“Shhh, it will be okay.”
She shook her head. “No it won’t. I don’t know if it will ever be right again. He was telling the truth the whole time. How could I help put an innocent man away?” Her breathing became more rapid.
“Lexi-love, you’ve got to calm down. You didn’t know. You did what anyone else would’ve done. Hell, a jury of his peers convicted him. If there wasn’t enough evidence, they would’ve never found him guilty.”
She looked deep into his eyes. Could she forgive herself so easily? “What about Jeremy?”
“He’s gone. There has been no trace of him. The police would like to talk to you as soon as you can to give them a statement about what he told you.”
Lexi looked away from him and out the window. Storm clouds covered the sky. It seemed to fit her mood. “I’m ready now, Noah. We’ve got to tell them everything he told me so they can catch him. Let’s get this moving. I want Jeremy caught and Anthony free.”
*
Lexi lay back in Noah’s bed breathing heavily, a scowl on her face. “Damn it.”
Noah stood with his shoulder propped against the door frame. “You shouldn’t be pushing it. You’re trying to do too much. Remember, you’ve only been out of the hospital for a couple of weeks.” He crossed the room, sat down next to her, and played with her hair. “Give yourself a break. You still need your rest.”
She turned her head towards him. “You know I can’t do that. I have to be able to stand on my own two feet. I hate depending on people, having them wait on me. I need to be prepared.”
“I know you’d rather do everything yourself, but you’ve got all these people who love you and who are willing to do whatever needs to be done. Just relax and enjoy it while you can. Before you know it, the Trio will be calling to have you bail them out.”
A small smile flirted across her face. “It’s got to be killing them that they have to be good.”
“They’re enjoying teasing Sam. I won’t even mention what they are doing to the guards.”
Lexi’s face turned serious. “I have to be prepared. We don’t know where Jeremy is or when he’s coming back for me. I can’t be this weak next time.”
Noah hated to see her like this, but he knew where she was coming from—the same place he was. He still hadn’t forgiven himself for not making sure Jeremy was secured before going to Lexi. He’d really thought the guy was completely knocked out. How had he been able to move and get out of the house without anyone seeing him? He wasn’t sure if the memory would ever stop haunting him.
Noah shook his head. “I understand. But you know we’re taking extra precautions. That wall you hated the thought of is almost finished. We’ve got security, not just here in the house, but on both our properties and even the water. He won’t get past us. You need to take the time to heal, otherwise you’ll just end up hurting yourself.”
Watching as she turned away from him he knew she would be beating herself up over what had happened. They’d spent many a night up talking, he knew her thoughts. He could almost hear them because she had said the words to him at one time or another. She hated what she’d done to Anthony. She knew that there was no way for anyone to know that there was someone so completely twisted, hell-bent on destroying Anthony’s life, but she hated that she’d added to it. She hated how she’d reacted when she’d seen Jeremy in her closet. All those years of self-defense classes. All those years of thinking of worst case scenarios and what she would do if she was ever faced with something like that? Down the drain. Like it had never happened. She wasn’t as strong as she thought she was.
Noah leaned over and put his fingers under her chin so she’d look at him. He felt helpless, there was nothing that he could do or say to make her feel better. To make her stop blaming herself. He knew in time she’d get back to herself, he just had to prove to her he wasn’t going anywhere.
“I know what you’re thinking. There’s nothing I can say or do that’ll make you not blame yourself. Just know, I’m here for you, now and forever. You can lean on me. Let me be strong for you while you’re healing. I’m holding the pieces of you, keeping them safe, until you’re ready to put them back together.”
She opened her arms and Noah laid down gently beside her, gathering her up in his arms so that her head rested on his shoulder.
*
Lexi sat there trying to concentrate and at least act like she was enjoying the girl-time with Evie and the ladies. At the very least, she nodded at the appropriate times to reassure them she was there.
Things were going slower then she wanted. She wanted to be stronger, but most importantly, she wanted Anthony freed. She was scared about his reaction and what he might do, but she knew it wouldn’t be anything like Jeremy.