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ALEX
Aflicker of light and the sound of a deadbolt.
Alex whipped around.
There Madison stood, an angel surrounded by a halo of light.So beautiful.
So…
Fuck, am I dead?
A click, and more lights came on. Stone hit a switch as Madison and Stassi helped Alex to his feet. Jordan inspected him, a hand to her head. “Bullet-hole free?” she asked, her trademark salacious grin gradually climbing back in place.
Alex took a breath. “Barely.” With a hand around his wife and the other around his mother, he held them close, breathing them in. “Are you two alright?”
“We’re fine, Alex,” his mother answered.
His eyes locked on Madison’s reassured ones. “Yes, perfect.”
He pressed a hand to her belly.
She smiled. “They’re fine, too,” she whispered.
Stone’s second deadbolt slammed in, cutting through the relentless pounding from the frustrated assailants outside. “Clock’s ticking,” Stone warned, plunging them into the murky path of a dim corridor.
Once they were a safe distance away, Alex yanked Stone’s arm, seething below his breath. “Madison was safe, wasn’t she?”
Stone simply walked past.
Alex raised his voice. “Why would you let her go back in?”
“For the record,” Stone said, not slowing his stride, “Your wife has a hard time hearing. I told her I would handle it. Instead, she devised a plan of distraction and a rather potent dose of ammonium carbonate.”
“Ammonium what?”
“Smelling salt,” Stassi offered sweetly. “The right dose will wake the dead.”
Alex stepped in front of him, stoic, arms crossed. Stone rolled his eyes. “I couldn’t exactly chain her to a post, now could I?”
Stone glanced at Madison, then Jordan, then for a long beat at Stassi. He turned away, and after several vulgar words under his breath—all in a rainbow of languages—he continued leading the way. For the first time ever, Stone was unraveling at the seams.
Alex caught up with him, lowering his voice as the women trailed behind. “What did he mean, Stone? What does he want with AJ?”
Stone’s gaze shifted between Alex and Jordan, his expression a mix of remorse and determination. “AJ is the key, Alex. The key to destroying everything I have worked a lifetime to create. To bring down this intricate web of protection I’ve built. To bringing me to my knees with a swift slice of my Achilles heel.”
Alex’s brow furrowed as he struggled to comprehend the gravity of Stone’s words. “But how? What’s so significant about a fifteen year old boy?” Alex grabbed Stone by the shirt. “You have to tell me. He’s my brother.”
Stone’s voice lowered, laden with a heavy weight of truth. “And my son.”
CHAPTER30
ALEX
“Your…son?” Alex’s mind raced, trying to grasp every thread of meaning.
Confused, Alex stared at his mother, then back at Stone. “You…andshe…and…” Alex took a step back, falling against a wall, a hand clutching his chest. “I can’t feel my face.”
Stassi patted his cheek. “Always so dramatic, Alex. I’m a grown woman. Mr. Stone is a hot-blooded, virile, and sinfully gorgeous man.”
