Chapter 27 – Alana
Chapter
Twenty-Seven
ALANA
Iwalk onto the patio and place a bottle of wine and two glasses on the table before taking a seat opposite Kelsey, who has her face tilted toward the sun and a huge smile on her lips.
She glances up at me as I join her. “This is some amazing place you’ve got here, Alana. I could get used to this,” she says with a sigh.
“You can stay forever as far as I’m concerned, but I know you’d never leave New York,” I say, laughing as I pour the wine.
She shrugs. “Maybe I would. For a house like this.” She grins at me. “Or the right guy?”
“What?” I smile at her. “You’d seriously consider moving to LA?”
“New York isn’t as much fun without you. The landlord has put the rent on the apartment up again. I hate my job. There are no decent men left in the entire borough of Manhattan. At least none I haven’t dumped at the penguin enclosure anyway. I don’t know. I kind of feel like I need a fresh start.”
“But you love the city,” I remind her.
“So do you. Or at least you did. Would you move back there now?”
“No,” I shake my head. “I hated it here when I first arrived, but now it feels like home.”
“I can see why you love it. It’s beautiful. And Alejandro, well, he’s beautiful too, in his own grumpy way,” she laughs. “And he has so many hot bodyguards.” She winks at me, and I know exactly who she’s talking about.
“Hmm. So, you and Hugo? Tell me everything.”
“Oh, he’s as hot as hell. And when we were on the plane over here, while you and the panty melter were otherwise engaged, we had a bit of a kiss.
It was damn fine. But since we landed in LA he’s been super professional, and as much as I try to tempt him, he’s not biting.
I suppose he has a lot going on with trying to find out what happened to Alejandro’s father? ”
“Yeah. I guess they’re all kind of busy right now. Including the panty melter.”
“Does Alejandro have any idea who is responsible yet?”
“No,” I shake my head. “At least not that he’s told me anyway. And I’m sorry that you’re practically on house arrest here. I’d love for us to have gone out while you’re in LA. Alejandro has an amazing club, but he says it’s just too risky right now.”
Kelsey nods. “He has a club?”
I shrug. It’s amazing how quickly I’ve become used to such things. “Yeah. And one day, I promise, I’ll take you there. We’ll do the whole LA thing. Hollywood sign, Pretty Woman clothes shopping, the beach. The lot.”
She leans across and pats my hand. “Don’t worry, honey. I totally understand. It’s no hardship being confined to this house anyway. It’s basically a luxury vacation resort.”
“I know. But you’re only here for a few days. I’d have at least liked to have shown you some of the sights.”
Kelsey shakes her head. “Will you stop worrying? This isn’t your doing.
There’s a full-scale family crisis going on.
I’m a big girl and if I want to get out of here, I will, but I’d rather spend my last two days here with you, by this beautiful pool.
Do you think we could encourage Hugo to come out here and have a swim?
I mean, I promise not to touch, if he doesn’t want me to.
I could just watch…” She lifts her sunglasses and gives me a cheeky wink.
“I think he might consider that a dereliction of duty,” I laugh.
“But he’s your bodyguard. If you’re in the pool too, then isn’t he doing exactly what he’s paid to? Oh, how I wish he’d offer to guard my body,” she sighs.
“Maybe the next time you visit, he won’t be so distracted with work,” I suggest.
She smiles at me. “I hope not. Then we could all go out to Alejandro’s club. That would be awesome. Clubbing with my girl and her hot bodyguard,” she giggles. “Who’d have predicted that this time last year, when we were living on ramen bowls?”
“I know. Things have changed. Apart from one thing. You’re still man crazy. I’m sure you’ll forget all about poor Hugo as soon as you’re back in New York.”
“Oh, I don’t know honey, those eyes and those biceps are kinda hard to forget.”
“I seem to recall you saying that about Logan Woods not so long ago.” Logan was one of Kelsey’s many loser exes.
“Oh, well he turned out to be a complete asshole, didn’t he? You always had his number though, Alana. You’re such a great judge of character when it comes to men. I always pick the crazies or the complete assholes.”
“Well, I’m not sure you’re entirely right about that.” Unless, of course, she counts remaining a virgin until my age as a wise choice.
She takes off her sunglasses and perches them on her head, her sparkling green eyes gazing at me as she sips her wine. “Actually, you hardly ever dated at all, really. Not even in college. Not since Bobby Conroy broke your heart.”
“Exactly. I didn’t pick well there, did I?” I raise my eyebrows at her.
“Jerk,” she snorts.
“Hey, did I tell you I ran into him the other week? He’s some tech millionaire now.”
“Really? Bobby the jock a tech geek? No way!”
“Yes way. He was the keynote speaker at some convention at the hotel.”
“I bet Alejandro loved that,” she starts to laugh. “You running into your handsy ex-boyfriend.”
“He wasn’t handsy,” I insist.
“Whatever. So, did Alejandro like him?”
“No,” I grin at her. “Not even a little bit. In fact, he threatened to break his arm.”
“For not being handsy?”
“Yeah. Well, Alejandro can be, uh, passionate.”
She sighs a little, looking dreamy and distracted. “Good. We should all be so lucky as to find a man who feels like that about us. You certainly seem to have picked a good one now, though. He adores you, Alana.”
I smile back. “You think?”
“Girl, I know! He can hardly keep his eyes or his hands off you. And why wouldn’t he feel like that? You’re a knockout. But it’s more than that. The way he looks at you. It’s everything,” she sighs dramatically. “I want that too. I want an Alejandro.”
I grin at her. “Well, there’s only one of him, and he’s very much taken.
But I hope you do find your own happiness some day soon, Kelsey.
Believe me, it can happen when you least expect it.
Sometimes I still can’t believe he’s my husband, Kels.
He’s just…well, he’s everything I have ever wanted, and everything I didn’t even know I wanted, rolled into one hot package of fine-ass man. ”
“Damn right he is. And speaking of a fine-ass man,” Kelsey nods toward the French doors.
I look up to see Hugo walking out into the grounds.
I’ve become so used to Hugo since he became my bodyguard that sometimes I even forget how handsome he is.
Kelsey has definitely not forgotten, as she’s practically drooling.
“I’m signing off, Alana,” he tells me. “Hank, Ray, and Josh are here in the house, and the patrols are outside as usual. Lucia is studying in her room, and Mr. Montoya asked me to tell you that he’ll be home after dinner, so don’t wait for him to eat.”
“Thanks, Hugo,” I say. “That’s great.” I’m disappointed Alejandro won’t be home for dinner, but I know how busy he is. Besides, I have Kelsey here to keep me company.
“You fancy sticking around for a quick drink, Hugo?” she asks as she lifts the half empty wine bottle.
He clears his throat. “I’d better not,” he says but his eyes are drawn to Kelsey’s legs as she crosses them, exposing the skin at the top of her thighs in her short sundress. Totally accidental, of course.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, ladies,” he mumbles as his cheeks flush a light shade of pink.
Kelsey stares after him as he walks back into the house. “Oh, I would climb him like a tree,” she says as she fans herself with her hand.
I laugh at her, and his reaction. My big, tough Navy SEAL left speechless by my pal. Having her here makes being confined to the house so much easier to bear.
“What time is your flight on Monday?” I ask.
“Eight am. I’ll be home in time for my shift on Monday night. Go me.”
“I’ll miss you so much.”
“I’ll miss you too, honey. But now that I know my bestie has her own freaking jet, you can send it for me next time I have some time off work,” she says as she pours us each a fresh glass of wine.
“Sounds like a great plan.”
“Hey, also, I meant to tell you. I saw your mom last week.”
I swallow hard, caught off guard by her casual comment.
I haven’t spoken to my parents since the morning I confronted my father and he admitted that Alejandro paid him nine million dollars to marry me.
He sold his only child, and I told him that I never wanted to see him again.
I have no idea if my mother has even found out about my visit that morning.
She hasn’t contacted me either way. I’m done with the two of them, and I know that’s for the best. But still, they’re my parents, and turning my back on them is a hard thing to do.
“How was she?” I ask, keeping my tone neutral.
“She didn’t look well, to be honest Alana. She even asked me how you were. When was the last time you actually spoke to her?”
“It was a while ago. We kind of had a falling out. Well, me and my dad did.”
“And your mom took his side, like always?” Kelsey asks with a roll of her eyes.
“I’m not even sure she knows about it, and I have no idea what version of events my father gave her. Anyway. I’m done with them, Kels.”
She nods at me. “I don’t blame you. You deserve to be happy, Alana, and I don’t think you ever really were in New York. Not like you are here. I think your father had a lot to do with that.”
“What do you mean?” I ask her. I know she never really liked him, but she’s never openly voiced her views. Not like this. Maybe she feels like she can now that I’ve escaped that life.
“He always had you working for him, covering his ass, or playing some angle so he could score votes. Remember when you had to cancel on our trip to Cabo at the last minute because he had some emergency he needed your help with? Or the time we were supposed to go upstate for Heather Jensen’s bachelorette party, and he asked you to look after your mother because she was sick and he was going out of town?
They’re just two off the top of my head.
There were so many more times just like that, Alana.
He never let you live your own life. It was like you only existed to serve his needs. ”
Wow. She’s not pulling any punches now. Maybe it’s the wine. Or maybe it’s just that she knows I’m strong enough to hear it now.
She’s right. It did happen a lot. Everything I planned, everything I wanted to do, was always dependent on his schedule.
“I’m sorry, I must have been a crappy friend, Kels,” I say as I feel tears pricking my eyes.
“No, you weren’t,” she says firmly, as she places her hand on my arm and gives me a reassuring squeeze.
“That’s not what I meant at all. I just wanted you to know that I think you’re better off without him.
As for being a crappy friend? No way! You were always there for me when I really needed you and I know you always will be. ”
“Always,” I say as I hold up my wine glass. “I love you, Kels.”
“Love you too, honey,” she says, and smiles as taps her glass against mine.