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Chapter Twenty-Three
Lexi
I don’t see him come in the bar, but can feel the change in the air. My eyes are on Linkin, so it isn’t hard to miss the way he visibly tenses and sort of snarls at the door. When I glance over, I am shocked to find Chris standing there, scanning the room. Then his eyes find me, and my stomach lurches.
He’s moving towards me, a warm smile on his face. My stomach twists again with uneasiness and uncertainty as he comes to stand before me. “Alexis,” he says, his voice low and soft.
“Chris,” I reply without any emotion. “What are you doing here?”
“I came for you,” he says sweetly, another friendly smile on his face.
Before I can reply, there’s a presence behind me. I don’t have to turn to know who has stepped up behind me. I can smell his soap and feel the invisible pulses that vibrate between us.
“For me?” I ask, annoyance and stubbornness sweeping through my blood.
“Everything okay?” Linkin asks, stepping beside me and crossing his arms over his expansive chest.
“Everything will be just as it should be shortly,” Chris snarls at Linkin.
“Yeah, with you out of here,” he replies, not fazed in the least by Chris’s presence.
“I don’t think so, Linkin. In fact, I’m willing to bet that once Alexis hears what I have to say, it’ll be you who will be vacating the building.”
“You think so?” Linkin taunts, that cocky grin spreading across his face.
“I know so,” he growls, turning his attention back to me. “Alexis,” he starts, but I cut him off.
“It’s Lexi.”
“Lexi,” Chris tries again, rolling his eyes at what he probably considers my immaturity. He knows I hate to be called Alexis. It’s too formal, too stuffy, and frankly, I just don’t like it after years of him calling me only by my birth name.
“How well do you know this man?” Chris asks, bringing my thoughts back to his interruption.
“Excuse me?” I ask.
“I’m willing to bet you don’t know much about this man at all. He has a past, Ale- Lexi, and he’s hiding it from you.”
“What are you talking about?” I ask, frustration and exhaustion setting in.
“He’s a gambler! He has connections to some very questionable people back in Westville, and has been giving them large sums of money on a regular basis!” Chris proclaims before opening a manila folder he had tucked under his arm. Inside are pictures of Linkin sitting at a table, handing over an envelope that appears to be full of cash. And if I were looking for confirmation, the next picture is of the greasy man looking in the envelope, counting the cash. “You see? He’s a con man, a criminal,” he declares, pointing down to the photos I hold in my hand.
And then he says the one thing that almost brings me to my knees. “And this is who you chose to have a baby with.”
I gasp, glaring up at him. “You have no right to judge me or the choices I make!”
“We can fix this. Together,” he begs, reaching for my hand.
“Fix this? You had a vasectomy! There’s no fixing that!” I yell, not even caring who hears. Gasps fill the room, reminding me that I never confessed to my sisters as to why I left Chris. Well, no one but Abby.
“That was a mistake,” he says quietly.
“A mistake? A fucking mistake!?”
He blanches at my unsavory adjective. “Ale- Lexi, look, we all make mistakes. I want you. I want us.”
“There is no us.”
“But there could be,” he begs, taking another step forward. Linkin growls loudly behind me, making Chris’s steps falter. “I’ve made an appointment at the clinic in Richmond to have it reversed. We can work past this.”
