Arranged love

ALEXA

I’M BEHIND THE bar at Lucky’s when my cell vibrates in my back pocket. I pull it out to see Cross is calling me. Although it’s after closing hours, I make my way to the back office to take the call because I don’t want my brother to hear my conversation. He hasn’t said one word to me since he found out I was sleeping with Cross. Just shows up to work his shifts and then goes home. “Hello?”

“Hey,” he says softly.

I drop my head and look down at my black boots. I haven’t spoken to him since last night. Haven and I were with April when they informed her complications were causing her to miscarry the baby. Grave arrived shortly after. I wanted to stay for her, but I left with Jasmine, knowing that she and Grave wanted to be left alone.

“I would ask how your day went, but I bet it was about as good as mine was.” He sighs.

“Grave ignoring you like April is ignoring me?” I ask. I’ve tried reaching out to her a hundred times today, and my calls have gone unanswered, my text unread.

“I wish that were the case. All of a sudden, the guy has fallen headfirst into Kingdom. He’s been practically MIA for years, and now Bones can’t get him to leave. You said April is ignoring you?”

I fall into the chair at the desk, making it squeak with my weight. “Yeah, I’ve been calling her, but it goes straight to voicemail. This afternoon, I found myself taking the long way to work and drove by Roses and saw her car. I went in, and she totally blew me off.” She pretended to be busier than I know she was. I took the hint and left, not wanting to add more stress.

“I just hate it for them,” he says softly.

“Me too,” I say, placing my right elbow on the old wooden desk and my face in my hand. I’ve been friends with April since we were kids. We’ve been through a lot together, but she’s never shut me out like this.

“Alexa.” He sighs my name, and I close my eyes, expecting him to end this. Too much is going on. Grave needs him now more than ever. We can’t continue sneaking around like this. He was going to come clean with Grave last night after his fight. He can’t do that now. “About yesterday.”

I open my eyes and frown as I stare at my messy desk. “What about it?”

“Before Grave went to fight. Him bringing up Rachel-”

“It’s fine,” I interrupt him. Another thing that seems small compared to everything else.

“No. It’s not.”

I sit back and run a hand down my face. I’m too exhausted to go into his line of women right now. “It is, Cross. We’re not together. You can fuck whoever you want.”NôvelDrama.Org holds text © rights.

There’s a long pause on his end. I pull it away from my ear to make sure he hasn’t hung up on me. Instead, he changes the subject. “What are you doing once you’re done at the bar?”

I look up at the clock on the wall. It’s almost three a. m. We’ve been closed for half an hour. “Going home,” I answer. It’s been a long twenty-four hours, and I’m exhausted. I didn’t get much sleep last night, and I doubt I will tonight either. April is heavy on my mind, and I feel like my hands are tied. I can’t do anything to help her.

“Why don’t you come up to Kingdom?” he offers.

I bite my lower lip. “For what exactly?”

“Stay the night with me,” he answers as if I should have known that’s what he meant.

I stand, needing the space. “Are you sure that’s a good thing? I mean, although everyone suspects what we’re doing, we haven’t actually told them. And what if someone sees us? It’s not the time-”

“No one is here tonight,” he interrupts me. “Titan hasn’t stayed here since he married Emilee. Bones is still working and will be doing it all night because that’s just what he does. And Grave left hours ago to go home. I’m guessing to be with April. It’ll just be you and me.”

“Yeah,” I say. Maybe a good night fuck is what I need to help me sleep. “I’ll text you when I’m on my way.” I hang up before he can say anything else.

I pocket my cell and exit the office just in time to see my brother grab his jacket. He doesn’t even acknowledge me with a head nod. Just walks toward the exit. I hear the back door open and close, and I start to wipe down the bar. It’s the last thing I have to do before I can get out of here. But the front door opens, getting my attention, and I frown when I realize that he didn’t lock it before he left. We always exit out the back since that’s where we park. The alley isn’t the safest place this late at night. Hell, nowhere in this town is safe this time of night. Why chance it?

I’m thinking of ways I can beat his ass for his lack of responsibility when I look up to see a redhead enter the bar with a smile on her face and an oversized Louis Vuitton on her shoulder. She’s harmless. “Hey, girl,” Jasmine greets me.

“Hey.” I smile at her, but it drops the second I catch sight of Bones entering behind her.

Cross and I don’t typically talk or share life experiences when we’re together. We definitely don’t discuss the other Kings. My brother has said some stuff in the past regarding Bones-he runs with the Mafia or some shit like that. Honestly, I wouldn’t be all that surprised if it was true. Cross had mentioned Bones was working at Kingdom tonight, so why is he here?

“What’s up?” I ask as she plops down across from me at the bar. Bones takes the seat next to her, not saying a word. I look away from him and his blue eyes. The guy is as intimidating as he is rich.

“Remember the first time you met me?” she asks, avoiding my question.

“Yeah.” I draw out the single word.

A year ago

I’m standing behind the bar; it’s a Friday night and packed. There’s some convention in town, so the bar is busier than usual. I’m having problems keeping up with the large crowd. A man walks up and slaps down a twenty, rambling off what he wants.

“Excuse me?” I yell over the music and turn my face to give him my ear when my eyes land on a woman sitting at the end of the bar with a man. She’s laughing at something he said while looking down at her full drink I had just served her. Reaching out, she places her hand on his shoulder and leans in, speaking into his ear. He nods a few times, and she gets up, heading to the bathroom.

“Did you get that?” the guy yells in my ear.

I pull away, holding up a finger to him when I see the guy now sitting alone, looking around nervously.

“Miss?” the guy calls out again, trying to get my attention, but I ignore him. My eyes remain focused on the other man. He reaches into his pocket, pulling out his fist. He takes another quick look around before dropping a pill into her drink. Picking up the glass, he swirls it around to dissolve the evidence and then quickly sets it back down.

I rush over to my brother, who stands a few feet from me. “Call the police,” I say into his ear.

“What?” He turns to face me.

“Do it now. Tell them a guy just tried to drug a woman.” Before he can respond, I run out from behind the bar and rush to the bathroom, shoving customers out of my way.

I enter the women’s restroom and come to a stop when I see the woman standing at the sink fixing her lipstick. “I need to talk to you.”

“You saved my life.” Jasmine gives me a smile, interrupting the memory.

I shuffle from foot to foot uncomfortably, not wanting to rehash this conversation, especially in front of Bones. “I wouldn’t go that far …”

“I would. The cops arresting that guy led to them uncovering a sex trafficking ring. You saved me.”

My face heats up, turning red. I don’t do well with compliments.

“Anyway,” she goes on. “I tried to repay you …”

I snort at that statement. “The next day, you showed up with a two-hundred-thousand-dollar car.” A woman I had only met the night before bought me a car. I thought she was out of her mind. I still think that.

“I told you I’d pay for the tag and insurance …”

“I’m not accepting it,” I remind her. She does this often. She still has it in her garage. As though I’m just going to call her up one day and say hey, you know that Audi R8 Spyder you bought me? Yeah, I’ll take that now.

“This isn’t about the car.” She reaches into her Louis Vuitton bag and pulls out a large manila envelope. Setting it on the bar, she pushes it toward me.

“What’s this?” I ask.

“This is me repaying you.”