She nodded with a love and trust in her eyes I would have bled for as she looked at him. “Okay.”
He backed off and nodded to the others for them to back off too. He led the forces that protected her, I guess, because they all turned to leave.
Isabel squeezed my bicep again, reminding me that she’d be another problem of mine soon enough. “So, I guess I should leave with you both.” Her voice was resigned like it was the only option. “I’m fine with a threesome but it won’t be the best PR.”
Aubrey had moved close enough to hear Isabel’s words and her skin paled to a porcelain white as she blurted, “I think I’m going to be sick.”
I swore and shook Isabel off while wrapping my arm around Aubrey. She curled into me, fitting right where she belonged. I started weaving through the crowd and waved Isabel off to go home.
She knew the drill and probably wouldn’t be irritated other than with the fact that she would have to deal with the media questions regarding me coming with her and leaving with another woman. My driver pulled up at the side of the club just in time for Aubrey to slump so far into me that I didn’t think she’d be able to walk.
I scooped her up and carried her the last ten steps to the SUV. No paparazzi caught us, thanks to my driver’s maneuvering, and we endured a half silent drive while he made his way back to my penthouse.
Out of the darkness, her little voice floated over to me, “He used to drink so much, Jax.”
I tensed, knowing exactly who she was talking about.
“How?” Her question shot out angrily. “How could anyone drown in it so much and know they had everything? She gave him every single thing. And for what?”
Tears streamed down her face as she looked at the city lights and they danced over her features, accentuating each slant and curve I had memorized.
I put my hand on her thigh and rubbed circles, soothing her the only way I knew how. She sighed like it was enough for me to just touch her, hold her, be with her.
“I thought she ran back into the fire for him, you know? All this time I didn’t realize he was her saving grace." Her whispers didn’t make sense. I didn’t ask. She’d drank too much and was haunted by a day that had changed us all.
So haunted and drunk that, just as we pulled up to my building, she opened her door and vomited most of the alcohol she’d consumed into the street.