49. Chapter 49
Chapter forty-nine
Lina
We drive to Alex’s place to get his laptop. Truth about Alex and what he does is something he wants to bare clean. He wants to show me everything he has. Every file. Every lead. Every piece of information he’s uncovered. Nothing hidden. Nothing withheld.
For so long, I’ve been the last person to know things happening in my own life. People making decisions for me. Keeping secrets from me. Deciding what truths I could handle and which ones I couldn’t.
Cole lied. Cassie lied. The Allister’s lied. Even the people trying to protect me often kept me in the dark.
In time, I developed the habit of expecting it. To brace myself for it.
Now Alex is handing me the flashlight and inviting me to see for myself. No half-truths or carefully edited version of events. Just the truth. Whatever it turns out to be.
I no longer feel like I’m chasing answers. For the first time, it feels like someone is willing to share them. The relief is almost overwhelming. I hadn’t realized how exhausting it was living in the dark until someone turned on the light.
Alex unlocks the door to his Airbnb and steps aside. “Ladies first.”
I smile and walk inside. I love how old school he is. The
The first thing I notice is how...Alex it is.
I know it’s temporary, but he chose this place for a reason.
I mean yes it’s right around the corner from the shop, and only another block away from me, but it still suits him.
It’s clean and organized. Everything has a place.
The furniture is modern and simple. Dark gray couch.
Black coffee table. A few books stacked neatly on a shelf.
No clutter. No piles of mail. No random junk collecting on countertops.
He’s lived here for over a month, and it looks spotless.
I drift farther inside, and I let my fingers brush the back of the couch. The ledge of the black-and-white marble kitchen island. The smooth wood of a bookshelf.
It’s strange. Maybe even a little intrusive. But I find myself wanting to touch things, wanting to see what he sees, to understand how he lives when nobody else is around.
Behind me, the door clicks shut.
I glance over my shoulder. Alex is watching me. Amused.
“What?” I ask.
A smile pulls at his mouth. “Nothing.”
“Why the smile?” Curious as ever to what he’s thinking.
“I’m a lucky man. You are so damn beautiful.” He stares at me with such intensity it makes my heart rate spike. I turn away, unable to meet his eyes. I’m still adjusting to the way he gazes at me—the way he sees me. Especially the compliments.
“This place is nice,” I say to change the subject.
“It’s a rental.” He says, shrugging his shoulders.
“Still.” I nod, adding, “It’s modern, well kept, clean. Looks like you’ve barely lived here these what, seven weeks now?”
Alex meets my eyes and smirks.
“I don’t need much. Besides, I can’t say I’ve spent a lot of time here. I’ve been busy.”
He means the nights spent watching over me from a distance. The risks he took without my knowledge. The countless decisions he made to keep me safe while asking for nothing in return.
His eyes drift over me ever so carefully, assessing—filled with unmistakable mischief. The look alone is enough to send a flutter through my stomach.
I take a step toward him. The predator has locked onto his prey. And God help me, I don’t mind being the prey.
“You look like you have something on your mind,” I say, taking another step forward.
I move deliberately, each stride unhurried, inviting him to make the next move.
A muscle flexes in his jaw.
The intensity of his stare sets me on fire.
It’s at odds with the cool air drifting through the house, raising goosebumps along my arms and the back of my neck. My body can’t seem to decide whether it’s burning or freezing.
The space separating us suddenly feels very noticeable. Every inch between us feels charged with possibility.
The room seems to fade around us till my sole focus is him. The wide stance of his shoulders. The controlled stillness in his posture. The way he watches me like he’s fighting a battle with himself.
I stop a few feet away. Close enough to feel the pull. Close enough that my pulse starts to betray me.
“Careful, Lina,” he says quietly.
The warning should probably concern me. Instead, it makes my heart kick harder against my ribs.
I tilt my head back, refusing to back down. “Or what?”
His eyes darken. And suddenly I’m not sure which of us is hunting whom.
Alex reaches out, his fingers finding my waist. The touch is light. Tentative. As if he’s giving me every opportunity to pull away.
I don’t.
His gaze drops to my mouth before lifting back to my eyes, and something unspoken passes between us. Something that sends a shiver racing down my spine.
The space feels small. Warmer. Charged. The surrounding space seems to contract until my awareness is completely absorbed by him.
God. This man has no idea what he does to me. Or maybe he does. Maybe that’s what makes it worse.
I know what he’s capable of. I’ve seen glimpses of the ruthless certainty that lives beneath his calm exterior. The unwavering focus. The dangerous confidence.
I should find it intimidating. Instead, it leaves me breathless. Because standing here, looking at me like I’m the only thing in the world worth seeing, Alex isn’t frightening. He’s irresistible.
His hand tightens ever so slightly against my waist. The small movement sends a rush of heat through me and my body betrays me completely.
Every rational thought begins slipping away, one by one, until all that’s left is the way he’s looking at me. Like he’s memorizing me. Like he’s trying to commit every detail to memory.
“So…” I say.
The corner of his mouth twitches. “Yes, love?”
Love, my favorite endearment.
“Want to show me your room?” I ask, catching my lower lip between my teeth as I look up at him through my lashes.
The look I give him is anything but innocent.
A slow smile spreads across his face. There it is. That infuriatingly sexy smirk I’ve grown entirely too fond of.
His forehead rests briefly against mine, and for a brief time, we are motionless. Neither of us seems willing to break whatever this is.
“Aren’t we supposed to be reviewing my files?” His voice is low, amused.
I smile wickedly. “I think I’m a little distracted.”
The smile that answers is warm and knowing. The kind that makes my stomach flutter.
Heat blooms beneath my palm as I slide my hand down his chest, sensing the steady rise and fall of his breathing.
His eyes darken as the atmosphere shifts instantly.
“Come here,” he murmurs.
As if I wasn’t already trying. As if every instinct I possess wasn’t already pulling me closer.
The world seems to tilt. And suddenly the hallway, the house, the entire world beyond these walls feels impossibly far away.
We move together without thinking, drawn by something neither of us wants to fight. The tension that’s been building snaps.
A laugh escapes me as we make our way down the hallway, neither of us particularly successful at pretending we’re focused on anything else.
The moment we find the room, I see a chair wrapped in black. And that’s when I see it.
At first, I think it’s laundry. Then my brain catches up. Black tactical clothing. Body armor. Gloves. And resting on top…a helmet? No…a mask.
I stop walking. “Umm…what’s that?”
Alex goes completely still behind me.
The silence is so immediate it practically has its own sound.
I study the chair’s contents. Then I force myself to turn around.
“Alex?”
Nothing.
His eyes close briefly. “Shit.”
I blink in surprise.
He rubs a hand across his face before meeting my stare. “That’s just my…gear.”
I stare at the gear before turning to face Alex, smiling as I register its purpose.
“I should put it away,” he says.
A laugh escapes me. “Did I just accidentally discover your vigilante suit?”
His head drops back and he groans.
“Oh my God, I did.” I point at the mask.
“Lina...” His face says everything. He’s been caught.
“You have a whole secret identity, don’t you?”
He remains quiet, his jaw ticking.
“You absolutely do. You have tactical gear and a mysteriously intimidating black mask sitting dramatically on that chair.”
“How is it dramatically sitting on the chair?” He asks, crossing his arms.
“It’s literally spotlighted by the lamp.” I point.
He glances toward the lamp. “...that’s interesting.”
I laugh uncontrollably at this point. Because suddenly so many things make sense.
The way he’d once told me that in his line of work, it was better if people didn’t know who he was.
At the time, I’d assumed he meant professionally. Like his name—his real name. His background. His father’s life.
I never once considered he meant physically. I never imagined it meant no face, no way to connect a person to the job. The realization clicks.
“It all makes sense.” I blink.
Alex stands there, staring at the gear, like he’s disappointed that it didn’t put itself away before I arrived.
“I assume you have a lot of questions.”
“I do—“
Suddenly, a light bulb goes on in my head right when I’m about to list off the number of questions.
“Oh, my God,”
I remembered…EJ
His expression turns wary.
“What?”
I point at him. “That was you.”
“What was me?”
“EJ.”
Alex blinks once. “What about EJ?” he growls.
“The night he swore some demon ninja was standing in his living room.”
Alex goes completely still before closing his eyes in defeat.
My eyes widen. “That was you.”
His silence tells me everything.
I clasp a hand over my mouth. “No way.” I laugh.
“Lina.”
“EJ thought he was hallucinating!” I say, still laughing hysterically.
“He was extremely high,” Alex says.
I double over laughing. Unable to breathe at this point.
“He spent twenty minutes trying to convince me a six-foot-something masked man with the voice of a demon was in his house and then disappeared.”
Alex pinches the bridge of his nose.
“He thought he dreamed the whole thing.”
“He wasn’t supposed to be awake,” Alex confirms.
“He told me how you commanded him to go back to sleep…and he did.”
Air. I need air. I’m seconds away from peeing myself.
Alex groans. “I was gathering information.”
“You traumatized a stoner.” I manage to say.
“Lina.”
“I’m sorry, but this is the funniest thing.”
His lips twitch despite himself. “I certainly got an earful from Reese when he found out the dipshit woke up and saw me.”
I catch my breath, still remembering how I thought EJ was absolutely bat shit crazy. Turns out it was my vigilante stalker scoping out my then friends-with-benefits house. This is all too surreal.
“I’m still processing the fact that you’re like a real-life version of Kylo Ren mixed with The Punisher. I mean, I knew you hurt bad people. This, though…” I point at the gear.
“You don’t have a lightsaber or C4 in your pocket, do you?” I ask jokingly.
Alex chuckles. “No, love,” he says warmly.
“No lightsaber or C4. I do have knives sheathed throughout the gear and a SIG strapped to my side.”
Well. That wasn’t the answer I was expecting.
I look at him for a beat. Most men would have laughed and said no. Alex casually confirms he’s armed enough to invade a small army.
I take a renewed interest in the mask, studying it from a safer distance. The matte black finish catches the light differently than I expected. It’s sleek. Intimidating. And, if I’m being completely honest with myself, unfairly attractive.
A memory surfaces, and I wish it hadn’t. Years ago, I may or may not have had a completely unreasonable crush on Kylo Ren. Okay. I definitely did.
There was something about the dark clothes, the mask, the dangerous intensity, and the whole tortured-man-with-questionable-life-choices thing.
Apparently, my taste in fictional men should have been a warning sign. Because now there’s an actual six-foot-something vigilante standing before me with tactical gear and a mask, and my brain’s response is not concern. It’s interest.
I narrow my eyes at the helmet.
“What is it made of? Kevlar or something?”
“It’s made of ballistic composite. Though my vest is made of Kevlar.” Alex smiles, amused by my questioning.
“It looks heavy. And it covers your whole head. It honestly looks really uncomfortable.”
Alex smiles at the thought. “Sometimes it is.
My gaze returns to the mask, which looks more like a helmet.
“How the heck do you see in that thing?” I ask.
“Do you want to try it on?” He asks me.
I light up. “Absolutely!”