She waved, then mouthed, Sorry.
I stopped in front of her, unsure if I wanted to drag her back to her bedroom or stand beside her and see what Bash would play next.
“Everything okay?” I whispered.
Alex nodded. “I woke up from another dream from the past.” She raised the water bottle in her hand. “Needed some air and a drink.”
I swiped the bottle from her and took a gulp of water.
She studied my mouth as I took another sip. “I remember what we did in the temple.”
She was so fucking perfect that night, giving each of us an equal amount of time with our queen. I’d always thought she was one of the most beautiful women in the world. But until then, I hadn’t fully understood Luca’s fixation with her. None of us did. And now, we were all obsessed with her.
Sonny had it bad. He talked about Alex all the time, said that no woman would ever compare to her. Drake said he imagined every woman afterward was Alex. Even Bash and Damian had become enamored with her, which was odd considering their strange relationship with Kali.
My heart bled every time I looked into her crystal blue irises. No matter what she believed, she was always Luca’s girl. Not even her grandfather could make her love another man. Her loyalty would always be with Luca.
Despite all the fucked up shit he had done to her, my brother had given her a career and a life outside of Devil’s Creek. Because of him, she had her first showing at Tate Modern next month. She had a lot of things because of Luca. We all did.
“Are you upset about what we did?” I asked her.
She shook her head. “No. I don’t regret anything.”
“Can you handle the real ceremony?”
She licked her lips, then grabbed the bottle from my hand. “From what I recall, I handled all of you just fine.”
I leaned closer, my mouth inches from hers. “Oh, I know you can handle all of us, princess. Just asking if you’re ready to do it again.”
Alex’s teeth glided across her bottom lip, and for a split second, I considered taking it in my mouth.
“Do you think Luca will be okay with it?”
“Yeah,” I said with a sigh. “He’ll be fine. Luca knows what’s expected of you.”
“It’s my choice,” she pointed out. “So what I say goes in that temple.”
Because I couldn’t help myself, I reached over and rolled my thumb across her lip. “Whatever our queen wants, she will get.”
Her cheeks flushed with color. “You make this so hard for me, Marcello.”
“You know what you want,” I told her.
“Yeah.” She blew out a deep breath. “I’m afraid I can’t trust myself. What if I make the wrong choice?”
“Go with your first instinct. That’s what I do.”
She looked up at me. “I need you, too.”
“I know.”
“This is the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make.”
Before I could respond, the piano music came to a screeching halt. I grabbed Alex’s hand and led her down the hallway toward the back stairwell in a hurry.
“Why are we power walking?” Alex muttered.
“Because Bash will flip out if he knows we were listening to him. He gets unnerved about it.”
“He’s really good,” she commented. “Shame he doesn’t play in front of people. I bet he could sell out a concert.”
“Don’t even mention you know about his music.”
She moved her fingers across her lips like she was zipping them shut. “His secret is safe with me.”
Once we were inside her bedroom, we striped down to our underwear and climbed onto the mattress. We slept like this most nights. Luca knew and didn’t seem to care. His brief moment of jealousy passed after I gave him some assurance. The night we brought Alex to the temple I promised I wouldn’t let her choose me. Even if that was what she wanted in the end.
Alex
With Luca’s birthday quickly approaching, I had a huge decision to make. The choice seemed impossible, though I knew from the start who would win in the end.
I sat on the back patio with Kali, sipping mimosas as we finished our brunch. Luca was working from his home office, while Marcello stood watch, keeping his distance. I’d asked him for some privacy with Kali. There was always someone hovering over me, and I was beginning to feel like I couldn’t breathe in this house.
Marcello stood beside Dom. The two of them spoke in hushed tones, their eyes on the bay. A warm breeze blew off the water, messing up my curls. I tucked them behind my ears and watched Marcello interact with his newest team member. Soon, Marcello would have to leave for a mission. It was only a matter of time. His job took him away from Devil’s Creek more often than Luca’s position at Salvatore Global.