Lexi
I set the table and put out the dinner Travis helped me cook. Selena is over as well. She has known everything since the beginning, so it was a given she would be here. I haven't seen Ethan this tense before. I know he's struggling with this decision.
“Lexi, can you come in here, please?” Ethan calls out. I look at Travis, and we both make our way over to the others. “I’m going to pay for his treatment.” I smile, as I’m so happy he made this decision. I never doubted he would do the right thing. The child shouldn't have to pay with his life when Ethan can afford to help save him. “Selena is going to get the lawyers to make a contract stating that I’ll pay for the treatment. In return, they can never contact my family or me again. The moment they attempt any contact, they will have to repay all the money. All correspondence from the medical staff will go through my lawyers. That way, I can be kept up-to-date but from a distance. They’ll have to keep the attorneys up to date with all follow-up care for at least the first year after surgery.” Ethan looks over at me, and I give him an encouraging smile. I want him to know I think he's great, and he's doing the right thing.
“I think that's a good plan, Ethan,” his mom says as she walks over to him and gives him a kiss.
“Selena will call them on her way home, and they’ll have the contract by the end of the week. Now, I don’t want to talk about them, or even hear the names from anyone in this room anymore. My girlfriend has made dinner, which smells amazing, and I’m hungry,” Ethan tells everyone as he's walking over to me.
“I'm proud of you for helping that little boy.”
“Do I get extra points for that?” Ethan gives me a wink, and I can’t help but laugh at him.
“You do in two more days,” I tell him. Giving him a wink back, I walk back to the kitchen and leave him standing alone with Travis. I look back at Ethan, who’s walking away from Travis. What the hell has to happen for Ethan to give Travis a break? I mean, he’s his best friend. “He’ll come around. I think today has been a long day,” I tell Travis as he comes over to help me.
“I know. I knew this was going to happen. I just don't know how to show him that I’ve changed since I’ve been with Tanya,” Travis says as he mixes up the gravy.
Ethan thinks that I can't cook, but I can—I just don't like to. This is the first time I'm cooking for him. It’s one of my dad’s favorites and the only thing I actually know how to cook well.
“I can talk to him if you want.” I look over at him. I like Travis, and Tanya looks happy to me.
“No. I know Ethan, he just needs a little more time,” he says, walking away with some items to take to the table.
As I'm following, Tanya walks past me and brings a few things too. “Oh, Lexi, this all looks amazing,” she tells me.
“Thank you. It was my dad’s favorite.” I say while looking over at Ethan, who holds my eyes for a moment.
“Are we about to eat an old family recipe?” Tanya asks.
“We are,” I reply. I plate some food for Ethan. “I can feel you staring at me,” I whisper to him, not wanting anyone else to hear.
“That’s because I am.” Ethan brings his lips to my ear. “You look beautiful.”
Turning to face him, I look into his eyes. His lips are so close to mine. I always thought those moments between couples that you see in the movies didn’t really happen because, let’s face it, real life sucks most of the time. But, right now, at this very minute, something magical is happening between us. My body breaks out into goosebumps, and my stomach feeling like a cage of butterflies have escaped.
“Can you pass the gravy?” Tanya asks, breaking us out of our moment. I look over and see Lisa smiling at us, and there is something different about it, a proud smile.
I want to ask Travis and Tanya how their relationship is going, but I don't want to annoy Ethan. Despite the shit morning he’s had, he's finally in a good mood.
“Mr. Williams called me today and said he might come down this week.” I look over at Ethan. “He asked if we would be available for dinner?”
“Sure, just let me know,” Ethan replies taking a mouth full of lamb and potatoes. “This is good.”
The evening was nice. We talked about my job, which reminded me that I needed to talk to Ethan and Mrs. Jackie about it. I can't keep lying to his family about how we met. The moment I start working in Ms. Jackie's office, they’ll know something is wrong.
Ethan's mom hasn't dated anyone since Ethan's dad. I kept telling her she needs to find a man. Tanya agreed with me, but Ethan wasn’t so happy about it. Tanya and I still plan on putting her on a dating site.
***
By the time we got home last night, I was too tired to tease Ethan; I think he was too. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he was fast asleep.
As I'm coming out of the bedroom, I hear Selena’s voice. It's too early for her to be here. What is she doing here?
“Selena, I like you. I think you’re a very brave woman to be working for him, but it's seven in the morning. I don’t care what Ethan has to say or what business emergency has come up, just go home. I don’t want to see your beautiful face until ten,” I tell her, and she looks over at Ethan.
Ethan come up behind me. “I think someone didn’t get enough sleep.” He brings his lips to my ear. “Or is someone missing something?” he whispers, and my body shivers a little.
God, yes, I'm missing something. I miss having sex with him, I miss having his lips on me and his body touching mine. Stupid bet.
“You be back here at ten,” he tells Selena. Walking over to the kitchen to get some coffee Ethan looks over at me. “I’m about to go up to the penthouse if you want to come have a look. Or would you like to go to the bedroom and have some…fun?” Ethan’s lips curl up, and I stick my tongue out at him.
“I know that it’s getting to you too, and the worst part is this is only day two. Day fucking two,” I tell him blowing on the hot coffee.
“I've learned that very cold showers seem to work.” Ethan starts laughing and kisses me. “Good morning.”
“Good morning. Let me finish my coffee, then I'll be up to have a look. How much longer is it going to take, do you think?” I ask him. I know that he's not in a rush to finish it.
“I’ve told them to take their time. I want everything to be perfect.” Ethan fills his mug up with some coffee. “I need a few things extra now that you’re moving in.”
I turn around to look at him. “When was this decision made? You haven’t asked me, nor have I said yes.” Putting my hand on my hip, I wait for him to at least ask me.
“Fine. Lexi, will you move in with me?”
I start laughing at the way he's just asked me. It was the most childish thing I think I’ve heard. “Fine, I’ll move in with you,” I answer, mocking his tone and making him laugh.
“Come on. I have other work to do, too.” Ethan walks over to the door as I drink the last of my coffee.
“You need to get laid. You seem very tense.” I laugh as I walk out of the door.
“Trust me. In two days, I’m taking the day off and locking you in the bedroom.” Ethan slaps my ass, and I can’t help but laugh some more at him. I still think he’ll break before I do.
Walking into the penthouse, I look at the mess. There’s no way this is going to be finished anytime soon. There isn’t even a kitchen in here yet, and Ethan is already planning on making me breakfast in his apartment before I say I’m moving in here.
“There’s still a lot to do,” I say, following him around the room.
“Yeah, but the master bedroom is all done.” Ethan looks behind and winks at me. “So, since you are moving in, I thought you could see if you wanted to change anything,” he says, opening the door and letting me look around.
This is so much bigger than I'm used to. Even Ethan’s bedroom in the apartment is only about half the size of this room. I continue following him around the room. “What’s in here?” I ask.
“The massive closet, which has gotten a little bigger since I met you.” Ethan laughs as he opens the door. I stop and give him a 'don't be a smart ass' look.
“Wow, this is very nice,” I say. Walking in further, I stop feeling overwhelmed when I see all my shoes on the back wall of the closet.
“I don’t think you can buy enough shoes to fit in here, now.” Ethan wraps his arms around my waist from behind. “You have over half a wall to fill,” he says, kissing my neck.
“This is amazing, thank you!" I turn to face him. “I can’t wait to go shoe shopping,” I say, kissing him. I never thought I would have a closet, much less a wall just for my shoes.
“Does this give me more brownie points for the bedroom?” Ethan smirks at me.
I shake my head. “I can think of a few ways to say thank you.” He licks his lips, then huffs air between them. Is he about to break? When I suck his bottom lip between my teeth, he pulls away from me.
“I think I need to get back to work.”
“Why? I thought we could have a little—”
“I know what you were thinking. I won’t hear the end of it if I give in first, and that’s not about to happen. Never lost before, not going to start now.” Ethan puts his hands in his pants pockets and adjusts himself, causing me to start laughing.
“Give me two minutes.”
“Yeah, I have a very good idea of what you will be doing in those two minutes,” he says, walking out of the room, and I stay there feeling very happy with myself.
As soon as the clock hit ten, Selena was here. They’ve both been working non-stop on the paperwork for Edward and Angie. They’ve been on the phone with the lawyers several times and I can see Ethan starting to lose his temper. I’ve kept myself out of the way because I want this finished so he can put it all behind him.
Grabbing my phone off the table, I see Tanya’s name flashing. “Hey,” I answer.
“Teresa.” My body tenses and I walk over to the bedroom. He's done exactly what I was afraid of—he got to someone I care about. “I’m going to send you a message. I want you to come alone, or this beauty might get to meet your daddy very soon.”
“No, I’ll come, don’t you hurt her,” I whisper so Ethan won't hear me.
“Of course not. She isn't who I want to hurt. You're the person I want to hurt, and I promise to make it painful.” An ice-cold rush of blood runs through me, terrifying me.
The phone goes dead, and I wait for the message to come through. Ding. Looking at the address to the old warehouse, I wonder why he would want me to go there. Looking back at the address, it hits me. This is the old warehouse where all the drug addicts go. No one really goes around that area.
I'm panicking, but trying to act normal as I make myself walk back to where Ethan and Selena are still sitting. “I’m going to meet your sister for coffee,” I tell him. I'm scared. Scared I might not see him again the moment I walk out of the door.
“That’s nice. The one around the corner?”
“Yeah, where else would I go?” I say with a smile.
“Okay, have fun.”
“I love you,” I say, kissing him. Taking my bag, I leave the apartment and get a cab to the address.
Looking at the building, I wipe the tears from my cheeks and take a deep breath, preparing myself for what I know will be a fight for my life.
As I walk into the old building, I feel a cold breeze rush over me. The walls are covered in spray-paint graffiti. I look around and see nothing on the bottom floor, but two men lying on the ground. They’re so high on whatever they’ve taken, they don't even see me walking past them.
As I make my way up the stairs, I look around again to make sure no one is close by. As I get to the top step, I see her tied up to a chair, and I hurry over to her in a panic.
“Tanya,” I say while pulling the tape from her lips. “Are you okay?”
“Lexi! Lexi, get out of here!” she yells at me.
“Her name is Teresa,” a cold, viscious voice says, and my heart races in terror. Carefull standing up, I turn around and see Sam walking closer to me.
“You said if I came you would let her go,” I tell him. I'm trying to keep a confident tone to make him think I’m not scared of him, but inside I want to run. I want to run so fast and so far because I know what he can do to me.
“No, I said I wouldn’t hurt her,” he shouts at me. Grabbing my arm, he pulls me closer to him, and I begin to tremble.
“You let go of her, you sick fuck!” Tanya shouts.
I hear scraping sounds behind me. When I hear it again, I realize it's the wood of chair legs against the floor. Tanya's trying to free herself. I scream as my side begins burning in excruciating pain. I grab where it hurts, hoping I can stop whatever is causing it. The sensation of warm liquid coating my palm has me pulling my hand away. A thick, red substance drips from my fingers when I hold my hand up to inspect it. Looking back up at Sam, I see he has the biggest smile on his face.
“I told you I would hurt you,” he whispers.
Trying hard to take a deep breath in, I feel my blood dripping down my stomach.
Again, I feel the metal dragging across my body. The point of the knife slices through my skin with little effort, and digs right in. I cry out in agony. A searing burn flares up my side, consuming me in white-hot pain, making my mind go blank. Besides the onslaught of sharp attacks enveloping me, dread rises to the forefront of my senses.
I always knew this could happen. My pulse races and my heart pounds against my chest like a sledgehammer as I wonder if I’ll make it out alive.
Sam jerks the knife in further before yanking it out. Tears cloud my vision, then spill down my cheeks and drip off my chin like rain. I feel the cold, hard concrete underneath me as I drop, my legs giving way beneath me. Slamming into the ground, the only thing I'm capable of doing is lying there and shivering, my pain intensifying to levels I never knew existed.
I can barely turn my head, but it's enough that I can just make out Tanya moving in her chair. Then, Sam is standing above me and saying something. I see his lips moving, but the words don’t make it to my ears. He crouches close to me, and his hands reach out, his fingers wrapping around my upper arms. His nails press into my skin as he begins to pull on me. I look up toward the lights as the room begins to fade away. My eyes flutter closed, and I’m shrouded in darkness.