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“I can arrange for all of that to be sent to my place.”
“I couldn’t possibly do that. I need my space.”
“Space… home…” he repeated my words. “All with a Mr. Parker Jones?” My heart stopped, feeling as if I were entirely caught, my best friend now an unintentional secret. He said Parker’s name for the first time to my face, something I never shared with him before.
“Yes. With Parker. I’ll take care of that. He needs to hear from me.”
“I’ll come with you,” he calmly caressed my hand.
“I’d advise against that, Alex,” Lina shot a look, and I agreed.
“She’s right. This is already complicated as it is. Let me take care of this. Let me spend time working on your suit, making it perfect. I want to do a good job for you.”
He smirked to himself, unbothered by the idea. “That’s not even a worry of mine. I know you’ll do well. My good girl always does.”
Mygood girl. In his mind I was already his, and as much as the idea thrilled me, the questions still unanswered made me nauseous. How could I be his when he still couldn’t be mine? Our relationship was different, it hinged on all the secrets we wanted to share but couldn’t; it wasn’t the fantasy I had with Parker, who I still wasn’t ready to face.
I didn’t want to hear what others had to say about Alejandro anymore, because I knew what I felt in this moment: secure, happy, calm. But was that just an illusion? Was it a byproduct of my mother, who always trusted the wrong guys? I refused to believe it, to settle on the explosions to come, on the gradual but inevitable truth Alejandro would speak. Maybe I’d tell him about the night my father left, and maybe he would tell me about his family, the ones whose deaths he scolded me about before our night ended.
This could work, and maybe I could accept the possible truth, that just because Alex Rivers was abad boy, didn’t mean that Alejandro Rivera-Marquez, himself, wasn’t agood man.
Chapter3
Gemma
“Parker!” I shouted, swooping the hair out from my face, slamming his apartment door shut. The living room was bright, annoying me with the early morning sun as I threw my keys on the counter, still clutching my paper cup of tea from the precinct.
Parker was near the hall, lifting his body on a pull-up bar, grunting, shirtless, pumping out a rep that flexed the hardness of his strong back. He ignored me as music blared in the background, and instead of competing with it, I yanked the speaker chord loose from the outlet.
“Parker Ellis Jones! What the hell did you do?” I scolded so loudly, it burned my throat. He finally let go of the bar, landing on his feet with an immeasurable thud. If I weren’t so pissed, I’d probably be nervous, his astonishing height intimidating enough, but more so menacing now with the coiled veins on his large, brawny arms. He turned to me with a glare.
“What the fuck were you thinking?” he growled harshly, filling the room with a chest rattling rumble.
“You don’t get to ask me that! You weren’t the one waiting all night at some police station. How dare you?”
“Excuse me?” He stepped closer, taking the tea out of my hand, slamming it on the counter. I tried not to avert my eyes from his as every bead of sweat rolled down his body, seeping into the loose grey sweats that dipped below his pelvis. “Do you have any idea what you put me through? How worried sick I was?”
“You have no right to invade my life. Parker, you called the cops! You had Alejandro arrested! Do you realize what you’ve put him through?” I threw my hands in the air, still unable to fully wrap my head around the insanity of the situation. “I’m not some animal to be hunted or some child that needs to be rescued.”
“No, don’t even,” he warned pointing his finger right in my direction. “Don’t talk to me like some brat. I’m not your fucking daddy, but since you’re sneaking out like a little girl, I’ll treat you like one.”
Parker gaveled his fist onto the table, his pupils narrowed into black dots and swirling green pools. I scoffed, taking notice of the unbelievable light that poured through my gaping doorway. I pushed myself past his body, getting closer towards it, covering my mouth. It was completely destroyed.
“What the hell, Parker?” I screeched. “What did you do to my door?” I marched back into the living room, watching as he wiped his sweaty face with a towel, tossing it across the table. “You and Camilla were hanging out. Everything was fine. How did we go fromthattothis?”I pointed back to the hall, demanding an explanation.
“Do you know what happens when someone undoes the latch to a fire escape here?” He twisted the drawstring of his pants, yanking it tight. “It’s timed, Gemma, it’s not meant for coming and going as you please.”
“Timed?” I asked, suddenly less confident.
“Yes! Timed as in sensitive to how it’s used. You unhooked it, which caused the delayed alarm to sound. And why?” he asked, already angry at the answer, leaving me unsure of what to say. If I told him that Alejandro actually snuck in and took me away, he’d certainly lose his mind. I couldn’t say that, not right now.
“I wanted to go out,” I defended as if I were some victim.
“Withhim?” He scowled.
“Yes, with him, and why is that so wrong?”
“Cause the way you did it panicked the whole building, my-fucking-self included. And, of course, he had something to do with this. I’m not surprised.” He threw his arms up.
