“Alexa …”
I face him once again, holding it up, and he trails off, staring at it in my hand. I flip it open and light it up. I watch the flame dance gently in my hand from my soft breath. It’s beautiful. How something so deadly can also be harmless. That’s Cross. He is what he needs to be when he needs to be it. To a man stuck out in the cold, fire is what will keep him alive. To a man trapped in a car, fire is his enemy.
I was that cold, lifeless body freezing to death, and Cross came along and lit my world on fire.
Closing the Zippo, I look down at it, and my thumb rubs over the engravement once again.We all have a cross to bear.
“We don’t have to bear our crosses alone,” I say, looking up at him through my lashes. “You know that, right?”
He looks away from me, and I watch his Adam’s apple move as he swallows.
I set the Zippo back on the counter and walk over to him. Cupping his face, I force him to look down at me. “I love you. And whatever cross you bear, I will help you carry it.”
CROSS
I LIE INmy bed of the Royal Suite, the TV on but the sound off. Alexa sleeps curled up next to me. Her arm draped over my bare chest.
I rub my hand up her arm to her hand and turn it over, looking at the tattoo I gave her earlier today when she came to visit me.
She showed up at Tit for Tat. I thought she was going to walk away from me. After what happened last night, I wouldn’t blame her. I showed her who I really was at the Airport. She said she could take it, but I wasn’t sure how she would feel once she woke up this morning.
The tattoo she wanted proved she was right.
A cross on the inside of her left wrist. It’s burning bright like a fire. “A reminder you’re not alone.” She had told me. It’s a much smaller version of the one on my back. I got mine when I hated the world and wanted to cover up my past. She wanted hers to prove love is real and we have a future. A brand to show the world we bear the same cross.
I’ve only ever had the Kings. And although I love them like brothers, Alexa is my world. The piece I didn’t know I needed.
She’s not my redemption. No, she’s my reminder that you don’t need to be saved in order to be loved.
I kiss her wrist and set it back down on my chest, closing my eyes, knowing that when I wake up, she’ll still be here.
EPILOGUE
CROSS
“YOU SURE?” Iask, leaning back in my chair in the conference room.
Jeffrey nods. “Positive.” He tosses some papers across the table. They slide to a stop in front of me.
Sitting the front legs down, I pick the report up.
“What are you doing with this information?” Bones is the one who asks.
Jeffrey throws his hands up. “You’re the only ones who know what I’ve found. I know you Kings prefer to handle your own shit.”
“We do.” Titan nods.
“Then …” He pushes his chair back and stands. “I’ll leave you to it and wait for your phone call.” With that, he picks up his cell and the bag full of money off the table and turns, exiting the room.
I slap the papers down on the table and place my tatted forearms on the surface. “He went to the police. Gave a statement.”
“Of course, he did. Mitch is a pussy.” Titan scoffs.
Shuffling through the papers, I pick up the tattoo stencil. I’ve been collecting these since I was young. When I got my first tattoo. The skull with a tilted crown and crossbones—all the Kings have one.
“So, he wanted to kill her and frame you for it?” Grave growls.
“Looks like it.” I run a hand down my face, feeling my stubble. “And I’m guessing he wanted Rachel to take the fall.” Two birds, one stone. Kill Alexa, put me in jail for loving her, and frame Rachel for having a past with me.
