So she’d be getting a new one.
And, lastly, Walker learned that by the time Julius made his entirely fucked up but inarguably successful play, she was still in that fleabag motel, spending her days in her head at the beach and the proof of this was the very sweet, honeyed tan that kissed nearly every inch of her skin. Bess was working in a kid’s arcade in order that they didn’t piss away all their money while Lexie pulled herself together and they figured out their next move.
After she got done giving, Walker had called Julius.
And now she was there, eyes on him, body on him.
“You gave, mama, now you take,” he whispered and felt her hand flatten on his chest.
“What are you gonna give me?” she asked when he said no more.
“Everything,” he answered immediately, watched her lips part and more fucking tears fill her eyes then his arm tightened around her back and he slid her up his body so they were face to face. “But first,” he went on quietly, “you give me one more thing.”
“What?” she whispered.
“Tell me where your rings are so I can go get ‘em and put ‘em back on your fuckin’ finger.”
She stared at him and he watched one tear slide over and glide down her cheek. He lifted a hand and, with his thumb, he swept it away. When he did, she got a handle on it.
Then she said, “They’re in my purse.”
“Where’s your purse?”
She looked adorably confused for a moment, like she forgot what a purse was, then she focused and said, “In your Cruiser.”
He nodded, slid out from under her and moved to the stairs to the garage, buttoning enough buttons on his jeans to keep them on his hips.
Julius had played him too, saying he was in town to deal with something that came up with Walker’s shit, an angle Julius kept working even though Walker told him that angle was dead and he was working with Tate and hoping Pe?a was out there seeing to shit. That said, Walker didn’t try too hard to discourage his friend from this mission, mainly because Julius’s angle was giving them shit they could use.
Julius brought Anana because Julius said Anana wanted to meet him. He’d given them the Cruiser to deal with their business because Julius had lied again and said they were having trouble with their car, a two-seater, when that was bullshit and they needed a backseat to put Lexie in.
He didn’t like his brother’s tactics, Julius’s play was extreme and he could not imagine thinking for eleven hours that his wife was on the verge of dying, but when he went to the Cruiser and saw then grabbed her purse from the backseat then saw and grabbed her bag from the back, he couldn’t help but think that regardless of how extreme the play, Julius was right. All’s well that ends well. And Julius’s play had ended spectacularly well and Walker’s errand was conclusive evidence of that fact.
He carried them both upstairs, left her bag by the railing, took her purse to the island, dug through and found she had all the boxes in her purse. She didn’t check them, had them close all the time. Definitely a smart decision. Probably also an emotional one.
He found the one he was looking for, opened it, pulled out the jewelry box inside, flipped it open and saw both rings embedded there. He tagged them and moved directly back to his wife, resuming the exact same position but with her torso more on his so her left arm was not caught between his body and the couch.
Then he positioned the rings and slid them on her finger.
Lexie didn’t give him the chance to do what he intended to do and that was put his lips to them. She did a face plant in his chest and he felt her body rear and her breath catch on more tears.
He let her hand go and wrapped both of his arms around her as she slid her face up and pressed it into his neck.
Then he waited. This jag didn’t last as long, she got a handle on it and he listened to her pull in steadying breaths. Then she lifted a hand and swiped at her face. Then she settled cheek to his shoulder. That was when he lifted a hand and slid her hair away from her face and off her neck, feeling its softness fall and glide down his shoulder and arm.
He missed that. He knew he missed it but having it back he realized he missed it.
Then he wrapped his arm around her again.
“Now, baby, tell me what you wanna take,” he said gently and heard her pull in another breath.
Then she asked, “Are you okay?”
His answer was immediate and he tightened his arms on her when he gave it. “Fuck yeah.”
He felt her smile against his skin before she lifted up and gave the smile to him visibly.
Then it faded slowly and she said, “I don’t mean now, honey, I mean with everything that’s going on.”
His head tilted slightly on the pillows. “Everything that’s going on?”
She bit her lip, hesitant, unsure and, fuck him, scared.
Fuck.