by Measha Stone
"Impulsive imp!" Kendrick growled.
"She didn't tell you?" Jessica laughed.
"Of course not. I would have said no."
"It's for a good cause." Royce chuckled.
"I'd rather just write a check than have her paraded up there. Dammit, that's why she put on that corset dress. I should have fucking known."
"Maybe you shouldn't buy her. You know, teach her a lesson," Jessica teased. Royce gave a loud laugh at the idea, and Alyssa would have joined him had she not just noticed Alex step off the elevator.
"Of course I'm going to buy her. And then I'm going teach her a lesson." The heat was gone from his voice, and although they could tell he was irritated with Kelly's secret plan to be auctioned off to him, he also found the idea extremely enticing.
Alyssa watched Alex find them in the crowd. His tense expression stretched until it looked painful. He paused in his step as he realized with whom she was standing, and took a few deep breaths before his eyes met hers. She tried to show him with her eyes that she hadn't any idea his friends would be there, but the anger she saw in his gaze made her own jaw tighten. When he started walking toward them again, his expression morphed into a casual state.
"Alex!" Jessica smiled but made no move to greet him otherwise. He may have relaxed his jaw but his body gave off the vibe of annoyance well enough to let the three of his friends know he wasn't pleased.
"What are you all doing here?" He grinned, but the action looked forced. Alyssa tried to lay her hand on his arm, but he swiftly took a step to the side.
Kendrick must have noticed the slight. "Kelly was supposed to warn you. I'm sorry, man." He glanced between Alyssa and Alex. "She didn't tell either of you, so we are completely shocking you. I know."
"Kelly's here?" Alex looked around.
"She's going on the auction block in a few minutes," Jessica said lightly. "I wish she'd warned Alyssa. I was hoping this wouldn't be too awkward. I mean, Kendrick knew about this place. Royce knew about Kendrick…"
"It's fine." Alex's lips were pursed together. "I'm running late and have a lot to do for the auction." He turned to Alyssa. "Give me ten minutes then meet me in my office." He said with such a negative force she felt a wave of nausea hit her. Without another word, he walked past all of them and headed for his office. Alyssa felt the door shut, and a tremor ran down her spine.
"Alyssa, I can talk…"
"No, no, it's okay. He's just surprised I bet." Alyssa tried to give a reassuring smile but by the look of worry in their eyes she knew she'd fallen short. "It's okay. Really. It had to happen eventually. He can't keep up with two careers. Maybe now he'll pick one." She searched for the positive, a new skill she'd acquired under his guidance. One that she was beginning to worry would only result with her having her heart broken.
"I've never seen him so pissed," Jessica whispered as the lights on the makeshift stage lit up, turning their focus to Bradley as he took the stage to begin the first round of the auction.
"I better go." Alyssa gave another reassuring grin before heading to Alex's office. She felt their eyes burning her skin from behind as she walked tenuously toward his closed door. Everything that had her worrying over the last few days was at a boiling point. He would have to explain what his problem was, and if he was dumping her, he'd better be quick about it.
Deciding to face her future with a sturdy chin and strong back she turned the handle of the door. If only her legs would cooperate with her plan.
Chapter Thirty-two
Alex stared into the garbage pail in his bathroom with despair. Finding his friends standing in the middle of the lounge was the last thing he expected to find when he arrived at the club. He'd noticed the guilty look on Alyssa's face before she turned to him with pleading eyes. It was obvious that she'd let them in on his secret. After he'd explained over and over again why he wanted to wait.
He'd spent the last twenty-four hours trying to get the idiotic ideas that Stephen planted in his brain out. She had never shown any signs of wanting him for anything other than himself. Hell, she hadn't even wanted that at the beginning. But, he'd slowly started piecing together the greater picture. Her apartment was crap; he'd taken her in. She protested, but never really fought to find her own place after she moved in. She brushed off the idea of college, yet he'd found several applications in the apartment and she had told him she was considering going to school after his father had gone on another lecture about her potential. When Alex had offered to help pay for school, she'd pushed off the discussion for later, but never refused the offer.
And now, as he stared down into the wastebasket at the pregnancy test glaring up at him the last piece slid into place. With shaking hands, he reached down to pick up the stick. A wave of relief flooded him at the negative result, but was mingled with a sense of disappointment as well. He shook his head at the notion. How could he possibly think of children with Alyssa? She'd never known a real family, so how could she even fit into a situation like that? And would it only be so that she'd be provided for, so that she wouldn't have to live in shitty apartments and wait tables for the rest of her life?
The sound of his office door shutting drew his attention to his office. Keeping the pregnancy test in hand he marched into the room where Alyssa stood at his desk with a solemn look on her face. Her eyes caught a glimpse of the test he was holding and she began to speak, but he threw his hand up in the air to ward off her words.
"I thought you said you were on birth control."
She winced at the harshness of his tone. "I am."
"I've never seen you take the pill." He accused. "And now I find this in my bathroom." He threw the test down into the garbage beside his desk.
"Alex, what's going on? Why have you been so angry with me?"
He dragged his hand through his hair and stared at her from a safe distance. If he reached for her, touched her, he was sure his resolve would crumble. "I've just been taking stock of a few things." He stated. "Were you trying to get pregnant this whole time?"
"What? No, I haven't."
"You've made quite the change over the last week." He leaned against his desk. "What happened to wanting your complete independence?"
Her eyes narrowed and the tension in her shoulders increased.
"Don't want your own place anymore? Don't want to keep your second job to pay your way?"
Her hands balled at her sides.
"I thought you'd be happy," she began, her voice tight as she fought back the emotions bubbling inside her. "I was trying, really trying and I thought we were happy-"
"Of course we were. You gave what you could to get what you needed. Maybe you're not as different from your mom as you thought." His words flew out of his mouth before he could stop them. She stepped back as if he'd slapped her, her eyes widened, and the tears she'd been fighting filled her eyes.
"I trusted you," she whispered. "I thought I could trust you."
"I thought the same thing. I guess we've both learned a lesson here." His chest tightened at the sight of her unshed tears glistening in her eyes. It didn't feel right.
"Yes. I suppose so." Her words were strangled, but her chin thrust upward. She shook her head, as if to shake away thoughts she didn't want and turned stalking to the door.
Even if he wanted to stop her, he couldn't. His body rejected every thought of reaching out to her. Feet planted solidly on the floor, his brow furrowed at her stiffened spine. He was losing her, why was he losing her?
She flung open the door and without another word she slammed it behind her retreating body. He let out a ragged breath and slumped against the desk. What had he done?
Alyssa stood outside the office door trying to collect herself enough to make her way back through the crowd and to the elevators. She didn't think she could get to the break room without someone seeing the state she was in, and all she wanted to do was to get as far away from him as possible. She decided her heart would simply have to keep it together until she managed to get
somewhere private to breakdown.
The people in the lounge area were mingling and chatting while waiting for the second round of slaves to be brought out. Alyssa managed to squeeze through the crowd and head toward the exit, but not without running into Jessica and Kelly.
"Alyssa?" Jessica grabbed hold of her arm as she tried to rush past. Her concerned voice mirrored the look in her eyes. "Oh no. What happened?" she asked, glancing behind her toward Alex's closed door.
"Did he yell at you?" Kelly took up the space beside Jessica looking near angry at the thought.
"No." Alyssa shook her head. She needed to get out of there before she couldn't hold back the sobs anymore. "I have to go. I have to get away from here." She tugged her arm free of Jessica's grasp. The two women exchanged glances.
"Okay, hon." Kelly soothed her. "Kendrick and I will take you home."
Jessica nodded her agreement to Kelly then pulled Alyssa into a warm hug. It was too much. Alyssa felt the first tear slide down her cheek. "I'll be by later. We'll open a bottle of his most expensive wine."
"I'm not going back there. I have to—" Alyssa broke off her sentence as a sob threatened to escape. She swallowed. "I need to leave."
"Okay. Okay." Jessica released her and looked to Kelly.
"I'll call you in a bit."
"C'mon ladies." Kendrick placed a large hand on both of their backs to lead them toward the elevator. His expression told Alyssa that he was ready to throttle someone.
"I don't want to put you out." She quickly said, sure that he was upset at having his play night interrupted.
"You aren't, hon." Kelly assured her. "That's not his pissed face, that's his someone-hurt-one-of-my-girls-and-I'm-going-to-ram-my-fist-into-his-face face."
Alyssa managed a tiny smile at her wording and allowed him to continue leading them to the exit. Brandon gave her a concerned look as the doors to the elevator opened, but he made no comment nor made any attempt to stop her. The three moved into the car, Kendrick standing guard at the doors while the girls stood protected behind him.
"What the hell?" He gasped as the elevator dinged. "Is that Erin on the auction block?" Their view was cut off by the elevator doors sliding closed.
Chapter Thirty-three
Alyssa woke up to the sunshine blinding her. She wasn't sure when she'd fallen asleep. It hadn't seemed like she'd ever be able to calm herself enough to rest. Her pillow was still damp from her uncontrollable tears and she could feel the puffiness of her eyes. She hated crying.
Damn him.
She'd gone over everything he said: every word, every syllable, every twitch of his cheeks as he said them. Then she'd racked her brain with memories of the past week, trying to find the moment where she fucked it all up. The second that she angered him. She couldn't find anything.
Sitting up in bed, Kelly's bed, she rubbed her eyes with the heel of her hands. She couldn't stay with Kelly and Kendrick. She needed to figure out her plan and quick. Firstly, she needed to call the diner and see about getting some of her shifts back. The club was out. After just taking off during her shift she couldn't imagine she'd still have a job—and Alex was there. He owned the damn place!
The exhaustion swept over her again, and she gently lay back on the pillows. How had she let things get so out of hand? She'd never thought of herself as a 24/7 type of girl. Submissive or otherwise, why had she thought it would work with Alex? He liked the challenge she presented, not her. Once she'd started warming up to him, finding her way into submission, he'd thrown her away. She wasn't exciting for him, or he didn't find any thrill in the chase anymore. Whatever the problem was, it was over. He was gone, she couldn't go back to him, she couldn't talk to him, or look at him.
Her cell rang out his ringtone, and she groaned at the idea of hearing his voice. She picked up the phone and rejected the call, noticing that it was well past noon. There were five text messages from him, she swiped them away. No need to see anything he had to say. He'd said everything pretty clearly the night before.
He compared her to her mother. He actually thought she'd tried to get pregnant in order to latch on to him and his money. She'd never wanted his money. Never had she asked for his help, or his charity. But everything was charity. The apartment, the food, the job, probably the sex too. He wasn't into her; he was just using her as fuck buddy until he was done.
A new shame consumed her. She was as bad as her mother. Closing her eyes, she felt her muscles twist into a new tension, the kind that would take more than a hot bath to relax. A knock on the door interrupted her.
"Alyssa?" Kelly peeked her head through the door. "You're up, good." She gave a warm smile before pushing the door open all the way and walking into the room carrying a cup of coffee and a small plate of toast. "I thought you might want some coffee. I tried to sneak a little wine in but Kendrick took it from me." She made a face before placing the items on the nightstand.
"I don't blame him." Alyssa sounded pitiful even to herself.
"Don't start that." Kelly warned. "Anything we have is yours. You don't have to even ask. He's just such a prude when it comes to early drinking."
"Thank you, Kelly." Alyssa sat up again, leaning on the headboard.
"Now, I've gotten two calls from Alex so far. He's determined to see you." Kelly plopped down on the bed facing Alyssa. "I told him to fuck off." She giggled.
"Thank you. I don't want to see him. I can't." Alyssa shook her head. "I need to shower, and I need to get a hold of my old landlord. If I’m lucky he’ll have something available in the building. It wasn’t the Ritz, but it was affordable."
"I thought Alex said that place was a dump," Kendrick said from the doorway.
Alyssa shook her head again. "It was fine." She tried to assure him, but he didn't look convinced.
"I'm pretty sure he told me that the elevator was hanging by a literal thread," he continued.
"Don't pester her!" Kelly tried to chastise him, but ended up muttering an apology herself when he glared down at her. She turned to Alyssa. "You aren't going anywhere. You'll stay here until you figure something out or until Alex apologizes enough for you to take him back."
"I can't go back to him. He…" Alyssa took a long breath. "He doesn't want me."
"Then why's he blowing up everyone's phone?" Kendrick asked. "Hon, I'm sure he fucked up. I could tell the moment you stepped out of his office he'd done something awful, but the guy who's been texting us and calling us isn't a guy who doesn't want you."
"That's true. Jessica called a little while ago and said he's called her three times this morning. She wouldn't tell him where you went last night, only that we drove you. I'm surprised he hasn't shown up here."
"I told him to stay away." Kendrick informed them with a grin. "I told him when you were ready to hear him grovel, you'd call him."
Kelly turned away from him to Alyssa. "See, we have our own bodyguard. Now, eat up, take a shower, and we'll figure out what to do next. I'm thinking we meet up with Jess for lunch. I've been trying to get a hold of Erin all morning, but she won't answer her cell and Jonathan won't answer either. Something's going on, Kendrick swears he saw her last night being auctioned off as we left. Jessica said she ran into Alex's office to give him a piece of her mind right after we left, so she didn't see. I'm not sure if I should be worried or excited!"
"I don't get it." Alyssa said in amazement looking from Kelly to Kendrick. "I haven't known you guys all that long. You've known Alex for years, why would you help me like this?"
"Because." Kelly shrugged. "You're family. Alex is family and so are you. We watch out for each other, even when one of us is being a complete asshole and deserves to be punched in the dick."
"Kelly." Kendrick's chuckle served as warning enough to bring the smile back to Kelly's face and wipe away the vengeance lurking there.
"Bottom line. Everything is going to work out. I know it." Kelly stood from the bed. "Now eat, then shower. I'll call Jess and let her know where to meet us for lunch."
Without waiting for a response from Alyssa she scooted Kendrick out of the doorway and left her to herself.
Chapter Thirty-four
The week from hell showed no signs of ending as Alex sat at his kitchen table on Thursday night. He'd tried everything he could to get to Alyssa. He'd even pounded on Kendrick's door demanding to be let in. Kendrick had merely opened the door and shook his head at him.
"Let me see her, dammit."
"No way. She's not ready to see you and Kelly is pretty close to scratching your eyes out, too." Kendrick had stepped out into the hall, closing the door behind him.
"I have to see her, to make sure she's okay, to tell her how wrong I was." Alex had pleaded, but Kendrick wouldn't budge.
"Normally, I'd say go for it. Throw her over your shoulder and carry her away, but I saw her face last week, man. Whatever you said, you crushed her. She's not ready to face you, and you aren't getting near her until she is." Kendrick hadn't given the appearance of an angry man getting in his way, but rather gave the impression of a concerned friend.
"Fine. But you do what you have to do to get her to answer her fucking phone." Alex hadn't been able to hide his irritation. "I have to tell her how sorry I am; how wrong I was."
"I'll relay that message. Maybe that will help."
Alex laid low after that attempt, only sending a few texts a day and hoping she was at least reading them. Jessica had stopped over to pack up a bag for Alyssa. She had purposely only taken a few changes of clothing. Alex was grateful for that. Even if Jessica was still glaring at him.
He sat now at his table with a book that made little sense to him. Jessica had dropped it on her way out the other day; it was among Alyssa's things. The beat up leather bound journal poured out her entire childhood leading up to only a few weeks prior.
There were no journal entries of a worried child, or lovesick teen, but a running total of every generosity his father bestowed on her. Lists of clothing that arrived with an estimated value placed beside them written in a young girl’s handwriting.
