While I didn’t see any men surrounding me or any dark vehicles channeling dark mobster vibes, the electric crackling sense of knowing was definitive. There was a strange warmth, almost like an aura filling the humid air. I dared not take another step, frozen in a moment of fear.
His presence was all encompassing, filling me with both a sense of dread as well as an unwanted feeling of longing.
“You thought you could run from me.” Alexander kept his voice low, non-threatening, but I felt the edge as he moved closer. When he was flanking my side, staring down the row of gorgeous homes as if this was perfectly normal, I dared take a quick glance in his direction.
He’d removed his jacket, loosened his tie, and rolled up his sleeves. The look was even more flattering than his expensive suit, perhaps sexier in a more rugged manner. But even more impressive was the strength in his forearms, the way his muscles flexed from driving his hands into his trouser pockets.
His arms were tanned, colorful ink tatted over nearly every inch of visible skin.
“You thought you could keep me as your prisoner. Unacceptable.”
“There are many aspects of life that are unacceptable, Catherine, including the murder of my father.”
Shit. I’d forgotten his father had been gunned down in front of a popular French Quarter restaurant, the location only a couple of blocks from Indulgence. I’d heard they’d yet to catch a killer, which was likely a reason fingers had been pointed at Alexander after the murder of Lorenzo Russo. A turf war. He had every reason to kill his enemy, if that’s who’d been responsible for the horrific crime.
But what if it wasn’t?
Why would a powerful man like Alexander take such a huge chance, especially right before his father’s funeral, which I’d heard was being televised? Gruesome television if you asked me.
He moved directly in front of me. His dark eyes burned with several emotions from vengeance to desire.
The prickling sensation continued, making it difficult to breathe.
Every time he lowered his gaze, it was as if he was assessing me. His eyes stopped on the rip in my blouse, shifting to the scratches on my arms before trailing down to my bare feet, which were undoubtedly covered in grass stains. I expected admonishment, not another brazen look of raging hunger.
“I’m sorry about your father. I know you must be in pain.” As soon as I made the statement, his gaze returned to my face, studying me. Contemplating my truthfulness.
“Are you truly sorry, Catherine? Or are you one of those people who believe anyone even remotely associated with my world should face the fires of hell?”
“I take offense to that. No one deserves to feel despair based on the acts of someone else. I’m not a monster.”
“But I am.”
His dark eyes twitched, his clenched jaw drawing my gaze. He was furious yet doing everything to control his temper. “I didn’t say that.”
“But you were thinking it. I take offense to anyone insisting on derailing my career and my life with less than honorable tactics.”
I wasn’t going to win this argument. He believed I would play dirty. “I wouldn’t do that.”
“Then I guess we’ll need to agree to disagree.”
This was crazy. We were standing on a stranger’s lawn holding a perfectly polite if not deranged conversation on aspects of the law.
“Look around you, Catherine. What do you see?” When I didn’t obey him right away like a good little girl he insisted I become, those soulful eyes flashed something even darker. “Do as I say.”
Damn the man and his twisted control over me. I did as he asked. “Buildings housing the wealthiest people in the city.”
“They’re not just buildings, sweet angel. They are homes with memories created from years if not generations of family gatherings and celebrations. Homes with loved ones enjoying spending time together over a meal or a glass of wine. Perhaps with music playing in the background and always with laughter.Behind the doors and walls children were raised, sent off to college, and returning with news of engagements and children of their own on the way. They have hopes and desires, tragedies and deaths.”
“Why are you telling me this?” He was the most exasperating man I’d ever met in my life.
He closed the distance between us and the tension in my body forced me to sway. “Because not everything you’ve read in the news or on social media is the truth. The loss of my father has been devastating. Am I a vindictive man? Absolutely. I’d never denied it. But upon his death, I was forced into the role of patriarch, something I take very seriously. Every decision made affects the entirety of my family whether bad or good. I might be many things including heartless, but I will not place my family in jeopardy on purpose.”
I’d learned to trust my instincts over the years. There were bad actors everywhere. Something about Alexander and his conviction told me he was capable of many heinous activities, but lying wasn’t one of them. That’s because he was proud of who and what he was.
He glanced away, wincing from the rays of sunshine creating a golden halo over the surrounding landscaping. “Things have changed between us, Catherine. I no longer just want the truth.”
“Then what do you want?”
