Chapter 24
TWENTY-FOUR
Alexia
When I left Sydney, I did not think I'd have a lot of need for clothes for going out.
I brought enough clothes to show up to work without being cited for hygiene problems by HR, and one nice emerald green dress that's currently balled up in the corner of my room.
So now I'm standing in front of the mirror in a mishmash of clothes, a long black skirt with a thigh-high split, and a soft pink off-the-shoulder tee that says “Sources Or It Didn’t Happen”.
I'm hoping it gives off "casual dinner with a colleague" vibes and less "please marry/bed me immediately," or even worse, "can you tell that I'm in love with my brother's three best friends? "
Okay, scratch that last one. That's not a thing.
Absolutely no one's in love with anyone around here.
I finish pulling my hair into a high ponytail, tie it with a little pink bow, and add a thin layer of light pink gloss to my lips.
Besides a bit of blush and mascara, it's the only makeup I'm wearing.
But the effect is fresh, and makes me look less like the swamp troll I've been successfully emanating the last few days.
Unbidden, a memory surfaces from six years deeper down. Standing in front of my mirror at nineteen, fixing my hair, getting ready to meet Rhys for a drink, my hands just as unsteady then as they are now.
I shake myself hard enough that my reflection blurs.
No more memory lane-ing. Not tonight. Tonight is about an easy, uncomplicated night with a work friend. No pressure, no expectations.
My purse swings against the door as I sling it over my shoulder and head out.
And stop dead in the foyer.
All three of them are in the living room. Marcus is sprawled in the armchair, gazing at the TV. Rhys sits upright on the couch, arms crossed, staring at the laptop on the coffee table. Zachary is leaning against the archway, hands in his pockets, his eyes fixed on the front door.
"What's going on?" I ask, looking between them.
"What do you mean?" Marcus doesn't glance away from the TV.
"I mean, what are you all doing here? You're hardly ever in the living room."
"Well, it's a nice room. I thought I should spend more time in it, considering how much time I spent building it.
Also, just doing some research." He gestures vaguely at the muted television, playing a reality show about renovating houses.
"Latest craze in home renos." He finally looks up.
"Nice skirt. Bit dressy for the uni library, though. "
I don't bother answering. It's the first thing we've said to each other since the other morning, and if he wants to be weird, so be it. I face Zachary. "You don't have work?"
He shrugs. "Day off."
"You don't take day offs.” I wait for him to correct me, that it’s actually “days off”, but he just shrugs.
First red flag. The guys usually love putting me in my place given the opportunity, that’s one thing that hasn’t changed in the years apart.
I poke him a little further for a response.
“Leon told me you went to work after you broke a rib play-wrestling with"—I point at Marcus—"him. "
"And I probably should've." Zachary rubs his chest. "So I'm taking one today. Rest and recovery are very important."
"That happened eight months ago, Zachary."
He stops rubbing. "Sometimes injuries can take a long time to present."
Ooookay. Well, they've all clearly gone crazy.
I wave a hand. "Okay, have a good time doing whatever it is you're doing. I'm going out."
Rhys leans back, arms still folded. "You're not going to ask what I'm doing here?"
Six eyes turn to him. Rhys speaking up has me almost stumbling, but I recover.
I look at him pointedly. "You're pretending to read the news, but really you're listening to everything everyone else is saying and filing it away to use against us later."
Marcus snorts, then bites the reaction down and slides his nonchalant mask back on, eyes still sparkling. "I mean, she's not wrong."
The doorbell goes before anyone else says anything, and I make it half a step before Rhys is already up off the couch. He gets there first, opening the door before I can stop him.
Craig stands on the front step, a little taken aback by who's opened the door, eyes flicking to me as I wave from behind Rhys.
"Craig," Rhys says. "Come in."
Craig steps into the hallway holding a small bunch of flowers he clearly wasn't expecting to present to an extra audience of three, and I watch his usual easy charm falter as he clocks the scene behind me. But he recovers fast.
"Hi, I'm Craig," he says to the room.
Marcus gets up, throwing the TV remote in the air like a baton. "Hi, Craig. I'm Marcus. That's Zachary. And you know Rhys."
Craig nods to them all before turning to me. “These are for you."
I take them with a smile. "They're lovely, thank you. I love fresh flowers."
"She really does," Marcus says, "but apparently not hydrangeas, those she likes to squish as she's running away. Keep an eye on her, she likes to take off when you least expect it."
Right. Mission: get Craig out of here as fast as possible.
I put the flowers on the hallway table. "Thanks for coming to pick me up. Shall we go—"
"Yeah, thanks for that," Marcus cuts in. "We could've dropped her off if we'd known where you were going. Speaking of which, where are you going?"
Craig blinks. “A bar down south. I heard great reviews. Highwater?" The guys share a look, which Craig catches. "Oh, have you heard of it?"
I give him a tight smile. "Zachary is the bartender there."
Craig tries to hide his surprise. "Will we see you there tonight?"
Zachary shakes his head. "No, I'm taking the night off. I do that. My right as the owner, actually." He gestures at the others. "We're all part owners."
"That's amazing. Don't worry, I'll pay for all the drinks tonight, we won't take advantage of being friends with the owners." Craig lets out a laugh, sounding more nervous than I've ever heard him.
"Oh, don't worry. I'll let them know you're coming. My guys know better than to take money from Alexia," Zachary says.
"Well, appreciate it." Craig clears his throat. "So you're all living here. Together. With Alexia?"
"That's right," Marcus says. "Her brother is our best friend, and also part owner in that bar you're going to."
"Oh, nice, so you're like, what, her surrogate brothers?"
There's a pause as we all look at each other. Awkward.
"Yeah. Something like that," Zachary says, finally. "We're very protective of her while her brother isn't here. Making sure she has everything she needs, in the kitchen...the bathroom..."
"The bedroom,” Marcus adds without missing a beat. “That kind of thing."
"Right, we're leaving." I grab Craig's arm and start towing him toward the door before anyone says another word. "Bye. Don't wait up."
Craig follows, picking up on the urgency. "You look lovely, by the way," he manages, as I haul him past the threshold. I don't even get to say thank you before Rhys's voice follows us out.
"Have her home by eleven," he says. "I know where you work, Craig."
Bloody hell. Now he chooses to talk? “Ignore him," I say. "He's being what he thinks is funny."
"I didn't think Rhys did funny," Craig whispers.
"Clearly he hasn't had a lot of practice."
We glance behind us to see all three guys following us to the car. Zachary is in front, hands in his pockets, easy smile in place. If I didn't know better, I'd think he was just being his usual charming self.
But I do know better.
"Have a great night, you two," he says, like the world's most gracious host. "Make yourselves at home at the bar. My guys will take care of Alexia. Family and all."
Craig holds his hand out for a shake. "Thanks again."
"Just so you know," Zachary adds, gripping Craig's hand and pulling him in closer, still smiling, "I have a lot of friends in very low places who've been treated like family at my bars.
Marcus's company is working about ten construction sites across Adelaide.
And Rhys can't be forced to share anything, even on threat of torture.
So if anything happened to Alexia tonight—and I do mean absolutely anything—there's a pretty good chance no one will ever find your mutilated, dismembered body. "
What. The. Fuck.
Craig's smile goes rigid. "Right. Understood. Loud and clear."
"Great talk." Zachary claps him once on the shoulder and steps back. "Now why don’t you go warm up your car while we say goodbye to our best friend's little sister."
Craig gets in, giving me the expression of a man recalculating every life choice that brought him to this moment.
"What the hell is wrong with you all?” I hiss as the three of them close in around me.
"Just making it very clear to ol' Craigey there to treat you well tonight," Zachary says with an innocent smile.
"We're just going out as friends! You're all acting psychotic!"
Marcus pretends to pick lint off my shirt and I slap his hand away.
“Being friends might be what you think is going on here, but I can guarantee you it's not what's on his mind.
" He traces a hand down my bare shoulder.
“Can you blame him? You look fucking smoking, Lexi. You sure you want to waste this outfit on Craigy-boy?”
I just shake my head and turn to Rhys hoping that maybe he’ll be the voice of reason. Rhys doesn't say anything, eyes locked on Craig through the windscreen.
“Alright, well, you guys need to work off whatever's going on with you." I point a warning finger at all three of them. "And I mean it, don't wait up."
Zachary takes his jacket off, wraps it around my shoulders, and tugs me in by the collar, his breath warm against my cheek. "Mean it all you want, Lex. Just know that we mean it when I say we'll be waiting up in that living room until you walk back through that door tonight." A pause. "Alone."
We don't end up going to Highwater. We've just turned onto the main road when I make it very clear to Craig that if he wants to go somewhere else, anywhere else, I'm on board. I've never seen someone do a U-turn so fast.