Page 23 of Alex (Men of Forbidden Temptation #4)

ELISE

My heart pounds in my chest.

Alex is going to tell his dad about everything. I don’t see any other option, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was nervous for him.

I don’t think Mr. Strickland will yell, scream, and make a huge scene, but this is pretty serious and can have devastating consequences, so I think Alex is making the correct choice.

Other neighbors enter the building and make their way to their apartments without a second glance at me or Alex.

My gaze makes its way to Alex, who is still staring down at the poker chip.

Alex’s reckless, thoughtless, and childish past has caused me to lose everything that I own, not that it was much, but it was the last few things I had from mom. Not to mention the few things I’ve acquired over the past almost seven months.

Adam and Bianca are sending Alex a message .

They want revenge that’s clear as day, but why?

All three families are rich beyond means and highly successful. Their parents have businesses upon businesses, cars upon cars, and houses upon houses.

They have more money than I will ever have in my entire life. I can only dream of having a huge, fancy house and a nice, reliable car.

Why would they mess with me? I literally have nothing.

“I can’t keep putting this off. I need to head inside my apartment and assess the damage.”

Deep down, I already know what I’m going to find, and it’s not going to be good.

Alex puts the poker chip in his front pocket and links his hand with mine. “Just take a deep breath and relax. Remember, I will be here for you and help out however I can.”

I lead Alex down the hallway to my apartment door. Taking several deep breaths, I grab my keys out of my purse, unlock my door, and push the door open.

Alex follows me as I walk inside the burned apartment.

It’s way worse than I thought it would be. The carpet, blinds, and living room furniture are burned beyond recognition.

My gaze moves over to the kitchen as I take a few more steps inside the charred apartment. The cabinets, counter, and a pile of mail are burned to a crisp. A pile of ashes sits where the mail used to be .

Even the coffee maker took a hit. The fire melted the plastic to the countertop.

The pictures of Mom and me I had taped to the refrigerator door are burned up, their ashes lay on the kitchen floor.

Soot covers the walls and ceiling, as if it has always belonged here.

Alex kicks a chunk of wood out of our way. “I guess your lease is automatically terminated now, so you don’t have to worry about money hungry landlords upping your rent for no reason.”

His comment makes me chuckle.

“But where will I go now? I don’t have a place to stay, let alone a bed.”

Alex doesn’t hesitate. He grabs my hands and pulls me into his chest.

“You will come to my house. You’re already there all the time because you’re working long hours. I can call the maid and have her set up a guest room for you, if you’d like. So you can have your own space.”

That would help me be able to save for my next place, and Alex is right. I have been working more hours than usual.

Alex continues. “Although, if I’m honest, I’ve loved having you in my bed and having you wrap yourself around me while you’re sleeping.”

I nod my head and gulp. Being in Alex’s bed has felt more like home than my own apartment has.

It’s not the bed. It’s Alex.

My stomach flutters with that thought. When I was with Alex in the city, I felt safe and happy, like I was home.

As I look around at the burned scraps of my life, I try to assess the damage in an unbiased way. I’ll need all new toiletries and clothes.

Thankfully, most of my toiletries were with me while I was out of town, and most of my clothes are already at Alex’s.

And at least I scanned pictures years ago and have them saved to the cloud.

I move toward my bedroom while Alex digs his phone out of his pocket and types something.

My bedroom is worse than the living room.

How is it worse here? The fire started in the living room.

My mattress and covers are non-existent. The clothes that were hanging in my closet are gone. The carpet has burned and disappeared.

I don’t bother looking in my bathroom. There’s no point. Everything is gone. Burned away forever.

Making my way back out to the living room, I walk over to the outlet where the fire had started.

Alex’s voice is loud and demanding. “Don’t touch the outlet.”

I wasn’t planning on touching the outlet, but a part of me wants to hear his reasoning. I turn and smile at him before asking, “Why? The firefighters have already turned off the power. It should be a dead outlet.”

His blue eyes darken as he stalks closer to me. “Well, because this fire was clearly arson and if it started at that outlet, the police should be able to get evidence and hopefully find the culprits.”

When we are nearly chest to chest, I tilt my head up and look into his eyes. “Is that the only reason?”

Alex shakes his head. “No, there’s more.”

His hands find my hips. Gripping them hard, he pulls me tighter against his body. “Two, I don’t want you to risk getting shocked. Yes, they turned off the power, but electricity can still be there. If anyone or anything is going to shock you, it’s going to be me.”

I moan as he rolls his hips against mine, pressing his growing erection into my lower belly.

“Mmm. Can we just skip all of this and head straight to your room?”

Alex pulls back to stare at my face. “Are you sure? After everything that’s happened today, you want to come home with me?”

He looks unsure, like this is all a trick that I’m creating.

I stand on my tiptoes and press my breasts into his firm chest. “What else can we do here? Look around at the burned remains of my life? Cry and let emotions ruin the rest of my day?”

Alex’s gaze darts around at the destruction before returning to mine.

I continue. “Look, I know this is tragic, and I’m sure I’ll be sentimental and sad about it for a while, but why dwell on it? Especially when there’s literally nothing we can do about it. ”

I don’t have insurance, so they won’t replace my stuff, and Alex already said I can stay with him.

Do we need to run this by Mr. Strickland?

Alex gives me one last worried glance before crashing his lips to mine. His kiss is slow, thorough, and hot. He teases my bottom lip between his teeth before sucking it into his mouth.

I whimper with need as pleasure shoots straight to my core.

“Alex.” I moan as his large hand finds my hardened nipple.

He circles my nipple with his nail, giving it a light tug as he thrusts his tongue into my mouth.

I reach down to palm his erection before giving it a squeeze. A smile forms on my face as he pulls away and groans.

“Fuck, Elise. We need to get out of here or else I’m going to haul your ass to my car and take you against the hood for the entire apartment complex to see.”

“Let’s go. I’ll lock up and deal with this tomorrow.”

Alex leans down and presses a chaste kiss to my lips right as a gasp sounds from behind me. I push away from Alex and turn around to see Kate standing in the doorway.

Oops. Guess we forgot to close the door.

Not like it really matters. There isn’t anything here for someone to steal.

Kate’s face pales as she looks around the open room. “Oh my god, Elise! What happened? ”

I take a deep breath and try to get my words right. I want to fill Kate in on what happened without telling her who did it.

“Well, to be honest, we don’t really know what happened. Alex drove me here from the airport a little while ago and when we arrived, the building was already engulfed in flames.”

Kate gasps as she continues to take in the damage. “What do you think happened?”

Shit. Now I have to lie to her.

I look at the outlet where the fire had started. “Honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if the fire started because this apartment is so shitty.”

Kate laughs, but she clamps her hand over her mouth as if she offended me.

“No, seriously, Kate, if I had to blame someone or something, it would be the apartment. They never do upgrades and this is a really old building, so I can only assume the wiring was faulty.”

It’s kind of true.

Alex seems relieved, and he even chimes in. “The firefighters said it started from the electrical outlet by the window, and nothing was plugged into the outlet, so it’s not your fault.”

‘Or yours.’ I mouth to Alex while Kate’s back is to us.

She spins around. “Where are you going to live now? What are you going to do?”

“Well, Alex said I can stay in one of his guest bedrooms. I’ve been working there anyway since the office was trashed. And as far as what I’m going to do- well, nothing. I can’t do anything except save up and get a place when I can afford it.”

I’ll probably have to save up for another mattress, or at the very least, an air mattress, so I don’t have to sleep on the ground.

Kate eyes Alex as if I just told her Alex proposed and wants to move in with him.

She glances from Alex to me. “Isn’t that illegal?”

“What?” Alex and I ask at the same time.

She rolls her eyes dramatically as the corner of her lips curl up into a small smile. “Dating your boss’s son. Isn’t that like fraternization or something?”

I shrug. “I guess in other companies it might be viewed that way, but as far as I’m concerned, Mr. Strickland doesn’t have any policies against staff dating each other. Besides, Alex and I aren’t dating, and I’ll be staying in a guest bedroom- not his.”

Alex’s eyes darken as he glares at me. There’s a promise in his deep blue depths that tells me exactly where he wants me to stay, and it’s not the guest room.

I lick my lips as I imagine all the ways he can pleasure me in his large room.

It’s probably a good thing that his room is so far away from all the other ones.

Kate closes her eyes and hmms as she rubs her temples. I’ve seen her like this before. This is her thinking pose.

Alex stifles a laugh as he mimics Kate.

‘Stop.’ I mouth at him .

He grins and gives me a wink before tapping his watch.

Yeah, I want to get out of here, too, but there’s no rushing Kate while she’s in her thinking mode.

Kate’s eyes fly open, causing Alex to jump back and clench at his heart. “Oh. My. God. Elise.”

“What?” I ask, worried about what she could have just thought up.

She throws her hands up like she just cured all the illnesses in the world. “It all fits.”

“What does? Clue me in a little.”

Alex gently shakes his head so I can see him, but Kate can’t.

What is he trying to say? What is she trying to say?

My gaze bounces between the two of them, hoping someone catches me up.

Kate takes a few steps and stops when she is standing right in front of me. “Elise, don’t you see it? Your office was broken into, vandalized, and set on fire. Now, they set fire to your apartment.”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. She can’t put this together.

She continues when I don’t say anything. “Elise, someone is targeting you. We need to go to the police. You might have a jealous stalker. Oh my God, what if it was Peter? He did have a huge crush on you.”

I shake my head. “Peter wouldn’t do this.”

Alex raises his eyes as if he’s agreeing with Kate.

I roll my eyes at Alex and say, “We can’t go to the police. At least not right now. I’ll talk to Mr. Strickland and see if he was able to get the footage from the security company. If he thinks this is connected, then I’ll handle this, okay?”

Neither Kate nor Alex speak, so I prop my hands on my hips and say, “Kate.”

She huffs. “Fine, we will go with your plan, but if you haven’t gone to the police in a week, then I will.”

I give her a curt nod before turning toward Alex. “Can you take me to your house so I can speak with your dad?”

Alex’s eyes widen, but he nods.

I give him a wink, hoping he knows I haven’t deviated from his plan. We know who did this. It’s up to Alex to make everything right.

After he fucks me and gives me a few orgasms.