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Little drops of blood.
Had he cut himself trying to break in?
Or had there been some sort of an altercation with Lexy?
Why the fuck hadn’t I thought to ask for details when I’d had Perish on the phone?
It was too late now.
I’d have to see for myself.
My stomach twisted, not sure I could handle seeing her all fucked up like that again, knowing that I’d failed to keep her safe from that again.
I took one second as I climbed the steps to take a deep breath, to pull myself together. This wasn’t about me. I had to be strong and calm for Lexy.
I reached for her door handle, and pushed it open without knocking, figuring they would have heard my bike, and I wasn’t going to be sneaking up on them.
The first thing I saw was Perish, standing there in nothing but a pair of black sleep pants, all his ink and ‘prison fit’ body on display. Wide chest, corded arms, a full-on six-pack. And all of those muscles big.
I needed to hit the gym with Cary more.
I noted a gun nestled in his hand, and felt myself nod in approval before I turned to find who I was really looking for.
Lexy.
Wrapped up in a blanket.
Eyes wide.
But that set to her jaw?
That wasn’t fear.
That was fucking rage.
CHAPTER TEN
Lexy
There was a second of sleep-startled incomprehension.
My heart was hammering, and a weird, slithery feeling was moving through my chest and stomach, but I couldn’t remember what had startled me awake.
The glass.
Right?
Or had that been a dream?
I was struggling telling reality from fantasy as I blinked some moisture back into my eyes as I sat up in bed, trying to reason with my body, to not overreact when I had no idea if I’d actually heard a noise or not.
It was useless, though.
Panic shot through me, making me swear I could feel the blood rushing through my veins as I tossed off my covers, and slowly climbed off my bed, trying not to let the bed or floor creak as I moved, in case anyone was in my house.
My hand went to my nightstand, looking for my phone.
Only to realize with a sick, sinking sensation, that I hadn’t brought it up to bed with me. I’d left it plugged in down in the living room because I’d been using it to try to track down a random old album I’d been trying to get my hands on for years.
Stupid.
God, that was so stupid.
Every woman knew she was supposed to bring two things to bed with her. Her phone and her car keys.
The former for painfully obvious reasons.
The latter, to set off your own car alarm to startle someone if you thought they were trying to break into your house.
I’d brought neither.
I knew better than that, damnit.
I was usually so careful.
I mean, you couldn’t watch crime shows and not be at least a little bit paranoid. Especially after having recently gotten attacked, too.
But my mind had been on other things.
Well, one other thing.
Finn.
His lips on mine, his fingers on and in me, his sexy words in my ear.
My bone-deep need to feel his weight pressing me into his bed, to feel him moving inside of me.
Even right then as I crept across my bedroom floor, I could feel completely irrational desire strumming through my body that seemed capable of both panic and the need for pleasure at the same time.
I got to the window, looking down at the street, but seeing nothing suspicious.
And the house was quiet the floor below me.
I needed to calm the hell down. I was being ridiculous.
A bad dream, that was all.
Still, I wasn’t going to be able to get back to sleep again without my damn phone.
Taking a steadying breath that did nothing to calm my nerves now that I had adrenaline flooding my body, I made my way toward the landing, pressing my hand to the wall to make sure I didn’t miss a step and fall on my face in the dark. The light above them had been out for months at this point, and I wasn’t too keen on trying to use a ladder on a staircase to replace the bulb, so I’d just been dealing with the darkness.
Suddenly, that felt like a really stupid thing. Maybe I should put up a puck light. Or, like, wrap the banister in twinkle lights.
Still, as I navigated down into my quiet living room, I felt some of the tension of startling awake slip away.
I moved around the couch and felt around for my phone.
Only to find it wasn’t there.
It wasn’t there?
Had I brought it upstairs after all? Maybe it fell off the nightstand, and that was what woke me up?
On a sigh at my distractedness, I moved around the couch again.
It wasn’t until I was in that space between the living room and the staircase that I realized how fucking stupid I’d been. How much I’d ignored my instincts.
