Lexi nodded, dropping her gaze to her feet. “Six years has done a lot of damage to this country. New York is one of the lucky states. If you can call how we’re living lucky.” She blinked up at him when he mentioned the group she came in with. “They’ve seen their share of horrors, maybe more than the rest of us, but they’re good people. It’s just taking them a bit of time to acclimate to living among a large group of people again.” It amazed her sometimes, how easily deceptions rolled off her tongue.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” she replied, mirroring his smile. “Although I hope you realize you just gave me permission to steal into your cell in the middle of the night, if I feel like it.” She wouldn’t, probably. Unless, for some reason, Tallis ordered her to.
“Lexi,” she corrected instantly, snappishly. Her tone softened when she realized her reaction. Lexi moistened her lips. “It’s Lexi now. Not Allie. It’s hard to hear a name my brother used to call me.” She paused and brushed some of her hair behind her ear, avoiding Brandon’s gaze for a moment. Easier to talk about Brandon’s bad reputation than why she wasn’t using her old name anymore. “Anyway, I still maintain what I said in the letter I left you. You’re a good man, Brandon, bad reputation or not.”
It was unusual, hearing the man speak fondly of a kid. She’d known that he didn’t hate them, but in all the time they’d known one another, he’d never seemed interested in interacting with any of the kids that ran around the safehouses. This was a different side of Brandon she was seeing, but it definitely wasn’t a bad side. Just… different. She quirked her head to one side and smiled. “It’s all right. Being an uncle suits you, I think.” The smile wilted slightly around the edges when it sank in that she’d lost any chance she had at being someone’s aunt. “And it makes sense that any new generation of Stone is nicer than the previous,” she joked.
Rory and Rae, plus rescuing Leah’s daughter. That must’ve been where the government had been doing their research or experiments or whatever on the mothers and children. It was interesting information, but Lexi didn’t ask for more details. She was more bothered by Brandon’s willingness to kill people. Watching David take a life had been hard enough to deal with. “Oh, absolutely,” she agreed, although she was distracted for the moment by memories.
“I can understand her hesitance. It’s a scary thing to have to face,” Lexi said, recalling how things had been early on for Rae. True, Lexi had only experienced the fear secondhand, but if her fear had been that bad, she could only assume that the firsthand fear was much worse. “But barring any more government raids or natural disasters or what have you, I don’t see where your sister has much to worry about.”
Brandon mentioned the murderer they’d had to deal with and Lexi opened her mouth to say that George had told her vague details about that, but paused when he said he’d been a suspect. “You were a suspect. Why? How could anyone think you were murdering people around here?”