THE TROUBLE WITH PAPER PLANES(59)

I turned side on, keeping all three of them in my line of sight. I was wired, prepared for anything. But still the disbelief on his face took me by surprise. I actually felt sorry for him. I reached out for Maia’s hand, gently drawing her in closer to me.

“This is Maia. Maia – Alex.”

Stripped of his former bravado, he just stared at her.

“Hi,” she said softly.

Alex made his way around the table, stumbling over one of the dining chairs as he caught it with his foot. He didn’t take his eyes off her and he didn’t speak, but the expression on his face made my heart ache. Had he even heard a word I said?

I put my hand out toward Alex, warning him off. I could feel Maia bristling beside me anxiously.

“Alright,” I said quickly. “Enough. I’ll take you home.”

That seemed to jolt Alex out of his stupor and he tore his eyes away from her. “What?”

“Please, love,” Bridget pleaded, standing beside us, wringing her hands together nervously. “Let him take you home.”

He looked from me to Bridget, and finally back to Maia again. Then he straightened up, backing away a couple of steps and reaching out blindly for a chair to hold onto.

“You’re not her,” he said, as if he had caught her trying to trick him. “You’re not Em.”

She shook her head sadly. “No, I’m not. I’m sorry.”

He deflated in front of me. I saw the hope wither and die inside of him. His expression changed in a heartbeat, and he went dark with rage, turning that rage back on me.

“What the f*ck are you doing here?” he demanded, as if the previous few minutes had never even happened.

I could feel the anger begin to simmer inside of me again. “Bridget called me. She said you wouldn’t leave. I’m just here to make sure you do.”

I pulled on Maia’s hand, drawing her back behind me slightly. Alex looked over at Bridget and shook his head, as if he didn’t believe me. The sooner he was out of here, the better.

“Come on,” I said. “Time for you to call it a night. You’ve done enough here, bro.”

That seemed to trigger him and he turned back to me as the tension in the room mounted. “I’m not your f*ckin’ bro. Thanks to you, I’m not anyone’s bro, not anymore.”

It felt like a sucker-punch to the gut. I tried to tough it out when all I really wanted to do was double over and give in to the pain. But I wasn’t going to let him get to me. My priority here wasn’t me. It was Bridget and Maia, and keeping him away from them.

I sucked in a breath through my teeth and tried again. “Get out, Alex. Walk home, I don’t care. Just go.”

Alex shook his head, planting his feet firmly, getting comfortable. The familiar toxic smirk appeared and my heart sank. He wasn’t going to make this easy, on any of us.

“I don’t even know how you can live with yourself.”

Not again. “I’ve had enough of this bullshit from you. I don’t know how many times we’ve been through this already, but you need some new material, dude. This shit’s getting old.”

“You look nervous,” Alex grinned, his mouth pulled unnaturally tight, turning it into more of a grimace. “Don’t you want me to tell the replica what you’re really like?”

“Stop it!” Bridget snapped. “Her name is Maia.”

Alex nodded, as if considering the matter. “Well, Maia, perhaps you and I should get to know each other a bit better.”

I squeezed Maia’s hand then let it go, taking a step towards Alex. “Are you gonna leave quietly, or do I have to throw you out?”

Alex sneered and I had to fight the urge to punch it right off his face.

“What’s the matter?” he asked. “Afraid she’ll find out all about you? You might have everyone else fooled, but we both know the truth don’t we?”

My hand flexed into a fist and I readied myself. He’d had this coming for a long time. Suddenly, I didn’t care about Bridget or Henry or making it unnecessarily hard on them. I just wanted to know the sense of satisfaction that came from hitting him. I could almost hear Vinnie in my head, egging me on.

“Just go home, Alex,” Bridget begged, coming forward. “Please?”

“You’re such a hero aren’t you mate?” I said, the blood pounding in my ears. “Pushing and shoving your own mother around, treating her like shit too. How the hell do you sleep at night?”