Alana
She tossed and turned all night, the blankets riding up and around her.She pulled them tighter, pushed them away, then repeated the process until she couldn’t take it anymore.It was like she was being watched in her own home.She was seeing eyes in the darkness, and they followed her, hungry and unrelenting.How did Drew ...Michael ...she didn’t know what to call him now, even in her own mind.Drew, she decided.She knew Drew; she didn’t know Michael.She wasn’t sure she wanted to.How did Drew live in this world?An uncertain world of violence and threats?Well, she wouldn’t know unless she asked.
She padded into her kitchen, wrapping her robe tighter around her.The purple sparkles calmed her, the light glinting off the marble countertops.She made herself a coffee, black, and gulped it back like a shot of alcohol.She needed it today; she needed to be sharp.The gang was in New York.Max was in New York.And they weren’t leaving without Drew.That’s if they planned on leaving at all.That thought made her heart lurch.She didn’t know how they were going to play this.But the first thing they needed to do was clear.Drew needed to get in touch with his parents and they needed to move them somewhere safe.They needed to change their names, their zip code, their everything.She rested her head in her hands.So much for the coffee waking her up.Everything suddenly felt too heavy.How could they ask them to do this?To uproot their life?To leave their home they’d lived in for nearly as long as she’d been alive.
Well, they just had to.
So, she got to work, calling and emailing everyone she needed to, preparing their new passports, documents, finding them a safehouse, the lot.By the time she’d heard back from everyone, and she thanked her lucky stars for all her loyal employees, it was way past noon.She texted Drew to meet her at the club and got dressed.She didn’t have time to care about what she wore, pulling on a pair of black scruffy jeans and an oversized blue shirt.
She pulled her handbag over her shoulder and headed for the door, on a mission.She flung it open and her foot caught on something, the crinkle of it capturing her attention.Flowers.Lilies.Roughly fifty of them.Her bag dropped to the floor in a crash.She instantly knew who they were from, what they represented, yet she needed to see it for herself.She pulled the card that sat patiently waiting, intertwined in the flowers.
Beautiful flowers for a beautiful woman.So pure and innocent.
Then, underneath the handwritten message, was a flower fact about lilies:Did you know lilies are the perfect funeral flower?Symbolizing many things, but above all others, sympathy.
She swallowed her fear, crumpling the card in her hand.Subtle, Max, real subtle.
She bent down, picking up the flowers, deciding she’d bin them on her way to the club.The card dug into her palm the whole way there, like the words, the threats, were seeping into her body, her blood.
Once she was there, she headed straight for her office and found Drew waiting for her.She didn’t know what came over her, but she ran straight for his arms.He enveloped her without saying a word, his hand falling on the back of her head.She didn’t know how long they stood there, but it was like the world stopped turning, like it knew that it needed to wait until they had this moment, this one moment of peace together.She looked up at him, bruise-like dark circles had made a home under his eyes, and she longed to brush them away.Hell, she probably looked the same.His icy blue eyes assessed her quickly, thoroughly, and she stepped out of his arms, feeling too much on show.Wordlessly she handed him the note.He read it.Then read it again, stopping a few times in between to look at her as if to reassure himself that she was still there, still in one piece.
She broke the silence first.
“It’s to be expected.A power play.We can still figure a way out of this.”She showed him what she’d been working on for his parents.“If you want me to, I can be the one to call them.”
A hollow look crossed his face.“I haven’t spoken to them for so many years ...they think I’m dead, Alana.I wouldn’t even know what to say...”
Her hand curled around his.She closed her eyes so that she didn’t have to look at the lost look on his face anymore.“Like I said, I can do it.I can explain everything.”
“Thank you.”His hand tightened around hers.“Thank you, thank you.”He took a deep breath.“Alana, I’m so sorry I’ve brought this—”
She cut him off, raising her hand.“What’s done is done.”
He ran his thumb over her palm.“I don’t deserve you.”The contact and the words sent a shiver skittering down her spine.He pulled her closer.“You’re moving into my safehouse.With me.Immediately.I should have done that the moment they showed up here.They know your address, they likely paid off the doorman to get in.”His jaw twitched and his voice lowered.“I’ll have a word with him.”
Her doorman?Ian?She’d known the man for years.She gave him and his grandchildren gifts at Christmas time...
It was like he could read her thoughts.“Everyone can be bought.It’s best not to take it personally.”
Really?Could everyone really be bought?
“That’s a cynical view of the world you have there, and no, I can’t just move out...”
“It wasn’t a question.You’re moving in with me.”
“Why so serious?I’m actually concerned for your well-being.”
“No.There’s nothing to joke about when it comes to your safety.”
“Drew...”
His gaze bore into hers.“Please.I won’t be able to sleep if you don’t.”
“Well, we can’t have that,” she whispered.
