Chapter 44 Colten
FORTY-FOUR
COLTEN
Something’s wrong, and it’s not just the fact I’m bleeding all over the bathroom.
Lexi’s on edge. Every time I reach for her, she flinches.
It could be because she’s scared. Today spooked her, and all the confirmation I needed of that was how terrified she sounded when she was on the phone.
But my gut tells me it’s more than that.
Is it because the Mafia Matchmaker called?
Maybe she’s doubting us now that our match has been called into question.
But I’m not ready to put it down to that just yet.
If there’s anything I’ve learned from years of studying my girl, it’s that the most likely option probably isn’t the correct one.
Women are complex as hell, and having never dated, I’m still learning.
Lexi’s brow dips as she gently cleans the cut in my hairline.
I still can’t believe he got the jump on me. It’s not like me to not be aware of my surroundings, and that one slip-up could have cost me my life.
Although, I have a feeling he doesn’t want me dead just yet. I’m useful to him while I’m alive because I can be used to keep Lexi in line, a reality that makes me incredibly uneasy.
If there were ever a time where my life could be traded for hers, I would take that trade every single day of the week.
Her brightness is too important for the world to lose.
She places strips of gauze over the wound before moving on to the bruise that’s throbbing in my temple.
It’s been a while since I was last pistol-whipped, and I forgot about the deep throbbing that accompanies it.
A bullet wound would have been less painful.
“Lexi?”
Her eyes drop to mine, but she quickly looks away.
“What’s going on, Wildcat?”
She shakes her head, trying to brush it off without words, but she should know that shit doesn’t work with me. I want to know her every thought and feeling.
Once she’s wiped all the blood away and bandaged anything she deems an injury, she works on cleaning away all the blood-soaked towels she used, tossing each of them into the hamper.
Lexi turns to head into the bedroom, but she only gets two steps before I have her trapped against my body.
“Colten!” she snaps. “You’re injured.”
“What’s going on in that pretty head of yours, Wildcat?”
“Nothing.”
“Liar.”
She huffs. “Isn’t the fact you were attacked because of me enough? Do I need another reason to be upset?”
I turn her gently, pressing her back against the basin. “It wasn’t your fault I was attacked. It’s not your fault you’re being stalked. None of this is your fault.”
“Of course it is! How could it not be? If I’d just kept my distance, you wouldn’t be hurt right now, and what happens next time? What happens if he kills you?” Hot tears roll down her cheeks, and my chest constricts at the sight of them.
Will seeing her cry ever get any easier? Or will it always feel like a hot fire poker jamming into my heart?
There’s little on this earth as painful to me as seeing my girl cry.
“Lexi,” I murmur against the top of her head. “He won’t get the chance to hurt either of us again. We’re both safe. We’re both okay.”
“You don’t know that. You don’t know that it won’t be worse next time! I should go back to the estate. It’s safer for you that way.” She pushes against my chest, but I hold her tighter against me, ignoring the pull in my bruised ribs.
“No.”
“You can’t say no, Colten! I’m my own person, I have my own free will.”
“You’re right, you do. But not when that free will is playing right into his trap. He wants to drive a wedge between us. He wants to hurt you so you’re left vulnerable. He’s playing on your guilt, and you’re letting him do it.”
This time when she shoves me away, I take a step back. I know better than to corner a wounded animal, and sometimes I’ll need to give her a little space so she doesn’t run a mile.
I may not have any experience in relationships, but that much I know.
Lexi storms through the bedroom and into the closet, appearing a second later with her suitcase in hand.
She starts throwing her clothes into the bag with little regard for organization, rough sobs escaping her.
The fact she thinks I’m going to let her take a single step out of this apartment just proves how little of my obsession she knows about.
I’m not above locking her up if it means she’s safe.
I lean a shoulder against the doorframe and watch her for a few moments. Playing this right is imperative unless I want her pushing me away even more.
Her hiccupped sobs are as painful for me as they appear to be for her, and if the way she swipes at her tears every few seconds is anything to go by, she’s seconds away from losing it.
I step forward, approaching her slowly until I can tug her into my arms.
She shoves at me weakly, but after the second time I don’t let her go, she buries her face into my chest and cries so hard her body trembles with the power of each sob.
“It’s okay, Wildcat. Everything is going to be just fine,” I promise.
“You don’t know that.”
“Yes, I do.”
“No, you don’t, Colten!”
“Lexi, I spent close to two decades hoping that one day you would be mine. Do you really think there’s anything on this earth that could keep me from you?”
“But it might not be up to you.”
“Trust me to take care of this. Trust me to take care of you.”
“Not if it means you get hurt. I couldn’t live with myself if you died because of me.”
“Not even the devil himself could tear me away from you, Wildcat.”