One Night to Risk It All

“You had a secret life!” Leah said. “I’m truly impressed.”

“Don’t be. I was an idiot. See, this is why they wouldn’t let me tell you! You’re easily influenced.”

Leah laughed again and Rachel couldn’t help laughing in return, until she was almost breathless with it, the need for something other than sadness and anger taking over and hijacking her emotions until she was almost in hysterics.

Leah followed suit until they’d both slid to the floor, laughing. Over nothing and everything. Rachel wiped her eyes and looked at her sister, another giggle surging through her.

“I guess if I can laugh for a little bit... Hey, it’s a start, right?”

Leah cleared her throat. “Yeah, Rach, it’s a start.”

Rachel smiled, a feeble attempt. Yes, it was a start. But she had a feeling the road to getting over Alex was longer than she could possibly imagine. She had a feeling the wounds would get cut open, raw and fresh again every time she looked at their child.

Especially if that child ended up with those beautiful, wicked blue eyes...

She hoped they wouldn’t. And she hoped they would.

For now she would take a couple hours of distraction. Her broken heart was going to take a long time to heal, but at least she had her sister. She could spend some time with Leah, doing her best to forget her pain.

* * *

Alex hated having to get dressed. Lying around his apartment, drunk and in his underwear, was about his speed lately. But here he was, shaven and showered and wearing a suit. Because he had business to see to.

Business that involved a man who would very likely kill him on sight. But at least then there would be an end to the hell he’d been living in. Death seemed like a pretty serene option, all things considered.

“Mr. Christofides.” A man who was sitting behind a large desk in the ante chamber of Ajax’s office addressed him. “Mr. Kouros will see you now.”

“Oh, good. I don’t suppose you know whether or not he’s in a killing mood.”

“At work, Mr. Kouros usually is.”

“Well,” Alex said. “Damn.” He forced a smile and walked toward Ajax’s office.

“Alexios,” Ajax said when he walked in. “I was surprised when you said you wanted to see me, and you made it necessary for me to dodge my wife’s questions because I didn’t want to upset her.... Anyway, you’ve put me in a bad frame of mind already so if I were you, I would speak quickly. If you’ve come to make some sort of arch villain monologue, you’re wasting your breath. I don’t care.”

“Hardly. I thought you might want an explanation. For everything. For why I was after your company. After you.”

“You were at the compound, weren’t you?” Ajax asked, sounding weary, a tired look in his eyes. Yes, Ajax felt very much like Alex did about the whole business. “In which case I understand why you might have reason to dislike me. However, you should know, and I say this not to try and absolve me of sins past but so you have some closure, I was the key part in having my father’s crime ring brought down.”

“I am happy to know that. To know that you were a part of stopping it. I wish I had been.”