Beyond Her Wildest Dream Read online

  Luckily for her, she got to eat healthily while on break at work.

  She’d been so lost in thought she hadn’t noticed they were close to her apartment. “Thanks for the night out,” she said as Devin got out, holding the back door open for her. She slid to her feet, waved to Ana, Devin, Layton, and Gaige as she hurried up the weed-strewn, cracked pavement.

  “Let me walk you to the door,” Devlin said as he caught up to her.

  “That’s not necessary,” she said.

  “Yes, it is.”

  Lexis glanced at Devlin when he sounded angry. Heat seared into her cheeks when she realized he was glancing about at the rundown apartment building, but she wasn’t about to let him embarrass her just because she wasn’t rolling in money. She lifted her head, pushed her shoulders back, and met his gaze. His lips twitched, but his expression remained stoic. Ana was so open about her emotions, and Lexis couldn’t understand how her relationship with three men worked. However, she wasn’t about to become nosy and start asking questions. It was none of her business how other people wanted to live their lives. As long as Ana and her men were happy and in love, that’s all that mattered.

  “You need to get your landlord to fix the outside lights,” Devin said.

  Lexis almost snorted but caught herself in time. She nodded as she retrieved her keys from her purse, inserted the key by feel, and unlocked the door.

  “Ana will call you tomorrow to check up on you,” Devlin stated firmly.

  “There’s no need.” Lexis waved her hand in the air. “Besides, I’m working a double tomorrow. I turn my phone off when I’m working.”

  Devin sighed. “Make sure you eat something before you go to bed, Lexis. You need to take better care of yourself if you don’t want to end up getting sick.”

  “I will.”

  Devin scrutinized her face for a moment, nodded, and turned away.

  Lexis closed and locked her door with a sigh.

  Tomorrow was going to be a hell of a long day.

  * * * *

  “We need to find out where she works,” Adam said.

  “Already ahead of you,” Preston said, hurrying toward his truck, his life partners following.

  “What do you mean by that?” Jonah asked.

  “We’re stopping in to visit with Ana and her men on the way home,” Preston explained.

  “You sly dog.” Adam grinned.

  Preston smiled. “I’m not doing anything underhanded.”

  “I’m worried about her,” Adam said.

  “Me too.” Jonah sighed.

  Preston frowned. “I am, too. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a look of stark terror on a woman’s face before she passed out.”

  “You don’t think she’s running from the law, do you?” Jonah asked.

  “I don’t think so, but I’m not certain.”

  “Do you think Ana knows her life story?” Adam glanced at Preston.

  He shook his head. “No. Ana is so open and honest now that she’s in love with her men, but even she seemed surprised by Lexis’s fainting spell. I’d hazard a guess that Ana only knows the bare bones of Lexis’s history, if she knows that much.”

  Preston stopped the truck outside Ana’s and her Dom’s home and cut the engine. All three of them hurried toward the front door.

  Preston just hoped they gleaned a little more information about the sexy Lexis Thomas.

  He had plans to frequent the diner where she worked as much as humanly possible.

  * * * *

  Lexis glanced at her watch and sighed. She only had ten minutes left of her double shift and then she was done for the day. It had been so busy she’d been practically running to serve all the customers. Saturdays were always notoriously busy since a lot of folks had the weekends off, but today had been exceptionally frantic. She wondered if it was the warm, sunny spring day that had brought out so many people.

  Thankfully, there were only two customers enjoying the last of their coffee. Her boss was in the kitchen cleaning everything down, and she’d just finished wiping all the tables down, as well as refilling the condiments. All she had left to do was balance her till, and she was done.

  She was almost finished with the till when the bell over the door tinkled. When she lifted her gaze toward the entrance, she froze in terror.

  Two men wearing ski masks and black from head to toe rushed toward the counter. They were pointing guns in her direction.

  “Hand over the money, bitch,” an accented voice demanded.

  Lexis trembled as she tried to keep her terror at bay while thinking about what to do. She glanced toward the back where the two middle-aged men had been sitting and was relieved to see that they’d left.

  “Are you fucking deaf?” the other man yelled.

  Before she could respond, he was behind the counter and slapping her across the face. She cried out as pain exploded in her cheek and she stumbled to the side. The bag of money she’d just counted fell to the floor.

  “Pick it up.” The man standing too close to her nudged the bag of cash with to toe of his shoe.

  Lexis slowly knelt on one knee, not wanting to move to fast and spook the thieves, and grasped the Ziploc baggie. The ambient light seemed to dim, but she put that anomaly down to her fear. She looked up to the man with the gun aimed at her, offering it to him. He snatched it from her hand, tossed it to the other guy, and gripped her arm with bruising force. He hauled her back to her feet, and her heart thudded hard when she noticed the blinds over the windows had been pulled down. A quick glance toward the door showed that it was also shrouded, and her fear increased. Sweat sheened her skin, dripped between her breasts and down back.

  Lexis wondered if her boss even knew how much danger they were in. Marcus was in his early thirties and great to work for, but he was very quietly spoken and had admitted that he hated confrontation. She hoped that he’d heard the men storm into the dinner and called the police. But mostly, she hoped that she and Marcus came out of this confrontation with their lives intact.

  “Where’s the safe?” Accent man asked as he skirted the counter, but he wasn’t looking at her. He was looking toward the back of the dinner.

  The man clutching her arm dragged her along behind him as he followed his goon. She tried to pull free, but it was a useless endeavor. She met Marcus’s shocked, terrified gaze just before the guy with the accent pressed the muzzle of his gun to her boss’s temple. Tears welled and rolled down her face.

  Lexis was immediately transported back to the bathroom of her sister’s apartment. Instead of being swamped with agonizing grief, a rage like she’d never known before surged through her body, all but consuming her from the inside out, and she went totally crazy.

  She curled her hand into a fist and swung with all her might as she screamed. Her fist connected with the jaw of the man holding her. His grip around her arm loosened as he swayed on his feet, and then he went down, toppling like a felled tree.

  She leaped toward the man holding the gun to her boss’s head. He shouted at her as he turned the gun her way, but she had no idea what he said. Lexis didn’t stop moving. She dove toward his legs at the last second. Her momentum and body weight were no match for his much larger brawnier frame. The guy barely back stepped, and then pain exploded into her skull. The agony in her head was so bad she could only moan as she saw stars.

  A shot was fired, and though she tried to pry her heavy eyelids open, they wouldn’t obey. The stars sparking behind her eyelids faded away, and her head throbbed so badly nausea roiled in her gut. She wanted, needed, to see if Marcus was okay, but she couldn’t open her eyes. It wasn’t until coolness seeped into her cheek that she realized she was lying on the kitchen floor of the dinner. And then more men were shouting. The voices sounded familiar, but she had no idea where she’d heard them before.

  Even though she tried to keep the encroaching darkness at bay, she was fighting a losing battle.

  With a sigh, she was sucked down into a dark abyss.<
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  * * * *

  Jonah, Adam, and Preston had finished their shifts and were on the way to the diner where Lexis worked when dispatch came across the radio they had in the truck.

  “Fuck! That’s where Lexis works,” Jonah shouted.

  “I’ll call it in,” Adam said as he reached for the mic.

  “Hold on,” Preston said as he set pressed his foot down on the accelerator.

  Jonah hung onto the ‘oh shit’ handle as Preston careened around a corner. As soon as he wasn’t about to be flung about in the back of the cab, he unlocked the gun safe, retrieved their weapons, checked the clips, and made sure the safeties were on.

  Minutes later, Preston screeched to a halt a few shops up from the diner, and they all scrambled from the vehicle.

  “I’ll head around back,” Jonah said before he ran down the alley between the diner and the small convenience store. He was almost at the back door when a shot was fired. Fear for Lexis caused his heart to stutter, and when it started beating again, adrenaline surged anew. He wished he had a way to communicate with his friends and lovers, but since they’d finished their shifts, all their equipment had been locked away in their lockers and safes at the station. However, he didn’t really need to talk to Adam and Preston since they knew each other so well.

  He counted down the seconds as he imagined them getting into position after scoping things out. Not that there was anything to see since the blinds on the dinner windows had been lowered.

  Jonah was just about to turn the door handle to the back door and burst into the diner when he saw a long, narrow window at head height along the outer wall across from the back door. He ducked down and ran across toward it, stood straight as he remained out of sight, and then peeked in through the window. The hair at the back of his neck stood on end when he didn’t see anyone.

  He was going to have to go in blind.

  Sirens in the distance let him know back up was close, and he hurried back toward the door, grasped the handle, and slowly turned it. Opening the door a crack, he peered inside and fury permeated him to his soul when he saw Lexis out cold on the floor. There was a pool of blood under her head.

  He flicked his safety off and charged inside, his weapon leading the way. Two men in black ski masks were on the floor. One of them was bleeding out. A man wearing an apron covered in blood was holding a large carving knife, which was also dripping blood. “Get down on your knees with your hands behind your head,” Jonah ordered.

  The knife dropped to the floor, then the man kneeled and put his hands behind his head.

  Preston and Adam entered the kitchen their guns drawn, but when they saw everything was under control, they flicked the safeties on and stashed their weapons in the back of their jeans. Jonah did the same, then tugged a pair of handcuffs from his pocket and secured the kneeling man. Adam and Preston rolled the unconscious masked men onto their backs, pulled their arms behind them, and cuffed them. Once the men were no longer a threat, they rolled them back over and removed the ski masks.

  “I was only protecting Lexis and myself. Please, she needs medical attention. Call the paramedics.”

  Preston knelt by Lexis and carefully rolled her onto her side. Jonah sucked in a breath when he saw the gash on the side of her head near her temple. Although the wound was still bleeding, it looked as if it had slowed, but she’d lost a fair amount of blood. It was matted in her long blonde hair as well streaking down her cheek and pooled on the floor.

  Jonah gazed toward the kitchen door when more officers entered. He was also relieved to see a couple of paramedics. “What’s your name?” he asked. Even though he was very worried about Lexis and he was off-duty, he and his friends still had a job to do. They needed to find out what had gone down to make sure they weren’t arresting innocent men, even if the ski masks were indicative of who the criminals were. It would be easy for the stage to have been set before they’d come on scene.

  “My names Marcus Gordon. I own and run the diner. I was cleaning up the kitchen when I heard these assholes shouting and demanding money. I called the police and was about to go and make sure Lexis was okay, but the bastards came into the kitchen before I could move.” Marcus paused to inhale raggedly.

  “Go on,” Preston encouraged as he watched the paramedics patch up the knife wound on one of the men’s shoulders. The other perp groaned as he started to come around.

  “Lexis was dragged in her by him.” Marcus pointed to the groaning man. “That one held a gun to my head. I don’t know what got into Lexis, but she went crazy. She screamed the name Alicia with so much pain it was heartbreaking. She punched him in the jaw, knocking him out, and then she jumped the one threatening me. She dove for his legs but didn’t have a hope in hell of taking a man much bigger than her down, but her actions were enough to distract him. I was able to grab and knife and stab him in the shoulder, which caused the gun to go off”—Marcus pointed at the whole in the ceiling—“but not before he slammed the butt of his gun into her head.”

  Jonah clenched his jaw, grinding his teeth as he tried to control his anger. He couldn’t believe Lexis had been so brave or so stupid. She could have gotten herself killed. As it was, she was hurt and wasn’t showing any signs of coming around.

  “I want two of you escorting these bozos to the hospital. Don’t let them out of your sight, and when they’ve been treated, read them their rights,” Preston ordered.

  “Yes, sir.”

  More paramedics entered, and after they lifted the wounded man onto the gurney, the officers helped the groggy one to his feet and escorted them out.

  “Why isn’t she waking up?” Adam asked the medics who’d just gently slid a backboard under Lexis before they lifted her to the portable stretcher.

  “She has a suspected concussion,” one of the first responders answered.

  “Where are you taking her?” Jonah asked.

  “Providence Bridgeport Health Center.”

  “Jonah, go with them,” Preston said.

  Jonah nodded, glad that he would be with Lexis even if she didn’t know it.

  He just hoped she woke up soon.

  * * * *

  When Lexis opened her eyes, she wanted to slam them closed again. Her head was pounding so bad she felt sick to her stomach, but she blinked a few times, breathing in and out with measured breaths as she tried to remember why she felt as if she’d been hit by a truck. As she stared at the white ceiling above her, sounds penetrated her foggy mind, and she finally realized she was in the hospital. She turned her head to gaze about but quickly squeezed her eyes closed when her stomach churned. After another bout of steady breathing, her stomach settled somewhat, and she looked around.

  She was in a curtained off cubicle, but the voices of nurses, other patients, people, and the incessant beeping of machinery seemed overly loud. Rolling onto her side made her head ache even more, but she had to suck it up. She needed to get out of here as fast as possible. The last thing she needed was huge medical expenses to pay off when she was barely scraping by. When the throbbing dissipated a little, she used her elbow braced on the bed to force herself up into a half-sitting position. Her whole body hurt all over, and she was tempted to just curl up into a ball and fall asleep, but she couldn’t afford an extended stay here even if she had no idea how long she’d been out of it.

  Finally after what seemed like a long time, she managed to sit up and scoot back so she could rest against the pillows behind her. Just as she settled, Jonah parted the curtains and entered.

  “Lexis, you should be lying down. How are you feeling, love?”

  “I’ve been better,” she answered, her voice cracking on the last word. Jonah hurried toward her, poured some water from a jug she hadn’t seen into a cup, and handed it to her. “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  Lexis almost choked when he sat on the side of the bed near her hip. She was having enough trouble trying to get her bearings without his sexy presence adding to the mix of
confusion and distractions.

  “The doctor said you’ve got a slight concussion but should be okay in a few days.”

  Everything came rushing back at once. Pain exploded in her brain, and she closed her eyes to block out the torturous light. She didn’t even notice she was clutching at her head and whimpering until Jonah shifted closer and cradled her against his chest. “Shh, Lexis. It’s okay. Just relax and breathe.”

  “Are you in pain, young lady?”

  Lexis sucked in a lungful of air as she drew out of Jonah’s arms. She met the concerned, kind gaze of the doctor who’d just moved to the end of the bed. “Yes, but it’s easing. I just remembered what happened.”

  “I’ll have one of the nurses bring you some painkillers.”

  “When can I go home?”

  “I’d like to keep you overnight for observation.”

  “No,” Lexis said firmly. “I need to go home.”

  “I can’t force you to stay, but if you leave it will be against medical advice.” The doctor frowned. “At least tell me you have someone at home to keep an eye on you.”

  “She can come home with us,” Preston said in a hard voice as he and Adam appeared around the curtain.

  “I’ll be fine,” Lexis said. There was no way she was going home with the three men she was attracted to.

  “Lexis, you either go with home with these men or I’ll keep you here. A head injury is serious business. While you don’t have a skull fracture, you do have slight swelling of the brain. You need to be watched over in case you slip into a coma. You could end up dying if that happens,” the doctor explained.

  “It’s your choice, sweetie.” Adam stared at her. “You either come home with us where we can keep an eye on you or you stay in the hospital.”

  Lexis wanted a third choice, the one where she got what she wanted, but she wasn’t about to put her life in jeopardy by being stubborn, and she wasn’t about to rack up more debt. “I’ll go home with you all if that’s okay?”