Cross (Dark Kingdom, #4) — Chapter no 21

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

ALEXA

“GOOD AFTERNOON,” I sing, falling into my seat at the booth for lunch at Empire, downing what’s left of my second Monster.

“Afternoon.” Emilee is the first to greet me. Haven gives me a smile, and Jasmine didn’t hear me because she is too wrapped up typing out a text.

“I’m so sorry to hear about your bar,” Emilee tells me, giving me a sympathetic look with her amber eyes.

“Do they know who did it?” Haven asks curiously.

I’ve never really spoken to her, but she’s the girl’s best friend, and now that I know who she’s married to, it makes me a little nervous to even be around her. What if she goes home, tells her husband she hates me, and he offs me? The guy has some major pull in this town. I bet he’d make it look like an accident. Like I slipped and just happened to fall on a knife to the chest. Or maybe my car would conveniently lose a wheel while I’m driving

down the highway. I mean …

“Alexa?”

“Hmm?” I blink, looking up at Emilee.

“Do they know who did it?” she asks what Haven had, and I realize that I never answered.

“I believe so.” I keep it vague. I’m not sure what Cross would want me to say. I guess we should have had the discussion last night instead of fucking multiple times. So many things needed to be discussed, but I craved that connection with him more than answers. Or maybe I just really don’t want to know. Love does make you stupid.

“I’m so sorry I’m late,” April states, falling down next to me.

“You’re just in time. We were about to order mimosas,” Jasmine tells her.

“I’m not drinking.” Haven waves her off.

“What? Why not?” Jasmine snorts.

“Because Luca and I are trying for a baby,” Haven answers with a smile on her face, but it quickly drops when she looks at April. “I’m so sorry,”

she rushes out. “I didn’t think …”

“There’s nothing to be sorry for,” she says, giving her a kind smile in return.

“Yeah, I’m fucking a lot too,” Jasmine jokes, trying to lighten the mood, and I snort while trying to take a drink of my water.

“Jasmine …” Haven shrieks. She always seems to be the most proper of the girls. A little more uptight than the rest.

“What?” She shrugs. “It’s the same thing.”

“I’m married,” Haven says, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

“Us single girls can fuck too, ya know?” Jasmine rolls her eyes.

“Are you still seeing Nite?” April jumps into the conversation, looking at Jasmine.

Emilee and I look over at the redhead. Both of us wide-eyed. That is … surprising. And what’s even more is that Emilee didn’t seem to know about it. We need to have these get-togethers more often. I learn so much about these girls.

“We had plans to fuck tonight, but he sent me a text earlier informing me that he had to cancel.” Jasmine looks around, trying to catch the eye of a waiter to order those mimosas.

“He’s out of town. Luca had to send him to Italy …” Haven quickly stops speaking and averts her amber eyes to the table like she just told us all a secret that none of us were supposed to know. The way she starts nibbling on her thumbnail makes me think it’s a big one.

“For what?” Emilee digs, placing her elbow on the table, her chin in her hand.

“Doesn’t matter,” Jasmine states, and Haven’s shoulders literally sag as if she just dodged a bullet. Damn, now I really want to know what the hell is going on there. “We don’t explain anything to each other. It’s just sex.” She laughs it off.

“Speaking of sex, Emilee, are you still fucking Bones and Titan?” Haven wonders, making sure to change the subject to anyone else other than Nite and Italy.

Not going to lie. When I first heard she was sleeping with both of them, I choked on my popcorn that I was eating while up at Roses. It was one hell of a shock. I guess she dated Bones through high school and college. Not

sure what the details on that were. But she didn’t get with Titan until last year.

“No.” Emilee shakes her head once. “It was fun. Actually, it was awesome, but I got married. And my body is for my husband. If I wanted to fuck multiple guys, I would have stayed single.” She goes on. “Plus, Bones will find a woman and settle down one day. It just wasn’t something that was meant for forever.”

Haven snorts. “Bones settle down? That’s hilarious. That man will never find someone to tie him down.”

“I don’t know. I believe there’s someone for everyone. It just takes time to find them,” Jasmine offers. “Not everyone marries the only person they’ve ever fucked.” She looks over at Haven.

“Wait a minute.” I hold up a finger. “You’ve only ever been with Luca?”

“Yeah.” She chews on a chip from the bowl that sits in the middle of the table. “I was young when we got together. We had a breakup after college, but I never got with anyone else. I’m glad I didn’t, although there was one time I hated him so much that I wish I had because he knew he was the only guy I had been with.”

“I wish Grave was my only,” April adds, sighing. “I mean, when you find your someone, the others never seem to have existed, ya know?”

“Not me.” Jasmine shakes her head. “I like sex too much to limit myself to one man.” She shudders at that thought, making us all laugh. “Plus, I’ve slept with some men who had no fucking clue what they were doing. I couldn’t imagine being stuck with either one of them forever. I’d never

know what a good fuck really is.”

The woman does have a point.

CROSS

I SIT AT the Kings conference table, flipping my Zippo open and closed.

Titan sits across from me, twirling his wedding band around his ring finger.

Bones stands at the front of the room, arms crossed over his chest.

The glass double doors open, and Nigel shows Luca into the room along with the fire marshal.

“Find out anything?” I jump to my feet. I’ve had Jeffrey digging ever since he left our suite this morning.

He shakes his head, and I fall back into my seat. “No.” He pulls out the chair next to Titan and sits down. “No witnesses.”

“Then who called the police?” Bones wonders. “Whoever made the call

saved it from burning to the ground.”

“A Derek Milner.”.

I sit up straighter. “Her brother?”

“Well, this changes things.” Bones sighs. “Maybe it wasn’t her ex after all.”

I run a hand through my hair. “That doesn’t make sense.”

“She did say that he had a key. Maybe he and Mitch were working

together?” Bones offers.

“Or he did it on his own,” Titan adds.

Alexa did say that he quit Lucky’s. Mitch saw her at Crown. He could have told Derek, and it pissed him off even more.

“I’ve got some calls in,” Jeffrey says vaguely. “In the meantime, I need to keep the scene cleared.”

I run a hand down my face and let out a sigh of frustration. “How long?”

The girls were already getting things ready for Kink and the remodel. This is going to set them back.

“At least a week.” He shrugs, clearly a fucking guess. “But I’ll keep in touch and let you know as soon as I do.”

I nod. “Thanks.”

He turns and exits the conference room. I lean back in my chair, fisting my hands.

“You really think her brother did it?” Luca asks, looking at me.

“Either her brother or her ex,” I explain. “Or maybe both of them. I’ll find out.”

“Looks like we need to make a visit tonight,” Bones offers. “Take care of them at the same time. I don’t know her brother, but we all know that Mitch is a little bitch. All we have to do is scare him, and he’ll tell us everything.”

The door opens, and Grave steps inside. He stops, looks around, and then turns, leaving just as quickly as he was entering.

“Grave?” I jump up from my chair and rush out of the room. “Grave?” I run to his office and throw his door open, but he’s not in there. Walking out, I go to head back toward the conference room but see him standing at the end of the hallway with his back to me looking out the floor-to-ceiling

window. His hands in the front pockets of his jeans. Stance wide and body tense.

Running a hand through my hair, I swallow nervously. I hate that I’ve hurt him. “Grave, I …”

He turns around, glaring at me. “How long?” he asks.

“That night we went to the Airport,” I answer honestly.

His face falls, and he take a step back, leaning up against the window.

Grave never knew how to hide what he feels. It’s always written all over his face. “I’m not going to say I’m sorry for what I did.”

“I didn’t expect an apology.” He snorts. “That requires you admitting you were in the wrong.”

“I was going to tell you.” I step forward. “I wanted to tell you.”

“When were you going to do that, Cross?” He chuckles, like I’m joking.

“The night …” I pause, unable to go on with that sentence that I started.

“When Cross?” he yells, getting irritated. “When were you going to tell me that you were lying to me?”

“I never lied to you!” I shout back. “I fucked your girl’s best friend.

There’s a big difference there.” It’s not like it was April or some girl he had once been with. The only tie he had with Alexa was April. And I don’t think I should be punished for that.

“And you felt guilty. That’s why you never told me!” he screams, his face turning red with anger.

“No.” I shake my head. I won’t regret or feel guilty for what Alexa and I have been doing.

“Then what was so important that came up that kept you from telling

me?” he demands. “Huh, Cross?”

I shake my head, unable to answer that.

He quickly takes a few steps forward until he’s in front of me and pokes his finger into my chest. “What happened that you couldn’t be my friend and tell me the truth?” He spits in my face. “You were my best friend, and you lied to me!”

“You lost a child!” I scream, and silence follows as his face falls, realizing the truth.

His eyes drop to the floor, and he takes a stumbling step back. “Grave …?”

“Don’t,” he mutters almost brokenly, and I close my mouth. Giving me his back, he turns to look out over Sin City again. “I know it doesn’t matter what the two of you do,” he admits quietly. “You were right. You’re both adults and can do whatever you want.”

I don’t really know what to say. Somehow over the past month, I’ve lost my best friend, and I don’t know how to get him back. If that’s even a possibility. Over a woman of all things. I feel other factors apply as well, but this is the one thing he wants to cling to. Maybe he wanted to push me away. “You asked me if I loved her. And I didn’t get to answer you.”

He slowly turns around, his blue eyes meeting mine.

“I do,” I say, and a smile spreads across my face. “It didn’t start out that way of course. But that’s what it is now.”

He looks away, staring at the black-painted wall, and sighs heavily. “I’m pretty sure I fell in love with April the moment I saw her. But now …”

I frown as he trails off. “Now what?”

“Nothing. It doesn’t matter.” He goes to walk past me, but I reach out, grabbing his arm and stop him.

“It does matter,” I tell him. “What is it?” I want to be here for Grave. He hasn’t even given me a chance to be a good friend to him, but I want to help him.

He drops his head to stare at his feet. “It’s …” He sniffs, unable to look at me. “She kept her feelings from me. Afraid I’d turn to drugs if I knew how much pain she was in over … the baby.” His voice breaks.

I let out a long breath.

“And I hate that I can’t be what she needs.” He takes in a shaky breath.

“She thought I was too fragile to handle the truth. Such a weak man, that she felt she had to hide that from me,” he chokes out.

“Hey?” I let go of his arm and grip his face, making him look up at me.

Tears silently run down his cheeks. “Don’t do this to yourself, Grave. You are what she needs. Do you understand me?”

He nods and sniffs again. I pull him into me, and he hugs me. “April is lucky to have you.” I slap his back. “And she knows that.” I know she thought she was doing the right thing. There’s no manual when it comes to helping a recovering addict. They can relapse for no reason other than they just want a hit. A relationship can be a lot and then a pregnancy … miscarriage? She just wanted to protect him.

He nods, hugging me tightly before he pulls away quickly, as if our manly hug had timed out. He rushes to wipe the tears from his face and clears his throat. “I hope that Alexa is what you’ve been looking for, Cross.”

I give him a soft smile. “She is, Grave. She is.”