We all took our places and ate dinner with Alexander’s father and his new family.
I couldn’t help but notice the long, intentionally threatening looks he threw my way, though. I tried to keep my eyes away from him, but every time I strayed across his face, he let me know what I meant to him.
I was just a body. A piece of meat for him to devour and leave enough for his son to pick at the scraps.
He didn’t know it yet, but he wasn’t going to like what he found the next time he tried to taste my offerings. I was going to give him the teeth when he expected the neck, and I couldn’t wait to see him bleed.
* * *
“That was so fucking awkward,”Alexander said as we watched his father and new family take off in the helicopter, we’d just used earlier that day. Thankfully, he hadn’t decided to spend the night at the mansion. I didn’t know if I could have slept with him under the same roof. It was bad enough that he disappeared somewhere into the depths of the house, his personal space, he called it, for a few hours. I didn’t like knowing he was in the house without knowing exactly where he was. I was so jumpy, and I felt like he could leap out from around any corner at any time.
Luckily, he didn’t. He left us alone with his new family at that time, and I managed to make excruciatingly dull small talk with his wife while her boys played games. Thank god for Harlow, who made it tolerable with her funny faces and eye-rolling behind the new wife’s back. Although I almost lost it a couple of times when she made a particularly hilarious one.
“That’s the understatement of the year,” I said through gritted teeth. “What’s wrong with his wife? She seemed like she was drifting in and out of consciousness at dinner.”
“They always have to stay drugged to the max in order to tolerate his presence,” Alexander replied. “My own mother was like that, too. She was zoned out my entire childhood.”
“What happened to her?” I asked, and the weight on my chest began to lift as their helicopter took off and sailed over the trees, leaving a blast of wind in its wake.
“She had an accident,” Alexander replied, and his voice choked in his throat.
“It was a car accident, much like yours,” Rome added. “We were already in a boarding school for the season when we got the news. Alexander was a mess, but his father wouldn’t allow him to return.”
“It was hell,” Alexander said. “But I survived. It made me stronger.”
“Did you get to come home for the funeral?” I asked. I slipped my arm around his waist, comforting him. His muscles rippled under his shirt, and I secretly marveled at how perfectly sculpted his body was. Even when he was opening up about his childhood, I was thinking lecherous thoughts. There was something deeply wrong with me, but I liked it.
“No, there was none,” he said. “My father opted to have her cremated and her ashes spread on the mountain where they got married. At the resort.”
It felt off to me. There was something unsettling about the way Mr. Remington denied his son the ritual of grief. Every time I turned around, there was another layer of something horrible. He was a terrible human being in any way possible.
“Aren’t you two supposed to like, talk, or something?” Harlow asked suddenly. “Can you get it over with before you ruin the entire break with your moody problems?”
“Yeah, it’s fucking annoying watching Alexander stare at you like he wants to fuck you and then remember that he’s supposed to hate you because of me,” Luke said. He plucked at the collars on his polo shirt and straightened his shoulders. “Besides, Rome owes me a rematch at the pool table. I believe there are still a hundred bucks on the line.”
“Fucking right,” Rome said, rolling his head and cracking his neck like he was a star athlete. “You cheated last time. I don’t know how, but you did.”
“Oh yes, that’s from last year!” Harlow exclaimed. She was back to wearing her goth clothing since we were on break. She had on tall black-and-white striped socks and a frilly black dress with a ripped denim jacket overtop. I admired her style and her ability to seamlessly transform from one space to the next. I was still wearing a boring pencil skirt and a white blouse from school earlier. I looked more like an ancient teacher than a young woman with free rein of a sprawling estate and three hot men to play with. “I remember Luke kicked your ass, then you beat him, and he kicked your ass again. I’ll referee this one!”
The three of them headed off towards the house, leaving Alexander and me standing on the patio nearest to the wide door off the rec room. When we didn’t move to follow, Harlow turned around and made a shooing motion toward us.
“Seriously, go talk, you two! Work out whatever this is, and come get drunk with us when you’re ready to be normal again!”
She turned and trotted to catch up with the guys, and I said, “She’s right. We need to hash this out here and now. No more defecting it by telling me we’ll talk about it later.”
“Fine,” Alexander growled and grabbed my hand. “We’ll go upstairs.”
He had an iron grip on me, and I couldn’t get away even if I struggled, if I wanted to. He didn’t exactly drag me, but he wasn’t being careful of me, either.
It pissed me off, so by the time we reached the top of the stairs, I was fuming. And when we breezed into his room, I was fiery hot with rage at being treated like a stupid child.
When he shut the door, I took advantage of his distraction and twisted my wrist. I yanked it hard and got away. He reached for me again, but I stepped back and slapped his hand away from me.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I demanded. “You’re being ridiculous!”
“You fucking cheated on me,” he hissed and stood stiffly with his fists clenched at his sides. His jaw flared from where the muscle bulged as he gritted his teeth over and over again. “And with him. A Lower who has given me nothing but attitude since day one. I was fine when you were messing around with my permission. I thought it was cute, sexy even. I liked it. But now to find out you’ve been doing it all along.”
“I wasn’t, though!” I yelled, unable to contain myself. “I mean, it wasn’t me. It was her, the old me! She was sneaky and mean, from what I understand. She was like Victoria, and I’m not like that anymore. You have to forgive me!”