It’s deja vu that night at the Airport.
“Alexa,” he says, surprised. His dark eyes drop to my Kingdom sleeveless crop top that I wear, and the smile disappears. “You’re kidding, right?”
I’ve ignored every text and call he’s sent me since I saw him at the Airport. I thought avoiding him was enough. That he would eventually let it go. But as luck has it, here he is. The cockroach that just won’t die. “What?” I cross my arms over my chest. Bitch mode activated.
“You’re working for him now too?” he growls.
I don’t like the way he says it. Like I’m Cross’s little bitch.
“What happened to Lucky’s?” He digs when I don’t confirm what is so obvious.
“That’s none of your business,” I state.
He laughs. “Your brother did say it was going under.”
“What?” I demand. My brother was talking to him about the bar? What the fuck? “When did you see him?”
He smiles. “That’s none of your business,” he says, throwing my own words back in my face.
I slam both of my hands into his chest, catching him off guard and shoving his back into the wall. “Stay the fuck away from my family.”
“What are you going to do, Alexa? Sick your new boy toy on me?” He shakes his head once. “Have him light me up?”
Light him up? “What does that mean?”
He laughs, gripping my wrists. I flinch when his fingers tighten to the point they’ll bruise. “Your man has some kind of sick obsession with fire. Haven’t you looked him up?”
“No,” I answer honestly. You can’t believe all the shit you read online. “I’m sure it’s all lies anyway.”
“Oh, yeah?” He arches a brow. “Why don’t you ask him what happened to his dad.”
I frown. “What do you …?”
“Everything okay here?”
I take another step back from Mitch at the sound of Cross’s voice and turn to see him standing a few feet from us in the hallway with Bones next to him. “Yeah,” I say, all of a sudden uncomfortable. Why do I feel like I was doing something bad? What if Cross heard what he said to me, and he thinks I’m asking around about him? I haven’t asked him anything personal about his life. I hope he knows that I definitely wouldn’t go behind his back to my ex and do so.
“You sure?” Cross asks, but his eyes are glued to Mitch. His right hand holds his Zippo, and he’s flipping it open and closed. Like always.
“Positive,” I try to reassure him. Walking over to him, I place my hand on his hard chest.
He finally looks down at me, his green eyes looking clouded under the neon lights. I give him a soft smile, trying to ease the tension even though I can feel the heat coming from Bones. If Cross doesn’t knock Mitch out, I have a feeling Bones will. “I just needed a quick bathroom break.” Then rising up on my tiptoes, I give Cross a soft kiss on his lips, not caring if Mitch and Bones are watching us.
CROSS
I DON’T KISS her back. I’m too focused on her ex. He still stands against the wall, now glaring at me. She pulls back and walks away, heading to the bar, leaving us alone.
He reaches up and wipes the corner of his mouth while his eyes are on her ass.
This fucker. “You know you’re not the only dick that wants her.”
His eyes meet mine, and he pushes off the wall, straightening his shoulders like he’s ready to pounce. Bones goes to step around me to beat his ass, but I place my hand on his chest to stop him.
“She won’t stay once she finds out about the real you,” Mitch states.
“She knew the fake you and still left.” I shrug. I haven’t asked what happened between the two of them. Honestly, I didn’t think he was an issue, but the fucker just keeps showing up. But I’m going to tonight after she’s off work and in my bed.
His lips thin, and his nostrils flare. Good. I want him to give me a reason to beat his fucking ass.
“Enjoy it while it lasts.” He walks up next to me. “Because when she leaves you, she’ll be crawling back to me. And well, let’s just say—I loved it when she was on her knees.”
My hands fist down by my sides at that. Any thought of her with someone else is enough to make me want to put someone’s head through a wall. But I don’t know where they stand right now, and I’m not about to fuck things up with her. That’s what he wants.
He just chuckles, and I allow him to walk away. For now.
“You should have let me handle him,” Bones growls. “That way, his blood isn’t on your hands.”
“I’ll take care of it,” I inform him.
_______________
“ANY WORD ON when Grave and April will be back? I still haven’t spoken to her,” Alexa states as we enter the Royal Suite. A quick look at my watch tells me it’s five thirty in the morning. I’m exhausted. The fact that she’s been working at Crown has me staying up all night because I want to make sure everything goes smoothly for her.
“No.” I haven’t heard from him either. But I have it on my list of things to ask Titan tomorrow if he has any news.
“I’ll send April a text tomorrow,” she adds. “Just to check up on her.”
“What happened between you and Mitch?” I blurt out, not in the mood for anything else at the moment. Although I’m concerned about Grave and April, they will return when they’re ready. It’s only been two weeks, and I don’t think that’s nearly enough.
She stops and spins around to face me as I close the door. “It’s not important.”
“It is,” I argue, needing to know. “I want to know. Please tell me.” I resort to begging. I’ve realized that demanding anything gets me nowhere with Alexa. So, I have to try something different.
Looking away from me, she runs her hand through her blond hair. “Long story short, he cheated on me. And I left.”
“When was the last time you were with him?” I dig.
Her head snaps to face me, and her eyes narrow. “Excuse me?”
I step into her. “You heard me. When was the last time he fucked you?”
She slams her hands into my chest. “Fuck you!”
Turning, she goes to stomp off, but I grab her upper arm and spin her back around to face me. “Answer the question, Alexa.”
“You think I sleep around?” She arches a brow, challenging me while avoiding my question at the same time.
I want to say that she did fuck me that first night, but even I know that would be a fucking bomb blowing up in my face. “I think you two have a past, and I don’t doubt he’s tried lately.” She was surprised to see him that night at the Airport. And he seems to be trying harder since he found out that we’re together. Do I think it’s a coincidence that he showed up at the club tonight? No! Someone he knows has seen her there since she started earlier last week, and he stopped by to check on her. I’m not an idiot. My question is was tonight the first time? Or was it just time for him to show his face to her?
“Don’t worry about it, Cross.” She yanks away from me. “I haven’t fucked anyone else since you.”