Just then, the sound of a loud engine and squealing tires filled the air. Eric cursed under his breath and shook his head. “Not everyone, apparently.”
The four men watched as Derek’s gunmetal grey Challenger Hellcat raced down the street, stopping just short of slamming into Eric’s department-issued car.
“Trevor!” Derek yelled across the lawn as he jogged toward them. “You okay, man?” One of the officers stepped aside to make room in their little group. Derek’s gaze went to the busted door and window behind Trevor. “Holy shit. What the fuck happened?” His head swung toward the ambulance. “Is Lex okay?”
“Take a fuckin’ breath and calm your shit,” Eric ordered. “And how the hell did you even know somethin’ happened?”
Derek gave his brother an exacerbated look. “I put Lexi’s address into my system before the team left town.” He looked at Trevor and shrugged a shoulder. “So we’d know if something happened while we were gone.”
Trevor hadn’t known Derek had done that, but appreciated his friend’s concern for Lexi’s safety. “Thanks, man.”
“Yeah, sure.” He blew his appreciation off. “You gonna tell me what happened? Is Lexi okay?” Derek looked him over quickly. “Areyouokay?”
While Trevor talked, Eric sent the officers inside the house to start processing the scene. Another pair of officers showed up and Eric sent them to check out the issue with the power. He jotted down a few more notes as Trevor went through the entire story again.
“Goddamn Lockwood,” Derek gritted through his teeth. To his brother he asked, “I thought your people were looking for him.”
Clearly frustrated, Eric assured him, “We are, D. But we don’t even know for sure thiswasLockwood. Hell, even Trevor couldn’t give a positive I.D. on the guy, and he had his damn gun pointed at the man’s head.”
Anger flooded Trevor’s system, but not toward Eric. He was pissed at himself. He should have paid closer attention to detail. While the bastard was holding Lexi, he should have studied the man’s eyes and mouth so he could match the description with Lockwood. Instead, he’d been focused on Lexi.
“Knock that shit off, Matthews. This isn’t on you.”
Trevor blinked and realized Derek was talking to him. “I lost focus.”
Derek looked at Trevor as if he were stupid. “Of course you lost fuckin’ focus. Some jagoff had his hands on your woman. Any one of us would’ve reacted the same way.”
“Not Jake,” Trevor argued. “When all that shit went down with Olivia, he was focused on the task. Not her.”
“Bullshit. I was there, too, remember? And I seem to recall Jake losing it a couple different times after Olivia was taken. A woman you care about was in danger, Trev. Only natural, you bein’ focused on her. Especially after the shit we just got done dealin’ with.”
Hadim’s tortured body flashed behind his eyes. Almost seamlessly, a different face replaced his. One that was beaten and broken in nearly the exact same way as Hadim’s.Lisa.
His heart ached for his dead friend, but it wasn’t until another woman’s image filled his thoughts that Trevor blinked and shook his head. He couldn’t even begin to imagine something like that happening to his Lexi.
His eyes flew to the ambulance just as she was guided out the back. The paramedics had given her a blanket, which she’d wrapped around her shoulders and was clutching together with her small, precious hands.
“See?” Derek crossed his arms at his chest and gave Trevor a smug look. “You’re thinkin’ of all that shit right now, aren’t you?” Trevor shook his head in denial, but his teammate wasn’t buying it. “Dude, it’s all over your face. You gotta remember...Lexi isn’t Lisa.”
Trevor was about to lay into him when Lexi got within earshot. Derek gave him a look that said he needed to cool it, and damn it...he knew his friend was right. But his immediate reaction was to protect this woman any way he knew how.
He didn’t know why, but every time Trevor was around Lexi, every one of his primal instincts kicked into high gear.You know why, you just don’t want to admit it yet.Finally, Lexi was back by his side, where she belonged.
“Hey, angel.” He forced a smile, doing his best to pretend he had it all together. “What’d they say? You okay?”
Lexi nodded. “I’m fine.”
Trevor wished her porch light was working so he could get a better look for himself. His eyes moved to the paramedics standing behind her. The woman spoke up.
“We offered to take her to the hospital for x-rays, just to be sure, but she signed the refusal. There are a few minor scrapes on her left arm from landing on the broken glass, and her ribs are probably going to be sore for a few days. We advised her to ice the bruise on her cheek, but other than that, she’s going to be fine.”
“Just like I told you,” she muttered to him.
Trevor was relieved to hear the bite in her tone. Carefully, he put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her to him. He kissed the top of her head, then rested his cheek there.
“I just needed to be sure.”
“I know.” Lexi’s voice softened as she leaned into his embrace.
