Say You Will (The Alexanders 5)

The repressed rage in his friend’s voice shouldn’t have been comforting. But clearly Matt knew where Mara was and had spoken to her or he wouldn’t be mad. When Trent had left a message, he hadn’t included that many details. Obviously Mara had filled him in herself.

“Is she okay?” How could she be okay, when her purse and money were there at the penthouse? Unless Matt had gotten her a hotel room and just wasn’t mentioning that part. He couldn’t blame his buddy. He knew that if Trent had that information, he’d use it to try to track her down.

“I don’t know. Are you?”

“No.”

Matt grunted on the other end of the line. “I warned you before this all went down not to hurt her. But in a way, I blame myself. I knew that I shouldn’t have let her talk to you. I knew that you would just spin more lies, the way you’ve been doing all along. But hear me now, stay away from her. I don’t know exactly what happened just yet but once I know she’s okay, I’ll be coming for you.”

“I never meant to hurt her. You have to believe that. Of all the things I’ve ever told you, I’ve never lied about that. I’m going crazy over here worrying about her. Please tell me if she’s coming home.”

“Like I said, she’s safe. You really don’t want to ask me any more questions right now.” There was a soft click as his friend hung up.

He set the phone down beside him. Then he picked it up and threw it across the room. It hit the wall and shattered. He clenched his fingers, wishing there was something, anything, else he could throw. He needed to hit something. Needed something to hit him back.

The elevator doors slid open and he chuckled mirthlessly. “I have to revoke everyone’s security privileges.”

“I didn’t realize I had any.”

Trent turned at the sound of his brother’s voice. Then he turned back to face the dawn. “What do you want?”

He felt his brother come closer. When he finally gathered the energy to look over again, James stood next to his chair. He looked over at the shattered remnants of Trent’s phone on the floor across the room and then back at him.

“I heard about what Avery did.”

“How long have you been carrying this around?” Trent asked.

“What? You mean wondering if Travis was mine?” James moved past him and took a seat on the couch. This close he could see that his brother didn’t look any better than he felt. He had dark circles under his eyes and his hair looked like it hadn’t been combed for days. He was still wearing his tuxedo from the prior night. Trent looked down in consternation at his own clothes. He hadn’t changed either.

“It didn’t occur to me until he got a little older. He looked so much like you. And it made me think about that night.”

“I really don’t remember anything happening.” Trent clenched his fists, wanting to smash something. “But I should have taken you seriously when you first told me. I should have done a lot of things. Everything I’ve been doing for the past few years has been a mistake.”

James let out a sigh. “You’re not the only one.” He looked around the room, seeming to take stock of how quiet it was. “Your girl, she’s not here. You lost her over this, didn’t you?”

Trent didn’t answer. Then he said, “I never had her. Not really.”

* * * * *

MARA ROLLED OVER and hugged her pillow against her. Caught in the space between dreams and awake, for a moment she wasn’t sure where she was. Just that she was warm and her eyelids felt very heavy. She smiled, wondering what new adventures she and Trent would have that day.

Then she came fully awake and realized that she was in a hotel room and that her adventures with Trent were over.

She turned her head and the rest of the room came into view. Sunlight peeked around the edges of the heavy drapes. With one hand, she pushed back the comforter and with the other she massaged her throat, which was suddenly scratchy and dry. When she sat up, her head started pounding. Raiding the minibar last night probably wasn’t the best idea she’d ever had but at least it had given her a break from crying her eyes out.

What the hell was she going to do?

The time for crying was over and it was time to take action. She needed to get her stuff and go home. But she wasn’t sure she could face Trent without breaking down again. An idea occurred to her and she grabbed her cell phone from the nightstand. Before going to bed, she’d sent her brother a message and then turned it off to save the power. She turned it back on and instantly several messages showed up. All from Matt.

She dialed her brother’s number. His sleep-gruff voice answered after several rings. “Hello.”

“Hey, sorry if I woke you.”

Matt cleared his throat and when he answered her, he sounded like he’d come wide awake. “No, it’s fine. How are you?”

Guilt creeped in. She’d been so distraught the prior night that she hadn’t been thinking straight. She’d left her brother a message that she was safe and where she was but had turned her phone off before going to sleep. Knowing his overprotective streak, he’d probably been up late worried about her.

“I’m sorry. Things were so crazy yesterday and I just needed some time to get my head on straight.”