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Why am I calling it home? I don’t have a home. I’m just passing through while trying to stay alive until this madness is over. Bruce’s place is my current place of refuge, not home

Chapter ten

Bruce

I pinged the chef about what time we would be home, and he should have dinner ready for us. He confirmed that he had her list and already had dinner set, but if I wanted something else, he could get it started. I let him know whatever he made is fine. I worked for a while longer before logging off.

“Lexi, we leave in five minutes. Is that okay?”

She turns my way and nods.

“I will need something flat to move the puzzle,” she requests.

“Do you mind leaving it here? You can continue when next you come in?” I request; I like having her here with me. Just knowing she’s with me and safe keeps my mind at ease.

“If you don’t mind, that’s fine with me. Please ask Grayson not to move it.”

“No one will touch it,” I confirm.

“Thank you.” She smiles. Good. Guess we are making progress.

I notified Ice that we are ready to move in five minutes and call Grayson to my office. He comes in, grinning at Lexi before coming my way.

“Make sure no one touches any of the puzzle pieces.”

“Yes, boss,” he says and turns to Lexi. “I’ll keep you posted on that playlist.” His chirpy tone annoys me. She nods and smiles at him.

Do I want to knock him out? Fuck yes. Instead, I say, “Let’s go home, Lexi,” in a deep tone.

She gets up, grabs her bag, and wraps my jacket around her and comes to stand beside me.

“Good night, Grayson,” she says with a smile at him. “And thank you.”

“Good night, Lexi,” he replies, chirpy again. “And boss, good night to you too.” At least his fucking tone is back to normal.

I pull her close and we step out. Ice is right there, waiting with Smith, who’s blatantly ogling her and sticking his fucking tongue out every few seconds. I can’t tell if he’s always done that or if I’m just high on jealousy. Ice leads the way. I keep her close to me and we all follow. Our drive home is quiet.

As soon as we step into the unit, she retreats to her room. I find our dinner still warm in the oven. I take it out and set the table. She joins me wearing leggings and one of my T-shirts. Now, that I like.

“Do you need help?”

“No, I’m good. Let’s eat and you can rest.”

“Where’s Ice?” she asks.

“He’s back in his unit, right below us.”

She nods.

We sit to eat the pasta dish with shrimp and broccoli that the chef made. The only sound we hear is the gentle clinking of our cutlery as we eat.

“We might have to find you another job. You can’t work at A. J. Lloyds. If the people after you knew about the unit, I’m sure they know about the job as well.” My voice is calm as I speak, carefully avoiding a tone that might frighten her.

She stops eating and stares at me, bewildered, her chest rising in fear as her lips tremble.

“Alexis, I will protect you. I promise,” I confirm, but she still looks scared. I take her hand, ignoring the electric jolt I feel. “Finding you a safe job is part of me making sure you are protected,” I state, locking eyes with her. She starts to relax a bit and removes her hand from mine. I patiently wait for her breathing to normalize.

“Okay, do you need me to send you my resume?” she asks.