Page 115 of Finding Lexie
“Are you all right?” she asked.
Midas smiled. He wasn’t surprised she was worried about him. “Yeah. How about you?”
“I’m sad,” she said. “I thought Magnus was my friend.”
“I know,” Midas said. And he did. She’d obsess over what had happened for a long time to come. He knew he would. He’d think about the signs he may have missed. What he could’ve done differently.
“The thing is, I kind of understand why.”
“Why he tried to kill you?” Midas asked in disbelief.
“No, not that. That was fucked up. I mean how he went crazy. He and Dagmar were twins. They were connected in a way that not many people can understand. Did you know that some people can actually feel it when their twin is hurt? Even if they live thousands of miles apart? I imagine that Dagmar’s death probably left a huge hole inside Magnus. I’m not condoning what he did. But the pain he must’ve been in had to have been overwhelming.”
Midas pressed his lips together. He didn’t understand it. Not at all. He’d lost men who were close to him. As close as brothers. No, none had been his twin, but the pain had been intense.
Magnus should’ve embraced Lexie’s friendship. He would’ve gotten so much out of it. But instead, he was full of hate and misplaced anger toward her. She didn’t kill Dagmar. She didn’t ask the kidnappers to raise the ransom amount. From what she’d told him, she’d begged them to let Dagmar go. But of course that hadn’t happened. And Dagmar had died. It was a tragedy all around. He was just so damn glad things hadn’t ended differently today.
“You don’t agree,” Lexie said after a minute.
“No,” Midas said with a shake of his head. “But I love your tender heart. I love your kindness and ability to forgive.”
“I don’t forgive him,” Lexie told him. “I’ll never forget how he crouched over me and spewed hatred while his hands tightened on my throat. But he’s gone. And I’m still here. He failed. Fuck him. I have you. And Elodie and Ashlyn. And your team. Even Baker. And Theo.”
Midas sighed. “He’s gonna be your new project, isn’t he?”
She gave him a small smile. “Yup. He needs someone to look out for him, like he tried to do for me.”
“And that’s us, huh?”
“Yup.”
“I can live with that,” Midas said. And he could. The man had desperately tried to get to Lexie when she’d needed him the most. He had a feeling those times he’d been seen watching Lex, he’d actually been watching over her, not stalking her with the intent to do her harm. Time would tell, but for now, he’d do what he could to help the man.
“Do you think he’ll be out of recovery and awake enough to have visitors before we leave?” Lexie asked.
Midas couldn’t help but smile.
“What?”
“You. I don’t know. But we’ll find out.”
“Thanks. Midas?”
“Yeah, love?”
“I never did get my coffee this morning,” she said with a pout.
With that, Midas burst out laughing. “I love you,” he told her.
“And I love you,” she returned.
Her eyes drooped, and Midas knew she had to be exhausted.
“Sleep.”
“You won’t leave?”
“Nothing could tear me from your side.” He picked up her hand and kissed the back.
