Page 90 of Deception
“We’ll be okay, right?” he asks her as he sobs into her neck.
“We will,” she whispers. “With time.”
Releasing her, he cups her face, neither caring about the blood. “I’m sorry, Lex.”
“Me, too.”
She thinks he’s apologizing for Autumn’s necessary death, but he doesn’t correct her. He’s sorry for how he’s acted the past decade, at least. Everything he ever did that contributed to this moment. His attitude and his actions. This is no one’s fault but his own. She tried, and he didn’t let her.
Ky walks in with Venom, and Venom licks his lips. “Thought you might want to take Lex home,” he says. “I brought Ky with me.”
“Do we tell everyone?” Melanie asks. “How does this work?”
“Yeah, we’ll have to,” Colt says. “We need everyone to know that it doesn’t matter who you are. If you rat, you pay the price.”
“Even the newbies?” Melanie asks. “Don’t we risk scaring off Hailey and Jamie?”
Maybe it would be for the best. That way, no one else has to go through this like I am.
“Rocco, why don’t you go and shower? We’ll take the clothes and burn them. There’ll be no traces of blood,” Ky says.
No traces of Autumn Sims dying here. Soon, it’ll be like she never lived here, either.
“Lex, you should change into some of Autumn’s clothes to burn these, too,” Rocco says. “Plus, if we want to make people believe she ran away, we’ll need to get rid of most of her stuff, anyway.”
“Colt, you take Lex home after she changes. I’ll take care of the rest of things here. Just tell me what you need to keep, Rocco,” Melanie says.
Maybe she’s not so bad, either.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Griffin’s Beach
Lex
Aweek has passed since Autumn’s death, and Lex finally feels like she can breathe. Life still feels off, but it’s getting more normal. The betrayal hit harder than if a member had turned on them, and it’s taken a lot of reflection to come to terms with it.
Autumn had been Lex’s friend. One of her oldest. Autumn, Felicity, and Lex were the three originals from the second generation in the club. The ones who wanted change rather than accepting life as it was.
The more she thinks about it, the more she realizes it all comes back to the one decision Lex made in high school. If she’d never convinced Autumn to go out with Rocco, they may not be here.Both could have gone on to live happy lives where they both are alive and thriving.
“She never wanted all of this,” Lex says to herself as she sits alone on the couch and stares at the blank television.
She may be feeling a little more normal, but she still grieves. Colt can’t fully understand because it’s different from what he’s gone through. He’s never had one of his oldest friends betray him and his family.
“Lex?” Lucas asks as he walks out and sits on the couch. “Are you okay?”
“I’m just talking to myself,” she says and smiles at him.
He still hasn’t told her what he went to talk to Lily about, and Lily hasn’t said a word, either. Not that she will. Whatever it is, he’ll tell Lex when he’s ready.
Loud pounding on the front door echoes in the house, and Lex sees Julian standing outside.
“Baby, take Noah and Calla out to the tree house Colt and you built in the wooded area,” she says, jumping up.
Lucas doesn’t hesitate, and he hurries outside while Lex runs to the bedroom to grab her Glock from the bedside table and tucks it into the back of her jeans.
Waiting until the kids are out of sight, she steps out onto the porch and forces Julian back rather than let him into the house. Whatever she does, she has to keep him out front.
