26. Magnolia Steel
Chapter 26
Magnolia Steel
The silence is suffocating.
I stand frozen in the middle of my apartment, staring at the door Alex walked out of. The sound of it closing behind him echoes through my bones. My chest is hollow, scraped clean, as if he took everything vital with him.
A shuddering breath pushes past my lips, and I press my fingers to my temples, trying to make sense of everything that happened. But there is no making sense of it.
Alex was here. And now he’s gone.
I had to tell him about Ty. Hiding it would have been worse. But now I wonder if the truth broke us as surely as a lie would have.
A wave of nausea rolls through me, my stomach twisting as I replay the way Alex looked at me—the storm in his eyes, the tension coiled tight in his jaw. I saw the moment it hit him, and my words settled deep into his bones.
He left. And I don’t know if he’s ever coming back.
I try to pull myself together, but it’s useless. My hands are shaking. My heart is still racing.
Anger pulses in my veins, thick and wild.
Ty––that fucking bastard.
He poisoned me against Alex, feeding me lies until rejection became the only thing I could feel. He made me believe Alex had moved on with someone else.
And I believed him.
I let his lies sink into my skin, let them reshape the way I saw Alex, let them push me straight into the arms of a man who only ever wanted to use me as a weapon against the man he hates.
It’s disgusting.
I scroll through my contacts until I find his name. My thumb hesitates for a second before I make the call.
Ty picks up, his voice smooth, oozing satisfaction. “Hello, beautiful. How’s my favorite designer this evening?”
He sounds like my call has made his night. Fuck that. I’m about to ruin it.
“I’m not doing so great.”
“What’s wrong? Let me guess—having a hard time choosing between white and off-white for the bedding?”
“I have a question for you.”
“Okay. What’s up?”
My question isn’t for information. It’s a razor—and I’m aiming straight for the jugular. “What’s the latest on Alex?”
Ty is quiet for a second too long, and I can imagine the gears turning in his head. “Why do you ask about him?”
“Answer the question.”
“In case you forgot, I’m in Charleston. It’s impossible for me to keep tabs on Sebring from here. Not that I care enough to bother. Not interested in what he’s up to these days.”
I let the lie sit there, thick and rotting, giving him just enough rope to hang himself.
“How did you know he was getting married… since you’re in Charleston and don’t keep up with him?”
Another beat of silence.
“I don’t recall who told me.”
“You didn’t hear a damn thing. You invented it, played me.”
Another pause––stalling––because he’s trying to gather the pieces slipping through his fingers. “Just because I don’t remember who told me doesn’t mean I played you, Magnolia. You’re reading too much into this.”
“Lies and manipulation, all of it. And you’re still doing it now.”
“Mags—”
“Only my friends get to call me that. And you are not my friend.” My voice drops to a deadlier, quieter place. “Alex was right about you. You’re the parasite he always said you were.”
“Will you just listen to me for a minute?”
“And what—set myself up for more lies? No, thanks.”
I end the call with a single flick of my thumb. Quick. Final. No second-guessing. No regret. Just silence—and the pounding rush of fury in my veins.
The phone buzzes in my hand almost immediately—Tyson McRae. Incoming Call.
I hit decline without a second thought, my thumb moving faster than instinct.
The phone lands on the couch with a dull thud, like it burned my skin to touch it. My pulse hammers in my ears, my chest tightening under the realization.
How could I have been so blind?
Alex warned me––again and again––and I ignored everything he had told me.
I let Tyson McRae slither into my life, into my business, into my trust.
Almost into my bed.
Worse—I let him touch me. More than touch.
That conversation with Alex is coming. And it’s going to tear him apart.
A violent shudder rolls through me, nausea knotting in my throat as I think about it.
I should’ve seen it—the arrogance, the charm-covered lies, the way he played at every angle like he’d rehearsed it a thousand times. It was all a game to him, and I walked right into it.
God, I hate him.
My head throbs with the weight of too many emotions crammed into too little time. I sit there, numb, while the pieces of tonight grind against each other inside me.
A knock on the door snaps through the quiet.
My heart jolts. Alex… he came back.
I’m on my feet in an instant, rushing toward the door. I yank it open, and my stomach drops.
Ty’s expression is hard, blue eyes drilling into mine. “We need to talk.”
Fury coils inside me, tight and lethal, a snake ready to strike. “Are you out of your damn mind? Leave.”
He reaches out for me, and I step out of his grasp.
“Please, Magnolia. I have to explain.”
“You don’t have to do anything except go. Now.”
His jaw locks. “Mags, please?—”
“Don’t call me that. You lost that right when you lied and manipulated me. You don’t get to stand here like you deserve anything from me.”
“I don’t deserve anything, but I’m asking, begging, for five minutes.” Desperation flicks across his face.
I tighten my grip on the door, every muscle screaming for him to leave. “You can’t be here when Alex comes back.”
His mouth opens, but no sound comes out. For once, his quick wit abandons him.
“The answer is yes. Alex is in Charleston.” I fold my arms across my chest. “He’ll be back any minute, and he’s furious, Ty. If he sees you here” —I shake my head— “I’m afraid of what will happen.”
Ty scoffs, a weak smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. “I’m not scared of Sebring.”
I lean in, my voice dropping to a quiet warning. “You should be.”
Ty doesn’t understand. He didn’t see Alex’s face when he left, or the way his hands shook, or the raggedness in his breath, his control slipping thread by thread. He doesn’t understand the storm brewing inside him, the sheer force of a man who looks like he could lose it at any moment.
And if Alex walks through that door and finds Ty standing here? God help us all.
“I’m serious. Alex isn’t in a good place right now. It will not end well if he finds you here.”
“Did you tell him about us?”
“Some. It didn’t go over well.”
Ty’s grin is slow, smug. “I want him to know everything that’s happened between us.”
My body shakes with the effort it takes not to kick him in the dick. “Leave! Now.”
I push against the door, trying to close it, but Ty moves fast. One broad hand slaps flat against the wood, stopping it cold. The other braces against the frame, caging me in with nothing but his presence. He doesn’t shove, doesn’t force—just holds steady, unmoving, his strength a quiet warning.
“You can shut the door in my face if you want, but I’m not leaving. I’ll be right here waiting when he gets back.”
My breath catches. “Please don’t do that.”
“Then let me in. Give me five minutes.” His voice softens, almost pleading. “That’s all I’m asking for. Let me explain and I’ll go.”
My head spins.
Alex will lose it if he finds him at my apartment. I can predict how that would end, and I don’t need more destruction tonight.
I step back, pulling the door open enough to let him pass. “Make it fast.”
Ty slips inside, and I close the door behind him, dread curling in my stomach. “Say what you need to say.”
“Healthy relationships are built on a foundation of truth and trust. And I want you to know the truth.”
A sharp, humorless laugh escapes me as I cross my arms. “That would be a first for you.”
His usual cocky smirk is nowhere to be found. Instead, he looks wired—like a man realizing too late that he bet everything and is about to lose it all.
“I’m the one who reported you to Soul Sync.” His words are clipped, low and fast, like he’s ripping off a bandage.
The blood in my veins turns to ice.
“Please hear me out.” He takes a step closer, holding up his hands. “I needed your life to fall apart… so I could be the one waiting in the wings to help you pick up the pieces.”
I stare at him, the betrayal sinking deep, like cold steel sliding between my ribs. “You needed my life to fall apart? Jesus, Ty. Who does something like that?”
“I had a plan. I was going to win you over. Seduce you. Make you forget about Sebring. Because nothing—and I mean nothing—would hurt him more than seeing you with me.”
Disgust curls in my stomach. My skin feels too tight, like it might split open from the pressure of my rage.
His composure slips at the edges. His usual smugness flickers—just for a second—before something else takes its place. Something… raw.
“At least that was the plan. Destroy Alex by taking the one thing he couldn’t stand to lose. Make him suffer.” He lets out a humorless laugh, shaking his head. “But something unexpected happened.”
His gaze lifts, locking onto mine, and his next words hit me like a wrecking ball.
“I fell in love with you.”
I stare at him, stunned into silence. My pulse pounds in my ears, drowning out the words that just came out of his mouth.
Love? That’s not what this was.
It was strategy. Control. A game he thought he could win.
He steps closer, searching my eyes. “I love you, Magnolia.”
His throat bobs as he swallows hard, shaking his head like even he can’t believe what’s coming out of his mouth. “I’ve never said those words to a woman before. Not once. But with you, I mean them.”
I stare at him, my heart hammering.
“I said it would be okay for you to think of him if we were together, that I didn’t mind. But I did mind. I was desperate for you to want me .” His eyes burn into mine. “And you did, didn’t you? You wanted me.”
I’m not a liar, and I won’t become one today. “I admit that something was happening between us. But it never would’ve happened if I’d known the truth. All of it was built on lies.”
“I’ll do anything, Mags. Tell me how to fix this, how to fix us.”
“There is no fixing this because there is no us.”
His face twists, and for the first time, I see genuine pain in his expression. Yes, he is a manipulative liar, but I believe his anguish is real.
I take a step back, putting distance between us. “I love Alex. It’ll always be Alex.”
A sharp knock at the door jolts me out of my haze, and my stomach drops.
Shit.
I squeeze my eyes shut for half a second, willing this moment to disappear. Wishing I could erase the last few minutes, hell, the last six months. But I can’t. And there’s no time to think.
I swallow hard and turn toward the door, my pulse hammering as I reach for the knob.
Alex stands on the other side, eyes stormy, chest rising and falling like he’s one breath away from coming apart. His jaw is tight, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.
“I’m sorry, favorite. I just needed a minute to get my head straight.”
Relief crashes into me like a wave. But before I can respond, he shifts forward—and sees him.
His entire body stiffens, his control snapping like a live wire.
“Alex––” I step in front of him, my hands coming up to his chest in an effort to defuse the explosion I can already feel coming. “Please. Just—just calm down.”
His dark eyes cut to mine, wild and unyielding. He shakes his head. “Don’t ask me to calm down, Magnolia. I’ve been calm for far too long.”
His gaze locks back onto Ty, and I know that the time for calming down is over.
Alex steps inside without hesitation, his body coiled tight like a predator about to strike. The door slams shut behind him, rattling the walls, but his gaze remains locked on Ty.
His voice cuts through the thick tension like a blade. “The breakup texts.” Alex studies Ty, his gaze cold, calculating—like he’s deciding whether to rip him apart with words or with fists. “That was you.”
Ty shrugs, unbothered. “Yeah, with Celeste’s help. And your secretary’s.”
“And pairing Celeste with me at Soul Sync?”
“That was her idea. She’s still desperate to get you back.”
“You’re the one who paid for Celeste.”
“I did. And that shit isn’t cheap. You must be desperate for a wife.”
Alex’s nostrils flare, his hands flexing at his sides. “You did all of this to hurt me?”
Ty smirks. “Of course, it was to hurt you. Everything I do is to hurt you. Just like my relationship with Magnolia.”
My stomach twists into a knot.
Shit, what is he about to say?
His expression shifts, something flickering in his icy blue eyes. “At least that was the initial plan. But sometimes, plans have a way of changing.”
I suck in a breath, bracing myself.
Please don’t say it, Ty.
Please don’t say it.
Ty’s lips curl into something that almost looks like triumph. “I fell in love with Magnolia.”
He takes a slow step forward, his gaze flicking to me for a fraction of a second before settling back on Alex. “And she was falling in love with me too.”
The room goes deadly silent.
Because all hell is about to break loose.
He’s unfazed by the rage radiating off Alex. “I love her, Sebring. I love the fuck out of her.”
Alex’s nostrils flare, his jaw tight. “Shut your fucking mouth.”
Ty takes a step forward, challenging him. “You’re out of your mind if you think I’m going to let her go without a fight.”
It happens fast—so fast. He lunges, his fist colliding with Ty’s jaw with a sickening crack. Ty stumbles back, shakes off the hit, and charges forward.
The full force of two huge, powerful men colliding in my living room makes the walls tremble. The coffee table rattles, a lamp crashes to the floor. I knew this was coming—I felt it the moment Alex laid eyes on Ty—but the sheer brutality of it still shocks me.
A grunt. A fist meeting flesh. The deep, guttural sound of impact as Alex shoves Ty back against the wall.
Ty retaliates, throwing a punch that snaps Alex’s head to the side.
I suck in a sharp breath as Alex recovers, the look in his eyes turning lethal. He comes at Ty harder, slamming him against the back of my couch before taking him to the ground. The two of them grapple for control, muscles straining, bodies colliding. It’s raw, violent, unrestrained.
Ty flips Alex, pinning him down, his fists landing blows to his face. My stomach twists as blood smears across my hardwood floor.
Ty stops, Alex pinned beneath him. He leans in, voice low, dripping with venom. “I can see why you don’t want to let her go. Her pussy tastes so sweet.”
Oh. Fuck.
He went there.
The coffee table gives beneath their weight, splintering into pieces.
Alex’s roar is pure fury. With a surge of strength, he reverses their positions, straddling Ty and unleashing hell. One hit. Another. And another.
Blood drips from Alex’s lip. Ty’s face is a ruin of crimson.
Alex won’t stop punching Ty. He’s a machine.
“Stop!” I scream again, my voice cracking, but he doesn’t stop.
I step closer, panic clawing up my throat. “Please, Alex. You’re going to kill him!”
Ty groans, his head lolling to the side, but Alex doesn’t let up. His fists drive into Ty’s face, his knuckles slick with blood. The sickening sound of bone against bone echoes through the room, each impact making my stomach turn.
“Alex!” My voice is desperate now, pleading.
And then something in him falters. His fist hovers midair, shaking. His breath moves in and out of his lungs, his entire body rigid.
Ty’s body goes slack beneath Alex’s fists, his hands falling to his sides. He’s no longer fighting back, no longer throwing punches. He just lies there, his face bloodied, his chest rising and falling in ragged, uneven breaths.
Alex shoves off Ty and falls back against the sofa, dragging his hands through his hair, gripping it.
“Fuuuck!” His voice is a roar, the word ripping through the air like a gunshot.
Ty is motionless on his back, blinking up at the ceiling, blood oozing. His nose is a mess—broken, no doubt. His cheekbone already swelling. But still, after everything, he finds it in himself to smile.
“This changes nothing, Sebring.” He coughs, spitting blood onto my floor. “I still love her.”
Alex’s head snaps toward him, his eyes dark with rage. “Fuck you, motherfucker. You don’t know what love is. And you sure as hell don’t deserve to love someone like Magnolia.”
“You’re right. I didn’t know what it was to love someone. But that was before her.”
Alex’s chest rises and falls rapidly, his voice low, guttural. “She is my heart and soul. The air in my lungs. The blood in my veins.” His eyes burn into Ty’s, deadly and unrelenting. “You will never have her. I promise you that.”
I press a hand to my chest as I take in the damage.
My living room looks like a war zone. Shattered glass and splintered wood scatter across the floor, the coffee table demolished beyond recognition. A dented lamp lies facedown, its crooked shade barely clinging on. One of the dining chairs is overturned, and the sofa sits askew, shoved off-center from the rug. Even the armchair by the window is twisted at an awkward angle as if the whole room is still reeling from the chaos.
And in the middle of it all, Tyson lies sprawled on the floor, looking like he just got drop-kicked by karma wearing steel-toed boots.
Karma––she’s a salty bitch, that one.
“Ty, you need to go to the hospital.”
He coughs, then groans, rolling onto his side. “I’m fine.”
A short, sarcastic laugh slips from my lips. “You are most definitely not fine. Your nose is not even in the center of your face anymore.”
He drags in a slow breath, wincing as he props himself up on an elbow. “I’ve had worse.”
He inhales before reaching up and gripping his nose between his fingers.
“Oh my God. Don’t do it.”
An unmistakable crunch reaches my ears as he shifts it back into place.
I close my eyes, a full-body shudder racking through me. “Jesus, Ty.”
He exhales, then grins through the blood. “Well, that was unpleasant.”
“You should leave.” Now. While Alex is catching his breath. I’m not sure he’s finished with you.
Tyson pushes to his feet with a groan, wiping more blood from his face as he straightens. He’s slower now, stiff, and favoring one side as he makes his way toward the door.
I step ahead of him and pull it open, gripping the knob. He stops just shy of the threshold, looking down at me. There’s no smirk, no cocky gleam in his eye. Just something tired. Something raw.
“Pick… me… Magnolia.”
My chest tightens. Despite everything, despite the lies, despite the chaos, I can feel the truth in his voice. He means it.
He loves me.
But my answer is still the same. It’ll always be the same.
“I choose Alex… every… time.”
A beat passes before he nods, slow and accepting, like he already knew what I’d say. “If you ever change your mind, one call. That’s all it’ll take for me to run to you.”
“Wow.” Alex lets out a dry chuckle, pure revulsion in his voice. “Didn’t think you could be more pathetic, but here we are.”
Ty’s jaw tightens, his eyes flicking to mine before settling back on Alex. “You’ve won. For now.” His voice is low, edged with something dangerous. “But one fuck-up, Sebring—just one—and I’ll be there to catch her when she falls.”
Alex leans forward, resting his forearms on his knees, blood still smeared across his knuckles. His eyes burn with absolute certainty. “That’ll never bloody happen.”
Ty holds his gaze for a moment longer, his expression unreadable. Then he turns back to me. “Until we meet again, Mags.”