Page 14 of The Demons We Hide

When I shoot a look at Nolan, he gives me a nod of acknowledgement. This conversation isn’t over, but for now, I’ll take the meds. If I’m going to figure this shit out, I’ll need them.

Someone is after Juliet Donovan and if they’re willing to jump me to warn us away from her, then we have bigger problems than her hatred of us. I only hope that I can heal fast enough to take some of my own revenge on the asshole. No one attacks a Scorpion King and gets away with it.

6

JULIET

Somewhere in the early dawn, Lex gets up and leaves the bed. I keep my eyes closed as I feel the bed decompress, and then a shadow passes over my eyelids a moment before warm, masculine lips touch my forehead. It takes all of my self-control not to flinch or tense under his touch as he gently strokes the side of my face.

“I know you’re angry, baby,” he whispers, so low that I can barely hear him, “but I’m so happy you’re finally mine.”

Guilt stabs painful talons into my chest at his words, but I don’t respond. Despite what I’d originally come here for, in the light of Lex’s attention, the earlier motivation for revenge is waning now. I’m so fucking tired of being angry, of fighting. How much longer can I keep the facade up before it shatters?

Then I remember all the nasty looks, the men and women who spat at me and my mom as we’d been ushered into the courthouse upon my father’s first hearing. The horrible things spray-painted on my car before I’d sold it.Rich Bitch. Thief. Liar. Daddy’s whore.My stomach turns.

Lex thinks I’m his?Bullshit.I was supposed to be Bran’s too, Avery’s, my parents’... none of them are here now.

I repress the riot of rage inside me and keep my breaths slow and even—like they would be if I were still asleep. I wait, listening to his footsteps carry him around the room before they leave entirely, the door creaking open and not shutting again before the pad of his feet fade far enough away that I’m confident that I’m somewhat alone. When I’ve determined that he’s actually gone, I try to open my eyes.

I’m a mess. Sticky with sweat and eyes so heavy with exhaustion that my lashes are fused together. It takes considerable effort to part them and take a look around the bedroom I find myself in. The sheets beneath me are a deep ebony color, soft and smooth and far different than what I expected Alexio Medicci to possess.

The bedroom is done in similar dark and gray colors with blackout curtains hung over the higher windows on the wall. I stare at them for a moment before getting out of bed and drifting over. I pull at the curtains, tugging them away even though they hadn’t been closed all the way the night before, and examine the unique wall.

I’d almost forgotten that Lex’s house used to be something else entirely. Now that I’m inside it and able to take a look around, I see all the differences between a structure built for a home and one that’s been renovated to replicate one. The windows are high up and set into a large square wooden door that acts as part of the wall—a carriage door.

Dimly, I recall coming into the place last night and noting the two double doors that had made up half of the front room’s wall. Like those, this one isn’t bricked up but caulked to within an inch of its life, and underfoot is the most uneven coloring of wood flooring I’ve ever seen. It’s as if someone just collected a bunch of different shades of brown and stitched them together to make one cohesive imprint.

The sound of something sizzling and the scent of bacon wafts into the space, recalling me from my inspection. My stomach growls in hunger, a reminder that I haven’t eaten since early yesterday morning. Scrubbing a hand down my face, I turn and scan the room, finding another door that I assume leads into the bathroom.

Minutes later, my face is washed clean and I’ve found one of Lex’s larger black band shirts to pull on over my body. The floor is cold under my feet as I head into the hallway, pausing next to a second door—and the only other one in the apartment. A closet?

I glance up the short hallway, but Lex’s form is hidden from view. My heart beats a rapid tempo against my ribcage as I reach for the handle of the door only to find it locked.

Locked? Why? My eyes move back up the short hallway as the sound of sizzling popping bacon grows louder. Did he lock this door because I’m here? Footsteps sound and I quickly release the handle, wiping my sweaty palms against the side of the t-shirt I’m wearing before taking a step up the hall.

Lex pops his head around the corner, a lock of his too-long dark hair falling into his face as he leans to the side. “Morning, baby.” A smile rises to his lips, turning him from a tall, dark, and broody monster into a heartbreaking, panty-melting man. It makes him almost… human.

I clench my teeth, and though my mind remains on that locked door, I move towards him. My legs eat up the distance between us and as I break out into the front room—the living room and kitchen combo—Lex’s smile widens and he shifts back to the stove. When his attention falls back to the pan of waiting bacon, I glance back over my shoulder.

Whatever secrets these guys are hiding, I will find them and I will use them to burn their whole world down.

* * *

Lex feeds me breakfast of bacon and pancakes and too-sweet syrup. I eat it all, clearing the plate and not saying a word—not until he speaks first.

“We need to go somewhere,” he announces as I drain the last of my orange juice.

My eyes shoot to his suspiciously. “Where?”

Lex gets up from the small four-seater table that separates the kitchen from the living room area.

I’d half expected his house to be like a stereotypical bachelor’s pad—messy and smelling of male BO. Instead, I’m surprised to find it almost neat. There are shoes left in a pile by the front door and an open gym bag tossed next to the couch, but otherwise, everything about Lex’s home screams tidy. It’s well maintained, and he seems comfortable in his own kitchen. The furniture, although some pieces are old, is well kept. Apparently, he has money to afford some nicer things like the massive television anchored to the wall near the front door and the gray couch set in front of it.

The more I learn about these guys, the more confused I become. Nolan seems respectful of his mom. G stays out at random girls’ houses without a care. Lex lives practically on his own. None of them seem to have much family but the one they’ve built, the one they would probably die for.

“The hospital.” Lex’s words have me swiveling back to him.

“The hospital?” I frown. “What?—”

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