Chapter 43 Lexi
FORTY-THREE
LEXI
Pacing up and down the apartment with Pancake watching every step I take is reminding me why I’ve avoided relationships for such a long time.
I mean, also the whole not trusting ninety-nine-point-nine percent of the male race, but this full-body panic thrumming through me is definitely up there.
The photos are still strewn across the table, and the note is on the floor from when I dropped it in my haste to get to my phone.
Maybe I should have gone to meet him.
Strength in numbers and all that.
What exactly do you think you could do that Colten can’t?
Okay, that’s a good point. Sure, I’ve done my fair share of self-defense training, but I certainly can’t take down a man three times my size as easily as Colten can.
My presence would probably distract him from being able to get home where it’s safe.
Home.
God, when did I start thinking of the apartment as home?
It feels like yesterday that I was demanding Colten take me back to the estate so we could explore our match in a more traditional way.
I’m so glad he didn’t.
The last couple of weeks have been better than any dating phase could ever have been. I don’t care if we’ve moved quickly, because in reality, we haven’t.
Colten and I were inevitable. Written in the stars. It just took us being matched by the matchmaker to realize we were made for one another.
I check my phone again, my chest clenching painfully when I see it’s been almost forty minutes since our call ended. He said he would only be twenty, and the fact it’s been double that has my anxiety skyrocketing.
What if something’s happened?
What if he’s hurt?
I can barely breathe as I spot Colten’s laptop on his desk.
He said he and Cruz had trackers put in everyone’s phone. Maybe I can check his location that way, just to reassure myself he’s okay.
I drag my bottom lip between my teeth and consider my options.
It may be an invasion of privacy to try to get into his computer, but it’s no worse than him having tabs on me for years and me being none the wiser.
Two wrongs don’t make a right, but when our safety is part of the equation, the gray area feels like an okay place to be.
Decision made, I plop down into his chair and tap the trackpad until the screen comes to life.
Password required.
I tap the desk a few times, thinking through what Colton’s password may be.
Knowing him, it’s probably something super long and secure, but I may as well give it a couple of tries before admitting defeat.
Taking a chance, I try the first thing I can think of, my name and birthday, but it comes up as incorrect.
Next, I try my nickname paired with my date of birth, and again it denies me entry.
Maybe it was silly of me to think it would have anything to do with me.
As I’m about to give up, Pancake jumps up on the desk and flops over the top of my arms, locking me into place.
I bet he updates his passwords often.
“I wonder…”
I type the first thing that comes to me, and a soft laugh escapes me when it lets me in. Should have known that stupid song still had a hold on him the same way it did in high school.
Who would have thought Pancake’sMomHasGotItGoingOn would be a Mafia underboss’s password?
I stare at the installed applications, hoping for some kind of recognition to kick in, but this laptop may as well be a spaceship with how little I can identify.
Maybe this was a bad idea.
If nothing else, it’s distracted me for a few minutes.
I tap a couple of the apps, and they burst to life.
The first one is a fancy online calendar Colten appears to share with Cruz, and I quickly close out of it before I can mess anything up.
The second has the word security in it, and it’s password protected, which gives me an inkling of hope it might be the right one.
I try the same password that got me into the computer, but it’s incorrect this time around.
After my second attempt, a little message pops up to say I have one more attempt before it locks down.
Fuck.
Pancake nuzzles at my hand, and I give her a quick pat. She can tell I’m stressed, and this is her way of comforting me. Why can’t the answer just materialize itself to me?
“What could it be?” I murmur to myself.
He probably doesn’t update this password as often, seeing as the computer itself is protected, so I go with my original guess, and when the program opens, my chest eases with relief.
When I’m not worried for his life, maybe I’ll be able to focus on how adorable it is that the man fits me into every part of his life, but right now I need to figure out how the hell to work this thing.
I tap into the first folder and find the links to Riley and Mom’s phones, as well as what I think may be the bracelet Cruz bought Riley after she was chased through the woods by her psycho ex.
Tucking that information into the back of my mind, I move on to the next folder, finding trackers on each of the high-level guys in the family.
Makes sense. After how many people betrayed Cruz, I’m not surprised to see that those that are left are on a short leash.
The next folder is empty, and I sigh. That motherfucker better not have put a tracker on every single person but himself, because that would be really freaking annoying.
The only thing that makes me keep looking is the fact I haven’t found the tracker on my phone yet, so maybe he has ours stored together.
I nibble at my bottom lip as I search through a few more folders, but I’m starting to lose hope I’m ever going to find anything useful.
That is until a notification pops up in the corner of the application and my breath sticks in my throat.
Lexi’s Phone
Text Message from Unknown
My hand trembles as I move the mouse toward the pop-up and click on it.
A new screen loads, and I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t a mirrored version of my phone’s layout to be staring back at me.
How is this possible?
I know I’m not the most technologically savvy person on earth, but how is he remotely accessing my phone?
And the better question is, how long has he been doing it?
The waiting text message grabs my attention. I don’t need to open it to know who it’s from, and my chest tightens with anxiety.
I may be irritated at Colten for invading my privacy in such a huge way, but if he’s hurt, I need to know about it.
Unknown: He got lucky this time, but he won’t in the future. Don’t test me, Wildcat.
I’m still frowning at the screen when the elevator dings, and I barely get a chance to turn toward it before Colten steps off.
Blood runs down the side of his face, his knuckles torn from what appears to be a fight.
I’m moving before I can process the scene in front of me.
“Oh my god, are you okay?” I stop in front of him, my hands hovering around him as I assess whether it’s safe to touch him.
“Not the first beating I’ve taken and probably won’t be the last,” he replies, gathering me against his chest.
“Colten! You’ll hurt yourself!” I snap.
“I could never be in pain when you’re in my arms, Lexi,” he murmurs, pressing a kiss to the top of my head.
“You need to be seen by a doctor.” I attempt to pull away, but his grip on me is iron tight. I’m not going anywhere until he sees fit.
“No doctor necessary.”
I sigh. “Fine. Head into the bathroom, and I’ll be in to help you clean up in a second.”
He holds on to me for a second longer before stiffly moving toward the bedroom.
Once he’s through the door, I head back to the desk and close down the security program.
If Colten has access to my phone, I want to know what else he has access to.