“Oh, your poor face.” Lexi winced when she saw me then slid a glass of whiskey to me.
“Marius dragged me to the doctor. Nothing’s broken, and I still have all my teeth.” I hesitated, standing there, waiting for the blow to come.
“Sit.” Lexi patted the table next to her.
I steeled myself and sat gingerly on the stool.
Lexi took a deep breath.
“Obviously what happened at the party was hard for everyone, but I think that it’s a positive development in your relationship with your brothers. The next time you get together with them, you can start rebuilding your relationship from a place of honesty.”
I drew back.
“I’m never seeing them again.”
“Yes, you are,” she argued. “We’re hosting a dinner party once I find some dining room furniture.”
I searched her eyes.
“Didn’t you come here to break up with me?”
“Of course not.” Lexi was indignant. “I may not be in finance, but I’m not letting a hot asset walk out the door.”
“But you know everything about me now.”
“All your toxic secrets,” she agreed then looked down at the drink in front of her.
“I think,” she said slowly, “that you were in a very difficult situation, for anyone, and you were just a kid. You did what you thought was best to save the people you loved. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt.”
“That’s going to get you—”
“Kidnapped one day? Yeah, your brother Graham said the same thing. Maybe you two can get drinks some time and complain about it. ’Til then, I choose to see the best in others,” she said, nose in the air.
Her words were sweet relief.
I wrapped her in my arms, cupped her face, and kissed her mouth.
You need to tell her that she needs to find another job. I replayed Marius’s words.
But I couldn’t tell her now, not when I was close to losing her.
“I ordered you some soup,” she said, voice slightly muffled against my suit jacket. “Your jaw still looks bruised.”
“You should see the furniture.” I released her.
Lexi giggled.
“I shouldn’t laugh. We—well, you really, are going to have to pay for all of that.”
“I watchedPinocchiolast night,” I told her suddenly.
“You watched a Disney movie?” she squealed.
“Shhh,” I said, holding a finger to her lips then kissing them. “You’ll ruin my reputation as a brooding mysterious billionaire.”
She clapped her hands. “You are having a breakthrough, and I am here for all of it.”
I took a sip of the whiskey. “Then you’ll be very excited to hear I’m thinking of changing Crumpet’s name to Jiminy Cricket.”
