Chapter 12 A Woman on a Mission
A WOMAN ON A MISSION
LEXI
Harlow’s muffled laughter at my brother’s reaction is almost enough to send me into a full-blown tizzy right along with him.
His glare of pure, murderous fury has Pierce pinned in place like a bug under glass.
It’s the angriest I’ve ever seen him, and yet my best friend looks completely unfazed.
I don’t know what that says about her, but maybe I’ll laugh about it later.
“I told you not to do it,” she finally says, slicing through the thick tension in the room, her words aimed straight at Silas.
He shoots to his feet like he’s been lit on fire, finger jabbing in the direction of the man beside me.
“I put you with her to protect her, not to knock her up!”
Oh hell no.
That fury of his? Yeah, I match it—easily. No hesitation. That classic family hotheadedness rises and spills over before I can tap it. I’m off the couch in a blink, stepping right into his line of fire, forcing him to look at me.
“Excuse me?” My voice comes out loud and shaking with rage. “First of all, I never asked you to assign a damn bodyguard to my life, let alone to have someone infiltrate my home like I’m some helpless damsel.”
He opens his mouth, probably to scold me like the big brother he is, but I’m not done.
“Second,” I snap, eyes blazing, “this didn’t even happen while he’s been living with me, you asshole.”
The air crackles between us, like the atmosphere before a sudden storm. My fists clench, my breathing shallows, but I hold my ground.
If he wants to fight about this, it won’t be bypassing me—like this doesn’t involve my choices—to put it all on Pierce. I’m done letting the men in my life bulldoze through what I want like it doesn’t matter.
The Lexi who ripped her heart out and locked it away to survive getting the truth about her father’s unexpected death is stepping back onto center stage.
That version of me, determined and sharp, is who I need to be again.
I may be six years older now, but she was stronger.
Wiser. Unjaded and far less willing to bend for anyone.
I let Evan whittle that version of me into a speck of the girl I once was over the years. But he’s gone now. Where? I still have no clue, but bigger things are on my mind now, and unless he pops up out of the blue, beating down my front door, I’m done giving him any mental space.
“You!” Silas snarls, pointing a shaking finger at Pierce. “Outside. Now.”
Pierce’s fingers brush lightly across my skin as he moves to step past me, obeying my brother's command without hesitation. But no. Not this time. That’s not happening.
It’s now or never.
I either show my hand or let this all spiral into madness. And I’m so damn tired of waiting around, hoping things might settle. This time, I’m dealing the deck.
I move before I can second-guess myself, grabbing Pierce’s hand and anchoring him in place.
My body shifts naturally into his, like it’s the most familiar thing in the world.
Like waking up from a nightmare and realizing you’re finally safe.
As if the last six years hadn’t shredded me from the inside out, maybe I can finally start shaking the weight of it off, and we can start over.
“You listen to me and you listen good, Silas Kane,” I say, voice deathly certain.
“You might be my brother, and I might love you with my whole damn heart, but this conversation wasn’t about your permission.
It was to clue you in and let you know what’s going on in my life.
If you can’t get over,” I lift a hand and gesture between him and Pierce, “whatever this is, and learn to live with the fact that Pierce and I are having a baby, then we’re done.
I won’t let you stand here and judge me.
Especially, after the shit you pulled with Harlow. ”
Pierce’s arm tightens around my waist, his hold solid and grounding. He pulls me closer, a quiet show of solidarity that says: I’ve got you. I’m here. We’re in this together.
From the couch, Harlow unfolds herself with a sigh, rising beside her husband like she’s preparing for her own kind of battle.
She steps between us, surprisingly calm but no doubt aware of the restlessness suffocating the room.
She’s probably the only one here who can talk Silas down in his current state.
“Okay, let’s take this down a notch,” she says, leveling Silas with a look. “Si, stop being so goddamned hard-headed. This should be an exciting time for us. For our family.”
Then she glances at me, her expression softening as she leans in and lowers her voice, her brow quirked in that teasing, knowing way only my best friend could manage right now.
“Wait, we are excited, right?”
Excited? I don’t think that’s the word I’d use right now. But I’m no longer freaking the fuck out, and honestly, that feels like a sliver of progress.
“We’re… processing. Figuring things out,” I say, glancing toward Pierce, unsure if I’m trying to convince him or myself.
“And excited,” he adds, his deep voice brushing the shell of my ear.
My hair whips him in the face as I snap my head toward him, startled.
He smirks, so amused, as if he were gunning for that reaction.
The wink he throws me, paired with that knowing half-smile, sends a shiver straight through my chest, down my spine, and lights a fire deep in my core, which I thought was permanently extinguished.
God. Sex hasn’t even been on my radar these past couple of months. How could it be between the morning sickness, anxiety, and the havoc of it all? Not to mention the solid single status that isn’t budging any time soon.
But being this close to him—wrapped in the warmth of his body, the smooth leather of his jacket against my skin, and the scent of burnt wood and motor oil—pulls me in like gravity.
I can’t help but feel it: that annoying ache I know he can relieve, that spark he has no problem igniting between us with a few choice words and a simple look.
And judging by the way his fingertips brush back and forth across the inch of exposed skin at my waist, just under the hem of my shirt, he feels it too.
The tension in the room is thick enough to choke on. Right now, with my brother staring at us like we’ve lost our minds, is not the time to let these feelings bloom.
“I don’t like this. You’re still—”
Harlow’s elbow connects with my brother’s ribs, and the pained grunt he lets out is half surprise, half submission.
“Ouch!”
She turns toward him with a look that could curdle milk, and for the first time in a long while, my brother looks like he might actually reconsider opening his mouth again.
“Look, man, I get it,” Pierce says, straightening to his full height, but not letting go of me. “I didn’t plan this. None of this is part of some scheme to derail her life. But I’m following her lead here. She wants to have this baby, so we’re having a baby.”
My breath catches.
“She knows I’m not going anywhere,” he adds, eyes flicking to mine, full of something raw and unguarded. “And this time… I’m not letting her walk away either.”
Ouch.
That last line lands like a grenade in a closed-off space. Casualty count: three. Me, my battered heart, and broken psyche.
Because we both know I was the problem before.
I gave up on us instead of trusting him with the information I found.
I never even gave him a chance to have my back and help me.
I made a choice that ripped us apart, one that almost landed me six feet under with the man I was trying to avenge.
That’s all a part of our story, he still knows nothing about, and I’m not sure if I’ll ever be able to tell him.
Yet, here we are. In the middle of my brother’s living room, standing on the edge of a tangled-up life neither of us asked for, and he’s still choosing me.
So, why am I still terrified I might mess it all up?
My mouth opens, but nothing comes out. The words I want to say get stuck somewhere between my throat and my need to keep the truth from everyone in this room.
Pierce’s gaze doesn’t waver. It simply drills deeper into my soul, digging closer and closer to the veiled box of my feelings for him.
I shift my weight, inching my hands and my eyes toward my stomach, resting there like I might shield the baby from the emotional crossfire, or maybe shield myself from feeling too much all at once.
“Lexi, you okay?” Harlow’s voice is soft, but there’s a concerned edge to it. Protective, as always.
I close my eyes and draw in a steadying breath before glancing up at her. I can’t keep letting this conversation drag on. It needs to end, and we need to head home before more than one secret comes out tonight.
“I know this is messy,” I start, my voice more defeated than I want it to be.
I clear my throat. “But it’s my life. Our lives.
” I motion vaguely between me and Pierce.
“And I don’t need you both acting like I’ve been duped into this.
I’m not some fragile little idiot who needs protecting. I made this choice. Me.”
Silas exhales sharply through his nose, his jaw ticking. “You don’t need protecting from him?”
“No.” I meet his gaze, holding it steady. “I don’t.”
Shit, if anything, this man needs protection from me. He’s in this mess because of my poorly timed decisions. I did this to us.
A beat passes.
Harlow smirks at Silas, and my brother’s entire solid frame deflates as he shakes his head.
“Fine, but one tear, one fight, one hair harmed on her head, and I’m coming for you.” Si gives one last threat before he collapses back onto the couch and reaches for his forgotten beer like the last ten minutes never happened.