6. Bad News - Rafe
Something crashed on the other side of the wall, followed by a full minute of pounding on the door. I dragged a hand through my hair as Alex screamed for me from the bedroom. This was beyond cruel, but my gut told me she needed to face the pain haunting us in that room.
Then she needed to accept that I wasn’t going anywhere.
But fuck, she was going to tear me to shreds after it was all said and done. Unable to take any more, I dashed out the front door, screen slamming the outside wall in my haste, and headed for the Jeep to begin unloading.
If her hysterics were any indication, we were going to be here a while, so we might as well settle in. After hefting two duffle bags onto my shoulder, I headed inside and prepared myself for the verbal barrage coming at me through the walls. If I didn’t know better, I’d think a stampede of bulls were going at it in the bedroom.
“Rafe!” she screamed as I set our bags on the floor. “Let me go, you fucking ass!”
I couldn’t help but smile a little. Christ, she was pissed. I glanced down the hallway, and part of me longed to go to her and gather her in my arms. Put her fears to rest.
Fucking hell, I wanted to give in.
Don’t do it, man.
The voice in my head was right. Alex didn’t need to be coddled. She needed to be challenged, and I didn’t have the fucking patience to let her play the poor me card. I’d made mistakes, but so had she. It was time to stare the consequences dead in the eye and come out on top anyway. Her inner strength would carry her through if she took the initiative to find it.
I returned outside to grab another load, and halfway to the Jeep, my back pocket shrilled. I pulled out my cell and swiped my thumb to the right.
“Are you still camping?” Jax asked, bypassing a hello. I hadn’t talked to him in a couple of weeks since the last time Alex and I went to the nearest town to re-up on essentials. Our reclusive spot in the woods hadn’t had a cell signal.
I kind of missed that now.
“Hello to you too.” Tucking the phone between my shoulder and ear, I hauled the cooler from the Jeep’s cargo space and set it on the ground. “We packed up camp,” I answered. “Figured it was time to move on. Why?”
“Where’re you at?”
“Just got to the safe house about an hour ago.”
His fast exhale whooshed out over the line. “So you’re still off the grid.”
“For now. I decided to take a detour before heading home.”
“Good. Stay put, okay?”
Narrowing my eyes, I slammed the back of the Jeep shut. The camping gear could wait until morning. “Why? What’s going on?”
“I’ll explain when I get there.”
“Explain now.”
He hesitated, and I was about to ream his ass, but his words iced my veins instead. “It’s about Alex’s old man.”
“What’s going on, Jax?”
“Just sit tight until we get there tomorrow, okay?”
“Hold up a second. We?”
Three beeps ended the call. The fucker hung up on me in typical Jax style, and I cursed him for putting this place at risk by bringing company. What was the point of having a fucking safe house? Trying to find a shred of patience, I tilted my chin skyward and took a deep breath. The night’s first stars twinkled overhead, but the universe didn’t hold the answers to dealing with asshole friends and melting down women.
I lugged the cooler into the cabin and put the perishables away in the fridge, then I unpacked my laptop and took a seat in the living room. I knew Jax as well as I knew myself, down to the ink on his skin and the tone of his voice.
And his habit of keeping up with local news.
Whatever he was holding back was bound to be on the Internet. I fired up the computer, foot tapping at the horrendous snail-like speed of my cell’s hotspot out in the middle of these woods. Loss of modern conveniences were a tradeoff for living off the grid.
Or as close to off the grid as we could get without living like primitives on the edge of a lake.
I pulled up a search of local news and scrolled through the info, looking for anything relating to Abbott De Luca. Alex had fallen silent, no more crashes or fist-pounding or screaming coming from the bedroom. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’d fallen asleep already. Darkness had set in, only chased off by a soft light coming from the kitchen. It was late, and she’d had a long day. I’d bent her will, then pushed even further before we’d packed up camp.
And I was still high from taking that switch to her skin. I’d already fucked her three times in the last twenty-four hours, but my dick wanted more.
Always more when it came to Alex.
More pain, more tears, more howls of ecstasy.
She wanted more, too. She wanted to exchange vows and take my last name. Goddamn, that turned me on like crazy.
Alex Mason.
Mine.
Her last tie to the De Luca name severed.
Forever.
A photo on the screen slammed my thought processes to a halt, and I drew in a sharp breath. Her father’s frowning face stared at me, accompanied by the headline that he’d been released from prison early on good behavior.
This was the last thing we needed right now. Abbott De Luca had the power to fuck up my life all over again, only this time it would be for something I’d actually done. I’d kidnapped Alex, and if he brought that to light, I could kiss my exoneration goodbye and say hello to a new prison cell. Alex wouldn’t go along with him this time, but the man still had some clout, or he wouldn’t be out of prison so soon.
And then there was Zach’s claim that Abbott was behind the death of Alex’s mother, but without proof, her old man was just another common criminal. Corporate crime was a far cry from murder.
This could send her over the edge.
I set the laptop aside and ran my hands down my face, mind racing with the what-ifs. Reckless decisions were part of her DNA. But at the root of her soul, she was brave and as stubborn as a mule. She wouldn’t back down until she got the closure she wanted, and if she found out her father was a free man, I had no doubt she’d go after the answers that had been plaguing her, regardless of the danger he posed.
She needed a damn distraction.
Like a fucking wedding—something to keep her focused and safe from rash behavior. I’d let her stew in the bedroom for the night, then I’d give her what she wanted.
And while she was preoccupied with dresses and flowers and champagne, Jax and I would figure out what to do about Abbott Fucking De Luca.