Arranged love

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?”Property © NôvelDrama.Org.

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.”