with protective instinct. It makes me feel safe and cocooned in a way I never have. It makes me feel like he’ll always be there. It makes me feel like he’ll never let anything bad happen to me again.
“He… he twisted my mind when I was young, I guess you’d say.”
Each word comes slowly. With each one, Colt’s grip tightens on the steering wheel. He looks like he’s ready to tear it completely loose. “Twisted it how?”
The traffic lets up, and he turns, finding the first parking spot and stopping the car. His hands are trembling slightly as he takes them from the steering wheel. I remember what he said, his training letting him be cold, but now he’s scorching with rage.
“You’ll laugh,” I mutter.
“Laugh?” he growls. “Laugh, Lexi?”
“For me, it was hell. To anybody else, though, it would sound ridiculous. It would sound like a bad joke.” But not to Mia. Maybe this is my hangup, the opinion I’ve always had about how people would react. What have I been basing that on?
“You can tell me,” he says.
I lean away from him slightly. His whole aura is burning up. Like any second, he’ll erupt, sprint across the city, through walls, through traffic, find Ralph, and hurt him.
“Maybe if I just say it,” I murmur, my heart pounding so hard, it’s like it’s trying to cut off my throat. Stop me from being able to speak so I don’t have to share the pain. “Just get it out there…”
“I’ll sit here all day and night if we need to, Lexi. You don’t have to rush.”
He tries his best to smile supportively, but his eyes are so serious, so ready to do anything for me.
“When I was around eleven, Ralph cornered me behind my house. He got really nasty. Brutal, really. He told me he’d seen Ruby and me together, and if I didn’t come to his room at a certain time, he would do bad things to Ruby.” I swallow, the words hurting. Yet somehow, they flow easier than I ever imagined they would. “So I went.”
“Whatever happened, Lexi, it’s not your fault,” he says fiercely.
I nod. “At first, I thought he’d want… that. I knew about it, obviously, but it wasn’t sex. He just made me… This is the part where you’ll laugh.”