Alex growled. “Baby girl, I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. Tell me what’s been going on.”
The dark note of authority in his voice reached Bree, dragging her out of her thoughts. Absentmindedly, she stroked her throat, going back to that moment when she’d first walked into the kitchen and saw the necklaces. Shock had slammed into her like a freight train, blanking her thoughts. She hadn’t been able to make sense of what she was looking at. It was as if a fog had clouded her mind and made her see the world through a haze.
Then she’d snapped out of it, and only one thought had rung through her brain—she had to find the bastard who’d done this. Calvin.
Although the shock had worn off and she could think clearly, she felt cold all over. She just couldn’t understand why Calvin would do this.
Bree lifted one of the chains. “After Paxton left, Bernadette gave me a necklace just like this. She said it was a gift from him; that he had the other half of the heart. But she lied. She had it all along.”
“She thought it would comfort you to think he’d given you a gift?”
Bree nodded. “Shortly after I told the Cages that I didn’t want a future with Paxton, one of these was posted through my door in a blank envelope. I figured she was returning her half, letting me know it had never been a gift from him at all.” She licked her lips. “I binned it. But someone dug it out of the trash and left it on the windowsill the night I was out cold from the tranqs. I dumped it in the wishing well in my backyard. And now … this.”
“What you’re telling me is,” he began, his voice quiet yet loaded with anger, “it’s possible that at least one of the Cages have been playing mind games with you … and you only thought to tell me this now?”
She tossed him a frown. “Don’t make this about you, Alex. Be mad if you want but go be mad somewhere else if you’re not going to actually help me work out what in God’s name is happening here.”
Seconds of silence went by, winding her tighter. “All right,” he gritted out. “We’ll table that discussion for later. Now, tell me what you did with the necklace that Bernadette gave you when you were a kid.”
“I dropped it down a street grid the very same day she gave it to me.” Bree rubbed at her eyebrow. “I don’t know why Calvin would do this. Unless he’s pissed that I’m with you and this is his way of reminding me I have a mate. But that doesn’t make sense, because this started before you and I got together.” She looked around the kitchen, as if there’d be something there to give her answers. There wasn’t. She turned to Alex; his expression was as unreadable as always. “What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking that, considering Calvin wants you for himself, it’s odd that he’d do something that would hurt or scare you. Maybe he’s as messed up as his twin in his own special way; maybe this was him making sure you got the message that he’s taking his brother’s place.” He licked over his front teeth. “Or maybe we shouldn’t be looking at Calvin.”
She frowned. “I can smell him.”
“Or … you can smell Paxton. They share the same scent, Bree. You know that.”
A shard of pain dug into her chest. “He’s dead.”
“Pains me to say it, Bree, but we don’t know that. Not for sure.” He flicked a glance at the necklaces. “This could be him screaming to you loud and clear that he’s here. Though I don’t see why he’d linger in the background.”
“It’s not him. He has no reason to come back.”
“Yes, he does. You. You’re the only thing that matters to him.”
“No one ever mattered to Paxton. He was not a normal person. Oh, he was ‘nice.’ Ran errands for his mom. Supported and advised others. Was always quick to offer a helping hand. He acted good, but it was a front. He earned people’s trust so that they’d never suspect what lurked beneath the surface. Never suspect he was a pathological liar who got a twisted kick out of hurting people.”
“He was fucked up, yeah, but he wouldn’t have hurt you.”
Bree closed her hand around the necklace. “He came to see me the day before he left. He told me that if he had any sense, he’d kill me right then.”
Alex almost rocked back on his heels. “He talked about killing you? He said that?” A growl vibrated his chest. “He couldn’t have meant it.”
“He meant it. He didn’t look at me and see his true mate. I don’t think he even saw a person. He saw a weakness. And he wanted rid of it. But he decided against killing me. He left instead.”
A curse flew out of Alex’s mouth. “You should have told me.” The phone in his pocket beeped. He pulled it out and tapped on the screen with his thumbs. Pocketing the cell, he said, “That was a text message from Luke. He picked Calvin up from his apartment and now has him in Vinnie’s spare bedroom.”
“Good. I’d like to talk to him.”
“Bree—”
“It wasn’t a request, Alex. Don’t push me right now.”
“You’re better off staying here. I’ll call Elle and ask her to come sit with you.”
Bree sighed and joined her hands together. “Okay, we need to make it clear right now how you should act when you feel like dishing out orders to me. Step one: Hesitate before you decide to throw your metaphorical dick around. Step two: Hesitate again, reminding yourself just how useless it would be to exert authority over me. Step three: repeat the first two steps at least once. If all else fails, go play Russian Roulette with a fully loaded pistol, because it’ll save me the trouble of shooting you in the face.”
Moments ticked by as Alex simply stared at her, never once blinking. Then a heavy breath left him. “Fine, we’ll go together. But here’s what you need to understand. If he did this, he’s not going to admit it. He’s going to lie his ass off. And his best way of pleading innocence? Blaming it on the person who shares his scent.
“He’ll spread that shit around so that people will believe it wasn’t him. Everyone will be whispering about how Paxton’s back, which is gonna send his parents into a tailspin. In other words, this is going to be a massive clusterfuck. It wouldn’t be a bad idea for you to sit this part out while you brace yourself for what’s to come.”
She folded her arms, giving him a blank look. “Yeah, I’m still going.”
He gave her a tight nod. “All right. We’ll go question Calvin. But, baby girl, you need to face that—shit as it is—Paxton could be back.” He squeezed the side of her neck. “I won’t let him hurt you. Tell me you know that.”
“I know that,” she said. “I won’t let him hurt me either.”
His eyes gleamed with what could have been approval. “No, you won’t,” he agreed.
Walking into Vinnie’s living room, Alex tipped his chin at his uncle, who greeted both him and Bree with a curt nod of the head. Vinnie wasn’t wearing his usual charming smile designed to put people at ease. He was all ruthless Alpha in that moment. Alex’s beast approved, because something needed to be done about this shit.