Page 20 of All Your Lies (All or Nothing #2)

seventeen

Gage

V ic runs up next to me as we bolt through the front entrance. The bouncers eye me dubiously, but I disregard them. I hear a screech of tires right before I see the girls driving away.

“Motherfucker!” I yell into the air.

“What the fuck happened?” Vic asks.

“She ran when she figured out it was me,” I say as I massage my temples.

The other guys run out, but I ignore them and make my way into my office with Vic, Trey, Marcus, and Julian on my heels.

I need to know how badly I fucked things up and devise a plan to fix it.

Finally, the monitor shows all three of them sitting cross-legged on Alexa’s bed, with wine and food. They sing off-key to some song while all five of us are huddled around the monitors like a bunch of fucking weirdos.

“Okay, spill. Who was that guy earlier? He looked upset when you left,” Alexa says to Rosie.

“It’s a long, shitty story.” Rosie sighs.

My eyes narrow as I fix Vic with a venomous look, but he just looks at the screen as if I don’t exist, waiting for Rosie’s next words.

“Spill, Rosalinda,” Alexa says.

“Don’t you dare full name me, Alexandria.”

“How dare you!” Alexa screams, and then they laugh.

“Fuck, these girls are drunk as fuck. It’s giving me a headache,” Trey mutters behind us.

“Leave then,” Vic says, eyes still glued to the screen.

“Not until I hear Poison Ivy’s voice again,” Trey says. Interesting.

“Shit!” Alexa jumps up and looks around. “Cameras.”

“Fuck. She remembered.” I sigh, though I doubt they’ll find them.

“Fucking Gage. He put cameras in my room before I knew it was him,” Alexa seethes.

“So you were putting on little shows for the devil?” her friend Jenna says, wiggling her eyebrows.

“She’s fucking perfect,” Trey murmurs.

“What? No! I was flipping him off most of the time.”

“Rightfully so. That’s creepy as hell!” Rosie says, looking around, pissed and disgusted by my activities.

Jenna jumps up. “Do you know where they are?”

She looks around Alexa’s room as if she can find them. Fat chance, blondie.

“If I did, I would’ve already gotten rid of them, genius.”

“It’s actually funny. This chick thinks she’ll be able to find them,” Trey says from behind as he moves closer to the screen.

She nods before continuing her search. “Right... Be right back.”

“Where the fuck is Poison Ivy going?” Trey leans in to get a better look at the other monitors.

Jenna runs back into the frame moments later with something in her hands. We all move closer to the screen and squint.

“Sorry, boys!” Jenna says before my screens go black.

“What the fuck just happened!” Vic yells as I try to bring the feed back up.

“Fuck if I know. She couldn’t have found them,” I say as I type into my computer, but it’s futile. The signal is lost.

“Must have been some sort of scrambler,” Julian mutters. “I’m impressed.”

“It seems Poison Ivy is more formidable than I originally thought,” Trey says as he walks to the door. “We’ll be in touch,” he says before the three walk out.

Changing gears and attempting to get my mind off the cluster fuck I created, I glance at Vic. “Everything’s set if you’re ready to take the plunge.”

“I’m ready, but with a couple of changes from our original agreement.”

“Like?” I ask, confused.

We already agreed that Vic gets Rosie, but he and the motorcycle club pledge to me and they’re now part of my outfit. It will keep them safe, Vic free from ever getting locked up again, and it will also keep Rosie safe. It’s a win-win for everyone involved.

“I want her to be free from this life and me. I want her to have a fresh start.”

“Are you out of your fucking mind?”

He snorts. “Probably, but her happiness is more important to me. Freedom is what she’s always wanted. I want to give her that.”

Just as I’m about to tell him he’s a fucking idiot for letting Rosie go, a sudden knock interrupts me.

“You rang...” Marco’s tennis shoes squeak against the floor, announcing his arrival. His tight white tennis outfit and racket are an obnoxious sight, while Vinny reluctantly follows him and looks as if he’d rather be anywhere but here.

Vic looks at him with disgust. He’s been on my side since the beginning. Even offering to take him out. I’m tempted, but I need him, unfortunately.

“Easy... we’re going to be brothers after all,” Marco says while holding his hand and racket up in surrender with a smile.

“Baby bro, nice outfit. I’m shocked the costume still fits.”

His comment throws me off track, but I act unfazed. The fucker knew I was trailing him, but he always acted so aloof. I guess he isn’t as stupid as I thought.

“I guess we both like to use the same shit two years in a row,” I tell Marco.

“Ahh... I was wondering how you knew what I was going to wear that night.”

So he only knew I followed him when he took Alexa and Rosie, not the year before.

“I must say, you jumped on her pretty quickly that night. Was it because you saw her get on her knees for me in her dorm?” Marco grins. I’m going to kill this motherfucker. The image of her pleading on her knees that night in her dorm still makes me nauseous.

“And you,” Marco utters as he glances at Vic. “I gave you your time with Rosie that night, too. So perhaps ease up on the hostility.”

“Fuck you,” Vic spits.

“Are you always this fucking grouchy?” Marco asks Vic, who pointedly ignores him.

“Let’s fucking do this,” I say, checking my watch. I need to get this shit over with so I can figure out my next moves with Alexa.

Vic, who was once a member of The Demented Devils MC, until he got arrested for illegal activities, spills all the details about my father’s connection to the club.

It turns out my father was the one who tipped off the authorities to save my reckless brother after one of his many fuckups during our high school years.

Marco, with a sense of decency, keeps his head down and remains silent as Vic divulges everything.

This comes as a relief, especially since he’s mainly responsible for our incarceration.

Vic leaves first as he needs to get more information from Trey, who’s now the president of the MC after his father stepped down a while back.

“Bye, brother!” Marco yells after him, but Vic tells him to fuck off as he exits.

“He’s going to end up killing you if you don’t dial it the fuck back.” I sigh, already tired of his shit and ready for him to leave.

“Nah, he doesn’t want to upset Rosie,” he mutters as he swings the racket around like an idiot.

“You know, she only needs one brother; we can get rid of one of the copy and paste.”

“You’re creepy as fuck since getting out,” he mutters.

“It would be best for you to remember that.”

“Noted. I spoke to Alexa’s father, as you instructed.”

“And?” I ask.

“I thought I wouldn’t make it out of his house alive. He knocked me out from behind right after I rang the doorbell. I woke up in his basement, chained to a fucking wall. He waterboarded me within an inch of my life. I probably still have water in my lungs.”

“Don’t be so dramatic.” I smirk.

I knew Mr. Rossi wouldn’t take it easy on him, and the awareness that he didn’t gives me sick satisfaction. Alexa’s dad is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He can be fucking unhinged for those he loves. Let’s just hope he doesn’t do the same to me because of tonight’s fuckup.

“He’s ready to speak with you. Good luck,” Marco says with a laugh as he leaves.

I sit across from Mr. Rossi in his home office. Floor-to-ceiling shelves with thousands of books and artifacts litter the area. It reminds me of something a history professor would have in college on a movie or television show.

He also has the temperament of an educator if you’re fortunate enough to stay on his good side. I’ve always respected him for the father he is, almost as much as I respect the boss he is.

His office doesn’t intimidate me or cause me anxiety, as my father’s office once did, but I’m still on edge.

There’s a tightness in my chest that’s hard to ignore. I loosen my tie and take a sip from my glass of red wine, hoping to ease some of it.

The solid oak doors creak open, and I gaze into the eyes of the reason for the tightening in my chest.

I haven’t spoken to Alexa since Halloween, six nights ago. Though I’ve tried multiple times.

Alexa stops dead in her tracks. Her eyes are wide, and her face pales slightly.

“Princess, come. Take a seat,” her father says as he waves to the unoccupied wingback chair next to mine.

She walks as if she’s going to her execution.

Her eyes stay solely focused on her father, without even a passing glance in my direction.

It fucking hurts, but it gives me the opportunity to stare at her.

The black long-sleeved sheath dress hits mid-calf and hugs her curves in all the right places.

It’s the most modest I’ve ever seen her, and I’d be lying if it didn’t make me a little hard imagining what she has on underneath.

As she goes to sit, she deliberately moves the chair farther away from mine, causing a sharp pang in my chest.

“Why did you want me here?” Alexa asks her father.

“Gage came to propose an alliance between the two families.”

“What type of alliance?” she asks with wide eyes.

“An arranged marriage.”

Dead fucking silence fills the room. Her father glances over at me before looking back at her.

“I realize this must come as a shock to you. Seeing Gage for the first time after so long.”

She nods. “You could say that.”

“What do you think?” he asks her.

“About what?”

Ouch.

“The arranged marriage.”

“Do you think it would be best?” Alexa asks him in a small voice.

“I think it would benefit you both,” he says with a nod.

My breath hitches in my throat and a knot forms in my stomach as I wait for what feels like an eternity for her reply.

“Very well. If you believe it will be best. I’ll do it,” she says before rising and walking out without another word or glance my way.