Forever After All(73)

Grandpa looks at her sheepishly, and I laugh. I love the way Sofia acts around her dad, and the way he treats her. This imposing man is nothing more than a loving father whenever Sofia is around.

“But Elena is going to cook them for you ,” he says, throwing all his charm at her.

Sofia shakes her head. “You didn’t even know if I’d be here, and you didn’t call me either.” She turns to look at me. “Did he call you, Elena?”

Grandpa looks at me with wide eyes and shakes his head ever so slightly, and I just about manage to bite back a smile. “Uh, no,” I say, my tone unconvincing.

“I knew it!” Sofia says, glaring at her father.

“Don’t blame Grandpa,” Alec says, entering the kitchen with my mother right behind him. “He can’t help it. The old man never stood a chance. Elena just has a knack for stealing people’s hearts.”

Sofia nods, as though in agreement, and wraps her arm around my shoulder. “Yes, that’s true. My daughter-in-law is so loveable.”

Mom clears her throat. “Sofia, you do realize she’s my daughter, right?”

Sofia narrows her eyes and tightens her grip on me. “Not anymore, she’s not.”

Mom glares right back at her. “Alec and Elena’s wedding ceremony is still three months away!”

I watch the two of them in amusement. Sofia has loved having me around and I’ve gotten used to spending time with her, while Mom is trying her hardest to make up for lost time. The two have been butting heads over who gets to spend time with me constantly. It’s like they’re two divorced parents fighting over custody of me, and it amuses me endlessly. It makes me feel loved, and I haven’t felt that way in years. I know the playfulness they portray is an attempt to lighten the mood after a couple of tough months, but that they’d even consider doing that for me at all, astounds me. For someone to care enough, to want to cheer me up, it surprises me.

I glance around the room, my heart overflowing with love. For years, loneliness ate at me, and desperation was all that kept me going. Now I’m standing here in a room filled with people that actually want me around, people that care about me.

My eyes find Alec’s, and I can’t help but wonder if he has any feelings for me. Sometimes it feels like he does, and other times I can’t even read him. I’m not sure if love is still something I want. My heart craves it, but logically I can now see where Alec is coming from. Love… it’s too much risk. What Alec and I have right now is indestructible. If we fell in love, would it break us the way it did my mother?

He smiles at me, and my heart starts to race. Alec walks up to me, but loud sirens start to sound throughout the house before he reaches me, making us both jump in surprise.

He grabs his phone, frowning. His face drains of color, and my heart sinks. “Paparazzi have surrounded our house. They’ve breached the perimeter. Our men are working on pushing them back, but there are too many. Aiden tells me there are a few dozen out there.”

His eyes find mine and fear runs down my spine. Did they find out? Did they find out about our marriage? Did they somehow find out our relationship isn’t real?

I glance at Grandpa. Alec could lose everything.





Chapter 52





A lexander



“What happened?” Mom asks.

I shake my head. “I don’t know.”

She grabs her phone at the same time as everyone else, all of us googling our own names and the Kennedy name.

Dread fills me when I find my father all over the news. The headlines have my stomach twisting violently. I click on one of the articles, resignation making my fingers heavy.

A sex tape. My father is in the news because of a fucking sex tape.

I feel sick, but it probably doesn’t compare to how my mother must be feeling.

I inhale deeply and start to scroll through my contacts to find Elliot’s number. How could he have let this happen? He’s got intricate filters set up in order to block this type of stuff from ever reaching the mainstream media, so why didn’t he catch this?

“Elliot?” I say as soon as he picks up. “What happened?”

He yawns loudly. “What are you talking about?” he says, sounding sleepy. “Fuck . My systems are down.”

“Stop,” my mother says. “Stop it, Alec.”

She grabs my phone from my hands and ends the call.

“Enough now. Enough .”

She runs a hand through her hair shakily. When she looks at me, her eyes are filled with heartbreak, but there’s determination in her gaze too.

“I know you’ve been trying to protect me, Alec. I know you’ve been blocking this type of news for years. But it’s enough now. I can’t live like this anymore. I can’t.”

She turns toward my grandfather and tenses, as though she’s bracing herself. “Dad… I’ve tried. I swear, I’ve given it my all. For years, I’ve held onto hope, I’ve held onto the happy memories. But I can’t anymore. All I’ve ever wanted was a marriage like Mom and yours, and for the longest time, I thought that if I endured for long enough, if I proved that my love would always remain strong, then maybe… maybe Anthony would change. You’ve always told me that marriage is forever, that you work things out together, you don’t walk away. But, Dad, marriage takes two. And this marriage? I’ve been in this on my own for years now.”