Chapter 17
Knox
I watch Lexi sleep in my arms, her head pressed to my chest. We’ve spent most of the afternoon in bed, watching TV, pigging out on snacks, and then making love over and over again. It’s late and she’s exhausted, her mouth parted in slumber. Me, I can’t sleep.
I keep thinking about today. Something about it feels off. There’s too many things going on that I can’t put my finger on that bug me. It’s not just the fact that she forgot to invite me to the checkup with the doctor. It’s not that she casually shrugged off my haphazard suggestion of marriage. I kind of expected those sorts of things from Lexi. She only lets you as close as she’s comfortable with. It’s frustrating, but not unexpected.
But the real terror she showed in the pharmacy threw me off. I don’t know what caused her to panic like that, but I nearly aged ten years when I turned to her and she was all white-faced, practically shaking as she held the basket to her chest. I don’t buy that she was distracted and that it was nothing.
It was something. I just don’t know what.
The baby, maybe? But if she was worried about something, we were still across the street from the doctor’s office. It would have been a simple thing to return and ask him to check up on something again. This is something else. Something she saw or heard. I rack my brain, trying to think of what, and then reach over and grab my phone from the bedside. Lexi sleeps on, drooling on my chest. I don’t even mind that. It’s cute. I touch her hair and make sure she’s covered in blankets, and then decide to text Clay. For once I’m glad I can text, because it’ll allow me to chat with him without waking Lexi up.
KNOX: Hey, are you busy?
CLAY: What’s up.
KNOX: Can you ask Natalie something for me? About Lexi?
CLAY: She says go ahead and ask.
CLAY: I hope it’s important for this time of night, I’m just saying
KNOX: It’s important.
KNOX: Is there something going on with Lexi that would make her scared?
KNOX: We were shopping earlier and she panicked and went and hid in the car.
KNOX: It wasn’t her being funny, either, she was genuinely worried. Kept looking around like she was being watched.
CLAY: Let me ask.
I stare impatiently at the phone as three dots show up in the corner, indicating there’s an incoming text. This seems to go on for an eternity and I remember why I hate text messages so much. Finally, when I’m about to throw my phone across the room in frustration, the text message shows up.
CLAY: So she says that Lexi isn’t afraid of anything she knows of, but she said she did have a problem with a guy a while back that wouldn’t leave her alone. Nat says Lexi doesn’t like to talk about it, but she dated him once and then he kept bothering her. She moved apartments to get away from him. Nat says she hasn’t heard anything about it in a while.
CLAY: Says he was a fireman or a policeman or something.
CLAY: She says it’s old news, though, and he wouldn’t be in San Antonio so that can’t be it.
CLAY: She’ll think some more on it and let you know.
KNOX: Thank you.
I toss my phone aside, bothered. A stalker? Lexi? Is that why she was so quick to move to Natalie’s guesthouse? I think back to some of our conversations. How I kept thinkin’ she was married because she insisted on me not comin’ ’round without warning her. Then I think of the hole in her wall.
It was just about the size of a fist.
I think about how pale she was that day, and how she was wearin’ a dark T-shirt and sweatpants instead of her usual sleek workout clothes. Did some bastard say somethin’ to her? I’m filled with so much rage my entire body tenses. Has she felt unsafe?
Has someone threatened my woman? My Lexi? The mother of my child?
My head feels as if it’s about to explode. Lexi murmurs and stirs against me, and I realize my entire body is clenched up tight, my hands in fists as if I’m about to punch something. I force myself to relax, to calm the fuck down. I stroke her hair and press a kiss to her head. “Go back to sleep.”
She does, her fingers curling against my skin.
I’m filled with an overwhelming sense of protectiveness. Lexi is mine. I’ll do anything to protect her. If she doesn’t feel safe, then it’s my job to make sure she does. I think for a moment and then pick up my phone again. With one hand on her back, I text with my other, typing to Boone.
KNOX: Hey, give me the # for the private investigator u used.
BOONE: It’s midnight . . . this important?
KNOX: Yes.
BOONE: Fair enough.
BOONE: I just emailed you his contact info. Let me know if you need me to get involved.
KNOX: Got it handled.
KNOX : Thanks bro.
If Lexi doesn’t want to tell me what’s going on, I’m just going to have to find out on my own.