by A. V. Asher
“It was.” She was surprised he remembered. “A whistle-blower came forward with some pretty damning evidence. We had a solid case.
“One night, a partner at my firm had a retirement party. I had too much to drink, and Jason took me home to sleep it off. The next morning, I woke up to dozens of messages. Somehow, I’d managed to unmask the whistle-blower.”
She couldn’t look at Alec, so she focused on her fingers, moving melodically on the fuzzy fabric of her pajama bottoms.
“They found his body three days later. He’d been executed and thrown into the bay.” She had a hard time meeting his eyes. When she braved a look, they were filled with sympathy she didn’t deserve. “We had to drop the case, and I got fired.”
“I’m sorry you went through that.”
“Thanks.” She wiped her eyes with the back of her fingers. “I’m not surprised Jason wanted you to know. He knows I’m utterly devastated by it.”
There was a time Jason had been her confidant, but he didn’t like to be reminded of the incident once they moved to London. When visions of Seth’s mangled body haunted her dreams, Jason would tell her to go to the couch so he wouldn’t have to listen to her crying.
“Can we talk about something else?”
Alec moved the conversation away from her career. They fell into that easy companionship they had always enjoyed. He showed off a picture of his sister’s baby, who had recently turned four months old. Isla Grace was draped over his shoulder. Alec was grinning, completely ignoring the stream of drool touching the top of his shirt. This little girl had him wrapped around her tiny little fingers.
“I didn’t even know Katie was expecting.”
She should have known. Luke and Katie were close. But she hardly ever talked to Luke anymore. Every day, she was coming to terms with how much control she had given to Jason.
Alec was watching her face. Sometimes the way he looked at her left her breathless. “I have something for you.”
He went to the other room and returned with a large cardboard box filled to the brim with packing paper. Confused, she stared at him. He waved his hand for her to open it, an encouraging smile playing on his lips.
Mercedes rummaged around the packing paper. When her hand landed on the hard, bumpy surface, she stopped. She shot a look at Alec. He was watching her apprehensively.
“Oh my god, you didn’t have to buy me this. They’re expensive, and I can’t pay you back. You should return it.” She pushed the box back to him.
His mouth quirked up into a crooked smile. “First, I’d never expect you to pay me back. It’s a gift. And second, it’s not really from me. My part in it is pretty small. But when I found out she had it, I asked her to send it, and I’d see it safely delivered.”
“Wha—?” Then it hit her. Frantically tearing through the paper, she pulled the violin case free.
It wasn’t just any violin. It was her violin. The one her foster mother had given her.
With shaking hands, she turned the case over. The hot pink nail polish was as bright as the day she had scrawled Mercedes Rose Elliott along the side. Fumbling with the latches, she opened the case. The smell of the velvet lining hit her.
Hers. It was one of the first things that had truly belonged to her and her alone. She touched the smooth wood of its body. “Where did you get this?” she whispered.
Alec sat down next to her. “Charlotte. She was heartbroken when you told her you pawned it. So, she and Luke combed all the shops in your neighborhood until they found it and bought it back.”
Tears blurred her vision. “She’s had it all this time?”
“I believe so.”
Mercedes met his eyes. “Thank you. I can’t believe you all went through the trouble for me.”
“Why wouldn’t we?”
She looked back at the instrument. “I know why Charlie would and even Luke. But this must have been a hassle for you.”
“Not at all.” Alec ran his fingers across the wood surface. “I found out they had it the day we had coffee. Charlie must have sent it straightaway.” He looked into her eyes again. “Anyway, I thought you might enjoy having it while you recovered.”
Warmth washed through her body. Mercedes thought she had made her peace with never seeing this part of her life ever again, but tears threatened to spill over. She set the case aside and wrapped her arms around Alec in a tight hug. The feel of his body against hers was everything she needed. She breathed him in and let the tears fall. His hands roamed her back slowly, letting her take her comfort against him.
“This is amazing.” She pulled away to look up at him. “I don’t know what to say.”
“I’m glad it makes you happy.” Wiping a tear off her cheek, Alec leaned toward her. Mercedes thought he might kiss her, and her breath caught in anticipation. He stopped and pulled her to him in another embrace, his heart racing in her ear. She rested her head on his broad shoulder and sighed.
If she could stay right here forever, she’d have done it.
A rustling behind them made her pull back again. The shyness returned as Declan sauntered into the room and flopped onto the lounger, a slice of pizza in his hands.
Alec cleared his throat. “Dec helped too.”
Declan grinned at her. “Aye, I did. It was tough to carry it in from the car.”
“Aw. Thank you, Dec.” She walked over and gave him a hug, too, then gestured at the violin. “Do you mind?” Her fingers itched to play. Alec nodded for her to go for it.
Mercedes picked up the bow and examined it. She dug through the case, found the amber rosin, and slid a few passes across the fine hairs of the bow. She played a few tuning notes, making string adjustments.
When it was tuned, she placed it under her chin and let the instrument decide what it would say.
There was always a calm that washed over her when she played, quieting her anxious energy. Losing all sense of time, she healed herself. The music was a balm against her open wounds.
No one could understand why she didn’t stick with a music career. Her abilities were well beyond that of her peers. She’d had both teachers and producers tell her she was wasting a gift others would kill for.
For years, her talent paid her way through school. It was a way to get herself, and later Charlotte, out of the squalor their drug-addled mother left them in. But it came at a cost.
Once her legal career took off, playing for money was no longer needed. She took her music back. Now she chose who she shared it with.
Mercedes finished the last notes to Vivaldi’s “Winter” from The Four Seasons when she remembered she wasn’t alone. She cleared her throat. “I’m sorry. You probably want to go to bed.”
Alec had settled onto the couch, his eyes soft as he watched her, but Declan was sitting forward in the chair. “That was brilliant. I forgot how good you were. Can you play anything?”
“Pretty much. If I don’t already know it, I just have to hear it a few times to pick it up.”
It was a favorite game to play with friends. They would call out random songs, hoping to stump her with one she didn’t know. Declan tried his hardest but was no match for her vast knowledge of music. It wasn’t long before she was giggling at his suggestions, which ranged anywhere from rap to heavy metal.
Eventually, fatigue began to creep up on her, and she was forced to admit she needed a break for the night. Mercedes promised Declan he could try to trip her up again in the morning. He left, and Mercedes packed the instrument into its case and closed the lid. “I can’t tell you how much better I feel. Thank you.”
“I was happy to do it.”
Alec was so close she could feel his breath brush her cheek. She could kiss him. Maybe he’d let her. The temptation burned through her, but she resisted. Life was complicated enough. Her fragile ego would crumble if he rejected her again. And to be honest, she didn’t need the hassle of another messy relationship.
She picked up the case.
Alec stood, and like the fir
st night in the house, he walked her to her room, stopping outside the door. “If you need anything, you know where I’ll be.”
Mercedes stepped in to give him a hug at the same time he leaned forward. They both stopped and awkwardly moved toward each other again, laughing. Alec leaned down and kissed her cheek, letting his lips linger.
“Well, goodnight,” she sighed.
“Night,” he called as he turned the corner to his room.
So much for not needing the hassle.
Chapter Twenty
The smell of sausage and bacon greeted Alec as he opened his bedroom door the next morning. The sound of a playful fight happening between Declan and Mercedes reached him as he came down the landing.
Alec leaned against the doorway and took in the sight of her. She was so beautiful it made him ache. Her chestnut hair was loose and flowing down her back. Her fair skin, smooth and delicate, was restored to its natural radiance. The morning light caught her hazel eyes and gave them a warm, whisky glow.
Mercedes held a pair of tongs out like a weapon. She snapped the tongs at Declan in warning, giggling when Dec shot back a joke about her abysmal cooking skills. That laugh was mesmerizing.
Alec was growing hard. He cursed his lack of control.
“Holy hell, what’s wrong with you?” Declan said.
Alec gave a start and glared at him. Mercedes turned to him and looked him up and down with an amused expression. Shit, he hoped she couldn’t tell she’d made him hard by simply laughing.
“Nothing,” he grumped.
“Aww. I forgot you’re not a morning person,” Mercedes teased. She reached for a mug and poured him a cup of coffee. “Here.” She gave it a little push across the counter.
Alec grunted at her and picked it up. There was that giggle again. Jesus, she was adorable.
“You sure she should have those, Dec?” Alec tilted his head to the tongs in her hand. “We don’t want meteorites for breakfast.”
Mercedes sent two snaps his way. “Watch it, McKinley. I might burn yours to spite you.”
“Sure, that’s why you’d burn it.”
Mercedes gave him a glare and turned back to the stove. “You didn’t sleep well?”
“Not really.”
“I’m sorry. I’ve slept like the dead since I’ve been here.”
Alec scoffed. “I heard.”
She shot him a wry smile.
“Well, you had a four-day lie-in,” he teased.
Ignoring him, she went on. “Do you want to switch rooms? My bed is amazing. Maybe that’s why you didn’t sleep well?”
An image of Mercedes writhing underneath him in the guest bed flooded his mind. He took a long gulp of hot coffee and prayed his body would knock it off. “No thanks. I’ll be alright.”
“‘Brain Damage,’ by Pink Floyd,” Declan declared.
Mercedes looked at Declan in sympathy, but it was Alec who answered. “She can play that one, mate.”
She caught his eyes and held them. The corner of her lips turned up, and she looked away. A soft pink came to her cheeks. When they’d been together, on one of their video calls, he had requested every Pink Floyd song he could think of. He could no longer hear “Wish You Were Here” without thinking of her.
After breakfast, Declan excused himself to the formal living room to read. Alec rose to clear the table and was surprised to see Mercedes bringing dishes to the sink. “You don’t have to do that. Cooks don’t do the dishes here.”
She rolled her eyes. “So I’ve been told. But I have to earn my keep somehow.”
Alec washed, and Mercedes hummed while she dried dishes. It was clear she was oblivious to the effect she had on him. He wanted to pull her against him and taste her mouth again. It had been so long since he’d kissed her, but there was no forgetting the feel of her lips or how her body felt pressed against his.
Alec sighed, feeling like an absolute shit-heel. She wasn’t here to satisfy his fantasies. Even if she was receptive to it, nothing but hurt could come from it.
Mercedes shot him a glance. “How long do we have in this house? I know you have a business to run, and I don’t want to overstay.”
“It’s up to you. You can stay as long as you like.”
Mercedes snorted. “A team of highly trained operatives hanging out with a broke American just in case her psycho ex takes another run at her? I thought you were a clever businessman, Alec,” she teased.
He gave her a sideways look, taking it in stride. “I do alright. But that’s why I took some holiday time. It’ll be mostly me and Declan from here on out.”
She stared at him. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“I know. I wanted to.”
Mercedes was quiet for a moment as she wiped the counter. Then she said, “We haven’t talked about what I’m going to do next.”
“There are a couple options. Option one is to take you to the embassy. We’d get you a new passport and a ticket to the States. You can go back to San Francisco if you like. I’m sure Charlie will have a place for you.”
“What’s the other option?”
Alec leaned against the counter, drying his hands. “You could stay in London. We’d file charges and a restraining order against Jason. I’ll provide security for you until you’re safe. When you’re feeling tip-top, I’ll make introductions to anyone and everyone I know to secure you a job.” He wanted so badly to talk her into staying, but he wouldn’t.
“I don’t have grounds for an order.”
“That’s not true,” he said. When she looked up in surprise, he added. “You don’t think Cress set you up a secure line without recording it?”
Mercedes’s eyes widened. “I was so exhausted, I didn’t think of it.” She bit her lip and turned back to wiping the counter.
“I’m sorry. Neither choice is ideal.” Alec wished he had more to give her.
“It’s not that. It’s nice to make some choices for myself again. It’s . . . I don’t think I can ever be free of him. If I go home, he’ll know I’m with Charlie and Luke. They aren’t equipped to deal with him. If I stay here, he’ll figure out you’re helping me and come for you. No matter where I go, I put people I care about at risk.”
It didn’t go unnoticed that she’d included him with the people she cared about. “Sadie, I’m equipped to deal with him. Please don’t worry about me.”
Mercedes’s brows pinched together. When she looked up to him again, the fear in her eyes gave him a pang. “Alec, please listen. No matter what I decide, he’ll think you had something to do with it. He . . . he hates you.”
Alec frowned. He was under no illusion that he and Jason would ever be mates. He had a solid loathing for the man as well. But that was rooted in what he’d done to Mercedes. “Did he have a reason for hating me before last week?”
Mercedes looked at the towel she was twisting in her hand. “When he and I first got together, he knew you’d been important to me. He didn’t like sharing any part of me with anyone, even someone I didn’t talk to.”
Alec’s heart lurched. Jesus, she was twisting the knife and clawing away at old scabs, pouring salt into the festering wounds.
“He hid his jealousy for a time. But when we’d fight, he’d bring you up to hurt me. When we moved here, he’d warn me not to see you. Even if I saw you on the street, I was to pretend I didn’t know you.”
Mercedes swallowed hard and met his eyes again. “He hates you, and he’s dangerous.” She took a step toward him, the smell of her shampoo filling his senses. “No matter where I go, he’ll think you had something to do with it. My biggest fear is he’ll come for you or Charlie.”
Alec would love nothing more than to take a piece out of Jason Marsh. He figured it would be cathartic to beat the shit out of that short little fuck. But the fear in those hazel depths was more than he could handle, so he tucked away his own ego to reassure her. “I’m sure it won’t come to that, but if it does, I’ll be ready. Just make the best choice for you, aye?”
“Okay,” she said, but her expression was strained.
Over the next several hours, they watched a movie and binge-watched a British bake-off show. Now that she was feeling better, Alec could sense Mercedes was getting stir-crazy.
“Can we go for a walk?” Mercedes asked.
“Sorry, no. I don’t want to take a chance.”
“Ugh.”
Alec understood. Staying in a safehouse could be such a drag. “How about a lesson?” He gestured to her violin.
“Really?” Mercedes’s eyes lit up. “You want to learn how to play?”
“Well, I don’t think we’ll be here long enough to learn how to play, but I can get some basics, right?”
Mercedes’s face was alight with excitement. Guiding him to the ottoman, she perched on the couch in front of him. She showed him how to tighten the bow and explained how the horsehair worked. Alec barely heard any of it. She was stunning.
Alec took the violin and did his best to hold it the way she had explained. The neck of it seemed tiny to his large hands.
“Here, can I just . . .” Mercedes gestured that she’d need to touch him.
Alec’s breath caught. “Oh, yeah. Course.” She came around the back of the ottoman and put her hands on his shoulders, pulling them back.
This was turning out to be one of his best ideas.
“Sit up straight,” she teased.
Laying her hand on his, she placed his fingers onto the bow. Her searing touch lingered, scorching his skin as she moved to his other hand to guide it up the neck of the violin. She placed his fingers to cover one of the strings.
“There you go.” Mercedes walked back around in front of him.
“Alright, now what?”
“Now, run the bow across this string.” She pointed to the one she meant.
“Right.” A god-awful squawk erupted from the instrument. “Christ. That’s not right.” He tried once more, and again it sounded like a cat was being beaten in a bag.
Mercedes bit her lip to keep from laughing.
“Aye, you laugh. But the student is the reflection of the teacher.” He squawked some more notes out and glowered at the instrument. Mercedes erupted into a fit of giggles. Her laughter was intoxicating.