“I won’t, darling. I love you.”
“I love you, too.” Alex closes the door behind him, a quick look over his shoulder, smiling at Michelle as he climbs into his car.
Michelle cleans up the kitchen, takes a quick shower, and dresses. She decides to take her bicycle out today. She hops on her blue pastel colored bike, happy to be outside on such a beautiful, sunny day. It was Friday, the day of the week she usually goes out. She makes her rounds, first stopping at the bank, then picking up a bouquet of fresh flowers. She parks her bike outside the grocery store, her last stop of the day. Michelle gets what she needs, and returns to her bicycle, placing her items in the basket attached to the front. She begins her journey home, taking her time.
Michelle peddles on, just another block before reaching home. Suddenly, her ears are filled with the blaring sound of a horn. She immediately looks left, in the direction of the offending noise. All Michelle can see is the massive front-end of a Mack truck. She hears the sound of screeching brakes. Desperately, she tries to maneuver the bike out of the truck’s way, but it’s too late.
Michelle lies on the street, her body in shock, blood trickling down the side of her face. She whispers, “My baby…..”
All light fades away and there is nothing but darkness.
*
Alex sat at his desk, staring blankly at the computer screen. It had been six months since Michell
e’s death. Alex thought about her every second of every day. He mourned the loss of their unborn child. He was consumed with guilt and anger. Things were not getting better. In fact, they were only getting worse. He was finding it more and more difficult to concentrate at work. At times the grief was so overwhelming, so suffocating, he thought he would go insane. Alex’s supervisor encouraged him to take a leave of absence, but he would not do it. Alex thought that would only give him too much empty time on his hands.
His guilt gnawed at him constantly. He played the morning over and over in his mind, questioning what he had missed, what he could have done differently. Alex thought he had always done the right thing, the safe thing, by keeping the truth from Michelle. Now he realized what a huge mistake he had made.
A formal investigation was done officially stating the cause of death was accidental. Alex knew better. Unofficially, it was no accident. In his world there were no accidents. No incidents, no coincidences. Everything was planned and plotted and executed. And this was no different.
Alex knew they were after him. This was their modus operandi - first take out the target’s family, one by one, then the target. Since Alex had no other living relatives, Michelle was their primary concern. Alex, his supervisor, and their team had completed their own, top-secret investigation. Their findings were exactly as they thought. Alex was next.
He lived under a constant death threat for the next five years. He moved from one place to another, never staying anywhere very long. Alex never dined at the same restaurant twice. He never sat with his back to the door. Hidden cameras were installed at every flat he lived in. At times, he would alter his appearance – growing a beard, wearing glasses. A new cell phone every few months. A new car as often as could afford it. Paranoia became his best friend. It had to – it was the only way to stay alive.
After five years, Alex’s supervisor informed him that the death threat had been lifted. The team had located the assassin, captured and executed him along with his three accomplices. The team was confident that Alex’s life was no longer in danger. Alex wasn’t so sure.
He decided to leave it all behind. Alex knew it was the right decision for him. He needed a new life, needed to start over. Alex did everything he could to forget his past. He went underground – no address, no phone number, no credit cards. He travelled all over the world, using a fake passport, with a fake name and numerous fake ID cards that the government had so kindly given him before he quit.
After a couple of years of drifting, he pulled himself together. Alex decided to start his own luxury hotel real-estate development company. He had always had an interest in buildings, and in building things. The process of building something new helped Alex rebuild a new life for himself. It became his version of therapy. Alex had been fearless in his former work and had rediscovered that part of his character. Hard work, fearless risk taking and rising property values had turned him into a billionaire. Alex had worked relentlessly from the start, and with the help of an array of outside investors, the business became extremely successful, with luxury hotels across the globe, and Alex sitting atop a massive empire.
His grief for Michelle had subsided over the years, and he had tried to move on. He attempted to date, but found it was too time-consuming and emotionally exhausting for him. The women he met seemed to always want more from him than what he could give. Quick, no-strings-attached sex became his usual experience with women. He wanted to give and receive physical pleasure, but once it was over, he wanted nothing more.
Over time, he developed a reputation – Playboy Mogul. Alex liked his reputation. It made life easier in a lot of ways. Women knew what they were getting when they got involved with him – a fantastic fuck and a quick goodbye. It was better that way. Safer for him and anyone he got involved with. Some women thought they could change him, that all he needed was a good woman. They were wrong. He’d had a good woman – Michelle – and no one could replace her.
And that was exactly how Alex operated – until Katherine. He didn’t know what it was about her that was different. He just knew that she was unlike all the others. For the first time since Michelle, he considered a real relationship. At first, Alex thought it was just a passing fancy and nothing more. But the more time he spent with Katherine the more he knew he felt something for her.
His feelings for Katherine scared him. Developing feelings for someone was not something Alex had experienced since Michelle. And his past was something he didn’t know how to explain. Or even if he needed to. It had been seven years. He had long since quit. He knew that his past could still find its way into his present. But, so far, it had not. Alex planned to keep it that way.
Chapter 12
I awake in Alex’s bed, blinking the sleep out of my eyes. Stretching, I feel the softness of the cotton sheets against my skin. I sit up, pushing the duvet to the side. No sign of Alex. Wrapping the sheet around me, I walk quietly to the door. Slowly, I crack the door open an inch and peek outside. Alex is in the kitchen, opening the refrigerator. I hear the sizzle of bacon and eggs, the aroma of fresh brewed coffee.
I close the door quietly and turn back, standing in the middle of the room, feeling a little awkward. I see a thick, plush white robe lying on a chair. Alex must have left it there for me. Grateful for the robe, I wrap it around me, pulling it tight, and walk towards the kitchen.
“Good morning, Katherine,” Alex says, orange juice carton in hand. He puts the juice down and embraces me, his strong arms wrapping around me.
“Good morning to you,” I murmur softly. He kisses me, a quick kiss on the lips, and takes a step back, looking me up and down.
“You look so sexy in the morning,” Alex says, his voice smooth as silk.
“Thanks, so do you,” I say, laughing. And he does. He’s wearing a white tee-shirt that outlines his muscular chest and a pair of navy blue pajama bottoms.
“I’m cooking breakfast – bacon, eggs, toast. I can make something else for you if you’d like, or order something.”
“This is perfect, thank you. It smells delicious,” I say, walking over to the stove, inspecting the food. “I didn’t know you liked to cook.”
“I don’t cook that often, I don’t really have the time. But when I do, I enjoy it. Especially when I have someone to cook for.” He places his hand on my lower back, trailing down over my ass.