Page 37 of Painted Truths

CHAPTER TWELVE

Olivia

Holding my elbow in one hand while resting his other one at the base of my exposed spine in his reassuring way, Alex quickly steers me out of the Grand Ballroom, out of the Landmark, and onto the street. Almost miraculously, Samuel is waiting like a white knight but with a black town car instead of a horse. The thought sends me into hysterical laughter while both men look at me like I've lost my mind.

In a way, I have.

Henry has blown it away with his eyes and the promises held within them. And when he'd leaned in and spoken those words, it was as though I had left my body and was watching the scene unfold from afar. Those words confirmed my deepest, darkest, most secret hope; that he'd been the sender of those divine blue roses, the ones Nola claimed signified things I'd only ever dared to dream of.

Alex brings me back to the moment, ushering me into the car just as Freya runs out onto the street, brandishing my clutch.

"Liv, honey, I’ve got your bag. Are you okay?"

Bending my head as he places his palm gently but firmly on the top to urge me inside the vehicle, Alex answers in my stead.

"Thank you so much, but she's fine, Ms Thornton. I'll make sure she gets home."

He gently plucks the bag from her grasp before sliding into the car beside me as I send wide eyes to Freya. Alex continues as he buckles me in and settles himself.

"See you on Monday. Goodnight."

I don't think I've ever heard Alex as… succinct. As in charge. And it makes me wonder what happened between the brothers.

"Alex, is everything…."

Cutting me off swiftly with a finger to my lips, he takes me in with his unusual amber eyes before speaking.

"Liv. I know what you're going to say. Because I know you better than almost anyone."

His forehead crinkles into a deep frown. "And it's because I know you so well that I need to be honest with you, okay?"

He waits for my slight nod, telling him to go on, before dropping his finger from my lips and holding my hands lightly between his.

"My brother is a fucking god in the business world. And maybe, long ago—"

His voice breaks before he clears his throat, continuing. "As a child, I adored him with something akin to hero-worship." His emotions are bubbling to the surface, these words telling me more about their obviously fraught relationship than he's ever let slip before, and my heart breaks for my best friend. "But, sweet girl, he's not a good person."

He swallows heavily, as though a tonne weight rests on his shoulders.

"Something happened tonight. I wish I knew what, but it was like a switch flipped, and he decided that you were his for the taking."

My stomach swirls and nauseates at those words, not knowing what to make of them. Only knowing that they are sending little thrills of hope through every crevice of my being.

"It's my fault you've been caught in his crosshairs, sweet girl, and for that, I'm sorry."

The car pulls up outside my building, stopping with a jolt that jerks us both forward suddenly as Samuel solemnly catches my eye in the rear-view mirror. Alex leans over to unbuckle my seatbelt, then reaches for his own then exits, coming around the back of the car to open my door before walking me to the building.

The words are on the tip of my tongue.

Henry is McHottie. Those three words and Alex will know it has nothing to do with him. That this is no coincidence. But my throat has seized shut. My whole body is numb as I try to swallow down the lump keeping me from voicing my truth.

We stand on the pavement facing each other as he holds my chin between his forefinger and thumb, his brow furrowed, so at odds with the happy-go-lucky person I usually see.

"You're my best friend in the whole wide world. I want nothing more than to see you happy… but my brother is incapable of making anyone happy. I know that, more than most."

Wrapping his arms around me, his mouth rests by my ear as parting words send my heart plummeting. "He will just break your heart, Olivia. This I can promise you. This I know."

He breaks our embrace, giving me one last firm squeeze before turning and walking back to the car, leaving me in the chilly night, allowing the events of the past hour to sink in.