She shook her head. "No, I'm all done. Maybe I'll read for a while. You can go to sleep if you need to."
"Okay," I said and pressed the elevator button. I yawned at the thought of going to bed and covered my mouth. "Sorry. I'm toast. That beer was one too many."
She squeezed my hand as we rode up the elevator. "You deserve to sleep as long as you need. I have an early class, so I'll get up and be quiet as a mouse so you can sleep in."
"No, no," I said and kissed her. "Wake me up for an early morning session. I need to remind myself why I can't just go and punch Eric's lights out when the mood strikes me."
She laughed at that and we went down the hall to the suite. "Not on your life. You're sleeping in."
Once inside, I could barely wait to get out of my clothes and under the covers, my head on the pillow.
So as soon as I'd brushed my teeth and undressed, I did.
Alexa took care of turning all the lights off for the night, and within ten minutes, she was in bed beside me. I was already drowsy, my eyes barely able to stay open, but I wanted us to kiss goodnight before I went to sleep.
"Come and snuggle with me," I said and pulled her against my body when she climbed in bed. "I need my Alexa time."
We embraced and she leaned up and kissed me. "I love you, Luke. Don't do anything like that again, okay? I've read of cases where one unlucky punch ended the life of someone and then, it was too late."
"I love you more than anything, Alexa. I'll never do anything like that again, I promise," I said and squeezed her tightly. "I promise I'll be a paragon of discretion from now on."
"Good. Now go to sleep. I'm going to read for a while."
She gave me another kiss and then leaned over to turn off the bedside lamp. She had her tablet in hand, her book open, and other than the faint light from the screen, the rest of the room was cast into darkness.
I barely even remember closing my eyes.
When I next awoke, I was alone in the suite. Alexa had been true to her word and had gotten up and left without waking me. I lay on my back and stared up at the ceiling, happy to be back to my real life and no longer facing criminal charges. My day was totally unstructured, but I did want to go for a run and maybe head down to the temporary office John had rented for us to use as we developed our next project.
I got up and pulled on a pair of shorts and t-shirt. Before I left, I checked my cell for any messages, and was surprised to see one from Peter, my attorney.
PETER: Hey, maybe you better come down to the office today. I got papers from your mother that you've been disinherited.
My jaw dropped open. She really had gone through with it. What the fuck?
LUKE: Okay, I'll be down later this morning. I expected this, but it was pretty quick.
PETER: You didn't tell me you were having problems with your mother.
LUKE: I was kind of preoccupied with possibly going to jail for assault…
PETER: Well, you can fill me in when you get here.
LUKE: Thanks. See you soon.
I put my cell down and for a moment, I felt like just plopping down on the sofa and ordering myself a case of beer but then I caught myself. I expected she might pull something like this — drawing up papers as a threat and then ripping them up when I came crawling to her, begging for her to forgive me, promising to end my relationship with Alexa so I could get her hundreds of millions of dollars when she died.
No such luck.
I didn't need her.
I called down to the security service and once my guard arrived, I went for a run around Central Park, with him following me in a vehicle. I needed to burn off my excess adrenaline from the previous couple of stressful days. I needed to be completely calm when I went to speak with Peter. I didn't care about her money. It was the principle of the thing that mattered to me.
Why she thought she could control who I loved and who I married was beyond me. It was none of her business.
After my run, I returned to the hotel room and had a quick shower before dressing and going down to the lobby to catch the limo to Peter's offices. When I arrived, I said hello to Peter’s admin assistant, and then went into Peter’s office in the corner of the Madison Avenue building.
"What have you got for me?" I asked after shaking his hand. "What has my mother done to try to hurt me?