Declan

Chapter Thirteen

Lexi~

Lexi's feet were killing her as they crossed the threshold of her hotel room. She groaned as she peeled her shoes off revealing bloodied patches on the backs of her heels.

Declan immediately noticed as she tenderly removed her shoes and hobbled over to her bag to grab a t-shirt.

"Shit Lex, why didn't you say something?"

"No big deal. One of the many sacrifices women make for beauty," she joked, but Declan didn't laugh.

Instead he disappeared into his adjoining room and returned with first aid supplies from Caleb's medical bag.

At first Lexi thought Declan was irritated with her, but as he silently washed and bandaged her heels she understood that he wasn't irritated with her at all, he was irritated that she hadn't told him sooner so he could fix it.

He was a fixer in every sense of the word and he wanted to control every situation so he could look after the people he cared for. It was endearing and made Lexi feel cherished in a way she'd never felt before.

"How's that?" he said as he helped her stand from the edge of the bed.

"Good as new," she answered and placed a kiss on his cheek.

After washing her face and changing into a t-shirt and shorts, Lexi left the bathroom to find a shirtless Declan already in the bed. The sight of his bare broad chest and massive arms made Lexi weak at the knees.

Her eyes roamed his chest and took notice of each and every scar as she climbed into the bed and settled herself under his arm. With her head laying on his chest she slowly traced her finger along a particularly deep and angry scar that zig zagged across his abdomen.

"Do they bother you?" Declan asked softly.

Lexi abruptly pushed herself up off Declan's chest giving him a horrified look as she spoke.

"What? No! I've just never seen anything like them before and it's hard for me to imagine someone...cutting into your skin."

The emotions Lexi felt started to bubble closer to the surface as she continued to study Declan's torso. Each scar was different. Some were short and deep, others were jagged and long, but each one represented pain. She couldn't imagine someone taking a knife to Declan's flesh and the amount of pain he must have felt.

He lifted her chin with his knuckle and spoke to her as if he had read her mind.

"They don't hurt anymore you know." He tried to reassure her.

"Did you get all of these at the same time?"

"Majority of them, yeah."

She winced in response and imagined how incredibly painful that must have been.

"Took about three months to heal. This one was the worst" he said as he ran his thumb over a long scar underneath his tattoo. It was deep and started under his jaw snaking down and across his neck.

She pictured him bandaging his own wounds the way he had just done for her heels.

"Who took care of you?"

"I did. I mean Pierce and Marcus brought me groceries and helped out around my apartment for a few days. Nate was the one who found me and sent the team for me, but he was barely an acquaintance at the time which meant Claire wasn't around or I'm sure she would have smothered me. But it was just me. I didn't really need anyone's help."

Tears pricked Lexi's eyes. No one is that tough.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered.

"I wish I could have been there to help you. I would have taken care of you."