Chapter 38
BELLA
Northvale University
We pull out of the Northvale University main parking lot when Knox hands me a black duffel from the front seat. By the time we hit the freeway, I’ve swapped out the showgirl for the soldier.
“You okay, Bells?” Knox calls out, trying to sound casual.
“Fine.”
“Totally believable,” Tex mutters from the passenger seat, not bothering to hide the sarcasm.
“Okay both of you shut it,” I snap, settling back into my seat.
Tex doesn’t even look at me. “We’ve got company.”
My eyes shoot up to the side mirror. “You have got to be fucking kidding me,” I say as a sleek black motorcycle weaves through traffic behind us like it belongs in a heist movie.
“Pull over.”
“Bella—”
“Damn it just pull over, Knox.”
Knox grumbles something about ‘unhinged Russian architecture majors’ but does it anyway. The van slows down and eases onto the shoulder. I’m already pushing the door open before we’ve come to a full stop.
The roar of the motorcycle cuts as the rider swings it around and parks a few feet behind us. He takes his helmet off.
Lex.
Hair windblown, jaw tight, icy-blue eyes locked on me like he’s ready to either kiss me or kill someone for me. Probably both. I walk right up to him, heart pounding like a freight train in my chest.
“Why the fuck are you following me?” I snap, stalking up to him like I’m about to start swinging.
Lex doesn’t even blink, just tips his chin, “Nice to see you too, baby.”
“I’m serious, Lex. Turn on your bike and go home. I’m busy.”
“I can see that. Let me come with you.”
“No way in hell.”
“Why not?”
“This is a mission, dumbass. We have protocol.” I say putting my hands on my hips. “You don’t just waltz in like it’s a damn frat party.”
“I can be useful,” he says with that cocky tilt of his head. “You need muscle, I am muscle.”
“Go. Home. Lex.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Nope,” he says popping the p.
“God, I don’t have time for this,” I mumble as I pull my pistol from my holster and point it straight at his chest. His eyes flick to the barrel of the gun, then back to mine.
“There it is, baby,” he murmurs, voice low, dark, and hungry. “There’s the fucking darkness I knew was in you. You’re just like me.”
“What the fuck are you doing, Lex?”
He shrugs, casual as ever. “Look, Cade’s an idiot.
Love him to death but he’s still an idiot.
Trust me, I’ve been fucking him for years.
I’ve seen him throw walls up and tear himself apart over shit that never mattered.
He gets over it. He did with me and he will with you.
Especially with you because you’re not just some phase or fling, baby. You’re the girl he’s been orbit—”
“Stop talking, Lex.”
He takes one step closer. I don’t lower the gun.
“Go home. Now.”
“Baby,” he rasps, his voice so damn low, “Either pull the trigger or shut the fuck up and listen to me.”
My jaw clenches. Every nerve in my body is vibrating as I holster my pistol.
“What?” I snap.
His mouth twitches. “Good girl.”
Before I can blink, he grabs both my wrists and yanks me into him, rough and possessive. One of his hands pins mine behind my back while the other fists my hair. He dips his head low, breathing me in like I’m his next addiction.
Then he licks my fucking neck.
A slow, filthy drag of tongue over pulse. I gasp, half-shocked, half-amused, because it’s exactly what I did to him back at The Pit.
“That,” he growls into my skin, “is the last time you ever walk away from us again. Do you understand me, Bella?”
My breathing’s erratic. Heart is racing. Legs are shaking. The pulse between my thighs pounding. God, my fucking vagina and aggressive men I swear.
I hate him. I want him. I hate that I want him.
Knox steps out of the van, arms crossed, one brow raised. “Okay, as much as I’m all for whatever this is,” he waves a vague hand between us. “We need to move. Clock’s ticking.”
“Great. I’ll follow you,” Lex says not even looking at Knox.
I whip my head toward him. “Lex—”
“Not up for debate, baby. Now get your sexy ass moving. We’re gonna be late.”
@LucaWasHere
Off to play hero with a brute in tow?
Tsk, tsk, Izzy, you should’ve said no.
He’s loud. He’s reckless. He’s easy to trace.
And if you’re not careful, he’ll give them your face.
You think he protects you? You think he’s the shield?
But war’s not won in the center field.
It’s silence, shadows, clever disguise.
Not fists and fury and fire in his eyes.