“Hence why I wished I’d have known about your relationship. If I had, maybe I’d have realized what was being asked of her, and actually clarified that we wanted to know if her abductor was in the lineup, not if she recognized anyone. See the difference?”
“Fuck!”
He dropped to his knees, rested his forehead against his bed and let his hands drop to the floor, feeling completely defeated.
“Quinten, I haven’t told you all this to make you feel worse. I told you in case there was any doubt in your mind about
Saige.”
He shook his head. “I never doubted her. I’ve only ever loved her.”
He turned his head to face the detective with tears spilling from his eyes. “Will you promise me that you’ll look after her? I need to know that there is someone out there”—he nodded toward the window—“who can make sure she’s safe. I don’t trust her family.”
The detective stayed silent for a while, until he saw the second guard approaching, and stood. “You have your promise, Quinten.”
He nodded to the detective and watched him leave.
On his knees he did something that he’d never done before, he prayed...not for himself because he was a lost cause now, but for Saige.
* * *
8:00pm
* * *
Alex dressed in the guest room at the Lockwoods home and felt the walls closing in. He was fine when they first arrived at lunch the day before, especially when they’d been informed that Christina wouldn’t be home until today. He’d dropped his luggage inside, but then they’d gone into town and walked around.
The old folks who lived in town still looked down their noses at him, even after all this time. He should have expected it considering Quinten sat on death row, but he’d forgotten how hateful the people of Port Jude had been to him. It had been worse once Quinten had been arrested. No one would ever talk to him when he tried to find his own evidence to clear his brother.
Fuck them all!
Because of the attitude he faced in town, Saige was withdrawn up until one old woman had spit at his feet. She’d snapped out of her thoughts and stared at the ground and the white pearl of spittle, then her eyes filled with rage and she raised them to the woman’s. If looks could have set the woman on fire, it would have, but instead, the woman had felt the tongue lashing Saige had given her until he’d dragged her away.
The last thing he wanted right now was to attract more attention to them being there. It would be all over town now though, and the whispers would have started. “Saige Lockwood’s returned home with Alexander Peterson. His brother tortured the poor girl and killed all those college girls. Why she’s with him is anyone’s guess.”
In their eyes, he’d be fucking her and then the hatred toward Saige would start, which he wanted to prevent. She had enough to deal with without gossip about the both of them. He should have given that more thought, but what the fuck. His brother didn’t have time, and they needed answers.
The lying Christina would be the first place he’d start, but he knew Saige was reluctant, and in a way, because of his shared history with Christina, he was too.
Christina Lockwood was a sexy woman with a body made for sin, and oh yes, back then, he’d looked, and eventually tasted. He’d broken his one rule and let her into his heart only to have her rip it out not long after. He always felt there was more to her last words to him than she wanted him to know. Either way, it hadn’t made the pain of knowing she didn’t want him—he wasn’t good enough—any less. So he’d hidden the hurt he’d felt behind anger and arrogance, and started fucking his way through life.
The sad thing was that no one had come close to removing the longing he still had for her, and that pissed him off.
She was down the hall from where he was, and just the thought of her so close caused his breath to quicken. It was ridiculous after all the years that had passed, but she’d always had that affect on him.
At first Christina reminded him of Jocelyn, but then he’d gotten to know her and she was anything but.
When they’d first made love, she came across as shy and inexperienced, but that had soon changed. She’d taken him to heights of pleasure that he’d never experienced before...and then crushed him like a fly.
No matter how ridiculous it was, he wanted Christina to stand by his side when Quinten had been arrested, but she’d laid the blame at Quinten’s feet, just like everyone else.
Alex yanked his jeans up his legs and fastened the zipper, he nearly broke the thing with how much anger he had inside of him.
He needed to control it, especially when he heard a tap on the door. It could be one of two people—Saige or Christina, but his money was on the latter.
Expecting Christina, he left off his shirt, and undid the button at the top of his pants. He’d let her see just what she’d thrown away.
When he opened the door, he wasn’t surprised and stepped back so she could enter. His pulsed hammered in his ears as she nervously walked past him, and he allowed his eyes to follow her.