by D T Dyllin
I clenched my fist and hit the table once in frustration. “What she does for a living doesn’t mean she deserves to be treated like trash. He was going to rape her. Doesn’t a woman always reserve the right to say no?”
Carmella stared at me for a moment before saying anything. “It’s true. No means no. Even a prostitute can be raped…rape is just that…rape.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “Did you just imply that Alexa is a prostitute?”
She raised her eyebrows at me in question. “Don’t porn stars get paid to have sex?”
“Alexa isn’t like that. She—“
“Doesn’t get paid to have sex?”
Fuck. What Carmella was saying was true. Alexa did get paid to have sex, but it was so much more complicated than that. I gnawed on my lower lip while I tried to figure out how to explain it just right to her. “You obviously don’t know Alexa, and you don’t understand.”
“I think I do understand. You have some kind of relationship with Miss James?”
“Yeah.” I breathed.
“Please explain the extent of your involvement with her,” Carmella demanded, her face solemn again.
I ran my hand over the stumble on my face and swore under my breath. “I don’t really know the extent of my relationship with Alexa, but I can tell you that I’m in love with her.”
Carmella sighed. “That may complicate things a bit.”
I smirked at her. “Love always does.”
Chapter Thirty-One
~Alexa
I just couldn’t seem to process everything emotionally that had gone down in the past forty-eight hours. I’d decided I wanted to keep David for mine; we’d had a marathon sex session, which resulted instead of us being a couple but in me declaring that it’d never work between us. Then I’d discovered that not only was Tara sleeping with Devlin, but she’d helped him completely fuck me over by buying the studio that owned my contract. Oh and let’s not forget about Devlin flipping his wig and almost raping me. If David hadn’t shown up when he did… I shuddered. And I used to think I loved Devlin. David had been right about that too…what did I really know about love? Except now maybe I knew a little something. I knew I loved David. At least I think I did. I obviously was way out of my element—but I was pretty sure the things I was feeling for him were love. And now he was in a fucked up situation of his own—because of me.
Devlin was pressing assault charges against David because of him protecting me with the baseball bat. The media had turned the shit storm into some kind of twisted love triangle. Pictures of Devlin and I from high school were plastered on the front of gossip magazines, next to grainy stills of David and I having sex in the car, all of our naughty bits covered with black boxes. I was being painted as the gold digging, duplicitous, porn star who had sunk her claws into not just one but two rich, successful men. David and Devlin were merely the victims, they couldn’t help it, after all they were just men. I had no idea what I was going to do about my career—hell my life. Would David still want me after all of the crap I’d brought down on him?
I crumpled up the gossip mag in my hand and threw it across the room. I didn’t even know why I’d bought it. I supposed the curiosity was just too much. I was trying to stay away from social media, which I’d been doing pretty successfully, so a small slip up was past due.
I hadn’t seen or talked to David since he’d been arrested. I received a cryptic message from him a few days ago that as soon as things were sorted out with Devlin, he’d be in touch. He’d claimed that it was under advisement of his lawyer. It could be true, or maybe it was the simplest way to give me the brush off. When I’d gone down to the police station to make my statement, the cops on duty had been less than friendly to me. Maybe because I seemed like some kind of troublemaker? After all, it’d only been a few days since I’d visited the same precinct to make my statement about the strip club incident with Devlin. I’d tried to get information on where David was being held, but the cops wouldn’t cooperate and told me nothing.
“I should just go back to L.A.” I muttered to myself. But I couldn’t will myself to leave Pittsburgh while David was still there. Instead, I’d changed hotel rooms, went under an alias, and was paying the hotel staff some pretty large sums to not only keep my presence a secret but to cater to my every need. I hadn’t left the security of my room in days, not since I’d gone down to the gift shop and saw my face plastered on the front of almost every magazine.
I flipped open my laptop and tried to find information about the actual legal stuff, like the trial and such, and not gossip. After about ten minutes I was finally able to find out that the hearing was set for tomorrow. I sucked in a deep breath. My nerves were on edge and I wished I could be there for David, instead of hiding out in my hotel. Unless… I picked up the hotel phone and hit the button to connect me with the concierge. “Yes, Jonathan, I’m going to need for you to get me a few things.”
I crept into the courthouse, skirting past the media flurry, and took a seat in the very back corner in the only chair left. I could see the back of David’s head, and his tense shoulders. He was sitting next to a female lawyer. To the right was Devlin with a team of lawyers beside him. His arm was in a sling and he was trying to play up the part of the victim. There was a buzz of excitement in the air as people waited for the proceedings to start. I was still having trouble wrapping my mind around why everyone seemed so interested in this case. I mean, it wasn’t like it was a murder trial. But David was famous in his own right apparently, something that I had no clue about before. His name was the real draw it seemed.
An older woman, probably in her fifties, nudged me and whispered in a conspiratory tone. “So do you think she’ll show up?”
I tried not to fidget with my wig. “Who?” But I was pretty sure what she was going to say.
“Alexa James.”
I shrugged non-committedly.
“I’d like to see what that gold-digging bitch has to say for herself. You know, it still amazes me that women like her have such power over men in this day an age. I guess men will never change.” She shook her head in disgust.
I bit the inside of my cheek so hard I drew blood. I plastered a fake smile on my face. “You know, it seems to me like Devlin Saint was in the wrong. Why is everyone assuming that Alexa James was with them both?”
The woman tsk-ed at me. “She’s a porn star.” As if that explained everything.
“Yes. And does that mean she doesn’t have feelings? Does that also mean that she couldn’t possibly be the victim? I’m not sure—“
“Order. Order in the court.” I swallowed my words and glanced over my shoulder as the courtroom doors were pulled shut. “Will all please rise for the honorable Judge Matterson.” A hush fell over the court and everyone stood.
A woman who reminded me a lot of Judge Judy from T.V. entered the room. She sat and hit the gavel against a raised piece of wood on her desk. “Court is now in session, please be seated.” Everyone sat in near unison.
I watched intently as things unfolded in front of me. Devlin’s team of lawyers were attempting to paint the picture of a successful business man, in love with a woman who happened to be a porn star. They asserted that Devlin had been with me in the hotel when a jealous David had shown up and attacked with no provocation. Why the hell was I being kept from testifying? Why the hell wasn’t anyone asking me what happened? I didn’t understand what was going on.
David’s lawyer, instead of defending him like I thought she would, offered a plea bargain of some sort—or said they’d accept it. I wasn’t familiar with a lot of the legal terminology but I did know that accepting a plea bargain meant that David was acknowledging guilt on some level. I couldn’t take it anymore. He wasn’t going to be punished for protecting me. No one had even mentioned or suggested that Devlin was going to rape me.
“No! Stop!” I cried out loudly to make sure everyone heard me. “David didn’t do anything wrong, he was protecting me!” I stood and pu
lled off my wig and hat. Shocked murmurs and exciting chatter erupted from everywhere around me. I met David’s eyes over the crowd, and he shook his head fervently at me, like he didn’t want me to say anything. His lawyer’s eyes narrowed at me with disgust.
The Judge pounded her gavel. “Order in my court!” she commanded.
“Please let me testify…or something.” I felt slightly cowed as I realized that every pair of eyes in the entire room were focused on me.
Judge Matterson studied me coolly. “State your name.”
My voice trembled slightly. “Alexa James.”
“You are the woman in question in regards to this case?”
“Yes.”
“Come here,” she demanded. I began to sweat as I made my way to the front of the courtroom. I paused a few feet away from where the judge was. She waved me forward. “Approach the bench.” I did on wobbly legs. At least I was wearing flats instead of my normal sky-high heels. She eyed me up and down before speaking again. “Are you sure you want to do this?” She paused seeming to mull over what her next words would be. “You are only going to invite more slander and speculation in regards to your life.”
“I don’t care,” I whispered. “I can’t let Devlin get away with what he did. David was protecting me. It’s my turn to protect him.”
Something akin to respect flashed in her eyes. “Very well. Swear Miss James in, she’ll take the stand next.” More chatter erupted in the room and was quickly silenced by the gavel banging again.
Once I was sworn in and seated I tried not to look at David but I couldn’t seem to help myself. He looked so good in his suit and bowtie. I idly wondered if his clothing choice had been influenced by Doctor 11. That’s right, I’d been on a marathon Doctor Who kick in my hotel the last few days. But he was much hotter than any of the Doctors, at least to me. His azure gaze pulled me in with their deep emotions. I wished I could go to him, to crawl into his lap and press my face into his chest and forget about everything but him. Instead I had to sit in front of a roomful of judgmental eyes and plea his case.
Chapter Thirty-Two
~David
Alexa’s steel blue gaze shifted from mine to Devlin’s, and I watched as a change came over her. All nerves seemed to just evaporate from her system. I’d wanted to protect her from the media’s hurtful words, from Devlin’s accusations… It made me feel good to serve as her metaphorical Knight in Shining Armor. I guess maybe I had a little bit of that alpha male bullshit in me after all. The thing was, it didn’t seem like Alexa cared all that much about what people said. I studied her cool expression as the prosecution approached her.
“Miss James, would you like to tell the court in your own words what happened in the Sheraton Hotel the day of the incident, the date of October—“
“Yes.” Alexa interrupted with a shaky breath. She had gone right into victim mode. It looked like she was going to beat Devlin at his own game. I almost pitied the poor bastard…almost. “I’m sorry I interrupted you.” She averted her eyes demurely. “I just feel like if I don’t get this out then I won’t be able to.” A single tear tracked down her face and fell from her chin. Damn, she’s good.
Devlin’s head lawyer, Mr. Brown, immediately softened to her. It may not have been apparent to most, but I could read the slight change in him as he cleared his throat. “Go ahead then.” He motioned for her to speak.
“I just want to state on the record that Devlin Saint tried to keep me from coming here to testify today.” She rose a shaky hand to push her blonde hair out of her face. “He tried to intimidate me to keep quiet.” Alexa dropped her face into her hands for a moment before lifting it to the crowd. “But I couldn’t let him manipulate me any longer, I couldn’t let David suffer because I was afraid.” Her voice warbled with just the right amount of nerves.
Mr. Brown frowned slightly at her. “Those are pretty strong accusations Miss James, do you care to back them up with any kind of evidence.”
“Yes. Mr. Saint recently purchased the pornography studio that owns my contract. You can verify that. He threatened to take away my livelihood if I didn’t do as he said.” Alexa choked back a sob. “I know most people don’t understand what I do, but—but—he’s always done this to me, since we were kids. He tries to control me.”
“Objection,” Devlin grated from his seat. “She’s lying.”
“No,” she said. “It can all be verified.”
Devlin stood. “Okay yes, I bought the company she’s signed with but it’s not—“
The gavel sounded. “Order in this court. Mr. Saint, no more outbursts from you.” Devlin sat and ground his teeth together in annoyance. I was pretty sure he saw his destruction in Alexa’s eyes. “Please continue, Miss James,” Judge Matterson said softly.
Alexa pretended to gather herself and then obeyed. “David and I, well—“ She bit her lower lip and met my gaze, real uncertainty flashed in her eyes. “We—well—I have feelings for him. And that didn’t sit well with Devlin.” She studied her hands for a moment and then swept her gaze out over the crowd. “Look, I know what most of you must think of my career, but I don’t deserve to be treated that way—I don’t deserve to be raped.” Several gasps were heard from the crowd and Judge Matterson banged her gavel for order again. Alexa continued. “That night in my hotel, Devlin entered my room without permission, I wasn’t expecting him, I was expecting David, and he handcuffed and gagged me. He would have raped me if David hadn’t come to my rescue. And now you people are trying to punish him? Don’t punish him because of me! Because of who I am! If I was anyone else this wouldn’t be happening!” She dropped her face into her hands again and sobbed, her shoulders heaving from the exertion.
“I’m going to take a recess and I would like to see both the plaintiff and defendant’s council in my chambers…now.” Judge Matterson rose and swept out of the room.
I looked up at Carmella who smiled at me. “This is looking very good for you, David. Sit tight.”
Alexa was left where she was and she continued to cry, large tears tracking down her face. She glanced several times at me with uncertainty and I could almost read her thoughts. She was wondering how I felt about her feelings, and she was unsure of how I would react to her academy award deserving performance. Surprisingly, I found myself proud of her devious ways. I liked the way her mind worked; she was so much smarter than most people gave her credit for. Plus I liked feeling like I was the only one in on the secret—like it was us against the world. I smiled encouragingly at her and even though she was still playing the victim, her lips twitched up for a moment at me. She’d understood me loud and clear.
“All rise.” The bailiff commanded.
Judge Matterson re-entered the courtroom but didn’t sit. She banged the gavel to get everyone’s attention. “Case dismissed,” she declared. She leaned towards Alexa and I heard her say, “Unless you want to press charges against Mr. Saint.”
I could tell for a millisecond Alexa considered it, but she shook her head and bit her lip. “No, I don’t want to deal with him any more than I have to.”
“Understood.”
Everyone in the room was talking excitedly, the media was snapping photos but I just had one thing on my mind. Getting to Alexa. As she stepped down onto the floor I went to her, wrapping my arms around her. She sunk into me; her face pressed into my chest, and began to cry in earnest. “Let’s get out of here,” I murmured against her hair before kissing it.
She sniffled and then pulled away from me to look up into my face. “Okay,” she offered shyly.
I took her hand and led her from the courtroom.
Chapter Thirty-Three
~Alexa
Lights flashed in my face everywhere I looked and I could barely see where I was going. I completely relied on David to lead me through the media circus waiting for us once we left the courtroom. Only a select few had been permitted inside, but outside it seemed like everyone from Pittsburgh to L.A. was in attendance.
&nb
sp; “How long have the two of you been seeing each other?”
“Alexa! Are you planning on giving up porn to be with David?”
“Are the two of you interested in doing porn together?”
“David! What do you have to say about the video of the two of you having sex?
“Alexa! Did Devlin Saint hit you?”
“David! Is it true your latest documentary was about the porno industry, if so, did you meet Alexa before or after you began that project?”
“Is it true that this love triangle has been going on since high school?”
There were so many questions being shouted at us that we both ignored them completely. I don’t know why media people always insist on that tactic. Does it actually work with anyone?
David’s lawyer pushed out in front of us, and announced loud enough for most to hear. “David and Alexa aren’t making any comments at this time.” She escorted us to a waiting car and leaned in when we were both inside. “I’ll call you later, David. You may want to think about setting up a press conference or schedule some talk shows or something. Talk to Michael.” She shut the door and hit the car, letting the driver know to push off.
“Where to?” The driver asked.
“The Sheraton in Station Square.” I flung myself at David. “Oh God, I was so scared you were going to go to jail for me.” I pounded against his chest. “Why? Why would you do that?”
He smoothed his large hands down my hair. “I wanted to protect you. I didn’t want you to have to deal with what the media was saying about you. And I didn’t want you to have to face Devlin again.”
I fisted his shirt in both annoyance and want. No one had ever done something so selfless for me before. Sure, men had always been willing to do what I wanted—for a price. David hadn’t expected anything in return; he was merely trying to help me. Even though what he’d actually done was totally asinine. I knew in that moment that I was head over heels in love with my geeky savior. Instead of telling him that I loved him, I drew back and punched him in the arm, of course. “It was stupid. Don’t ever do something so stupid again.” I snuggled into him more and heaved a huge sigh. He smelled good—spicy—warm—like home.
