fucking well show you. I'm not letting you go. "I can't leave right away--it's been a few years since I kept up anyplace else to go. But I was wondering if I could take your old room for now."
"You should stay with us," Noelle protested immediately. "With me'n Jas. You shouldn't be alone."
"I need to be, at least for a while."
"Okay." Pulling back, Noelle swiped tears from Lex's cheeks with her thumbs. "My room's yours. Anything you need is yours."
"Thanks, Noelle." She drew in a calming breath. "One step at a time. I'll get through this."
"Yes, you will. In better shape than Dallas will, too." Noelle's tiny smile was a little mean. "Just remember how much we all love you. Dallas may be the king of this gang, but you're its heart. If he doesn't appreciate that yet, he will."
"No." Lex shook her head. "He's still your leader, and a good one. I don't want anyone to make trouble for him, not on my behalf."
Noelle touched her cheek, her blue eyes dark with resentment. "I'll follow my leader. I'll obey my boss. But you can't make me be nice to the bastard who hurt my friend."
"Thank you," Lex whispered. Dallas had broken her heart with his unthinking ambition, and he'd do it all over again when she had to leave other people who were dear to her. People like Noelle, who were as much a part of her as Dallas, if only in a different way. "I love you and Jas, you know."
"Of course you do," Noelle replied, voice light and teasing. "I'm adorable, and Jas is irresistible. But we love you back."
The silliness lifted her spirits, her first taste of hope in days. "We'll see, okay?" Maybe she and Dallas could come to an understanding. Maybe she didn't have to leave. "Just...we'll see."
"Good. And, Lex?"
"Yeah?"
"Even if you have to go, I'll still love you. And I'll still be in your life. It's not about this." Her fingers curled around Lex's wrist, covering the O'Kane cuff as she pressed Lex's splayed hand to her own chest. Over her heart. "It's about this."
About love. Belonging. Lex slid her arms around Noelle and hugged her tight. "No matter what. I promise."
For the fourth time in as many minutes, Lex caught herself staring blankly down at the inventory sheet in her hand.
Disgusted, she rubbed her eyes and started over with the top line. "Focus, goddammit. You're not helping anyone like this."
"It's okay." The quiet voice came from the doorway. Lex barely managed not to flinch, startled, as Rachel swung in to kneel beside her. "Amira and I can handle the inventory before opening."
"I need to do something," Lex argued.
"Plenty to do." Rachel plucked the clipboard out of her hand and nodded to the door. "Start with picking up your phone call. Someone's on the line for you."
"Which phone?"
"End of the hall."
Lex wiped her hands on her jeans and headed for the extension. Maybe it was Doc, calling to say he'd changed his mind about her tattoos, or Walt Misham, with a line on transports out of the city.
But it was neither. "Hello?"
"Lex." A female voice, soft and nervous, and it took her a moment to recognize it as Jade, the woman who'd waylaid her outside of Cerys's quarters.
Apparently, word hadn't traveled outside the sector yet. "Sorry, honey. If you're looking for a ride out, it'll have to be with someone else. I'm kinda in the doghouse over here at the moment."
"Oh." A world of disappointment in that one word, too much for even a professional to hide. "I'm sorry for your trouble. I'd just thought... I'll be traveling to Five tonight, and if I disappeared on the way back tomorrow, Woods wouldn't miss me for another two weeks--"
Lex froze. It was too much of a coincidence to be a coincidence, so it had to be a trap instead. "Gareth Woods? That's your client?"
The pause was perfect. Hesitation, and then a muffled curse, as if the woman had let too much slip. "Now you know how desperate my situation is."
"And why you came to me." Lex tucked the receiver between her ear and her shoulder and dug her cigarette case out of her pocket. "I mean, that's the deal, right? You figure I'll off him for you?"
Jade exhaled sharply and began to laugh. "It was clumsy, wasn't it? Slipping his name into the conversation that quickly. Pacing has always been my problem. I start off so patiently, and then I wait too long and