Page 87 of Broken Wolf Heart
Instead, Mia closes the space and pulls me into a tight hug. “Next time,” she murmurs, “we make appointments and come together like besties.”
When she pulls away, I blink hard, throat burning with emotion.
“Deal,” I manage.
“Now, are you going to tell us the plan, or do we have to keep stalking you to figure it out?” Mia demands.
I clear my throat. “How do you know there’s a plan?”
“Please,” Andy snorts. “I just met you, and even I know your trauma response is not retail therapy.”
Mia laughs. “Yeah, that sounds more like me.”
“So,” Andy prompts, eyes glittering now. “What are we doing with this weapon you’ve made yourself into?” She gestures to the dress, makeup, and hair. “Because whatever it is, we want in.”
“Really?” I ask, my surprise slipping out before I can stop it.
Andy softens. “You don’t have to do everything alone anymore, Lexi," she says gently. “That’s what friends are for.”
For a second, the scrappy orphan inside me recoils, suspicious. But their warmth is real. And their loyalty is absolute. It reminds me of my friend Violet. How she used to constantly push me to open up to her. And how I never quite let myself do it.
But in this moment, with two badass friends standing in front of me, offering to fight at my side, I’m tired of surviving by myself. So, I hold my hands out, and they each take one.
“Thanks,” I whisper, my voice wobbling as I start to tell them my plan.
To my surprise, they both love it and offer to help put the gears into motion. By the time I’m finished explaining, Mia has made a couple of phone calls and set everything in motion.
They help me finish getting ready—adjusting the matching jacket, fixing my necklace, smoothing invisible wrinkles—and when we’re done, Mia pulls back and gives me a once-over.
“You're going to knock ‘em dead,” she says.
“Preferably not literally,” Andy adds, and we all laugh.
I can’t help but think it’s such a healing sound.
Outside, for once, there’s no black SUV waiting to take me somewhere. Instead, Mia calls us an Uber, and we pile into something tiny and electric and head toward the business district.
A couple of minutes later, we pull to a stop at the curb and climb out again. Mia and Andy both sweep their gazes up and down the street, scanning for threats. I turn my attention to the building before me. Directly across the street from where I stand, the Indigo Press office looms, stark against the cloudy sky.
“Ready?” Andy asks, coming up beside me.
“Ready,” I murmur and hold my head up high as I walk inside.
18
LEXI
The click of my heels echoes in the empty lobby. But when the elevator opens on the second-floor news office, we step into a scene completely opposite. Noisy, chaotic, and smelling of stale coffee, the scene brings me up short. For a moment, I don’t know where to look.
“Oh, there’s Savannah,” Mia says, waving at a brunette in a deep blue business suit, who smiles as she approaches us.
“You made it.” Savannah extends her hand first to Mia and Andy and then finally to me.
“Hi, I’m Lexi,” I tell her.
“Oh, I know.” She smiles at that, but it’s friendly.
She looks familiar, and it’s not until I’m shaking her hand that I place where I’ve seen her before.
