Raw(56)
Author: Belle Aurora

She inhales deeply and replies on an exhale, “He tried to fight me.” And I smile at her temple. She must feel it because she laughs softly. “Yeah. He was a tough one. Not wanting help from anyone, especially me. Very wary and suspicious.” Then she says something that makes my chest ache. “He was a little like you, Twitch.”

Snuggling into me, she speaks into the side of my neck. “He didn’t want to tell me his name. But I got it out of him. He told me I’d forget once he was gone and I promised I wouldn’t. I remember trying so hard to make sure I didn’t forget it.” She smiles at my throat. “I even carved his name into the huge oak back home when I was ten.” She chuckles, “It’s like I wanted to prove to him that I kept my word.” Silence, then, “It didn’t matter, though. The day after I met him, there were ambulances and police cars all over his house. I hid in my room, covering my ears ‘til they left. And I knew…I just knew he was gone.”

My aching chest is soothed when a feeling of warmth settles over me.

Lexi yawns. “I guess that’s why I do what I do. You know? Help the kids I help. It’s sorta because of him. I’ll never forget him. He was a fighter. I always thought of him as a survivor.”

I don’t want to ask. I don’t want to ask. Don’t ask. “Do you remember his name, baby?”

Half asleep, she whispers, “Antonio Falco.”

My body tenses, solid as a rock. I listen closely as her breathing deepens then evens out, and her body softens as she falls into a deep sleep.

Fuck me. Fucking hell. I don’t believe this shit.

Breathing heavily, my jaw tightens and I pull Lexi deeper into me, savouring her warmth and sweetness. Everything I’m too stubborn to let go of.

Goddamn it! This wasn’t meant to happen. This… Fuck me… This changes everything.

Lexi remembers me.

A piercing shriek in my ear makes my entire body jolt.

The shriek sounds again. Then again.

My bedroom door bursts open, and Happy stands there in his boxers, as well as Ling in a skimpy nightie, both looking just woken. When Ling spots Lexi at my side, she scowls. Lexi lifts her head and mumbles, “What’s going on? What’s that freaking noise?” Blinking, she looks to the door and yells, “What is she doing here?”

One question at a time, young grasshopper.

Answering all her questions out of order, I say, “That’s the alarm; someone’s breaking in.” I look to Happy, who nods in confirmation. “And Ling lives here, Lex.”

Ling smirks.

Lexi’s brow furrows. “Why?”

Not wanting to embarrass Ling, I pretend to kiss Lexi’s temple and whisper, “Got nowhere else to go.”

Lexi pushes her temple into my touch before pulling back wide-eyed and screeching, “Someone’s breaking in?”

Happy chuckles and Ling mutters, “Rookie.”

I grin. “Don’t sweat it. Happens all the time.”

Her eyes drift down to my chest as she stutters, “Ha-ha-happens all the time?”

Slipping out of bed, I pull on a pair of boxers and order, “Stay up here. Whatever you hear, do not come down. You hear me?”

She pulls the covers up to her neck and whispers, “I can’t promise that, but I’ll stay up here ‘til I can stay up here no longer pondering your imminent death.”

Stopping in my tracks at her overly dramatic explanation, I ask, “How long you think that’ll be?”

Looking up in thought, she mutters, “About five minutes.”

“Deal.” Pointing at her, I order, “Do not come down. For five minutes.”

As I walk out into the hall, Ling walks back to her room, closing the door behind her, while Happy follows behind me.

I ask him, “What do we have today?”

Happy snickers, “One guy. Looks drug-fucked. In the dining area, searching like a mad man.”

Sighing, I mutter, “They never learn.”

When we reach the staircase’s half-way point, we come face-to-face with a man, I’d say in his thirties, with blonde shaggy dreadlocks and bloodshot eyes, dressed in grey Bermuda shorts and a dirty white tee. I can’t figure out who sent him, if anyone sent him. From the looks of him, he could just be a junkie on a binge, desperately looking for something to hock for another fix.

He stands there a moment in shock before taking off like a rocket up the hall.

Oh, dear. Looks like he chose a dead end. What a shame.

Walking calmly down the hall to the formal dining room, I make my way into the room to spot the man trying in vain to pull himself out of the high set windows. With a shake of the head, I reach for his ankle and pull. Hard. He collapses at my feet in a shaking, sweating mess ,and I ask, “Who sent you?”

Shaking his head, he utters, “No one, man. No one.”

Placing my hand on his head, he whimpers as I pat him like a dog. “Here I am, enjoying a night in with one of my girls, and I have to deal with this shit. I’d really like to know who sent you.”

Shaking his head once more, my anger builds. I tangle my fingers tightly into his hair and lift him by his dreads. He cries out, and from the way his voice gurgles and chokes, I’m worried he’s going to be sick. Pulling him over to the exquisite antique dining table, I kick a heavy chair out of the way before throwing his torso onto the surface of the unblemished mahogany.

Gripping his hair tight, I ask, “You wanna know why I keep my door locked at night?”

Breathing heavily, he nods his head.

Leaning closer to his ear, I tell him on a whisper, “To protect the people outside of it from me.”

Pulling his head up by his hair, I grit my teeth and slam his head down on the dining table. Repeatedly.

The sound of his nose snapping makes me shudder. I get too much pleasure from this shit. It’s almost alarming.

Almost.

Throwing him to the ground in an unconscious heap, my eyes catch something moving towards me. Lexi looks far away. She whispers distantly, “You said one of your girls.”

“What?”

Avoiding my eyes, she utters more firmly, “You said you were enjoying a night in with one of your girls. Not your girl.”

My brow furrows. Did I say that?

Reaching for her, she pulls back and sniffs, “I gotta go. It’s late.”

Fuck me. She’s pissed.

Before I can call out to her, she’s gone. Happy leans against the door, and I shrug at him in question. He nods, confirming I did say what cut Lexi deep.