Page 74 of Hunted

“She’s never wrong,” said another, with long dark hair that fell in curls well past her shoulders.

“Not so far, anyway,” said a fourth, a petite platinum blonde. She smiled at Lexi’s confusion and said, “Hi. I’m Caitlin and I’m your sister.”

“We’re all your sisters,” the first woman said. “I’m Joey.”

“Toni,” said the one with the dark curls.

“And I’m Kira,” said the one in leather. “We all have the same birth father. And uh, we have a lot of catching up to do.”

Lexi looked at each face, in shades from copper to ivory, and in every one she saw something familiar. “You were there … at the warehouse.”

“Yeah. We’ve been trying to find you,” Kira said.

“But you could’ve been killed.”

“But we weren’t,” she replied with a shrug.

“Come on.” Toni slid an arm around her shoulders. “We’re gonna take care of you until the surgery’s over.”

“And you’re gonna let us,” Cait said.

“At least until the kids get here,” Joey added.

“What kids?” Kira asked.

“Damned if I know. I just know there are kids on the way. That Agent Stryker is with them.”

Lexi blinked. “Connor’s sons. They’re alive.” She smiled and nodded. “You’re right, Joey. He’s not gonna die. His boys are alive. Oh my God, it’s a miracle.”

The first thing Connor was aware of when he opened his eyes wasn’t a physical sensation. It was a sense of elation. And for a second he wasn’t even sure why he felt it, or what had happened to the shroud of grief that usually greeted him when he opened his eyes.

Slowly, though, he became aware of the dryness of his throat and the pain in his chest. He blinked, bringing the hospital room into focus.

And then it came back to him. Everything that had happened. And that odd fantasy-dream he’d had right at the end. It had seemed so real. God, how much of what he remembered was sheer fantasy, then? Was Lexi really all right? He tried to pull himself up, despite the pain. And he put all his strength into it when he shouted her name.

“Lexi!”

He sat up too fast and had to clutch the mattress to keep from going over the side. And then the door flew open, and he saw her shoving her way past a nurse to get to him.

She stopped near the bed, breathless, her wide brown eyes full of worry. And then she came still closer, sighing in relief. She clasped his shoulders, eased him back down onto his pillows, and then ran her fingers through his hair and said, “Thank God. Thank God, you’re all right. You’re really all right.”

He lay there, trying to wrap his arms around her waist, to cling to her. “I’m sorry,” he told her. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“I know.”

“I only wanted you out of harm’s way, Lexi. I only wanted you safe. I swear it.”

“I know, Connor.”

“I love you.” He pulled away from her, just enough so he could look up into her eyes. “I love you, Lexi. Give me a chance to prove it to you.”

She leaned over him, pressed her lips to his mouth and whispered, “I love you, too, you idiot. And you don’t have to prove it to me. You told me all this when you thought you were dying. You got yourself shot trying to rescue me. There’s nothing to prove.”

He sighed his relief. And then he just held onto her. He needed to. Because the details of that dream were coming back to him now. A dream in which someone had told him the impossible, and he’d believed it because he’d wanted to so very badly. And he’d fought to stay alive because of it.

It hurt to wake up to reality after such a wonderful dream. Even with Lexi’s healing love, he didn’t think this pain would ever leave him.

She eased away from him. “There’s someone waiting to see you.”

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