94

ALEXANDER

I had no idea how long Alina thought she could keep her little charade going. Claude, the loyal fool, had put on a perfect mask of ignorance the first time I asked him about it. He acted like he didn’t know a thing about her leaving the house every morning in a designated car, only to return much later in the afternoon.

But Alina would not do anything unless she was told it was okay. which brings us to the car she had waiting for her always. He'd given her his permission.

Claude knew more than he admitted, and he thought he could bluff his way through me with that poker face of his. He should have known better.

So, instead of pressing him further, I decided to take matters into my own hands. Which is how I ended up here, in this car, with Alina sitting on my lap as though the very air between us was poison.

I reminded myself over and over that I was supposed to be angry with her. I was supposed to be here for answers. But having her pressed against me, the warmth of her body seeping through her clothes and into mine, made my concentration falter. Every brush of her arm against my chest brought with it thoughts of less clothing, fewer words, and a far different sort of interrogation. I shut those thoughts down as quickly as they rose along with another part of my body. Distractions started and ended with her, and I had already promised myself I would cut them off.

For three days I had lived in the same house as her, knowing she was just a hallway away, close enough to reach out and take whenever I wanted. Yet I resisted. Even at night, when the house grew quiet and I knew she was sleeping, I stayed away. I told myself I would not break. I would not give in to the pull she had on me.

But then I discovered her little routine. The car. The unexplained outings. The secrecy. And just like that, my restraint crumbled. I had to know.

A more sensible man might have gone to the driver and demanded an explanation. I could have dragged Claude back into a corner and forced him to spill the truth. But I didn’t. Deep down, I knew the reason. I wanted to see her. I wanted to hear it from her mouth. That knowledge didn’t make me proud, but I ignored the nagging voice in my head that mocked me for it.

Now here she was, sitting stiffly in my lap. The picture of guilt. I wasn't nearly as upset as I should be.

“Great weather, isn’t it?” I said, as though this was nothing more than a casual drive.

Her body was so rigid she might as well have been carved from stone. If it weren’t for the faint warmth of her skin and the subtle rise and fall of her chest, I could have mistaken her for a statue. She didn’t answer, which didn’t surprise me. I hadn’t expected her to. The words were nothing but a distraction from the silence that stretched thick between us.

“So, how is everything?” My voice was smooth, almost conversational, but my hands betrayed me. They slid beneath the thin fabric of her blouse, fingers grazing the bare skin of her waist. Warmth. Silken smoothness. She was always soft in a way that made me furious with myself, because I couldn’t help but want more.

Still, she said nothing. Any other person would have been dragged out of the car by their throat for giving me the silent treatment, but Alina had a privilege no one else possessed. She never seemed to understand the power she held over me. It was a dangerous kind of power too, one that eroded my control and twisted my judgment until I no longer recognized myself. Someone should study the madness she caused in me, then deliver the cure directly into my hands.

“Fine. We don’t want to talk.” My tone was sharp, but before I could stop myself, I bent my head and bit lightly at the curve of her neck.

She let out a startled yelp, her body jerking slightly. Relief washed through me. At least she was alive in there, not lost in her own head.

Good. I didn’t want her withdrawing now, not when things were only beginning.

The driver had remained silent through it all, and I hadn’t asked him where we were headed. That was her question to answer. I wouldn’t let her slip through this with silence and avoidance. Not today.

The woman who had been sitting in the front seat earlier had already been dismissed. She had asked me if she was to return tomorrow, her eyes downcast but her spine straight with a boldness most men lacked. I told her to leave, but the edge in her tone when she dared to question me had piqued my interest. Few people had the audacity to test me like that. One day, perhaps, I would find out what made her different.

For now, though, my attention was locked on the woman in my arms.

The car drove on for more than an hour. Through the tinted glass, I watched as the scenery shifted from green forest to moden buildings. Stores cropped up along the roadside, bright signs flashing in the late afternoon light. I memorized them absently, always cataloging details, but my mind never strayed far from Alina.

She hadn’t moved, hadn’t so much as blinked, her gaze fixed firmly on the window. Her silence was not the silence of guilt. She wasn’t cowering. No, she looked like a woman who had convinced herself she was in the right. And that, more than anything, kept me waiting. I wanted to see how long her conviction would last before it cracked.

I remembered Megara once telling me, “She is dangerously smart.” At the time, I’d laughed it off, dismissing her words with mockery.

“What is this now? The casino business not paying well enough, so you’ve decided to moonlight as a fortune teller?” I’d taunted.

Megara hadn’t risen to the bait. Instead, she had lifted her chin and continued. “My mother was a gypsy. I know how to read the cards.”

I had given her a slow once-over and smirked. “You wouldn’t know it by looking at you.”

Her teeth clenched, but she swallowed the anger, as she always did when she knew I wouldn’t care either way.

“Do you want to hear what the cards said?” she asked.

“You’re going to tell me no matter what I say,” I had replied with a shrug. “Might as well get it over with.”

Her smirk had deepened. “You’re superstitious.”

“If you listened to anything besides your own voice, you’d know I’m far too intelligent for that,” I’d cut back. Still, I gave her the go-ahead, if only for the entertainment of proving her wrong later.

She laid out the cards, and I humored her by picking three. Her eyes widened with each turn. By the time the third card landed, her face had hardened with unease.

“You’ve pulled the three most dangerous cards in the deck,” she whispered.

I had leaned back, unimpressed. “Then tell me what doom awaits.”

She showed me. An empire. Doom. The queen of hearts.

She had stared at me with something bordering on dread. I’d wanted to laugh. To me, it was ironic, almost funny. A queen of hearts. How poetic.

“Good luck to the cards,” I’d told her, walking out before she could throw more superstition my way.

The memory slipped as quickly as it came, and I returned my focus to the present. Alina still stiff in my lap, the tension rolling off her in waves. A sudden thought of how she would react if I slipped my hand insdie the waistband of her panties and teased that sweet nub of hers made my blood hot, my dick instantly going full mast.

I cleared my throat, pushing that thought away.

“Who is your new lady friend?” 

Her throat bobbed as she swallowed, and when she answered, her voice was small, uncertain. “She… she is supposed to keep me safe.”

I hummed, the sound low and deliberate. “Safe? And what exactly do you need protecting from?”