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Alexander stares at his mother for a couple of seconds and sighs. “Come on,” he says. “There’s plenty of time. I’ll drop you at home later.”
I frown at him, but Sofia nods happily. Alexander holds my coat out for me, but it’s his mother that he’s looking at. I helplessly put my arms through the sleeves and then step away. Before I have a chance to do the buttons up, he wraps his hands over mine and smiles at me. He looks into my eyes, and I can’t help the way my heart skips a beat. It feels like I haven’t seen him in forever. I’m pretty sure he’s been waiting to come to bed until he’s certain I’m fast asleep. I’ve been trying to stay up and wait for him, but he never shows… yet every morning his side of the bed is messy.
Alexander steps closer to me and slowly does my buttons up, taking his time. I see Sofia beaming from my peripheral vision, a relieved look in her eyes. She doesn’t even realize that it’s all an act, and part of me wishes she would. I don’t want to do this anymore. I don’t want to pretend to be happy together when he won’t even look at me in private.
Alexander grabs my hand and entwines our fingers before wrapping his other arm around his mother. He leads us to his car, and I’m surprised he didn’t arrive here in his limousine. He opens the passenger door of his sports car for me and smiles apologetically.
“I’m sorry, Buttercup. You’ll have to squeeze into the backseat. If I’d known you’d be here, I’d have come in a bigger car.”
I smile and shake my head to indicate I don’t mind. The backseat of his Aston Martin really is tiny, but thankfully I manage to fit just fine.
The restaurant we’re going to isn’t very far, and Sofia thoroughly enjoys the ride. Alexander lowers the roof for her so she can feel the wind blowing through her hair. He watches her with an indulgent smile every time she shakes her hair out, a huge grin on her face.
He takes such good care of her, and I can’t help but lose a little bit of my heart to this version of him.
Chapter 34
Alexander
We’ve only just made it to the restaurant when Elena’s phone buzzes. She glances down at it, her eyes widening.
She looks up at me, a shimmer of panic in her eyes, and then she looks back down, hiding her phone away in a rush. Unease settles in my gut when she smiles tightly without meeting my eyes.
“I… I need to go. Something came up,” she says.
She smiles at my mother and then turns to walk away before I can even stop her.
“Elena,” I call, rushing after her. “Where are you going?”
She looks into my eyes and the guilt I see in them wrecks me. She’s hiding something from me. “Oh, it’s nothing. I just need to head back to the hospital real quick,” she says.
And then she blinks twice, her telltale sign. She’s lying.
She grabs my hand and smiles at me. “Go ahead and have lunch with your mother. I’ll see you later.”
She squeezes my hand, and then she walks away, flagging down a taxi as she goes. I stare after her, my heart uneasy.
I grab my phone and call my security team the second she steps in the taxi. “Tell me exactly who just texted my wife, and what the contents of that text were,” I order as soon as Aiden, my security officer, picks up.
“Yes, sir,” he says.
I pace on the pavement as I wait for him to retrieve the data. “Everything okay?” my mother asks. “Where did Elena go?”
I shake my head. “It’s nothing, Mom. Something came up, though. Can we reschedule?”
She frowns at me and nods, but I can tell she’s concerned. She’s been worried about us for a while now, and I’ve let my anger at Elena overwhelm my mother’s needs, her happiness. “Of course, Alec. I’ll have the driver pick me up.”
I smile at her and press a kiss to her cheek as she grabs her phone to call our driver.
“Mr. Kennedy,” Aiden says on the phone. “It appears the text message came from your brother. The contents were as follows:I need you, Elena. Now. Please meet me at this address,” he says. I wait for him to give me the address, a thousand thoughts whirling through my mind. What the fuck are they up to? An affair? After she swore to me that nothing was going on between them? I should have known better. I should have known the second I found out about the fucking lingerie bullshit.
Pure rage fills my every vein when I realize the address is a room in one of our hotels. My hands are shaking as I get behind the wheel. Each scenario that comes to mind is more painful than the last. It feels like Jennifer all over again. Finding her in the apartment I bought for her, Matthew on top of her. I was stupid to put my faith in Elena. To think that money could buy her loyalty.
I’m seeing white as I walk into the hotel lobby. The receptionist is visibly nervous to find me here in person without any prior notice, and she stares at me with wide eyes. “Give me a duplicate key card to the Presidential suite,” I tell her.
She blinks and hesitates, but thankfully for her, her manager steps up and hands me the key before I can fire her for her incompetence.
I take it and wrap my hand around it so tightly that it cuts into me. Dread fills me as I take the lift up, scared of what I’ll find. I stand in front of the door, my heart aching in a way it never has before. Elena… I should’ve remembered whose little sister she is. Whose daughter she is. She’s had me fooled.
