She was trying her damndest to hold back her questions, and I knew how much effort that took for her. Lexi had always been the kind of person that needed every single ounce of information at her disposal before she made decisions about her life. So, I did the only thing I knew to do.
I walked her over to the couch, sat her down, then gave her exactly what she wanted.
“Rapid-fire questions. You ask, I’ll answer to the best of my ability, okay?” I asked.
She nodded quickly. “But, what about Natty and Chloe outside? Are we just going to leave them out there?”
I brought her hands to my lips to kiss. “They’re safe. Trust me. I’ve got a guy out there but the name of West. He’s sitting in the shadows. You probably didn’t even see him out there, and that’s the point. He’s keeping an eye out. I’d never leave them vulnerable like that. It’s just a bad idea for us to be standing outside.”
She furrowed her brow. “I didn’t see him at all.”
I grinned. “West is good at what he does. I trust him with my own life, so I absolutely trust him with theirs. If something happens, he’s right there. Okay?”
She relaxed a little bit. “Okay. Rapid-fire. Let’s do this. Ready?”
I nodded. “Ready.”
“How the hell did you get my cell number?”
“We have a guy in the club that’s a fucking whiz with computers. I asked him to dig it up for me in case I ever needed to get in touch with you.”
She drew in a short breath. “Natty. You knew about her when you came up to my apartment. How?”
“When I followed you home earlier, I perched and waited to make sure no suspicious vehicles drove through. I saw a car that looked weird, I perched in the bushes, and someone pulled the curtains to your apartment. I saw you, and Chloe, and the little girl.”
“Natty.”
“Right, Natty.”
“So, is that why they’re in trouble, too? Because the person in the other car saw?”
I nodded. “That’s the assumption I’m making, yes. There isn’t room for error here, so it's better to be safe than sorry.”
Her shoulders slumped a bit. “I know the doctors told me that I couldn't have kids. That’s why Natty was such a--.”
I shook my head. “You don’t owe me any explanation for her. She’s your daughter, and it doesn’t matter where she came from or whose daughter she is. I’ll protect her like she’s my own.”
Tears crested her eyes. “Please tell me you mean that.”
I reached my hand up and wiped away her tears. “Of course, I mean that.”
Her lower lip quivered. “Why didn’t you look for me? After you came back from whatever top-secret nonsense you say you did, why didn’t you track me down? Why didn’t you come looking for me, Dean?”
I moved to sit beside her on the couch. “I did. After I got home, I went straight to our apartment, but the landlord said you had moved a few months’ prior.”
“So, you just stopped your search? You thought I’d just be sitting at home waiting for a man who fell off the face of the earth after I thought he had been bombed to death?”
I took her hand, but she yanked it away.
“Answer me, Dean. Rapid-fire, remember?”
I closed my eyes. “During our mission, it led us to a small village. And while we were there, some of the villagers needed medical attention. The core group that we were tracking had already raided and pillaged the place before blowing up some of their most important buildings, and no doctors were set to arrive for a few days. I got permission to use what I could in order to help those that were in need, but the guy heading up the unit quickly figured out that it was a set-up.”
She didn’t say anything when I opened my eyes and peeked over at her, so I continued.
“We were ambushed, Lexi. The enemy insurgents wanted to figure out who the fuck the combat medic was of our group so they could take me out and weaken the guys coming after them. They charged me out of nowhere, and even though I had trained for that moment--even though I had all of the tools at my disposal that I needed to defend myself--it felt like I was back in basic training. Like I didn’t know fuck-all about anything.”
She still didn’t say anything, but she reached out for my hand. So, I let her take it.
