"Hey, do you need to sit down? You don’t look so good," Lexi said, giving me a wide-eyed glance. "Or maybe you just need some water. I'll go get you some water." She turned and started toward a street vendor on the corner. I grabbed her arm before she could take two steps away. I was only four months pregnant and barely showing, but I still got winded from walking just a few feet. I think most of my exhaustion came from being in a hospital bed for weeks and not moving. Now that my body was finally starting to heal, I needed to get it back in shape.
"No, I'm fine. I just need a few minutes." I sat down on the park bench to take a rest and let my head fall back, soaking up the early spring sun’s rays on my face.
"Reed is going to be so angry with me. I shouldn't have taken you out."
I looked over at her and saw the worry on her face. My eyes then moved to Peters and Warren, who were just a few feet away from us on our left, and then the two other security guards a few feet away on the right.
"I'm fine, Lexi. I just got a little tired. And Reed won't kill you. He should thank you. I don't think I would have survived staying indoors one more day. I needed to get out and smell some fresh air. I needed to feel the sun." I forced a smile, hoping to convince her that everything was going to be okay.
Lexi had changed so much in the past couple months. She was no longer a shy, damaged victim. She was stronger now, more confident. A lot of that came from her relationship with Brandon. Things between them were going well and they were even talking about moving in together.
"How are you feeling now?" Lexi asked me after only thirty seconds passed.
"Much better." I couldn't help but laugh. "See, I just needed to take a little rest."
She looked at me with the same nervousness as before. "You still don't have much color. Maybe you need to eat something."
"Yeah, I am pretty hungry," I agreed, standing back up. Some lunch actually sounded really good. I'd been craving a pizza from a place down the street.
"Okay, we can go grab a quick bite to eat and then we'll head back to the condo. Reed will never forgive me if something happens while he's in London."
I shook my head and gave her a playful eye roll before we started to walk again.
During lunch, as our bodyguards stood about ten feet from us, I told Lexi about this baby store I wanted to check out. It was selfish, but I just needed to get another few minutes outside the condo walls. I knew she wouldn't be able to resist. The baby wasn't even born yet and he or she already had a room full of toys and clothes. Every time Lexi came over to Reed's place, she came bearing gifts—clothes, shoes, toys and diapers.
"What do you say? Want to go check it out?" I asked.
She gave me a sideways glance and then smiled. "You're good. You know I can't say no to shopping for my future niece or nephew." She glanced over at Peters and Warren. "They, on the other hand, are going to be tough to convince. Look at the veins on their foreheads. I think they're about to explode. Poor guys. We should probably give them the rest of the day off after we get back to the condo. I don't think I've ever seen them look so nervous."
"I'm surprised they let us out in the first place and without much of an argument, either. How did you do it?" I lowered my voice.
She bit down on her lip and then smiled innocently. "Well, I may have told them a little white lie."
My eyes grew wide. "What did you do?"
"Well, I knew how desperate you were to get out of the house. When I asked them to come out with us, they asked if Reed knew about our little outing. I told them that I had just gotten off the phone with him and he said it was okay as long as they accompanied us."
My mouth hung open. "Lexi, I didn't know you had it in you."
She laughed. "Me either. I think that's why they believed me so easily. I do feel bad, though. I mean, look at them." We both glanced in their direction. The veins on their foreheads were about to explode and their eyes were constantly moving around, searching the perimeter. They really did look nervous.
"Maybe we should go back, then," I said.
"How far away is this baby store?" she asked, smiling.
"It's kind of on the way home, only a block or two out of the way."
"I think we can stop for just a few minutes." Her smile grew as she stood up.
"Should we tell them?" I glanced toward Peters and Warren again.
"Not yet. We'll tell them on the way."
WE WERE on our way back from the baby store and only a few blocks from the condo. As much as I had enjoyed our little outing today, I was looking forward to getting home and taking off my shoes.
Everything had been going so well, everything until that moment. I was enjoying the last few minutes of sunshine on my face when Lexi’s arm wrapped around mine and tightened. The painful squeeze she was giving me let me know that something wasn’t right.
“Can you walk any faster, Emily, without exhausting yourself?” Warren asked, coming to stand on my left.
“Um, yeah, I think so.” My heart hammered in my chest. I still wasn’t sure what was happening. Then I saw it.
The black car that had been lingering out in front of the building. The same one that was following us home a few days ago. God, how can I be so stupid?
“Okay, we’re only a few blocks from the condo. Let’s try to get there as quickly as possible.” Peters’s panic-filled voice was loud in my ears.
We all picked up our pace, my racing heart starting to relax only when we entered the elevators and headed up toward the condo.
Peters was on his phone, talking to the police officers outside the building, giving them a make, model, and the license plate number of the car.
The elevator doors opened and we walked into the foyer of the condo. My whole body tensed when I saw Reed. He was home. What is he doing home? He wasn’t supposed to be here until tomorrow. As happy as I was to see him, I knew he was going to be upset. I told him that I would let him know if we planned to leave the condo, but I didn’t want him to worry.
When he turned to face us, I swear he had tears in his eyes. He didn’t look angry like I thought he would; he looked worried. Then his face changed to relief when he saw us.
“Hi.” I put down my purse and walked over to him. He didn’t say anything, just raked his hands through his hair.
“I’m sorry, Reed. She really wanted to get out for a little while and get some fresh air. We took Peters and Warren, and two others,” Lexi said.
I was too nervous to look at Peters and Warren. They now knew that Lexi had lied to them.
“I begged her to take me out. I was going crazy in here,” I defended her. The last thing I wanted was for Reed to be angry at Lexi. I knew why he wanted me to stay here.
Glancing at Lexi, he smiled and nodded softly. “It’s okay. I’m not angry.” He then looked over at me and asked, “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
Swallowing hard, I followed him into the master bedroom. I didn’t like the look on his face. Something wasn’t right. Fear ran through me and I felt a sharp pain in my chest.
“How are you feeling?” he asked when we took a seat on the bed.
“I’m okay.”
He pulled me into his arms and held me tight, like he never thought he was going to see me again.
“I know you were worried, but I just couldn’t stay in here another day, Reed. It’s been months and we haven’t heard from Jake.” A small, frustrated cry came out of me. “If I continue to live like this, he wins. He rules my life. I swore to myself that I wouldn’t let him do that to me anymore. I know it’s just not about me anymore, but how long am I supposed to live like this… forever?” Another small whimper escaped me. I wasn’t sure where all of my emotions were coming from.