Marriage Reunited

Chapter 17

It was later that day when Lilly was discharged, and Connor took her straight home and tucked her in to bed. He fussed over her, and she laughed at the way he treated her as though she were spun from glass. By the afternoon she was sick of him, and she sent him out to fill her prescription just to get some breathing space. She wouldn't complain because she appreciated that he was worried about her, and she loved him all the more for it but she couldn't handle any more mothering.

Connor hadn't been gone long when there was a hesitant knock at the door. Lilly had just settled herself in the lounge with a good book and she frowned at the door because she wasn't aware that they were expecting anyone. She got to her feet and ignored the faint pain in her side. She was surprised when she opened the door to find Alexa standing there shifting nervously from foot to foot.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you. I just... Can I come in?" Alexa asked hesitantly and Lilly's eyes widened in surprise. Of all the people she'd expected she was probably the last.

"Connor's not here right now but I'm sure he'll be back soon," Lilly said as she stepped aside to let Alexa in.

"Actually, it's you I came to see," Alexa said which surprised Lilly even more. They'd been friends years ago before everything had gone to hell, but they hadn't really spoken in years.

"What's up?" Lilly asked. The least she could do was be friendly, especially after realising what a foolish cow she'd been all these years.

"I found out that I was the one who had come between you and Connor, and I wanted to apologise," Alexa said in one rushed breath. It was as though she'd been holding those words in because as soon as she said it her shoulders relaxed and seemed like the tension between them lifted.

"You weren't the one who destroyed our relationship, I was," Lilly insisted but Alexa shook her head.

"No. If I hadn't been such an idiot then I would have realised that I was taking up all of his time and getting in between you two," Alexa refuted.

"I let my insecurities get the best of me," Lilly tried to insist but Alexa kept shaking her head. Lilly laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation because they were both trying to take the blame for something that should never have been an issue in the first place.

"Please forgive me," Alexa pleaded.

"There isn't anything to forgive," Lilly told her. For the first time she felt like that might actually be true. She had spent so many years hating Alexa for stealing her husband when the truth was that she hadn't had enough faith to trust them.

It was a weird few minutes as the two reconnected and Lilly realised just how much she had missed having a friend that she could count on. When she'd first been married, she'd been quite close to Alexa and she hadn't realised how much she missed her.

They were just about to get a glass of wine and head to the lounge when the door there was a bang, and the front door flew open behind them. Lilly could only watch in stunned silence as three masked men came storming into the house brandishing weapons. She was too shocked to even move. This wasn't the sort of thing that happened in real life, this was a scene from the movies.

"What the hell?"

Alexa wasn't quite as frozen in place. Instead, she was stepping in front of Lilly in a protective gesture and confronting the armed men. Lilly thought that she must be insane because the one thing that you probably shouldn't do when a group of armed men confronted you was to antagonise them.

One of the men pointed a gun at them and Lilly gave shriek that came out more like a squeak. She couldn't believe that this was really happening, and she definitely couldn't believe how cool Alexa was being about everything. Did she not see the guns? Lilly didn't even know what kind of guns they were; all she knew was that she could be moments from death.

"Move!" One of the men ordered Alexa as they advanced towards them.

"Take anything you want, just don't hurt us," Lilly begged. She wasn't sure what they would be after, but she knew that Connor was a very rich man who probably had plenty of expensive things in his home.

"It's you that we want," one of the other men said and Lilly froze in fear.

"You're not taking her," Alexa told them as she dropped in to a fighting stance. What the hell? Lilly hadn't even known that Alexa knew how to fight let alone that she would feel confident enough to stand against armed men. It seemed like a stupid move to Lilly.

"Last chance. Move," the first man said. Alexa didn't move. One of the guns fired and Lilly shrieked. She panicked for a moment that they'd shot Alexa but quickly realised that it had been a warning shot. There was a bullet embedded in the wall and Lilly swallowed nervously as she realised how easily that could have killed one of them.

"I don't understand what you want," Lilly said. Why would they break in here and start shooting? That gunshot must have alerted someone that there was trouble. She could only hope that someone had called the police.

"Your husband will understand," one of the men said and Lilly frowned at that. What the hell had Connor done that these men would have broken into his house?

One of the men gave a signal and they all began advancing. Lilly couldn't breathe, as they got closer. All she could think was that something bad was about to happen and she would lose another one of her babies, if not her life.

Before they could reach them, Alexa moved, and Lilly could only watch in stunned fascination as she launched herself at one of the gunmen and managed to disarm him as the force of her sent them backwards before he'd even realised what the hell was going on. Alexa grabbed a heavy ornament from nearby and smashed it over the man's head and he stopped in his efforts to throw her off and went limp. Alexa's success was short-lived however when one of the other men headed in Lilly's direction while the other simply slammed the butt of his gun into the side of Alexa's head which knocked her off the fallen man and into the wall where she fell into a crumpled heap. Lilly let out a cry of distress but before she could even move the other man had grabbed her around the waist. She started to struggle in earnest, but it had no effect.

He put a cloth over her mouth and stifled her screams.

"Night, night princess," he said. She was too panicked to even realise that there was something on the cloth until darkness claimed her.