14
Once I heard Mason’s footfalls going down the hallway, I rolled over to look at Alex. “Did you hear the way he was teasing me a minute ago? I couldn’t even tell if he was serious at first.”
Alex didn’t answer right away. “I think I'm falling in love with you.”
With my breath suddenly stuck in my throat, I could only reply with a single word. “What?”
Rolling on his back to look up at the ceiling, Alex sighed. “The truth is that I think I actually started falling in love with you the very moment I saw you. You pulled open your apartment door with a blazing fire in your eyes that instantly seemed to melt some layer of ice around my heart that I didn’t even know was there. And then a few nights ago...when you cried when you were upset about seeing the dish that your mom always made…as completely irritated as I was by some of the things you were saying to me, all I truly wanted to do when I saw that single tear roll down your cheek was take you in my arms, hold you close, and tell you that everything was going to be okay. And then, when we were in bed the other day, and then again tonight….” Once again, Alex sighed. “Kira, it’s been a long time since I’ve felt this way. I’m falling in love with you. You’ve completely captured my heart.”
With my own heart feeling as if it were melting, which created a lump in my throat, I found that I couldn’t respond.
After a few seconds, Alex rolled onto his side, pulled me into his arms, and looked at me with his expression pleading. “Well, do you feel the same way about me? Is there any part of you, even a small one, that feels like you might be falling in love with me too?”
There definitely was, but there was also the issue of me feeling the same way about Mason. Then, there was also the issue of me still not knowing which of the two brothers I’d overheard talking on the phone the first day I’d arrived in new Detroit. And I’d kind of been thinking that maybe I shouldn’t say the “L word” to Alex or Mason, or even really start thinking it, until I could figure things out. All of this complication was now making me feel strangely and unexpectedly emotional.
With my eyes misty, I removed myself from Alex’s arms and slowly sat up in bed, making a decision. “I want to just come right out and ask you about something, Alex…and it has to do with a phone call I overheard.”
Suddenly frowning hard, he sat up in bed, too, glancing over at the open doorway for some reason while he did so. “Kira, don’t. Please, don’t do this. Not right now.”
I definitely hadn’t been planning on asking him or Mason about the phone call, but I’d started to get the feeling that as much of a joker as Mason was, it had been him who I’d overheard. Maybe he’d even been speaking with Alex at the time, I figured. And even if this wasn’t the case, I’d decided that I still just wanted to see Alex’s reaction to what I had to say about the phone call. I just wanted to see if, like I’d started to, he’d just chalk it up to Mason making some kind of a joke.
In response to what Alex had just said, I told him that there was no better time like the present. “See, what I’m about to say concerns Mason, so maybe it’s better that I talk to you about it all in private first, before he gets back in here with our sandwiches.”
“Kira, I’m telling you that we can’t discuss this now. Besides, I already know everything you’re going to say.”
Unsure as to how that could be, I wiped my misty eyes with the back of my hand. “No, I don’t think you do. You can’t possibly know everything that I’m going to say…and I need to say it before I can move forward with any kind of a serious relationship with you…or Mason. I just need clarification about a few things.”
In the dim light, Alex frowned even harder. “Kira, please just trust me. I already know exactly what you’re going to tell me. I know. Please just believe me about all this.”
I wiped another tear away with a strange, growing sense of urgency, feeling as if I had to continue telling him about the phone call I’d overheard now that I’d started. “Well, all right then…if you really already know everything I’m going to say even though I’m not sure how that can be true…then I guess I may as well call Mason back in here, so that I can say what I have to say and get some explanations from him, too.”
Alex’s expression became pleading.
“Kira, please. There are some things that you just don’t understand right now.”
“Well, I understand that I overheard a pretty strange phone call the first day I came here to the city…and I understand that in order to move on with you and Mason-”
“I’m really begging you, Kira. Please don’t do this right now.”
Suddenly becoming a little irritated, I folded my arms across my chest. “Well, why not? Even if you already know everything about the phone call I overheard, there’s still another person involved here. Maybe I’d like to hear what Mason has to say about what I overheard.” After taking a deep breath, I cupped my hands around my mouth, facing the open doorway. “Mason! Hey, M-”
My second shout of his name had been cut off by Alex clamping a hand over my mouth.
“Kira, don’t. I can’t let you do this. See, if you say a single word to Mason about the phone call you overheard, he’ll probably go ahead and try to kill me right in this room without a second thought. He’ll also probably try to kill you too. In fact, I’m sure he will. He won’t want to take the risk of you trying to tell anyone else about his secret plans.”
Terrified, I couldn’t believe what I’d just heard. In fact, I was pretty sure that I had to have heard Alex wrong, or was maybe somehow grossly misinterpreting what he was saying, even though that seemed like a bit of a stretch. I was so desperate for clarification about what he’d said that even with his hand tightly clamped over my mouth, I still managed to utter a single word, which was what, and I managed to say it clearly enough that I knew he could understand me.
However, he still didn’t remove his hand from my mouth, and in fact, he tightened it, obviously hell-bent on making sure that I couldn’t say anything else. “Not one more word, Kira. Do you understand me? You can’t say one more single word. Not about the call you overheard, anyway. Okay?”
With my heart pounding, I nodded, making a muffled sound that was meant to be the word okay.
“Good. Now, if I take my hand off your mouth, do you promise me that you’ll remain completely quiet? At least when it comes to calling out to Mason? Do you promise me that you’ll just listen, and make no more attempts to call out to him?”
This time silently, I nodded again with my gaze on the doorway, which I now hoped Mason wouldn’t be striding through anytime soon. Although Alex had scared me with what he’d said to me, as well as by covering my mouth, I had a feeling of trust in him for whatever reason. Which meant that I could no longer trust Mason at all.
*
Sitting up in bed beside me with one strong arm around me, still restraining me, Alex waited a long moment before finally removing his hand from my mouth, which he did very slowly. “Now, you promised, remember? Keep that in mind. No more calling out to Mason. Please just listen.”
I looked into Alex’s dark gray eyes, startled by their intensity, almost as much as I’d been startled by what he’d said when he’d first clamped his hand over my mouth. “All right. I’ll just listen.”
He glanced over to the doorway before returning his gaze to my face and speaking in a hushed tone that was barely above a whisper. “Okay. All you need to know right now is that Mason wants to kill me to make sure that he’s our grandfather’s successor, no matter who you pick. He wants to guarantee that he ‘wins,’ no matter what. He’ll kill you if he knows that I know all this, and he’ll kill you if he knows that you tried to tell me all this yourself. And right now, I’m just not ready to deal with everything. Not yet. So, you can’t say a word to Mason. When he comes back in the room, you just have to pretend that everything is perfectly fine and normal, and we never had this conversation. Your life literally depends on it, and you’re just going to have to trust me about this. Do you understand me?”
Although still miles beyond shocked and confused by everything he’d just told me, I found myself nodding. “All right. But, Alex…I’m pretty sure that Mason really cares about me. I seriously don’t think he’d-”
“Yes…he would. He would kill you without a second thought. Right now, he’s just having a little fun with you. But the fact of the matter is that you just don’t know him that well.”
“But…he’s seemed so genuinely warm and affectionate with me tonight.”
“Yes…he has. This isn’t that surprising to me, because I think he’s a sociopath. And that’s how they are. They’re often very charming, but it’s all just an act.”
“Well, please explain to me how you even knew about the phone call.”
“I was doing a little surveillance on Mason that day. And I knew that you overheard his phone call because I saw you in my grandfather’s office.”
“Well, how-”
“Any other questions are going to have to wait until later.”
“But-”
“Later, Kira.”
Just then, I heard what Alex had heard first. He’d somehow heard the near-imperceptible sound of bare feet padding down the wood-floored, darkened hallway.
Within a second or two, Mason pulled open the half-ajar door and poked his head inside with his delectable full lips twitching. “Do you have another request to add to your order, Kira? I thought I heard you call out for me a minute ago.”
I’d never before in my life been so hopelessly conflicted or confused. Not to mention that I was still utterly shocked by what Alex had told me. It just didn’t make any sense. Nothing about Mason struck me as killer-like, and in fact, just the opposite. During the short while that I’d been in New Detroit, he’d certainly been warmer to me than Alex had, or at least he had been initially. At least up to the point just a few minutes earlier when Alex had told me that he’d fallen in love with me.
However, I knew that what Alex had said about sociopaths was true. They could be incredibly charming, especially when they wanted something, lulling their victims into a false sense of security. But then again, I realized, Alex could be the sociopath. Really, for all I knew, he could have been lying through his teeth to me when he’d said everything to me that he had. Maybe he was the real villain, I figured, trying some desperate ploy to get me to pick him as his grandfather’s successor instead of Mason. I knew it was at least possible, although in my heart, I didn’t feel it was probable. This was because I still felt like I could trust Alex, and I felt in my gut that he’d been telling me the truth.
My head was beginning to spin. With my mind reeling, I wondered if Mason would actually make an attempt to kill me if he were to learn that I’d tried to come clean to Alex about what I’d overheard. At any rate, being that he was a shifter, I was certain that he could easily do it if he wanted to.
I knew I had to get more information from Alex, had to fully hear him out and then process everything and decide what I believed was the truth. I also knew that obviously, that time wasn’t the present. Like he’d told me to be, I just had to act perfectly normal and pretend that the conversation we’d just had hadn’t happened. Mason had already been waiting in the doorway for a second or two while I’d been doing lightning-fast thinking about everything, and I knew I had about a quarter-second left to give him a response before he’d think that something was up.
So, I gave him what I hoped was a perfectly normal smile. “Sorry to make you come all the way down here again, but I did call out to you. I was just wondering if I could add a tall glass of ice water to my midnight snack order.”
Without missing a beat or giving any indication that he thought something was wrong, Mason returned my smile. “Anything for you, because your wish is my command. I’ll bring you ten glasses of ice water if you want.”
I forced myself to smile again. “Well, thanks for the offer, but one should be just fine.”
With his pale blue eyes twinkling in the dim light, he gave me a sexy half-grin that turned my insides to jelly before turning to head back down the hallway. “I’ll be right back.”
I watched him go, smiling a little again, and this time not having to force myself to do so.
“See how charming he is? He’s got you genuinely smiling now, and not acting. I can tell.”
Alex had whispered near my ear, making me jump. Having gotten a little momentarily lost in Mason’s eyes, I’d kind of forgotten that Alex was still in the room. I’d forgotten that I was actually still in his arms. I'd honestly forgotten that he even existed.
Leaning back against the polished oak headboard, he pulled me even a bit closer to him and whispered to me again. “He’s the ultimate sociopath, Kira…and the ultimate manipulator. Don’t feel bad that you’ve fallen for his charm yet again, though. I’ve been deceived by him numerous times, starting when our parents were killed several years ago. See, that was blamed on the Darkwings, but I now think that Mason actually did it, just because he wanted to take our father out of the line of succession. He probably killed our mother simply because she saw or heard something. This is just what kind of a person he is. He’s evil.”
Suddenly tired, I looked up at Alex’s face with a sigh. “Look. You’re going to have to explain all this about Mason to me a little better. Because right now-”
“Because right now, you’re having a little trouble accepting that he is who I’m saying he is, and that he’ll do what I’m saying he’ll do. Believe me, I get it. I know that most people capable of murder aren’t exactly so jovial. Mason has even gotten our grandfather wrapped around his little finger. You’ve got to understand, though, that that’s part of the danger…his ability to manipulate people. And I will explain everything about him to you a bit better. But as for right now, I can’t, obviously. Not with him so close by and soon to return. Just promise me that for right now, just at least for tonight, you’ll just trust me. I’m not exaggerating when I say that your life depends on it, Kira. If Mason were to attack us tonight, in this closed space, I’m just not sure what would happen. I’m a strong shifter, but he is, too…and I’d much rather battle him out in the open, with us both in our dragon forms, where you won’t be caught up in the mix.”
“I understand, but when will you be able to explain everything to me a little better?”
“Very soon. I’ll explain everything to you very soon. I’ll try my best to get away when Mason and I are leading our men out on patrol tomorrow. The Darkwings are now giving us problems on a daily basis, and I expect we’ll be sweeping the outskirts of town for their spies in wolf form all day. I’ll try my best to get away during the afternoon, though. Maybe I’ll meet you somewhere in town. Just please keep your phone on you so I can get a hold of you when I need to. In the meantime, tonight, just eat your sandwich when Mason comes back, and then try to go to sleep. Do those things, and just act completely normal around Mason, and just try to trust me. Okay? Please?”
Stifling a yawn, I said all right. “I will. I’m tired and confused, and I’m vaguely scared because of what you said about Mason attempting to kill me if he-”
“You shouldn’t be ‘vaguely scared’ of him. You should be outright terrified any time Mason is near. You can’t forget that.”
“Well, thanks for making me feel so much better right before I’m supposed to act perfectly normal and go right to sleep.”
“I didn’t mean to, and I’m sorry about that, but I just want to make sure you take all this very seriously. You need to stay on your toes around Mason.”
“Well, I will. Until you can explain all this to me a little better, I promise I’ll just act completely normal around him. I’m really putting my trust in you about all this, Alex.”
Right then, looking up into his dark coal-colored eyes, I couldn’t imagine not trusting him. His eyes certainly didn’t hold the same mischievous twinkle that Mason’s frequently did, but instead, there was some look of unmistakable sincerity in his eyes that I just couldn’t deny. It was a look that now made me feel in the core of my being that he was telling me the honest truth about everything and that I was right to trust him. However, at the same time, I did need him to do a lot of explaining. Because of this, I hoped he’d be able to get away and meet me sooner rather than later the following day.
In response to what I’d said about trusting him, he planted a kiss on my forehead. “Good. Now, no more talking or even whispering about all this tonight. We can’t take the chance that Mason could hear a few words on his way back from the kitchen. In fact, right now, he’s probably wondering why he’s not hearing sounds of normal conversation. So, let’s just change the subject right this second. Just say anything to me. Maybe tell me a joke and then laugh. Or better yet, why don’t we kiss? That way, when he comes back, he’ll think our mouths have been occupied with non-conversational activity this whole time.”
Studying the way Alex’s dark lashes were casting shadows on his handsome, square-jawed face in the dim light, I gave him a little smile. “Well, I think I can handle that. I can handle giving you a little kiss right now. But instead, why don’t you kiss me? Just tip me back in your arms and really plant one on me.”
“Oh, I can definitely handle that.”
With a low growl rumbling deep within his chiseled chest, Alex pulled me onto his lap and tipped me back in his arms. He then brought his mouth to mine with another low growl that I could feel as well as hear. Soon, reveling in the feel of his soft lips gently savoring my own, I was lost in pleasure, breathing in his woodsy, masculine scent as deeply as I could.