Without Exception (The Without Series Book 1)

by K E Osborn

  “Bullshit! How can I believe anything you say, Alex! You’ve been scoping my shop for the last two years getting all the inside info, knowing when to get me at my weakest, so I’d fold under the pressure. I can’t believe you! I trusted you with my family—”

  “Tomi—”

  “Fuck you, Xander! How dare you come into my life, turn it upside down like this, when all along you had an ulterior motive. I told you what that studio meant to me, and still, you’re the one taking it from me.”

  He steps forward, his hands out trying to placate me. “That’s why I brought you here, Tomi. I need to tell you—”

  “Save your lies, Alex.” I spit his name out like some sort of nasty-tasting vegetable. “I don’t want to hear anything from you. You lied to me, Xander. Point blank. To my face. About your name, and I’m the idiot who believed you. But more than that, you took the place that meant everything to Levi and me.” I point to him then back at myself. “This… us… we’re done. And if I ever see you again, I’m calling the police.” My chest squeezes. “Stay the hell out of my life. Stay away from Levi, and if I ever, ever hear from you again…” I narrow my eyes. “So help me, God…” I can’t go on, my entire body begs me to stay, but my head’s made its mind up.

  I’m too fucking furious even to say any more words right now.

  He betrayed me, in the worst possible way. So I pick up my shoes and turn to head toward the elevator, but Xander grabs hold of my elbow spinning me to face him. There’s genuine fear evident in his eyes.

  I grunt, having him touching me sends a wave of revulsion through me so quickly I bring my fist back and slam it fair and square into his nose. Not too hard, but enough so that he gets the message. My knuckles ache, but it’s nothing compared to the ache in my chest as he lets out an “oomph.” He drops my arm, grabbing for his face.

  “I told you if I ever met Alex Scott, I’d punch him… I’m a woman of my damn word. Shame I can’t trust anything you’ve ever said to me.”

  He looks deep into my watery eyes, then slowly takes a step back letting me step inside the elevator. I push the call button frantically as I stare back at Xander, finally seeing the face of the asshole who destroyed my everything. Our eyes are locked, but nothing’s being said. My heart’s undeniably breaking into pieces as I look at him.

  At Xander.

  The man I was definitely falling for, but now I can only see the man I despise.

  What on earth would drive him to do such a heinous thing?

  I have so many questions, but right now, I simply need to get the hell out of here.

  “Tomi, don’t leave like this,” he begs.

  My lip curls. “You told me you didn’t want to hurt me. Well…” I exhale, “… epic fail, you bastard.” The doors slowly begin to close.

  Xander goes to make a move, but I stand taller letting him know I’m more than done.

  I’m hurt.

  I’m devastated.

  But more than that, I am stunned.

  His eyes convey so much, but I can’t take that in. I’m in so much pain, and right now, I need to let my anger be the main source that drives me. My heart’s racing so damn fast as the elevator doors slowly close, but our eyes stay locked.

  He watches me as the last tiny sliver of light disappears—like he desperately wants to stop me, like there’s so much more he wants to say, but he just doesn’t know how to right now.

  And one thing’s for sure, I wouldn’t let him anyway, and maybe he knows that too.

  My view now blocked of him, the elevator starts to descend, and I can’t help it as the emotion washes over me like a massive tsunami. Crashing over me harder and faster than I thought possible.

  I fall into the side of the elevator, bursting into tears. Hot, salty water burns my face as it slides down my cheeks reminding me of my fury, but I can’t stop my emotions.

  I’m so confused.

  I’ve fallen for him—but he was only using me.

  I was played for a fool, and I let him.

  I’m such an idiot.

  The elevator opens, and I stumble out, my bare feet hitting the cool concrete as I sob uncontrollably to the car. I probably shouldn’t drive like this, but I have to get away from here.

  I hop inside, start the car, then pull out with tires squealing and away from Alex Scott’s penthouse apartment building as fast as fucking possible.

  I can’t believe he brought me here.

  Asshole.

  I start driving, but I can’t go back to Levi like this. Him seeing me upset will make him upset. So I drive. I don’t know where the hell I’m going, I can barely even see through my tears, but I’m driving.

  Eventually, I pull to a stop.

  Wiping my face, I take a deep breath and look at where I am. I slide out of my car, walking up the path to the brownstone. I know it’s late, but I’m hoping she’ll be awake.

  I gently rap on the door, that way if she’s in bed asleep, it won’t wake her. A few seconds later, the door swings open, and Jana stands there holding a baseball bat, with a green mud mask on her face, wearing a unicorn onesie. I can’t help but let out a stifled laugh. It’s just what I need right now.

  She drops the bat to her side taking one look at me jutting out her hip. “I thought you were holding it together too well at the shop tonight. C’mon, let’s get drunk!” she offers without hesitation.

  I rush forward taking her into a tight embrace.

  She softens, hugging me back, and exhales. “This isn’t about the shop, is it?” she asks.

  I shake my head slowly against her shoulder.

  She mumbles under her breath, “What did Xander do? No more tattoos, so no more nookie?” she teases.

  The anger ignites inside of me at hearing his damn name. My tears dry up instantly as I pull back from her with pure hatred in my eyes.

  She raises her brows with a grimace. “Okay, I think you need to come in. With that kind of death ray in your eyes, it must be bad.”

  I grunt. “You have no idea.”

  She grits her teeth, pulling me inside, and we head straight for her tiny living room. Both of us plonk onto her bright purple sofa where potato chip packets litter the floor, empty soda cans are spread all over the coffee table. It’s the total opposite of Xander’s place. Jana’s apartment is lived in, it feels like a home, maybe one a teenager lives in but a home nonetheless.

  Alex’s apartment’s barren, clinical, full of assholery—just like him.

  It’s so easy to distinguish between the nice people and the dicks of the world.

  Jana turns me as we sit facing each other cross-legged on her sofa. It’s hard to take her seriously with that shit on her face, but it’s her, so I deal with it.

  “So tell me, what did lover boy do?”

  I scoff. “Not my lover.”

  She raises her brow. “Tomi…” she pauses, “… you and Xander were getting close. Talk to me.”

  My stomach rolls just thinking about it. Bile rises in my throat as I tense all over. “Xander’s full of shit. His real name is Alexander…” Jana tenses a little, tilting her head for me to continue, “… Alex… Xander Scott.”

  She jolts back, so much so that she almost falls off the sofa. “Fuck off!”

  I clench my hands into tight fists fearing I might punch the nearest thing in my anger again, which wouldn’t be a good idea because that happens to be Jana.

  “You’ve got to be shitting me?”

  Shaking my head and shrug. “I shit you not.”

  “Holy crap on a stick, now I see why you’re like…” she waves her hand around, “… this. That’s all kinds of messed up.”

  “Tell me about it,” I murmur.

  She sits up taller, slapping her thighs like she’s had the best idea. “Right, we’ll start a ‘We Hate Alex Scott’ Facebook page!”

  I can’t help but laugh at her enthusiasm. She’ll do it, too. “I’m sure it would go against every rule Facebook has regarding their anti-bullying p
olicies.”

  Jana’s cheeriness falters as she thinks that over. “Yeah, probably… okay, then instead, for tonight, we get hammered.” She stands up walking to the cupboard in her living room, pulling out the vodka and two shot glasses.

  I grimace as she brings them over and starts to pour. I feel miserable, I may as well drown in my misery.

  I’m going to miss Xander. The guy who’s obviously a fake but who was the best boyfriend—if that’s what he even was—that I ever had in my life.

  “Slauncha, my dear,” Jana offers, handing me my shot of vodka.

  I raise it up to her, clinking my glass to hers.

  Time to down some shots and get totally messy.

  Xander!

  Xander who?

  ALEX

  Well, I officially feel like shit.

  The heat of the water beats on my back as I stand in the shower trying to contemplate how this went so incredibly wrong. I knew telling Tomi would be rough, I knew she’d react, but what I didn’t count on was her finding out before I had a chance to break it to her in the right way. She wasn’t meant to find out like that. I was supposed to explain things. Bringing her here tonight was stupid, it was a split decision, and now it’s cost me everything. I never even thought about the certificates on the wall or the file I was working on, which was left on the coffee table and was full of details regarding her new shop. How I’m designing it for her. How I’m going to pay for the setup and the rent. How she and Levi are going to be okay. She wasn’t meant to look at it. If she only scanned the first page, then she would have seen my business card and possibly the notes about the demolition on Hope & Faith Ink. It would have been enough to freak her out.

  The hurt in her eyes was clear, but the anger, the rage, seeped from every pore. I wanted to go after her, to stop her from leaving, to try and explain everything, but I knew attempting to force the issue then and there would only push her even further away. Tomi’s stubborn. Actually, more than a little stubborn. In that moment, she wouldn’t hear anything I had to say.

  I have to give her time to cool down as much as this kills me.

  But mark my words, I will try to tell her about the new studio and explain everything the way it should have been done. It was never meant to happen this way.

  The news hit her harder than it was supposed to because of the way she found out.

  I was going to break it to her gently.

  The right way.

  What a total fuck up!

  What the hell was I thinking to bring her here? There’s too much of me, Alex Scott, in this damn penthouse. Leaving her alone was a huge mistake and an even bigger regret.

  Turning off the faucet, I step out of the shower, my skin bright red from the heat of the water. I wrap the towel around my waist as I rub my hand along the mirror removing the fog. A hazy reflection of myself appears in the mirror, and I detest the man I see before me.

  I lied to her.

  All this time, I thought I was protecting her, but really I was only protecting myself.

  “You are an asshole, Alex Scott,” I mumble at my reflection as I look myself dead in the eyes.

  I believe what I’m saying as I let the words sink in. My chest squeezes thinking of the pain Tomi must be feeling right now. I can’t even imagine what she’s going through.

  Drying myself off, I then walk into my bedroom. I glance around the huge, luxurious space, curling up my lip. Tomi’s right, this isn’t me. I only live here in this opulence because my father says it’s what’s expected for the second-in-charge of our firm. I’d much rather have a suburban home which looks lived-in than this lavish apartment any day.

  Hell, even I worry I’ll break the shit in here sometimes.

  Don’t get me wrong, I love my job, I just want more freedom to do what I want with it and with my life. I don’t need all this fancy shit. It’s not who I am.

  I want to share a life with Tomi. I want to share a home with Tomi and Levi. I want to come home from work knowing our home is a mess. But before all that I wanted her here, tonight, in my bed for the first time. Not because of this place, but because then she would know me as Alex, and we could have worked through it. I wanted her to know me—all of me. For me to have no more secrets. But it was all a massive failure.

  My father will be so happy.

  If it all falls through, he’ll have a shop he can open, and he won’t have me spending time making Hope & Faith Ink version 2.0 perfect for Tomi.

  Dragging my feet over to the bed, I climb in. My sheets feel like fucking heaven on my hot flesh. But it’s so empty without Tomi by my side. I sink into my giant bed made for two and flick off the sidelight. The room descends into darkness as the view of the San Francisco night sky as it makes its way through the floor-to-ceiling windows. The stars twinkle, shining like there’s not a problem in the world. The only problem is that there is—I’m here alone, and Tomi is out there, hurt and angry.

  Tonight’s a disaster. But tomorrow?

  Tomorrow, I’m going to make it right.

  I slept like absolute crap, can’t say as I’m surprised. All I could think about was messaging Tomi. But I have to do this right and in measured steps. I need her to know I’m not letting her go without a fight, a fight I intend to win.

  I know she’ll be back at the shop packing up stock, so I have to head down there to talk to her now that she’s had some time to cool off and to think things over. I’m still not entirely sure how much she knows. Does she know I’m building her a new shop? Or does she only know who I am? But either way, I need to put it out on the table so she knows the whole story about me, my firm, her shop, everything.

  I know she said she’d call the police if I came near her, but I have to try this, anyway. The risk is worth it.

  The thing is, my father needs some signatures from the other tenants while I’m down this way, so when I see Tomi, it’ll be the first time she’s seen me in a suit. The first time she’s seeing me as Alex.

  Henry pulls the car to a stop in front of Hope & Faith Ink. The closed sign is still turned around, but I can see her and Jana working inside. Nerves filter through me, my stomach twisting in on itself as I straighten out my tie and step out of the car. “Thanks, Henry, I’ll let you know when I’m ready.”

  “Sure thing, sir,” he replies driving off to find a park somewhere.

  I take a breath, looking inside the studio from the sidewalk. Tomi looks amazing even if I can tell from here she’s lacking energy. Her hair’s up in her usual ponytail with that red bandana wrapped around her head, coupled with tight jeans and a flannel top as always. She has a style, and she looks utterly perfect. Today though, she’s wearing ballet flats instead of heels. She’s going for comfort instead of glamor, but she’s still flawless in my eyes.

  I make my way to the door, my palms are sweaty as I reach for the handle and turn it. As I step inside, Tomi and Jana spin to look at me. Tomi’s face is pale, but the redness under her eyes doesn’t get past me and shows me just how tired and hurt she actually is.

  Her eyes widen while she takes in the sight of me in a suit for the first time. Her eyes run me over as they narrow, and her lip turns up in obvious disapproval. “So, this is the real you?”

  Nodding, I walk in further, picking up a broom to start sweeping the floor. “I’m still me, Tomi.”

  Jana snorts but keeps pulling the pictures off the walls.

  Tomi keeps working on dismantling the workstations as I sweep. “Just you have a different name, wear different clothes, and are as disguised as the devil himself. Yeah… still you,” she snaps.

  I can’t help the happiness forming on my lips. “There’s my sassy girl—”

  “I’m not your girl.”

  I stop sweeping and place the broom carefully against the reception desk. “I’m sorry, Tomi. I know it came as a shock—”

  “A. Shock?” She spins to face me, her cheeks bright red. “Shock? No. Actually, I don’t think the word shock covers it, Alex.”


  “Stop saying my name like that, Tomi, I’m Xander to you. I’m no different—”

  “Just stop! I told you if I saw you again, I’d call the police… I meant it, Alex.”

  I grit my teeth walking up to her.

  She stands tall puffing out her chest like you see men do just before they’re about to get into a fight. My girl is one tough woman. I reach into my jacket pocket and pull out a piece of paper, making her eyes narrow on me. “Here. Just, read this.”

  She rolls her eyes. “Why the hell should I?”

  I exhale. “If our time together meant anything to you, Tomi, please… just read it.”

  She snaps the paper from my hand then turns away from me, opening it to read it over. I inhale as I glance at Jana to see her watching us carefully.

  Tomi’s head snaps back to face me, a hard look on her face.

  I can’t read her.

  Is she happy?

  Is she angry?

  Shit! I can’t tell.

  “Is this supposed to be some sort of buy-off?”

  My head snaps back. “What?”

  She scrunches the paper in her hand and throws it at me. “You think you can take this place away from me, this place that means every-fucking-thing and replace it with a new one. And I’m supposed to believe that you, you… of all the lying, deceptive, manipulative, scum bags in the world, are going to pay my rent?”

  Jana’s eyes light up, just like I hoped Tomi’s would, but, of course, Tomi’s as stubborn as they come.

  Of course, she’s going to fight me on this.

  “Yes. The answer is yes, Tomi. Because I’ve been coming here as a customer for two years, and because of that, I know you. I know the workers, I know what this place means to all of them, to you, to Levi…” I take a step closer to her as she tilts her head like something clicks in her mind.

  “And just how exactly did you get it past us that you’re Alex Scott? When you came in the first time, you would’ve had to show us your ID to get a tattoo. Jana would have seen your name?”