"I think everyone needs to take a deep breath and rewind. Jack, put her down." I'm reluctant to follow this order from Jim. I've been following the man for more than ten years and haven't defied him ever but it takes everything in me to put Lexi down. "Jack...Put. The. Girl. Down."
I set her on her feet and she steps back from me one step at a time until Jim's desk is between us. If she knew I could jump over this thing and be back on her in seconds she wouldn't waste her time trying.
"Jack is right about one thing. He is going to be pivotal to your safety so it is very important to do as he says."
"What?" There is a lot of echoing going on in this room. Libby and Lexi are looking at Jim after what he just said and both of them want to know what the hell he is thinking.
"The man he is protecting you from is a very bad man, Lex. Jack is the best chance you have of staying safe and not making Libby worry unnecessarily."
I bristle at what Jim is doing. He is using her love for her sister to make her fall in line. It bothers me on a lot of levels, the big one being no one should be getting her to fall in line except me. She's not his responsibility. She's mine.
I watch all the fight drain out of Lexi and step closer to her. I don't like it and I will be having a conversation with Jim about some things later. "Fine, what do you want me to do? I mean it's not like you want me to sleep with the guy or anything, right?"
I notice Jim looks like he might be mulling over if that would be the best path to the end result he wants and I sure as fuck am not going to say anything.
"Right?"
"Of course we don't. I expect you to leave this house the same way you came." Libby shoots me a look that tells me I better keep my hands off her sister before skirting the table to stand closer to Lexi.
Lexi's eyes grow a little wide and she looks from her sister to Jim and back again. "Libby, you didn't. Tell me you didn't."
I thought I knew what this conversation was about but now I feel like I missed something because I don't understand what she is asking her sister to tell her. I look to Jim but he just looks guilty of something and won't meet Lexi's eyes.
"Libby, how could you?" Lexi's voice gets higher and higher and she backs away from her sister.
"Because I share everything with him." Libby looks uncomfortable as hell now too.
"Not everything, some things are just for sisters. How would you feel if I told everyone about your sex life?" My attention is good and snagged and I am waiting with held breathe to hear about Lexi's sex life. Maybe this won't be as bad as I thought it would be. If she doesn't want anyone to find out about something she does it must be...deviant.
"You don't have a sex life so there was nothing really to tell." Libby's defense leaves Lexi with her mouth hanging open. She keeps looking from Libby to Jim.
"You didn't have to tell your boyfriend I was a virgin. Jesus, Libby, that's the last thing I want everyone to know." Now I'm looking from Libby to Jim. This isn't...alright.
"I promise it was necessary information to have."
"Hey!" I'm not sure how necessary it was but I damn sure don't want Jim to talk about it. At my yell everyone in the room turns to look at me, "she's right it's no one's business but the man she's going to fuck for the first time."
"Jesus Jack, that's my baby sister. Watch your mouth."
"You're right. That's your baby sister that you just ratted out to someone, telling him something personal that should have been between the two of you."
Jim throws a file on the desk and shoves it closer to me. I grab it and open what I think is a file on Lexi but the top sheet makes my stomach roll. I want to shut it but that wouldn't do me any good. Now I have to know everything so I can better protect this girl. "As I said, that information was absolutely necessary given the circumstances we find ourselves in."
"What circumstances? What are you two talking about?" Lexi comes closer to me to try to peer around my arm to look at what is in the folder.
"Jim, if you're going to take it this far you might as well tell her all of it."
Jim sits back and looks at me, I give him a slight nod of my head and stuff my anger at him back down inside for the sheer fact he asked my permission to tell her. "Inside that folder are police reports and pictures of three girls that were... harmed by Don Gerson. All of them are young, all of them are small, and all of them are virgins Lexi."
She sits in the chair again, her brow wrinkled up in deep thought, "You mean...this man went looking for girls...? And he's here? In the house?"
Her leg starts bouncing again.
"He is a predator, yes. And normally I wouldn't think twice about killing him and moving on but that's not an option this time. This time we need him to talk and he can't do that if he’s dead." Jim looks her right in the eye not trying to keep anything from her now.
"But he'll keep me safe." She nods her head towards me and I realize for the first time she doesn't know my name yet. "He'll...,"
"I'm hoping he will think the two of you are already in a relationship. That way you won't be on his radar so much."