The fact she thinks I’m going to let her take a single step out of this apartment just proves how little of my obsession she knows about.
I’m not above locking her up if it means she’s safe.
I lean a shoulder against the doorframe and watch her for a few moments. Playing this right is imperative unless I want her pushing me away even more.
Her hiccupped sobs are as painful for me as they appear to be for her, and if the way she swipes at her tears every few seconds is anything to go by, she’s seconds away from losing it.
I step forward, approaching her slowly until I can tug her into my arms.
She shoves at me weakly, but after the second time I don’t let her go, she buries her face into my chest and cries so hard her body trembles with the power of each sob.
“It’s okay, Wildcat. Everything is going to be just fine,” I promise.
“You don’t know that.”
“Yes, I do.”
“No, you don’t, Colten!”
“Lexi, I spent close to two decades hoping that one day you would be mine. Do you really think there’s anything on this earth that could keep me from you?”
“But it might not be up to you.”
“Trust me to take care of this. Trust me to take care of you.”
“Not if it means you get hurt. I couldn’t live with myself if you died because of me.”
“Not even the devil himself could tear me away from you, Wildcat.”
FORTY-FIVE
LEXI
You know those cries when you feel like a totally new human after? Like you’ve expelled all your demons and have a whole new lease on life?
Yeah, this is not one of those cases.
My chest hurts, my head throbs, and my throat is scratchy when I’m dragged from sleep by the sound of a phone vibrating.
Colten is passed out behind me with Pancake asleep in the center of his chest. She’s been hovering over him like she’s protecting him from being hurt again, and it’s truly the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen.
I watch her rise and fall with each breath he takes for long minutes. It’s reassuring to have them both where I can see them, but I need to finish my exploration of the security program on Colten’s laptop before he changes the password again. I got lucky guessing it this time, but I probably won’t again.
Slipping from beneath the soft blanket he must have put over me after I passed out, I head to the bathroom to take care of business, avoiding the mirror at all costs.
I check Colten and Pancake one more time, checking to make sure they’re both still asleep before I sneak into the living room.
It doesn’t take nearly as long to get into the computer this time around, and then I’m back to searching through the folders, even if I’m not sure what for just yet.
Whatever filing system he’s using, it’s either chaotic or genius. I just haven’t figured out which one it is yet.
Every now and then I check over my shoulder to make sure Colten isn’t watching me from the doorway, and eventually I get so engrossed in the program that I forget about everything else.
He has a tracker on just about everyone that works for the organization, as well as their spouses. Again, it makes sense given how high-risk we are just by being with men like him, and the fact that if any of them were ever in danger, he would be able to help find them will probably make me sleep better at night, but it’s intense, nonetheless.
The problem is, apart from the mirrored phone, I can’t find myself anywhere.
Is it possible that that’s all he has on me?
