Chapter 13
So, there it was. Everything. Her entire disgraceful past out in the open. All the things that made her want to crawl into a hole and die were now laid bare at the mercy of Nico’s judgment. Not that it mattered anymore. Lexie knew she was saying goodbye the minute she’d opened up. Now, in the torturous silence that had fallen between them, she waited for the speech about it all being too much, and for Nico to walk out of her life forever.
But that’s not what happened.
Instead, he silently pulled her to her feet. He took her toward the window, then stood behind her as he positioned her right in front of it. Placing his hands on her waist, he shifted her ever so slightly against his body. Desire pooled low in her belly as she met his gaze in the hazy reflection. He felt solid, safe, the rigid plains of his muscles pressing warm against her.
“You see that woman?” he asked.
Lexie nodded.
“Forget the bruises,” he said. “Look into her eyes. What do you see?”
Trying to ignore the distracting pressure of his hands splayed over her shirt, which was making her heart race and the rest of her body feel all kinds of incredible things, Lexie looked into her own eyes.
Blue. Glassy. Bloodshot. What did he want her to say?
She shrugged. “Just me.”
“Just you. Well, let me tell you something about you, Alexis Bowen. You are strong. You are beautiful. Being scared doesn’t make you weak. And none of this is your fault, do you understand me?”
Lexie couldn’t speak. His words were so sweet, so unexpected.
“I don’t know what you thought would happen once you told me. Maybe you figured I’d go running for the hills. But there’s something about me you should know; I don’t scare easily.” His hands tightened their grip on her waist as he said it, and Lexie’s whole body throbbed. “I wanted so badly to take you inside last night,” he said, lips grazing her ear. “I’m pretty sure you wanted it too. But I told myself to take it slow, and that’s a decision I’ll regret for the rest of my life, now that I know what was waiting for you in the darkness.”
She closed her eyes and shook her head. “You couldn’t have known.”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.” He turned her to face him. “I don’t care about your past or the mistakes you’ve made. We’ve all done shit we’re not proud of. And I know this thing between us is new and insanely ill-timed, but I want you to hear me when I say that I’m not going anywhere, okay? I’m here, and I’ll protect you. I promise.”
Lexie covered her face with her hands and let out a slightly manic laugh. She looked back up at him. “Nico, this is crazy. I can’t ask you to get involved, not with things the way they are. You need to be able to do your job. I appreciate everything, but this is my problem, not yours. It’s just, it’s too much. You deserve better.”
The words tasted horrible in her mouth, almost as horrible as the disturbing knowledge that he could still walk away if he wanted to.
Please, please don’t let him walk away.
Once again though, Nico surprised her. Very slowly, he moved in close, the tip of his nose running the length of her jawline before dipping lower. Lexie stiffened, gasping as he placed a hot, steamy kiss in the hollow of her neck.
“You let me worry about what I deserve,” he whispered, his breath lingering over the bruises Kyle had branded her with.
Before she got completely swept away, Lexie put a hand between them as she tried to regain the ability to speak. Biting her lip anxiously, she said, “There’s something else.”
As much as Nico loved his job, he had to admit, sometimes being a cop sucked. He wanted Kyle Garrett dead. Not charged, not fined, not sent to prison—dead. As a fucking doornail. At the very least he deserved a good beating for the shit he’d put Lexie through. Unfortunately, being a lawman made that difficult for Nico to dole out, but it didn’t mean he couldn’t do everything in his power to make the man’s life a living hell.
This morning’s conversation had been tough on Lexie. It hadn’t exactly been a cakewalk for him, either. When she’d finally finished crying and apologizing—fucking torture as nothing he said seemed to help—Nico walked her to her car and watched her drive away, then stormed into West’s office without knocking.
Slamming the door behind him Nico glared at the man behind the computer. “You’re a piece of work, you know that?”
West looked up for a startled moment, then continued typing. “Please come in, Lieutenant.”
“What’s this shit about you refusing to issue a restraining order against Kyle Garrett?” Nico demanded.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about your buddy being a total psycho,” Nico replied, too wired to sit, so he began pacing instead. “I’m talking about you burying a complaint Lexie Bowen made to you about him almost two years ago.”
“Whoa, whoa,” West said. “First of all, I never buried anything. Second, I’d like to remind you that I’m your superior, so you watch how you speak to me, and stop throwing harmful accusations around like it’s nothing.”
Nico took a breath. He could feel his blood pumping in his ears.
Frowning, West leaned on his desk and sighed. “She came to me,” he admitted. “But as a friend. She was frightened and didn’t like the idea of anything official. So, I helped her the only way I could.”
“Why didn’t you persuade her to go further with it?”
“That’s not my job.”
“Bullshit. You were protecting Garrett.”
“Hey.” West held up a finger. “You may think you know everything, hotshot, but I’m willing to bet you’ve never lived in a small town like this one. Hauling someone over the legal coals is a big deal.”
“So is murder,” Nico snapped, and for the first time, West looked uncertain.
“Excuse me?”
“Turns out your friend isn’t just a violent, alcoholic asshole,” Nico said. “According to what he told Lexie last night, he was with Isabelle Moss on the night of the murder, which means he’s now a suspect.”
“The condom belongs to him?” West asked after a notable pause.
“Apparently.” Nico finally sat.
“He told Lexie all this?”
Nico nodded. “I’m pressing charges.”
West’s head snapped up. “You can’t be serious. We’ve got no evidence. We need to at least wait for DNA testing to confirm he’s a match.”
“Not for that,” Nico said. “For assault.”
West blinked. “What kind of assault?”
“The kind that leaves marks like this.” Nico swiped his phone, turning it to show the chief photos of the bruises left on Lexie’s neck. Despite her protests, he’d made sure to record every inch of the damage.
Taking it into his hand for a closer look, West flicked through the images. “You witness this assault?”
“If I had, it wouldn’t have happened.”
“And why are we only hearing about it now? Why didn’t she call us straight away?”
“She has no faith in this department to protect her,” Nico replied, uncaring that he was overstepping.
Loaded seconds passed.
“Right, well, if this is going to be an official request for a protective order, we’ll need her to fill out and lodge the necessary forms,” West said. “You know the drill.”
“She’s coming back in later today,” Nico told him. “Zoe’s handling it.”
Slowly, West handed back the phone. He appeared to be having some kind of inner debate. “Look,” he finally said. “I’m not sure how much you know about Lexie Garrett—”
“Bowen,” Nico corrected.
“Those two have always had a volatile relationship,” West continued. “My advice? Don’t get involved—personally.”
“And if I’m already involved—personally?”
West regarded him with mild irritation. “Then you take whatever that woman tells you with a grain of salt, and don’t be fooled by a pair of pretty blue eyes and a few tears.”
Nico lifted himself higher in his seat. “I’m sorry, are you implying that she’s lying?”
“I’m just saying people aren’t always what they seem, and there’s two sides to every story. From what I’ve heard, anything Kyle did”—he shrugged—“she liked.”
Leveling the man with his most condemning look, Nico chose his words carefully. “As a professional courtesy, I’m going to pretend I didn’t just hear that, Chief, but if you ever say something like that to me again, I’ll lay you out, superior or not. When Lexie came to you for help—”
“She never said—”
“You shut it down because of your friendship with Kyle Garrett. Don’t bother trying to deny it, because we both know you’re lying.”
Despite his earlier interruption, West had fallen silent, taking Nico’s admonition with hatred in his eyes.
“That will not happen again,” Nico said. “I won’t let it.”
Standing, West puffed out his chest indignantly, the gold badge pinned to it catching the light. “This is how you want to play it? Really?”
Nico stood too, saying no more.
“I knew it was a mistake, taking you on. Barely a week into the job and you’re already causing more trouble than you’re worth,” West spat. “You do not come into my office—my town—and threaten me, do you understand? I am the chief of police. You?” He looked Nico up and down with distaste. “You’re nothing more than a goddamn liability. Damaged goods.” At Nico’s widened eyes, he added, “Oh, yeah, I looked into you. I know all about what happened, why you’re really here.” He shook his head like Nico was a disgrace. “Sara Riley’s death is on you, and instead of leaving well enough alone, here you are trying to make something out of nothing just so you might have a chance to right something that can’t be righted!”
West’s voice had risen considerably by the time he was through. He huffed and sat back down while Nico let the words wash over him, dousing the flames of his anger, leaving nothing behind but a smoldering shell of self-loathing and the nagging question: was West right?Was he using Lexie’s situation as a means of penance to rid himself of his own guilt? Was what he felt for her just a natural reaction to his need to protect her, to ensure another woman didn’t die on his watch ever again? Was he making this a personal vendetta simply because he didn’t want to face the truth; that he’d failed, and there was nothing he could do to change that?
All of these questions rolled through Nico’s mind in a matter of seconds. When he finally landed on a conclusion—that this was not the way to go about things, and it was time to be a fucking grown up—he cleared his throat. “You’re right. I’m out of line.”
“No.” West waved a regretful hand, rubbed his brow. “Look, the truth is, I probably could have done more when she first told me what was going on, but it was her word against his, and I had orders from my chief to drop it. I mean, what would you do if your best friend’s wife suddenly started telling everyone he was a manipulative alcoholic who was going to hurt her?”
“There were witnesses,” Nico quietly countered. “Incidents at her workplace.”
“None of which she reported. What was I supposed to do?”
Your fucking job.
Nico’s mouth hung open as he tried to justify West’s words with an appropriate response. This town—this island—was more cut off from the rest of the world than he realized, certain residents thinking they were a law unto themselves just because they sat at the end of a long line of founding families. He’d heard about the Garretts and the sway they held here. The control they wielded whenever, and wherever, it suited them. It seemed Mercy Cove had its very own thriving underbelly. A petri dish of violence and corruption that operated in an independent little ecosystem—very different to what the tourist brochures touted, that’s for sure—and the man in charge of keeping order was seemingly content to let it happen. But why?
Deciding a direct approach would be best, Nico asked, “Why are you protecting him?”
West folded his arms. “Kyle is an imperfect man, but he’s no murderer.”
Avoiding the question.
“Lexie didn’t choke herself,” Nico gritted out.
“Which is why we’re bringing him in,” West said, each word a warning to tread carefully.
Finally, the conversation was turning a promising direction.
“Update the others,” West ordered gruffly. “Scour every inch of the town until you find Kyle. Oh, and Lieutenant?” He called, stopping Nico midway out the door. “Don’t ever come at me with that kind of attitude again.”
Nico swallowed and nodded. “Yes, sir.”