Forever After All(38)

He smiles at me, but his expression drops when he notices Lucian. “Why are you here?” he asks, annoyed. His eyes move between Lucian and me, his gaze tinged with distrust.

Lucian elbows me and leans in to whisper into my ear, annoying Alexander even further. “Wow, he came to pick you up himself? He never does that.”

Alexander is frowning at Lucian, and I see the suspicion in his eyes. He walks up to me and threads his hand through my hair, his body tense. He leans in and lowers his lips to mine, putting on a show of possessiveness, telling Lucian that I belong to him without uttering a word.

He pulls away to look at me, his gaze heated. When he looks at me this way, it gets hard to remember that it’s only my body he wants. That all we have is an agreement, that none of it is real.

Lucian shakes his head and pushes past us, making me pull away from Alexander. I’m flustered, embarrassed, and he leans in, his lips brushing against my ear. “I told you, Elena. I’m going to make sure it’s evident to every man that you’re mine—Lucian included. It’s me you married. Remember that.”

I look into his eyes as he pulls away. “Was that really necessary? I’m just another of your belongings, aren’t I? Lucian already knows that. You don’t need to stake your claim, Alexander. There’s no one around to put on a show for.”

Alexander blinks, and I push past him, getting into the car. My heart is aching today. I’m tired of being reminded that I don’t mean anything to anyone, that I’m just a thing to be owned, used, and discarded. I know I have no rights to Alexander, but I’m sick of feeling like I’m a mere object.

He sits down next to me and buckles me in, taking his time, his touch lingering. His eyes are on me, his gaze searching. He frowns as he sits back, his hand on my knee and his phone in his other hand. I’m tempted to push his hand away, wanting a bit of space, but I resist.

I resist, because Lucian is staring at the two of us, his eyes twinkling. I look at him through narrowed eyes, trying to convey that he needs to knock it off, but he continues to smirk at us. I know he’s seeing things that aren’t there—Luce is like that. He’s a hopeless romantic, and he’s falling for his brother’s theatrics.

“Buttercup,” Alexander says, sighing. “I need to head back to the office. Something came up.”

I nod, and he gently pushes my hair out of my face. “Come with me,” he says. “Come to the office with me. I don’t know how long this’ll take, but we can grab some food after? Or if you’re hungry now, I can just order you some food to my office?”

I look at him with raised brows. If we aren’t putting on a show, why do we need to spend any time together?

The mildly impressed look on Lucian’s face tells me that Alexander taking me to his office instead of just cancelling our date is unusual, and I hate that it gets my hopes up just slightly… I hate that it makes me wonder if maybe, just maybe, he wants to spend time with me as much as I want to spend time with him.





Chapter 28





E lena



All eyes are on us as we walk into the office. I’m nervous and try to pull my hand out of Alexander’s, but he holds me tighter instead. He leans into me, his lips brushing over my ear. “Back straight, chin up. You’re Mrs. Kennedy,” he whispers.

I look up at him, and he grabs my chin, pinching gently as he leans in for a kiss, right in the middle of the lobby. He smirks as he pulls away, and I’m certain my cheeks are scarlet. Lately he’ll kiss me in public as often as he can, ensuring we end up in tabloids every week. He seems to revel in making me blush, seeing me flustered. I guess it’s yet another game for him.

I look away and catch Luce rolling his eyes despite the smile on his face. Alexander throws his arm around me as we walk towards the elevator. “Remind me why you’re here?” he asks Lucian.

I see the flash of panic in Lucian’s eyes, but he gets it under control within seconds and smiles at his brother. “I’m meeting a friend,” he says, getting off at a lower floor than us.

I wink at him as he walks away. “Have fun,” I tell him, and his cheeks redden just slightly as he rushes off.

Alexander frowns, but thankfully, he doesn’t ask any questions. He holds my hand as we walk toward his office, and Alice seems surprised to see me. Her eyes drop to our joined hands in confusion, and it takes her a couple of seconds to smile at me.

“I need to attend the Willis meeting,” Alexander says, leading me into his office. Alice follows us in and he nods at her as he pulls out his desk chair for me. “Make sure my wife is well taken care of. Get her some takeout menus too.”

Alice nods, but her expression displays disbelief. “I… you’re leaving her in your office? Alone?” she asks, clearly trying to be somewhat discreet, and failing.

Alexander straightens his tie, nodding. “You were there the day I married her, weren’t you? She’s my wife . What is she going to steal from me? She owns everything already.”

I tense. Alexander has never mentioned it, but Lucian told me that Jennifer stole corporate secrets and handed them to my brother, losing Alexander a deal he’d been working on for years. I bet attempting to explain a data breach like that, on top of the lost expected revenue, can’t have been easy. I can’t even imagine how his grandfather and their shareholders must have responded, how hard he’s had to work to make up for it.