17 - CONVICTION

Alexandra sniffled quietly and wiped her nose with the back of her hand.

"You don't have to say nice things just to make me feel better, Max," she muttered while staring out the side window at the passing buildings.

"I never say things I do not mean, and I never waste my breath on pity," I fired back instantly without raising my voice.

I needed to undo the decades of psychological damage those people had inflicted upon her, and I knew I had to be relentless about the truth.

"Your curves are absolute perfection, and I meant every single word I said when I told you I wanted to wake up next to you."

She whipped her head around to look at me, and I could see the shock widening her dark eyes behind her thick glasses.

"Y-you were just teasing me this morning to make me feel less awkward in your kitchen," she stammered out with a heavy blush staining her cheeks.

"I do not joke about the things I want, Alexandra, and I want you," I declared while navigating the large vehicle around a slow-moving delivery truck.

The air inside the car suddenly felt very thick, and the quiet romantic tension crackled between us for several long miles.

I could tell she was struggling to accept my direct praise because her brain was wired to expect insults and rejection instead.

I did not push her to respond because I wanted her to sit with my words and realize that I found her deeply desirable.

I decided to give her some time to process everything as we drove away from the towering, expensive skyscrapers of the Chicago financial district.

The glittering high-rise buildings slowly faded away, replaced by the older, rundown apartment complexes on the rougher edge of the city.

The sleek, million-dollar Maybach looked incredibly out of place driving down the cracked asphalt of this neglected neighborhood.

I watched the graffiti-covered walls and the overflowing trash cans pass by my window, and my disgust grew stronger with every block.

The tires of the Maybach thumped loudly against a deep pothole in the road, jarring us slightly as we drove deeper into the neglected streets.

I looked at the broken streetlights and the boarded-up storefronts lining the narrow avenue, wondering how she had survived in this bleak environment for so long.

She had taken the crowded public train from this dangerous area to my towering glass skyscraper every single day without ever complaining about her struggles.

She fought twice as hard as any privileged intern in my company just to keep a roof over her head, and that raw determination made me respect her even more.

"I know this place looks awful compared to your penthouse, but it was all I could afford on my intern salary," she murmured defensively as she noticed me studying the crumbling buildings.

"You do not need to defend your circumstances to me, Alexandra, because poverty is not a moral failing," I replied firmly to ease her sudden shame.

"You earned your way out of this place with your own brain, and you are leaving it behind on your own terms today."

She offered me a small, grateful smile that illuminated her beautiful face and made the gloomy afternoon feel a little bit brighter.

"It's the brick building right up there on the left," Alexandra murmured while pointing a shaking finger toward a faded structure with rusty fire escapes clinging to the exterior walls.

"We just need to go up to the fourth floor so I can grab my suitcases, and then we can leave as fast as possible," she added with a nervous, breathless edge in her voice.

"Take all the time you need, because nobody is going to rush you or hurt you while I am standing there," I reassured her while gently tapping the brake pedal.

I steered the heavy vehicle toward the dirty curb and parked right in front of the peeling double doors of her building's main lobby.

I shifted the transmission into park and reached over to turn off the engine, fully ready to escort her upstairs to pack her life away into cardboard boxes.

Before my finger could press the silver ignition button, a sudden burst of erratic movement caught my attention through the tinted windshield.

I paused my hand in mid-air and narrowed my gray eyes into deadly, cold slits as I stared at the concrete sidewalk outside.

The man pacing furiously back and forth in front of the lobby doors kicked a metal trash can into the gutter with a violent shout.

He stumbled over his own feet and caught his balance against the brick wall before taking a long swing from the brown bottle in his hand.

His cheap clothes were wrinkled, his face looked red and unhinged, and he was staring directly at the front doors as if he was waiting to ambush someone who walked out.

I instantly recognized the messy hair and the arrogant posture of the man who had broken Alexandra's heart just a few days ago.

It was David, and he looked like a feral, dangerous animal who had just realized his entire life was falling apart.

I felt Alexandra freeze in the passenger seat beside me as she followed my intense gaze out the window to see what I was staring at.

She shrank back against the leather headrest as if trying to make herself invisible from the threat outside.

"Oh my god," she gasped out in pure, unfiltered panic while her hands flew up to cover her mouth.

I unbuckled my seatbelt with a loud click and reached for the heavy door handle while a cold, calculated fury settled over my rational mind.

Nobody was ever going to make her feel small and afraid again while I was alive to stop it.

"Lock this door the second I step out, and do not roll down the window for any reason," I commanded her without taking my eyes off the drunken man on the sidewalk.

Alexandra reached out and grabbed my suit sleeve with trembling fingers, desperately trying to hold me back.

"M-Max, please don't go out there, David is crazy when he drinks!" she pleaded while her voice shook with genuine terror.

I pulled my arm away gently and gave her a dark look that promised absolute destruction.

"That is exactly why I am going to teach your ex-boyfriend a lesson he will never forget."