Page 23

TWENTY-TWO

Alexia

After cleaning up our newest ink and the mess we made between our legs, I went back to the bedroom to take a shower and left Xander to tidy up his in-house tattoo station. But he didn’t let me go easily; he kissed me goodbye at least three times and pulled me back to his lap more than once. Not that I minded. It must be some kind of “new mate connection.” I legitimately do not want to be apart from him for longer than a few minutes.

I’m humming an upbeat tune under my breath, stripping off Xander’s shirt and turning on his shower when my phone rings. “Who the hell is that?” I mutter, but when I look at the screen, I feel silly because I should’ve known.

I slide to answer and before I can get a word in, Carrington screeches in my ear, “Alexia Bernadette Rush! Where are you? Everyone is freaking out!”

My eyes widen at the use of my full name, and I hold the phone away from my ear. “For the goddess’ sake, Carrington. Chill. I’m fine.”

“That’s not an answer. Where are you? You took off and didn’t tell anyone.”

I take a deep breath. As soon as I tell Carrington where I am, everything is going to implode. I start slow. “I’m at the beach.”

I can hear the confusion in her voice. “The beach?”

“Yes.”

“What beach? Who are you w—” She freezes as if she has just figured it out, and she’s putting together the puzzle in her brain.

“Carrington? You there?”

“You’re with?—”

“Yes. I’m with Xander.”

I hear a thud on the other end of the line. I have a feeling it’s her fist pounding onto something solid. “I knew it! You lied to me.”

“I had to, Carrington. Your father was determined to?—”

“To what? Try and help you work it out with your mate ?”

I nearly laugh at the irony, but I hold it in. “No. To make my life miserable and end up killing Xander.”

“You’re so dramatic. Dad would never do that. And stop deflecting. I asked you point blank if you and Xander had something going on and you said no. What the hell is wrong with you?”

I sigh, and a pang of guilt hits my chest. “I’m sorry, Care. I knew you wouldn’t take it well, and you were already so upset about Kai leaving. I just couldn’t upset you?—”

“Well, Kai is on his way home right now. Father is expecting you here when he arrives. That’s why I called. So you and Xander need to put an end to whatever fling you have going on, and we can just pretend this never happened.”

I swallow and press my lips together. “Wait. Y’all found Kai?”

“I told you he’d eventually come back for you, Alexia. And now you’ve run off with our brother? That’s kind of screwed up.”

Okay, now she’s starting to piss me off. “I haven’t run off with anyone. Your father can expect whatever the hell he wants, but I will not be there when Kai gets back. I won’t be there at all.”

The door cracks open and Xander eases into the room. He leans against the wall and crosses his arms over his chest.

“I wonder how your parents will feel about all of this. You claimed Kai as your mate in front of everyone. You’re going to disgrace your family, Lex. That isn’t like you at all,” she says, a hint of disappointment in her tone.

“Kai is not my mate; Xander is.”

Goddess, can I not keep my mouth shut for three seconds? Probably should not have told her that.

“What? That’s impossible. The choice is never wrong, especially after a cleansing.”

Xander closes the distance between us and softly says, “She isn’t going to understand. They’ll need to see us for it to sink in. We should go and put an end to all of this.”

“Is that him?” she shrieks before I get a chance to respond.

I don’t look away from him as I nod, even though she can’t see me. “Yes. You know what? I take it back. I will be there when Kai gets home. And so will Xander. So you can all see that I’m telling the truth.”

She scoffs on the other end of the line. “You’re something else. I never thought you’d stoop this low. And for Xander to do this to his own brother. You two deserve each other.”

Tears fill my eyes at the unexpected sting of her words. They trail down my cheeks and onto my bare chest. It’s only then I remember I’m standing here completely naked, and I suddenly feel so exposed. And it’s all because of her judgmental tone.

“It’s not like I planned for this to happen. I didn’t intend to hurt anyone.”

“The choices you’ve made are going to have dire consequences for everyone involved,” she says, and the line goes dead.

I don’t say anything. I don’t need to, the devastation I feel is written all over my face. I don’t know what happened with the cleansing, why I didn’t stop when I first felt the spark with Xander, but no one is going to believe that I just made a mistake. That has never happened before. Why should it now?

Xander silently leads me into the shower where he proceeds to clean me. I appreciate that he gives me the time to dwell in my thoughts. I’ve never done well when I’m forced to talk. I just need to simmer until I have myself together. At least I have his presence to keep me company as I sort through the impossible.

Thirty minutes later, we’re speeding back up the highway in a sleek sports car. I’m pretty sure I’ve found another of Xander’s obsessions. The man seems to have an uncontrollable spending habit when it comes to vehicles.

He reaches over the center console and takes my hand into his. “It will all work out for us, Alexia.”

I squeeze his fingers with mine, lay my head back against the headrest, and look over at him. “I know. Because honestly, I don’t give a shit what any of them have to say. Carrington can say whatever she wants about my parents, but I know they’ll understand. They’ve never been the asshole types. And as far as Clayton?” I shake my head and Xander laughs. “I really could not care less. Not to mention, Kai didn’t want to be my mate anyway. I think he will be relieved. You know?”

“I hear you. We might have to maneuver around this for a minute, but we will all get there. It’s clear that the two of you were not meant to be.”

“Exactly. And the best part is, they can’t punish you now. Kai and I were never mates to begin with.”

“Yeah, I’d say not dying is a good part of the deal.” He smiles and rubs his thumb over my knuckles.

We fall into comfortable conversation, and this time, I keep my eyes open as we cross the bridge. It isn’t quite as scary in a car, and Xander laughs at my stream of consciousness I give him as to why I think bridges over water are just really freaking scary. We manage to push our worries aside for most of the drive home, but as we move closer and closer to the house, I can feel the chill return to the air, and the heaviness inside me grows again. It weighs me down like the piles of snow resting on the branches of the pine trees that line the rural road.

“I’m glad I don’t have to face this alone,” I say.

“Never.”

I glance at him from the corner of my eye and smile. “At least there’s an activity that will make us feel better after this all goes to hell.”

He keeps his eyes on the road, but a smile graces his lips. “And what is that?”

“I don’t know... I think it has something to do with knots.”

He laughs and at least for the moment, the sound warms the icy sensation running through my veins. The dread I’m feeling about returning to Mount Selene and facing the Braxton family.

“I think?—”

But he never finishes that sentence because in an instant, he’s jerking the car to the side in an attempt to avoid the Jeep that’s crossing the yellow line, colliding with us straight on.

My head pounds like someone’s beating it with a hammer over and over again. I try to press my palm to the ache but realize I can’t move. Tugging my hand up and forward from its place behind my back, I find the burn of coarse rope biting into my wrists. I struggle against the restraints only to discover that my legs will not move either. The only thing that happens is the muffled thumping of a chair leg hitting the carpeted floor.

The room is dark with only a sliver of light sneaking in through the blinds. The space appears empty, but it’s hard to tell when everything is cast into shadows. I try to spot anything that looks familiar, but all I find is musty chilled air and deafening silence. There is absolutely nothing surrounding me to help identify my location.

I lean back in the chair, whimpering at my uncomfortable position. It feels like my entire body hasn’t moved for days and I’m banged up and bruised everywhere. I can barely open my eyes and my lips are swollen. Sticky, cool liquid plasters my clothes to me, making everything itch. I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck.

My brain grasps onto the thought. I have been hit by something. Not a truck.

A Jeep.

And Xander was with me.

“Xander!” I try to yell but his name comes out as a raspy whisper.

The Jeep was racing toward us. And when Xander tried to move out of its way, it followed his movement. Whoever was driving it tried to kill us just miles away from home.

They failed where I’m concerned, but Xander... Goddess, please help him.