Chapter Ten
LEONA
I’m laughing at Christian’s story when I feel eyes on me. Usually, the feeling of being watched makes me go cold inside, but this is different. It feels nice. I look up from my drink and see Zander, just watching me from the bar.
I smile and wave and Zander smiles back and heads towards us.
I am surprised at just how happy I am to see him. Erin’s warning about not letting myself get too attached to Zander comes back into my mind, but I push it away. Truth be told, it’s a bit too late for warnings.
Zander reaches the table and sits down opposite Christian and me. It’s then that I notice that there’s something off about him tonight. I glance at Christian to see if he’s noticed anything, but his face gives nothing away.
He smiles at Zander then turns to me. “Are you going to introduce us?” Christian asks.
“Yes. Yes, of course, sorry,” I say. “Zander, this is my best friend from home, Christian. Christian, this is Zander.”
I’m not sure whether to call him my boyfriend, but ‘friend’ feels wrong too. Besides, Christian knows exactly who Zander is from our phone conversations.
Christian extends his hand across the table and Zander takes it and smiles. I notice that it’s the old smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. Then, I see that there’s a dark mark beneath one of his eyes, that looks like the beginning of a black eye. I feel a stab of concern in my stomach.
“Zan, what happened to your eye?” I ask.
“My eye?” Zander says, looking confused for a moment and then he seems to realize what I’m talking about. “It’s nothing to worry about. The boys and I got into a bit of a fight with Matthew’s lot, but they came off a lot worse than we did.”
“I can imagine,” I say, trying not to smile but doing it anyway.
“I’m going to get us some more drinks,” Christian says in my ear and then he slides out of the seat and heads towards the bar.
“So this is your best friend, then?“ Zander says once Christian has gone. I nod and Zander smiles. “He seems like a good guy.”
“He is,” I start but Zander isn’t finished yet.
“I get that he’s your friend, but I am more than just a friend and when I text saying I want to see you, I expect you to come over,” Zander says.
“What? No. You can’t put that on me. You don’t own me,” I say, shocked that he would even think such a thing was normal.
“You’re wrong about that,” Zander says with a smile that I would normally find sexy but which I ignore. “I own all of the parts of you that matter.”
“No one owns any part of me,” I say, but my response sounds weak, even to my own ears.
Zander smiles again, this time a condescending smile that makes me want to blacken his other eye.
“I own you, Leona and I am surprised you can’t see the truth of that,” Zander says.
I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I should be ranting and raving and telling him I’m not a damned possession. Instead, I feel a shiver of desire run up my spine at his words.
Christian comes back to the table with our drinks, then — a bottle of Stella for him and one for Zander, a gin and lemonade for me, and three shots of something bright red. He hands them out.
“Thanks,” I say.
“You didn’t have to do this,” Zander says.
Christian shrugs.
“I wanted to,” he says. “Cheers.”
He holds his shot up and Zander and I do the same before we down them. The heat of red Aftershock flows down my body as I swallow.
“That’ll put hairs on your chest,” Christian says to me.
“It had better bloody not,” Zander says with a laugh.
We all laugh, then and I start to think it’s going to be okay. Whatever mood Zander is in, he’s not going to let it dominate our evening.
“Tell me about this band, then,” Zander says.
“We play a mixture of metal and hard rock,” Christian says. “Mostly covers, but we slip the odd original in there. We’re playing at The Saxon Mill next Tuesday. Come along if you want.”
“Yeah, we might do that if Leona is free,” Zander says.
I nod enthusiastically.
“I’d love for you to hear them,” I say.
Over the next few hours, we drink too much and laugh a lot.
Christian and Zander seem to be getting along, which I love, and the strange tension from earlier is all but gone.
In fact, I’m wondering if I imagined it.
Finally, the bell for last orders goes. We have a final round of shots and then we go outside.
“Do you want a ride anywhere?” Zander asks Christian.
“No thanks. I’m staying just down the road,” he says.
“Well, I guess we’ll see you Tuesday then,” I put in.
“Oh, I might dig your song out,” Christian says.
“Oh no,” I laugh, feeling my face flushing.
“Your song?” Zander says.
“Years ago, when the band first started up, Christian wrote a song about me,” I say.
“Really?” Zander says, one eyebrow raised. I instantly know that mentioning it was a mistake. The tension snaps back instantly, but Christian doesn’t notice it and he carries on as if nothing has changed.
“What’s this song called?” Zander asks, his voice suddenly dangerous.
“Dreaming Of My Lover,” Christian says. “It’s about—“
“It’s about my girl,” Zander almost shouts over him. “And you trying to lay some sort of a claim on her.”
“No,” I say quickly. “It’s not like that. It’s a song about friendship.”
“Sure it is,” Zander says. “That’s why it is called “Dreaming Of My Lover” and not “Dreaming Of My Friend”.”
“You okay?” Christian’s tone is light, but his gaze is stony.
Zander strides up to him. “Fine. You?”
“Maybe you should come along alone on Tuesday,” Christian says to me. “Or bring Erin. I’m dying to meet her.”
That is the wrong thing to say, and I know it. Before I can try to defuse the situation, Zander has Christian pressed up against the wall.
“Sure about that?” Zander growls softly.
“Zan,” I say, my voice wavering as I touch his arm. “It’s fine. Please.”
Christian manages a weak smile. “Yeah, Zander, it’s fine.”
“Oh yeah?” Zander growls.
I swallow, watching the cruel expression forming on his face.
Before Christian can respond, Zander punches him in the face.
Christian groans and Zander punches him again.
“Zander!” I cry.
But if he heard me, he shows no sign of it — punching and kicking Christian. Christian lands one punch, but that only throws Zander into a worse fury, punching and kicking while I grab him.
He shakes me off easily.
“Zander, please!” I cry, trying again.
Now Christian is on the ground, and Zander is kicking him, shrugging me off easily, as he says, “Don’t” — a kick — “Ever” — another — “Touch” — another — “What’s mine.”
Zander shoves Christian back against the wall again and something metallic flashes in his hand.
“No!” I throw my whole weight against him, sending both of us toppling.
Christian is groaning and bleeding, but at least he’s alive.
Even as I struggle, Zander picks me up and places me on my feet easily.
“He had it coming.” His eyes are completely emotionless. “And don’t pretend there wasn’t a part of you that was enjoying trying to make me jealous back there. Well, you sure got what you wanted didn’t you. Now come on. Get in the car.”
I stand there, in shock. Is this really happening?
But it is. This is the Zander Erin warned me about. The predator. Brutal, savage, and dangerous.
“C’mon,” Zander says, tugging me that way.
“No,” I say, gripping the pavement with my feet.
Zander raises an eyebrow and I shake my head. “This isn’t a game, Zander.”
He shrugs. “Okay. Come on, then.”
“No,” I force my voice calm. “No, I’m not getting in that car. You can cause as much of a scene as you want but it’s not happening. Not in this life.”
“You sure about that?” His tone is unconvinced, almost bored.
I turn my back to him. “I have nothing to say to you after this.”
I turn back to Christian again. “I’m so sorry,” I say to him.
“It’s not your fault,” he reassures me.
After I’ve helped him to his place, I head for home, walking fast, my head down. For some reason, I have this wild feeling that Zander is going to come up behind me and try to force me into his car.
But whatever he does, I won’t go. No, not after this. I can’t be with someone who thinks it’s okay to assault my best friend, no matter how hard it’s going to be to stay away from him.
Sure enough it’s only a few minutes before a car slows down beside me. “Get in the car, Leona,” Zander says.
“No,” I say.
“Don’t make me get out and drag you in,” he says. “And don’t think I won’t because I will, and we both know it.” He pauses. “I could also always go and pick up your friend Christian.”
I want to stand my ground and mean it, but I can’t risk Christian getting more hurt because of me.
We aren’t far from my place, so I decide it will be easier to get in, get home, and then cut off all ties with him.
“Fine,” I say.
I get in the car and shut the door. Zander watches me for a second and then he starts the engine.
“About that back there,” he says as he pulls away. “I realize you’ve never been with someone like me before, so, I’m going to let it go this time.”
“You’re going to let it go?“ I say, incredulous at his sheer audacity.
He nods.
“Are you fucking kidding? You punched my best friend in the face and almost slit his throat all because of a song he wrote ten years ago. I’m the one who’d need to let it go and it’s not looking likely to happen, anytime soon.”
Zander looks away from the road, fixing his eyes on me. He frowns.
“You’d better not mean that Leona,” he says.
“Oh, I mean it,” I say. “I’m sorry Zander. I can’t be with someone who thinks hurting people like that is the answer to every little thing they don’t like.”
We reach my place and Zander stops the car. I open the door but he reaches out and grabs my wrist.
“I’m not going to give up on you, Leona,” he says.
I don’t reply. I can’t even look at his face. I just stare at his hand on my wrist until he takes the hint and releases it.
I get out of the car. “Thanks for the ride,” I say. I slam the door and force myself not to look back as I head for the house. I am inside, leaning against the front door, when I hear Zander pull away with a screech of tires and my tears finally spill over.
I did the right thing. I know I did the right thing. So why do I feel empty, as though I have lost the one good thing I had?