Page 48 of Ashes of Us

They arrived at the condo building before everyone else, with Alex explaining he had given the code she had to use to get into the parking garage and the parking space numbers to Xavier and Emilia already, Emilia was at her house, getting her some clothes for the night and all her electronics and their chargers for her, Xavier was picking up Gracie and taking her to his mother-in-law's house, since Benny and Delilah were with his mother at Eastie Eats with the rest of the Preston's, then he would go back to help Emilia if she needed it and bring Danica her car.

Danica just nodded. Emilia had a key to her place and knew where everything was, so it didn't bother her that she was grabbing all that for her.

She did notice that Alex seemed to be deliberately avoiding mentioning what Maverick was up to but couldn't for the life of her think of anything he could do besides tell her that he had found out who Lucy's real baby daddy was, so she figured she would just go along with things for now.

They were all working so hard to help her that even if there were something about all this she didn't like, she wouldn't have been able to say anything about it.

On the twentieth floor, Alex led her down the hall to the door before his, unlocked it and stepped back so she could go in first. The first thing she noticed was that the layout was the mirror image of his place, but the colour scheme was more like something you would see in an old Cape Cod house on the ocean, all light blues and sandy browns.

There was a TV over the gas fireplace in the living room and a comfortable, slightly faded, brown leather couch, loveseat and recliner that she recognized as Xavier's mother's old set.

“I guess Rita finally talked her husband into a new living room set.” She murmured, smiling faintly.

The couch in her living room desperately needed to be replaced, but Jasper was the type who wouldn't replace something unless it fell apart and was unrepairable, unless, of course, it was something he deemed was unsafe, like if their jack system for lifting cars up to get under them broke, he'd replace the whole thing immediately to make sure it was safe and reliable.

The couch in their living room wasn't going to seriously injure or kill one of them if it collapsed, so it wasn't a priority to him, and he pushed back every time Danica mentioned buying a new one.

“From what I understand, he came home to a missing living room set and she wouldn't tell him where it went.” She turned and saw that Alex was watching her carefully.

“We put the bed from my spare room in the bedroom for you, it'll do for tonight, and we can either move yours over tomorrow or find you a new one.

Other than that, it's basically yours to do what you want with.

My neighbours did ask that if you want to paint or anything, you hire a professional, and when you move out, you have to hire them again to paint anything that isn't in a neutral colour.”

Danica nodded. That was fair, but she wasn't mad about the colours anyway and wasn't sure she wanted to rent something long enough term to warrant making massive changes like painting.

Turning, she headed down the hall and glanced through the open door into the bedroom.

Sure enough, the room was empty except for a bed and one bedside table with a lamp on it.

Alex followed her and opened the door across the hall.

“It used to be a two-bedroom, but they turned the spare room into a large walk-in closet.” He stepped back, and Danica peeked in curiously.

One whole wall was lined with cubbies for what she could only assume were shoes.

“I take it the wife liked her footwear.” She chuckled. She doubted she could fill those cubbies if she kept every pair of shoes and sneakers she bought for the rest of her life.

“Someone did.” Alex smiled and shut the door again. “Well? Does this work for you?”

Danica hesitated. It actually worked really well for her, considering everything.

The condo was in a very nice and safe area of town, wasn't connected to her life with Jasper at all, was well within her budget and was about the same distance from the hotel as her place, if not a little closer.

However, she was still reluctant to agree to signing a lease because she didn't want to encroach on Alex's personal life more than she already was.

“Does having me so close both at home and at the office work for you?” she asked as she led the way back to the main living area.

She turned in time to see him rolling his eyes.

“Obviously I'm okay with it,” He walked around her and sat down on the sofa, crossing his ankle over his knee as he gave her an exasperated look. “It was my idea.” He reminded her as he studied her. “Are you okay with living and working so close to me?”

“I mean... Yes?” She looked around again, taking in the view of the Boston skyline and the simple, understated elegance of the room.

This was, without a doubt, the most upscale place she had ever lived in, hands down.

“As long as the walls aren't paper thin.” She smirked as she walked over and curled up on the loveseat across from him, feeling more comfortable and content with everything now that she had his reassurance that he was honestly okay with this.

“I don't need to hear... things.” Danica felt her cheeks heat up as she almost blurted out that she didn't want to hear Alex having sex with people.

She wasn't a prude, not precisely, but sex hadn't ever been high on her list of priorities.

She hadn't been allowed to date in high school, and her foster parents had been very adamant that if she got pregnant while in their house, she would be on her own, something she took very seriously.

When she was kicked out, she had been too busy trying to survive to worry about relationships or sex, and by the time she was in college, she had spent a year around Alexander and Cassandra.

Watching their relationship and the way Cassandra explained their love story ended up intertwining sex with love and intimacy in her brain to the point that she had been a virgin until she and Jasper got together when she was twenty-six.

“Things?” Alex raised an eyebrow, looking incredibly amused. “Are you saying you don't want to hear random women screaming my name?”

“Yes!” Danica nodded emphatically. She really didn't need to hear that.

At all. Ever. “Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying.” Shifting uncomfortably, she suddenly found it hard to meet his eyes.

Jasper may have been her first and only sexual partner, but Alex had been the one to make her realize she was actually interested in men, something he didn't know, and she genuinely hoped he would never find out.

Her first Christmas with the Wests had been when she was twenty.

Christmas morning, Danica was leaving the kitchen with a mug of coffee, just as twenty-seven-year-old Alex was walking in, barely avoiding a collision with him.

She had been about to apologize but was instantly distracted by his bare chest and abs, and before she could compose herself, he had grinned cockily, taken her mug of coffee from her and walked away, sipping it loudly.

Shaken up by her body's response to his, she had turned around dumbly and gotten another cup of coffee before joining everyone in the living room to open gifts.

“No, we won't hear each other.” Alex's voice cut through her thoughts, and Danica looked at him.

He was shaking his head and looking like he was trying his best not to laugh.

“The walls are well insulated, and I don't do one-night stands or random hook-ups.

I'm either in a relationship or I'm not.” That caught her off guard, and she now found herself rethinking the whole Marcy thing.

But then, the more she thought about it, the more it made sense.

He was very career orientated so if he was going to put energy and effort into something else it would have to be extremely important to him and while she could see him doing the cold, “Don't call me, I'll call you” in the morning, she couldn't see him out at a bar or online trying to find someone to bring home for a night.

The phone next to the door rang, making her jump.

Alex smiled and said it was the security guard at the front desk letting them know someone had arrived as he stood up.

Danica relaxed as he walked away, thinking she had never been more grateful for an interruption in her life.

She had just buried her husband and was having thoughts and feelings about another man's sex life.

What was wrong with her? Alex answered the phone and gave the guard permission to send Emilia and Xavier up, then let him know that Maverick was also on his way, and he could just send him right up.

A few minutes later, Emilia and Xavier walked in, carrying a small suitcase and Danica's large leather bag, which she used for her laptop and tablet.

Danica stood up and walked over to hug them both.

“Well? What do you think?” Emilia smiled at her as she passed the laptop bag to her husband and hugged her back. “Is this place amazing or what?”

“It's pretty amazing.” Danica had to agree with her; anything else would have been a straight-up lie. “Thanks for doing this for me.”

“Oh, don't thank us.” Xavier chuckled as he put the laptop bag down on the kitchen island and leaned on it. “This was all Alex's idea and plan. We just helped him with some logistics.”

“More like held him back,” Emilia murmured just loud enough for Danica to hear as she released her. Danica tilted her head at her, but Emilia gave her an “I'll tell you later” look and smiled at Alex, who just shrugged.

“I knew she was struggling with being in her and Jasper's house, and I understood why it was hard for her.” He said dismissively as he stood up and stretched before heading to the door.

“Where are you going?” Danica asked, wondering if he was going to retreat to his place now that she had company.

“You don't have anything but water to drink.” He explained, glancing at Xavier and Emillia. “I have coffee, soda and orange juice. I also have stronger stuff if you want to go that way.”

Both Emilia and Xavier requested coffee, and when he looked at Danica, she shook her head. “Thanks, but I'm fine with water.”

“Then I'll bring you a glass.” He nodded and left, Xavier hurrying after him, saying he would give him a hand. Danica watched them go and then turned to Emilia.

“What did you mean, hold him back?”

Emilia grinned. “He was going to buy you furniture, dishes, everything you need to live here. I had to explain that while his idea was very thoughtful, you weren't one to accept handouts like that.”