Ten minutes. That’s how long it took us to abandon the house that had become a home for me.
Raindrops pattered against the windshield, the weather mirroring my inner state. What on earth would happen next?
“Does Gianna know what you do?” I asked as soon as we got on the freeway, trying to calculate how quickly my father could find out where I’d been.
“No. She thinks I sell used cars.” Alex kept his eyes on the road, but his hand was on my thigh. He was so calm, so unshaken.
I slumped against the soft leather of the car seat and let the dark images permeate me. Alex in prison. Me returning to my old life. Seeing Xavier, seeing my father, seeing my office.
Maybe we could just drive forever. Drive to Canada or in the opposite direction, to Mexico. And after that, just keep driving because anything was better than going back.
“What’s your favorite color, Jade?” Alex asked me out of the blue, interrupting my spiral. The question was both silly and somehow flattering.
“I don’t know. Maybe blue. What’s yours?”
“Green,” Alex said immediately, inching his hand higher up my thigh, never taking his eyes off the road. “Like the color of your eyes.”
Heat burned my cheeks for some reason. Like my eyes.
“How did you get that scar on your knee?” Alex asked another simple question. It was warm and dry in the car, but the world outside was flooding in rain, turning darker with every passing mile.
I knew what he was doing—he noticed I’d been quieter than ever. Noticed that I was anxious and possibly even knew that I was scared. But his tone was light and curious, and he asked simple questions, doing his best to keep my mind off the impending doom. And it was working.
“I fell off my bike when I was a teenager. Had to get stitches.”
“Mm. Do you like biking?”
And that’s how an hour flew by in a blur of questions, laughter, and stolen kisses.
***
Alex pulled up to what I could only call a castle. My mouth hung open as I stared out the window at the mature palm trees lining the longest driveway in the world. The house was modern and absolutely massive, with glass walls and windows offering a glimpse inside.
With my hand in his, Alex walked to the front door and picked a key on his keychain, like this was all normal life. He swung the door open and pulled me in after him into the cool and quiet home.
I took it all in, a little shocked. Everything screamed money. The floors gleamed, the furniture was all soft and designer, and it smelleddivine.Rich.
“Wow.” I wandered further inside, following him. “Grand theft auto pays well, huh?” I eyed the curved staircase leading upstairs, noticing the steps were made of marble. There was a grand piano standing underneath the stairs, right in front of a window facing the ocean. That was thehallway.
Alex chuckled, pulling me into a sitting room designed for a king. Leisurely, like we were back at the beach house and not ina replica of Versailles, he walked through it and into the kitchen, which was more like one slab of continuous stone.
“Actually, car thefts didn’t pay for this house.” He pointed to an island chair, and I dared to plant my butt on it, feeling incredibly out of place.
“Oh?” The rain still pattered outside, right into the pool beyond the windows. “Do you have another hobby? Saving kittens , perhaps?”
I rested my chin in my hands and just watched Alex move around the kitchen. He withdrew a kettle from a cabinet and filled it up, plugging it in somewhere beside the fridge. He knew the kitchen well.
“I’m more of a dog person, but I like cats too. You ever had a pet?” He glanced at me before withdrawing two glasses from another cabinet and filling them with ice.
“No, but I’d like a pet one day. Maybe a chinchilla?”
I burst out laughing at the way Alex stilled, turning back to me with confusion on his face. “I draw the line at hamsters.” He made a karate chop motion with his hand. “It goes dogs,” Alex said, holding up one finger. “Cats.” A second finger popped up. “Hamsters. We can’t get anything else.”
The kettle boiled while I watched him with glee on my face. “We? We’re getting a pet?” My heart raced just at the thought.
His eyes darkened and he abandoned whatever he was doing, rounding the island and strolling closer. Confidently, he swiveled my chair until I was right in front of him. I stared up at him, forgetting to breathe.
“We,” he stated. “We. Are you planning on getting a pet with another boyfriend? In which case, I’ll need his address so I can...” Keeping his eyes on mine, Alex dragged his thumb across his throat.