Arranged love

ALEXA

MY BAR WAS burned down. Well, thankfully, it didn’t ruin everything. It’s salvageable. Thank God. The structure is still there from what I saw. The police wouldn’t allow me to walk through it. Said it wasn’t safe. I’ll go back tomorrow and see what kind of damage was really done.

Titan closes the door and comes back to the living room with us. Leaning forward, I place my face in my hands. “I’m confused.” I look up, and my eyes land on Cross. “Tell me what is going on,” I demand, getting irritated.

“Do you remember the burning of St. Mary’s Cathedral last year?” Jasmine asks me.

I whip my head around to stare at her sitting beside me. “Yeah?”

I stand behind the bar, cleaning it up after closing with the TV on. I normally never watch it but was tired of silence while being here alone.

A reporter stands in front of the once St. Mary’s Cathedral. Smoke fills the night while firefighters try to put it out behind her. At this point, it’s a total loss. “At this time, some are throwing speculation out regarding arson, but nothing has been confirmed yet.” It goes to a commercial, and I turn it off and throw my towel onto the bar, ready to go home.

It was hard to miss. It was heartbreaking because it was so pretty. “What about it?” I ask Jasmine. What does that have to do with my bar?

She looks over my shoulder for a quick second and then back to me. “That was Cross. He set that fire.”

I slowly stand and turn to where I can face him. He leans against the bar in the kitchen, looking at me unphased. “You set the cathedral on fire?” I ask slowly, expecting him to laugh at me. That’s absurd, right?

He doesn’t answer. Just fucking silence.

“Why would you do that?” I demand, still thinking it’s impossible.

“Because a friend needed him.” Titan is the one who answers.

“What kind of friend has you do that?” I snap.

“One who loves his wife,” Bones answers.

“What-?”

“We had some friends who were to be married there,” Jasmine interrupts me. “Someone wanted them dead, and we had been told that it was going to happen while at their wedding. The Kings were going to attend. It would have been mass casualties,” Jasmine says softly, staring down at her hands in her lap. “Cross set it on fire and saved all of us that would have been there in attendance.” She swallows. “He paid off the fire marshal then too so the report would show no foul play.”

Foul play? My heart picks up at those words. They’re the same ones I read online about the fire that killed his father. But I don’t have time to think about that right now. I’ll circle back. Right now, I need to focus on Lucky’s.

I run a hand through my hair, not understanding. “This has nothing to do with my bar. Who was that guy?” I point at the door. “Why didn’t he tell the police it was arson? And why the fuck did you give him money?” I’m not an idiot. There was cash in that bag. “And why the hell did he strip down.” My mind wonders out loud.

Where does that leave me? Because now I can’t go to the police and file a report. No matter if it’s arson or not, they’ll want a statement, and Cross wouldn’t let me tell them anything. Said he’d take care of it.

“He was the fire marshal. I needed to make sure he wasn’t wearing a wire.” Cross finally speaks, and the answers knock the wind out of me because a part of me already knew who he was. I just didn’t want to admit it to myself. “I paid him off to lie on his report.”

“Why would you do that?” Tears sting my eyes. Lucky’s is my livelihood. I was in the process of remodeling it, and then Jasmine and I were doing Kink. Now what?

“Because if he told the police the truth, then they’d only get in my way,” he answers flatly.

“That is their job, Cross. What could they possibly get in the way of?” I snap at him.

“Making him pay.”

“Who is he?” I ask, hands start to tremble. Everything is falling apart, and nothing makes sense.

“Mitch,” he answers.

I start shaking my head. “He wouldn’t …” I trail off before I can even finish that sentence. Why would Mitch set my bar on fire? I never confirmed I’m with Cross, but I also never told him I wasn’t. He was the one who brought up Cross’s dad, and the news article said that Oak Grove caught fire. But the statement said no foul play or arson.

Swallowing nervously, I plop back down on the couch next to Jasmine. That’s what Bones meant by he is setting Cross up. Whoever it was wanted me to suspect Cross. But I was with him. If it was Mitch, he had to have known I was with Cross at the time, right? It couldn’t have been him.

CROSS

BONES STEPS FORWARD to speak at the same time the door to our suite flies open.

“What in the hell is going on?” Grave demands, entering the room, holding April’s hand.

“Oh, thank God.” She sighs when she spots Alexa sitting on the couch. April lets go of Grave and runs over to Alexa. She pulls her up from the couch and hugs her tightly. “I’ve been worried sick. I was praying you weren’t there.”

“I’m fine.” Alexa pats her back; her eyes meet mine briefly over April’s shoulder. “I wasn’t there.” She pulls away. “How did you-?”

“Someone sent me the news footage of your bar up in flames,” Grave growls, interrupting her. He looks at me. “I’m not asking again. What the hell happened?”

Jasmine stands as well. “Someone caught the bar on fire. We think it was Alexa’s ex.”

“Why would he do that?” Grave digs.

No one answers him, and it just pisses him off even more. “Kings.” He snaps his finger. “Office!” Then he’s storming off out of the living room and down the back hallway.

Letting out a long breath, I follow him with Bones and Titan on my ass. We enter the office, and he’s pacing in front of the desk. The curtains are open, showcasing the Strip lit up at night.

“Grave, it’s okay,” Bones starts. “No one was there. Someone saw it and called it in. It’s not a total loss-”

“We need to call the fire marshal,” Grave interrupts him. “Get him there right now. To find out what happened.” He nods to himself.

“It’s taken care of,” Titan states.

Grave comes to a stop, his head popping up, and he stares at us. “How so?”

“He was already here,” I answer. “He confirmed it was arson.”

He leans back against the desk, crossing his arms over his chest, and bows his head. Silence falls over the office while we let him process this. “Alexa can come stay with us. She’ll be safe-”

“That won’t be happening,” I say, interrupting him.

He slowly lifts his head, and his blue eyes meet mine. Tilting his head to the side, he says. “If her ex is after her, she can’t go home. She needs to be somewhere safe.”

“She will be safe,” I say vaguely.

His brows pull together. “Her ex is after her. He obviously wants to hurt her.”Nôvel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner.

“We don’t think that’s the case,” Titan states, leaning up against the wall.

“Then what do you think?” Grave snaps.

“We think-”

“We think that he’s trying to frame me,” I interrupt Titan. Grave needs to hear it from me.

He pushes off the desk, squaring his shoulders. “What would make you guys think that?”

“Because he knows that we’re together,” I state. Okay, so it’s not official, but I’ve decided for the both of us.

He stares at me, his eyes narrowing slightly while he sucks in a long breath. “Uh, what?” he finally asks.

“We’ve been-”

“Behind my back?” he shrieks, not allowing me to finish.

I can’t argue with him because it would be a lie. Alexa and I chose to keep it a secret from him for this reason. So, he wouldn’t overreact. But I do understand the situation has changed. There’s an unpredictable new player. And her life is in danger. Along with Jasmine’s. What if she had been there in the basement preparing for Kink? Would she have been able to get out? Would she have burned to death? The what-ifs are staggering.

“It’s not like that,” I say.

“Then what the fuck was it, Cross?” he demands. “I told you she was off-limits.”

“You don’t own her!” I shout back at him. “You can’t tell her who she can and can’t date.”

“Date?” He chuckles roughly. “You mean who she fucks!”

“It’s more than that!” I argue.

“Oh, really?” He arches his brows. “So, you’re telling me you love her?”

The door swings open, and April enters the room. “We can hear you guys in the living room,” she whisper-shouts. “Lower your voices.”

Grave doesn’t listen. “Your best friend has been fucking Cross.” He points at me as if there’s another guy who goes by that name in this room.

She looks at me. Her ice-blue eyes are sympathetic before they go back to him. “Grave …”

“You knew?” he states breathlessly, taking a step back like she hit him.

“Yes.” She doesn’t even bother to lie.

His face falls and so do his wide shoulders. “You kept another secret from me?” Before she can answer, he looks around the room at each of the Kings. “Did everyone know?”

“Yes,” Bones and Titan answer at the same time, not wasting a breath.

His blue eyes drop to the floor, and he nods once before heading to the door.

“Grave …?” She reaches out to him, but he shrugs her off and exits the office while she chases after him, calling out his name.

I go to follow them to try to help calm the situation, but Titan stops me, grabbing my upper arm. “One problem at a time.” He gestures to the hallway. I know he means Alexa and the situation we are now in. “Grave is upset, but it’s not all because of you and Alexa.” He lets go of my arm, and I understand what he means. April and the baby. That’s not something you get over just because you go on a two-week vacation.

Grave is looking for something to be mad about. Something else to project his anger on. Right now, he hates the world and all of us in it.