by Nana Malone
"Do I know Alexi? I've only been standing here in the shadows guiding his future for his entire life. Everything was going well until you turned up. You have ruined everything that I have worked for. He met you and no longer cared. He could no longer be controlled."
I shook my head. "I don't understand what you mean. Why don't we wait for Alexi to come out of the shower, and we'll all talk about this?"
He raised his hand. It was then that I saw the gun.
"Oh my God!"
"No, we will not be waiting for Alexi. You just have to vanish. With you gone, everything will go back to the way it’s supposed to be."
"Look, I don't know what's going on, but maybe we could just talk about this."
"There'll be no talking." I winced as he shouted.
"Okay, we don't—we don't have to talk. But I don't understand how I ruined everything. I'll just go. I'll go. It's fine. I will un-ruin everything.” The hell I was going, but I needed to distract him so I wouldn't be trapped in there.
"You think I'm an idiot? You traipsed in with your magic twat, and you ruined my only shot at the throne."
I frowned. “You want Alexi on the throne?"
"Yes, the fucking throne. Everyone knows Xander is useless. He'll make the worst choice for king ever. Alexi was the choice. But you've tainted him. The public has seen you with him, seen his poor choices. Do you think they'll ever accept someone like you? You're nothing but a whore. His black—"
Alexi interrupted. "If I were you, I'd choose my next fucking words wisely."
Alexi…
I’d heard Abbie’s voice from the loo. I’d come out to convince her to get back into bed and let me take care of her… with my tongue.
Instead, I found her in the kitchen, terrified for her life.
I glared at Jean Claude. "What the fuck are you doing here, Jean Claude?"
He turned slowly, the light from the pier illuminating his face. When I’d stalked through the living room, I’d lifted the blinds so it wouldn't be nearly as dark. I’d also called the police, and I really hoped they’d fucking hurry.
"You want to know what I'm doing here? I'm doing what has to be done."
I swallowed hard, my gaze clashing with Abbie's. She was scared, backed up against the stove, cowering. My guts twisted. Because of me, she looked like that. Because of me, someone had terrified her.
"It's you and I that have a problem. And we can talk about this."
Jean Claude shook his head. "No, no, we cannot. I tried talking to you, but you wouldn't listen, insisting your heart knew what it wanted. But you don't understand. You've ruined everything. Do you think they'll accept her? She's black, for the love of Christ. African, to boot. If she'd been famous or wealthy in her own right, I could have spun that. I could have made that happen. But no. You found someone whose parents have no aspirations to greatness. A couple of attorneys are hardly worth noting. You couldn’t go find a black princess… No, you had to go and find a black commoner. I can’t make that work. You've ruined everything. The public has seen you traipsing around with her. I cannot save you unless she's gone."
I ran my hand through my hair. "Okay, Jean Claude, I hear you. I understand. But you don't have to do this. We still have a viable option with Xander."
The things I was saying made my stomach turn, but I had to keep him talking and keep him the fuck away from Abbie.
"Why don't you follow me, we'll have a drink."
"I'm not falling for that. Until we get rid of her, there is no hope. And everything I worked my whole life for is over unless she's gone."
I refused to look at Abbie, refused to even give him an opening. "Okay, I hear you. Fine. Let's just send her back to America. We'll say she broke my heart. You could make it work. You can make anything work. In this game, you are the best. Everyone knows it."
For a moment, I thought maybe he believed me. Maybe he was buying it. But then he started to turn toward Abbie. "No, Jean Claude, look at me."
"You're just trying to protect her. You think I don't know what you're doing? No, she has to die. If she dies, the public will have sympathy for you. They'll see your poor suffering soul, and they'll want to ease it. And then you'll make an excellent prospect as a king."
"I'm not even a prospect, Jean Claude. My cousin sits on the throne."
"Not for long. All you have to do is wait and not make any errors or mistakes. All you have to do is be patient. But you can’t be with this whore."
I clenched my teeth but said nothing. I had to get him out of there. Out of the kitchen.
Slowly, I started to back out. "Just come with me, Jean Claude. We'll talk about this. I understand what you're saying. I never saw it your way before.” He started to take a step toward me, and I thought we were home free. But then I heard the click. Was that the safety? "Jean Claude—"
Apparently, Abbie didn’t plan on going anywhere. She grabbed the kettle and swung it wildly, smacking him in the head.
He howled, and she launched herself, managing to scoot past him. Then she was running and darting for me.
I took her hand and tugged her forward. "Get in the closet, at the door."
"No, I'm not leaving you."
"You have to go."
She shook her head, so I did the only thing I could. I opened the closet and shoved her in. I knew that the door handle was fidgety. She'd never get it open from the inside.
I hated doing that to her, but it was the only way to keep her safe. When I turned around, Jean Claude sauntered into the living room.
"Alexi,” Jean Claude called. “Give her to me. This will all go away. Everything will be fine if you just give her to me."
"I'm sorry. I can't, Jean Claude. I know that you're trying to protect me, the family. I understand. But this isn't the way. Killing her isn’t necessary. Nothing good will come of that."
"What do you know? Give her to me.” He advanced on me, not raising the gun, but I knew he wouldn't hesitate to shoot Abbie.
I stepped forward. "No, we're not doing this, Jean Claude. Enough is enough. The police are already on their way."
He squinted his gaze at me. "You are really making this choice. This woman over your family?"
"Yeah. You don't get it. She is my family."
"Will she still be your family if she knows everything?"
"As a matter of fact, she does know everything. It took me a while to tell her because I was an idiot. But I did, and she accepts me. You're not ruining this."
I couldn't have foreseen what he was going to do next.
After all, everything he'd ever done had been to protect us, me and Xan. He'd been the one to handle the media after Silas McMahon’s death. He'd been the one to find our therapist and the one looking after us from the shadows. But what he wanted to do now, that wasn't looking after us. That was pure self-interest. I never expected him to attempt to hit me.
I ducked his wild swing easily and then popped him in the face. He tossed the gun and then roared and charged me.
"Jean Claude, stop it. This isn't what you want.” But he knew what he wanted. He charged right at my center, slamming me back against the wall.
The pain in my back had me wincing, but I quickly brought my elbows down on the back of his neck, landing three hard shots before he finally backed off, staggering.
Outside, I could hear the sirens. And then there was chatter and running footsteps. The police had arrived. But he had his hands on my collar and he was tugging me forward.
I landed a fist, but he didn’t let go. He tossed me down and delivered a sharp, swift kick to my chest.
I rolled on the ground and coughed. I saw what he was doing. He was going for the closet. Shit. Abbie.
I forced myself to a sitting position and pushed my hands against the floor, propelling myself to my feet.
I grabbed him by the back of his shirt and pulled hard. I heard the rip, but I didn't care. As long as I kept him away from her.
When I dragged him back, I tossed him to
the ground. All I knew was that I had to protect her, and I would do anything to make that happen.
My first fist landed on his nose, and blood spurted everywhere.
The next fist did more of the same, and I kept delivering blows, even through the shouting and knocking at the door. He wanted to kill Abbie, and I had to stop him. I finally went into the zone where I couldn't hear anything, where it was deadly silent and all that mattered was that my fists connected.
Abbie’s voice was what finally broke through the haze. “Alexi, stop. Alexi, you don't want to do this. I'm okay. Everything is okay, but you have to stop."
My fist was raised, and I could feel the blood leaking between my knuckles, making the slide of my fingers against each other squishy like a trainer walking in mud. But her voice soothed me. "You don't want to do this. That's not who you are. Let him go."
I glared down at him. His face was barely recognizable, one eye swollen shut, his lips busted and bleeding, a tooth knocked out. There was blood everywhere. I frowned and pushed up and away from him, staggering to the door to let in the police. When I did, there was a rush of activity, bodies flooding my barge. I had to battle the stream of them just to reach her. And when I finally did, she wrapped her arms around me. "Thank you for saving me."
"Thank you, for saving me."
I kissed the top of her head and held her close. The ambulance was there with the police. It was all over. I was finally free to be with her. And I wasn't going to let anything stop that from happening.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Abbie
Three days later.
Contentedly, I sipped my tea and watched Alexi cook… shirtless. I could really get used to this. He’d brought me to the beach to get away from it all. An overnight trip had turned into three blissful days of uninterrupted together time.
I’d put everything on hold just to be with him. Xander hadn’t been thrilled that I’d missed our weekly meeting, but it was so worth it. Alexi’s one conversation with his brother had been short and brief, but he looked more relaxed after they’d spoken. A few days with Alexi alone was just what I needed. What we both needed.
It hadn’t come free though. Now I’d have to rush to complete my next assignment. And I had a make-up meeting scheduled for that afternoon with Xander. No doubt I’d get an earful about responsibility and squandering opportunities, but I didn’t really care.
Alexi looked up from the sausages. “What’s that smile on your face for?”
I shrugged. “Oh nothing. Just admiring the view.”
He smirked and turned the sausages. “You know, one of these days, we’re going to have to get you to do some shirtless cooking.”
“You wish. Besides, that would prove dangerous for me. I have a lot more wobbly bits than you do. Cooking can be hazardous to my health. I think I’ll leave it to you.”
“I promise you, if you were cooking naked, you wouldn’t even make it to the stove before I dragged you back to bed.”
“I can live with that.” My phone vibrated on the tabletop. I glanced at the incoming text message.
Xander: Meet me in the labs at one sharp. We need to discuss program demands.
Alexi gave me a soft smile. “Duty calls?”
“Yeah, just a reminder that I need to return to real life.”
He nodded. “Me too. I wish we could stay longer.”
“Tell me about it. But we have each other. Somehow it makes the big, bad, scary world more tolerable.”
He grinned as he served my plate. “That it does.”
Abbie
When I got to the labs, I was surprised to find Xander developing prints of some of my work. “I see you got the photos I sent from my last shoot with Jasper.”
He nodded. “Yeah, I figured I’d go old school with some of them.”
I shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot as Xander examined my photos. He pointed to one of the ones I'd done with Angel’s model friends. “Is that Serena Winchell?”
I blinked rapidly. Was I going to get into trouble for using an actual model? My stomach rolled. “Yes, she's sort of a friend of a friend.”
“I worked with her in Milan. For someone so young, she has an ethereal quality to her. And a good work ethic.”
I blinked in surprise. “She was great. Didn’t complain once, no matter how long it took me to set up a shot.”
Xander nodded then smirked. “She's fantastic in the sack, too.”
My gaze shifted up from the photo to stare at Xander. Had he just said— “I beg your pardon?”
His laugh was low and mellow. A lot like Alexi’s. He probably drove every woman he worked with mad with that laugh. “I just wanted to see what you'd say.”
I raised a brow. “So, she's not good in the sack? Poor thing, I hope you didn’t tell her that. The girl will have a complex for life.”
He stared at me a long moment before a deep, bellowing laugh broke free from his chest. “You surprise me Abbie. You think fast on your feet, and you're not unsettled by me.”
“Well, not as much anymore. But you still are my teacher.”
His voice was soft when he spoke. “Not for long.”
Oh hell. He hated these photos, too? “Look, I’ve worked my ass off. You can’t cut me from the program. You have no idea what I had to do to get the money for my next semester. Just give me another chance.”
Frown lines furrowed his brow. “Why the hell do you think I’m cutting you from the program?”
Wait. What? “That bad week I had. You said if I ever took another set of shitty photos you’d cut me. I did my best on this shoot. I—”
He put up his hands and interrupted me. “Hey, stop. I’m not cutting you. I was a bit hard on you that day. Yes, I wanted you to bring me your A game, but admittedly I was a little jealous and thought you were distracted by my brother.”
I narrowed my eyes. “So, what? You were scaring me straight?”
He shrugged. “Something like that. I would never cut you. You’re extraordinarily talented. Not to mention beautiful.”
All I could do was shake my head at him. Well he’d accomplished his goal. I had been terrified of losing my spot. “Are you always such a pain in the ass?”
He laughed then studied me for a minute. “You don't seem fazed by me anymore.”
“I'm not going to deny that you’re pretty to look at, but I'm not interested. And I'm still your student.”
He grinned at me. “And you stand up for yourself when someone's being an ass.”
“Yes, I do.” I frowned. “You might be my teacher, but if you're being a wanker, I'll call you on it.” I tried not to wince at my Americanization of the word wanker. It just didn’t sound as cool as when Faith and Sophie said it.
“It's been a while since someone called me a wanker to my face.”
I bit my tongue. He still had the power to fail me in is hands, and I needed a recommendation. “Sometimes my mouth runs away with me.” That was all I was willing to concede in the way of an apology.
“That's not a bad thing. I'm looking for someone who can put me in my place, not be rattled by straight talk or sex talk or cursing. And someone with incredible talent.”
What? He was auditioning bed partners? “Look, Xander, as intriguing as your offer is, I have to tell you I have a boyfriend, and considering he’s your brother, I think what you’re asking is inappropriate.”
His brows drew down, “So you don't want to work for me then?”
I barely heard him as I continued. “I mean, it's not fair to proposition your students, we depend on you for our—" My brain halted then sputtered to life again as what he'd said settled in. “You want me to come work for you?”
His arrogant smirk slid back into place. “Well, that was until you mentioned propositioning. If I have a choice, I'll take propositioning.”
My face flamed, and I ducked my head. “Shit, sorry about that. It just sounded like you were offering me a job as your mistress or something, not your assis
tant.”
He laughed. “You can relax. I know what you mean to Lex. And while I am a womanizing manwhore, I also work my ass off, and I could use an assistant with your talent. It’s technically a work-study position. The official assistant job won’t be available until the course ends, but as long as you don’t screw up, it’s as good as yours.”
Elation and joy skipped over my synapses. “I don’t even know what to say.”
“How about you say yes and put me out of my misery.”
My body vibrated with giddy excitement. “You're sure you want me? I mean I don’t have a lot of experience, and I could use some work in some areas and—"
He held up a hand, and his dark eyes met my gaze. “I'm positive. You’re the one with the most talent in the class. Even when you're not at your best, you're still better than most professionals I've seen. You earned it.”
I grinned and spun around in a happy little twirl. He grinned back. “Wait, can I still do my side gigs? I know assistant jobs don’t pay much.”
“Yes. As long as they don’t interfere with your work for me. But I should have mentioned the work-study position covers half your tuition.”
I squealed again. Half my tuition? That meant I had enough money saved so far to pay for next semester as well. I did another happy twirl. “I have no idea what to say or do right now.”
“Why don’t you get out of here? I'll have my personal assistant call you with the details.”
Tears threatened to spill over, and I rapidly blinked my eyes. “Thank you. Thank you. So much, thank you.”
“Go on. Get out of here before I forget that you’re my assistant and that I promised my brother I’d keep my hands and sexual innuendos to myself.”
I skipped out of Xander’s office and down the stairs of the Arts building. I was running so fast I squealed when someone snagged the back of my jacket. I whirled around, ready for a fight, only to see Alexi’s grinning face.
“Easy there, tiger, where's the fire? In a hurry to get to your boyfriend?”
I beamed. “Yes, actually. I have good news to share with him.”