“You son of a bitch.” I start to hit him, but I’m grabbed from behind and pulled away. Then I’m spun around. I expect to come face-to-face with Bones like last time, but a soft pair of dark eyes meet mine. One already bruised from the hit he took to the face earlier.
“Calm down, Alexa,” Derek says, grabbing my face.
“He hurt you.” I cry out. He hates the Kings, so why is he taking their side on this?
He sighs, looking at someone over my shoulder for a quick second before his eyes come back to mine. “And someone’s trying to hurt you. The Kings were just doing what they thought needed to be done.”
“But …”
“I’m fine.” He gives me a soft smile. “Promise.”
“I want to go home,” I tell him.
“You’re not going anywhere.” The familiar voice comes from behind me.
CROSS
I WATCH HER spin around. Her green eyes stare at me with disgust, but I can see the tears pooling in them. I hate it. Where we are right now. But I won’t budge on this. I won’t go soft because I fell in love with her. She has to understand the severity of the situation.
“I’m not staying here with you,” she states and starts to head to the door, but Derek grabs her hands, stopping her.
“As much as I hate it, Cross is right. You need to stay here.”
Her mouth drops open. “He knocked you out …”
“I know.” He nods once.
“He then branded you …”
“Too bad you started talking. I was in the mood to fuck you up, D.” Grave winks at him, interrupting her.
“I know,” he growls, acknowledging what she said and ignoring Grave.
“Why are you taking his side?” she demands, pulling away from him.
He runs a hand down his face. “Because this has nothing to do with them and everything to do with you.”
“Take me home, Derek. Please?” she begs, gripping his shirt.
“Listen.” He gets angry, grabbing her shoulders. “I can’t protect you. Don’t you see that?”
She goes to speak, but I say. “Derek was at Lucky’s. He was the one who called the police,” I inform her. I’ve held onto this information. I didn’t want him to know that I knew. That would have given him time to think of a lie. When I mentioned he knew it was set on fire—that was his chance to confess. But instead, he told me he’d spoken to Mitch, and although I believed him, he wasn’t going to willingly tell me that he was the one who called the cops because then that would have put him at the scene of the crime, ratting himself out.
He throws his head back, sighing at the ceiling.
Her wide eyes look at him with disbelief. “What? Derek, did you do it? Did you set that fire?”
“No,” he growls.
“Then why …?”
“I went over there, okay? I wanted to apologize to you. I pulled up, and it was already on fire. I didn’t realize it until I walked inside. I smelled the smoke the moment I entered and called 911.” He looks at me. “I promise that’s the truth. I did not set that fire.”
A part of me wants to believe him. Another part tells me not to fall for it. He hasn’t proven himself to be loyal to her. He’s turned his back on her. Why would he care now?
She says nothing to his confession. Her mind trying to decide if she should believe him or not either.
I clear my throat, getting both of their attention, and I arch a brow at him. “Either you tell her or I do.” There’s more to this story.
“What?” She looks back at him.
He steps back from her, needing the space.
“What is it?” she demands, wanting to know what I’m talking about. Wondering just how many more secrets he’s been keeping from her.
“I’ve been talking to Mitch,” he admits.
“I know,” she states.
I push off the bar at the same time as his eyes narrow on her. “You knew?” we both ask in unison.
She steps to the side so she can see both of us before she speaks. “Yeah. When I saw him at Crown, he told me that you informed him Lucky’s wasn’t doing well.”
He reaches up, running his hands through his hair aggressively. “Alexa …”
“When I asked him what he was doing talking to you, he said it was none of my business.” She frowns. “I told him to stay away from you, and he just laughed.”
He drops his head and shakes it. “Jesus.”
“Wait?” She looks from him to me. “Are you mad at me?”
“Why didn’t you tell me this?” He demands.
Her brows rise at his tone. “You weren’t even speaking to me. Why the fuck would I come to you? Plus, I never see Mitch. I thought that he could be lying just to piss me off.”
“You told me you spent the night with him last night.” Derek fires at her.