Axel
Six Years Earlier…
“Lex!Lex—please! Come back to me, Lex. I love you! ” I shout so loud my voice saws along my throat like arazor.
The beefed-up gym rat holding me back shoves me against a wall. “All right, dude. I know it hurts, but you need to relax. Do yourself a favor and give her some space. Now, I gotta ask you toleave.”
“Believe me, this is the last place I want to be.” The Moulin Rouge is a joke of a club that I’ve visited for a beer now and again, mostly sitting along the bar wishing it would magically morph into the Black Bear. In my fantasy, Lex would be there, long tan legs, huge red curls dripping down her back, and that ear-to-ear dirty grin going just for me. But this is New York, not North Carolina. Manhattan, not Hollow Brook. A pile of shit I’ve landed myself in, notparadise.
Keith O’Malley—the fucker I let talk me into meeting his sexed-up roommate, Charlize, struts over, laughing as he spills his beer. It’s Charlize’s birthday. One drink with his roommate. It was his gift to her.She has a crushwere his ridiculously convincing words. She pulled me in, and the next thing I know her arms are around me, telling me a fucking knock-knock joke of all things. I was going to leave—alone. One beer and out. A favor for a guy I’ve known less than sixweeks.
“Dude, that was a twofer. Thanks for making my roomie’s night. She says if you need any Southern comfort her bed is waiting foryou.”
“I’ll pass.” I take off running up the stairs and out into the cold dark night, nothing but a steady stream of yellow cabs speeding by. An army of pedestrians throbs along the sidewalk inthrongs.
“Lex!” I call out running left then right, spastically landing myself in the middle of the street, cars honking, every third person flipping me the bird. “Lex! Come back! I love you, Lex.” I let those last words die on mylips.
All night I text her to no avail. I hop the next plane to Hollow Brook, praying I’ll be on her flight. No such luck. Shep picks me up at the airport, his driver’s license not even a week old. Lex is living in north Hollow Brook with her little sister, Serena. We make a beeline for their apartment, and I bang on the door like a maniac until the manager calls the cops on me. We hit Hallowed Grounds, Barnes, the Black Bear looking for clues, but Lex is a ghost, the invisible woman. She won’t pick up the phone. She won’t text me back. Lex has never subjected herself to social media, no check-ins, no locations attached to a single picture that might lend me a hand. Nothing. After three days of torment, I head back to New York. The new me. Single and hopelessly mourning the only woman I will ever love, LexMaxfield.
* * *
PresentDay
Axel
“Lex! Wait! Let me explain this!”I shout into the dark, and a vivid memory of that night back in New York comes flooding back to me. Lex had come to visit—surprise me, and I believe in my heart she was there to restore what we had. And for a time, we had restored it—made it better, made it shiny and new. But we’re barreling back to square one, and I can’t help but let out a roar into the night as I kick the tire on a neighboringMercedes.
“Shit.” I head back into the Black Bear where the bodies seem to havemultiplied.
I head to the back where Teagan’s party is still going strong. She’s out there dancing with her friends, laughing, having the time of her life, and as much as it warms me to see it, I’m frantic to find Shep. I caught a glimpse of him speaking to Lex moments before Abby pulled me over to thank me for getting her upstart off the ground. She was so enthusiastic she offered me an embrace, and I took it. No harm, no foul—that is, until Lex spotted us and becameunhinged.
“Shep.” I wave to him through the crowd and speed my way over to where he stands with a group of girls. He excuses himself politely and takes a step towardme.
“Dude, where’s the fire? Can you relax? You look like someone just shit on yourpillow.”
“Lex just took off. She’s pissed. She said something about Abby Wilcox working with Dad. What was she saying to you?” My heart does its best to kick its way out of my chest and go looking for Lex itself. But I need to know what I’m up against. Why would Lex care what Abby did with myfather?
Shep sobers up. “She was asking me the same thing. I told her what Iknew.”
“And what’s that?” I lean in, holding my breath so I can hear him above the riotousmusic.
“Something about the Social Elite. Hell, I don’t know what she’s calling her company. Dad liked it. So did you. Teagan said you gave it a green light, and she pulled out all the stops. Abby is in. That’s all I toldher.”
“Social Elite?” I rack my brain trying to make sense of any of this. “Why does that soundfamiliar?”
Shit. A horrible thought occurs tome.
I head back into the bar, scouring the Black Bear from top to bottom in hopes of finding Abby. I don’t have her number, but The Pelican has it on file. A thousand thoughts crash through my brain. Head to The Pelican. Screw The Pelican—head to Lex’s place. Stay away from Lex’s place. Give Lex time. That’s what the bouncer at the Moulin Rouge suggested that fateful night. It didn’t work. I gave her six long years, and she’s still running fromme.
I head back into the poolroom where I find Teagan swinging her hips into two wasted boys that I’m positive are far too young todrink.
“Teagan”—I gently pull her aside—“I need to ask you aquestion.”
“Hey!” She looks longingly to the drunk boys I just dragged her from, and she cries out in frustration. “What do you want? Things were just gettinggood.”
“Abby Wilcox,” I growl her name out like a curse. “What kind of company did Dad partner with herin?”
“What?” Teagan looks pissed at the fact I’ve pulled her aside on this,the most important night of her life.“Who the hell cares! Jason Roderick is here!” She stomps over my toes with her high heel. “I swear, you are certifiable. Pull me aside once more to see what time Dad picks his nose, and I’ll make sure you won’t walk for a week.” She tries to take off, and I block herpath.
