Chapter 18 #3
Midas tried to step out of the way, but Lexie refused to let go of his hand. So he moved to stand by her hip as she greeted her friends.
“I’m okay,” she croaked.
Ashlyn sniffed behind Elodie.
“Don’t cry,” Lexie ordered. “If you do, you’ll get me started.”
“S-sorry,” Ashlyn said—then she burst into tears.
The next thing Midas knew, he was surrounded by three sobbing women. But he didn’t say a word, nor did Mustang or Slate. The best thing they could do was release their fears and stress. He ran his thumb over the back of Lexie’s hand as she attempted to get herself under control.
Finally, Ashlyn turned to him and said, “He’s dead. Right?”
Midas nodded. He wasn’t sorry in the least that Magnus was dead, he was just sorry he hadn’t been the one to end his life.
If the jerk to the neck hadn’t stopped his attack, Midas had every intention of bashing his head into the floor, but the knife he’d fallen on had punctured his aorta, making him bleed out in seconds, doing the job for him.
“Good,” Ashlyn said vehemently.
“I can’t believe he planned the entire thing,” Elodie said.
“The cops found the guy who harassed you the other evening,” Slate told them. “He claimed Magnus paid him to do it.”
“Which is good,” Ashlyn said.
“Good?” Elodie asked with a frown.
“Yes, it means that he never would’ve done it if he hadn’t been paid.”
“True,” Elodie agreed. “And Theo was never a threat to you either. Magnus was going to blame him for everything.”
Lexie nodded, and Midas saw the guilt in her eyes return. “We appreciate you coming, but maybe we can all talk about this later?” he suggested.
Elodie and Ashlyn immediately nodded.
“Come by my place tomorrow afternoon. You can stay as long as you want,” Midas told them.
“Okay. Don’t think I won’t take you up on that,” Elodie warned.
“You’ll probably get sick of us hanging around,” Ashlyn added.
“Never,” Midas assured them.
“Thanks for coming, guys. I promise I’m good. I’ll be back at work soon.”
“No, you won’t. Natalie told me to tell you she’s giving you two weeks off. And if she sees your butt back before then, she’s gonna be pissed,” Ashlyn informed her.
“But—”
“No buts,” Ashlyn told her. “And… I didn’t get to tell you before, was planning on breaking the news this afternoon, but we got the green light to set up a Food For All location in Barbers Point.”
Lexie beamed. “We did?”
“Yup.” Ashlyn smiled, then glanced at Elodie. “You still interested?”
“Yes!” the other woman said immediately.
“Awesome. By the time you come back, we’ll have more info,” Ashlyn told Lexie.
“That’s great.”
“Okay, it’s time to go,” Slate said, stepping toward Ashlyn and taking her elbow in his hand.
Midas was somewhat surprised that Ashlyn didn’t immediately yank her arm out of his grip. Instead, she simply nodded. “We’ll see you tomorrow, Lex,” she called as she let Slate usher her toward the door.
“I’m really glad you’re all right,” Elodie said. “I’ll bring by some of the four hundred and twenty-two magazines Scott bought me while I was healing.”
“Thanks,” Lexie said.
Midas gave his friends a chin lift. “Tell the guys they can head home. Lex should be discharged tomorrow morning.”
“Will do,” Mustang said. “Expect to see us all there.”
Midas nodded. He didn’t need his friends to help him get Lexie settled in his home, but he sure did appreciate them being there all the same.
When it was just the two of them alone once more, Midas sat on the edge of the bed and smoothed his hand over her hair. He tried to ignore the ugly marks on her neck. They’d fade, as would hopefully the memory of seeing her lying unconscious on the floor with Magnus hovering over her.
“Are you all right?” she asked.
Midas smiled. He wasn’t surprised she was worried about him. “Yeah. How about you?”
“I’m sad,” she said. “I thought Magnus was my friend.”
“I know,” Midas said. And he did. She’d obsess over what had happened for a long time to come. He knew he would. He’d think about the signs he may have missed. What he could’ve done differently.
“The thing is, I kind of understand why.”
“Why he tried to kill you?” Midas asked in disbelief.
“No, not that. That was fucked up. I mean how he went crazy. He and Dagmar were twins. They were connected in a way that not many people can understand. Did you know that some people can actually feel it when their twin is hurt? Even if they live thousands of miles apart? I imagine that Dagmar’s death probably left a huge hole inside Magnus.
I’m not condoning what he did. But the pain he must’ve been in had to have been overwhelming. ”
Midas pressed his lips together. He didn’t understand it. Not at all. He’d lost men who were close to him. As close as brothers. No, none had been his twin, but the pain had been intense.
Magnus should’ve embraced Lexie’s friendship.
He would’ve gotten so much out of it. But instead, he was full of hate and misplaced anger toward her.
She didn’t kill Dagmar. She didn’t ask the kidnappers to raise the ransom amount.
From what she’d told him, she’d begged them to let Dagmar go.
But of course that hadn’t happened. And Dagmar had died.
It was a tragedy all around. He was just so damn glad things hadn’t ended differently today.
“You don’t agree,” Lexie said after a minute.
“No,” Midas said with a shake of his head. “But I love your tender heart. I love your kindness and ability to forgive.”
“I don’t forgive him,” Lexie told him. “I’ll never forget how he crouched over me and spewed hatred while his hands tightened on my throat. But he’s gone. And I’m still here. He failed. Fuck him. I have you. And Elodie and Ashlyn. And your team. Even Baker. And Theo.”
Midas sighed. “He’s gonna be your new project, isn’t he?”
She gave him a small smile. “Yup. He needs someone to look out for him, like he tried to do for me.”
“And that’s us, huh?”
“Yup.”
“I can live with that,” Midas said. And he could.
The man had desperately tried to get to Lexie when she’d needed him the most. He had a feeling those times he’d been seen watching Lex, he’d actually been watching over her, not stalking her with the intent to do her harm.
Time would tell, but for now, he’d do what he could to help the man.
“Do you think he’ll be out of recovery and awake enough to have visitors before we leave?” Lexie asked.
Midas couldn’t help but smile.
“What?”
“You. I don’t know. But we’ll find out.”
“Thanks. Midas?”
“Yeah, love?”
“I never did get my coffee this morning,” she said with a pout.
With that, Midas burst out laughing. “I love you,” he told her.
“And I love you,” she returned.
Her eyes drooped, and Midas knew she had to be exhausted.
“Sleep.”
“You won’t leave?”
“Nothing could tear me from your side.” He picked up her hand and kissed the back.
“Okay, maybe for an hour or so. But then I want you to check on Theo.”
“I will.”
Midas sat at her side as she slipped off into sleep. He couldn’t take his eyes from her.
Life was fleeting, he knew that more than most men, but he wanted as many minutes, hours, days, years with this woman as he could get.
He didn’t know how he’d gotten lucky enough to have caught her eye, but he’d do whatever it took to make sure she never regretted choosing him.