Chapter 49 You Belong To Me
The car ride back from the estate was so quiet that Sarah could hear the ticking of her own watch, and she kept looking out the side window at the dark trees passing by because she did not want to look at Alex, she could still feel the ghost of Richard’s voice in her ear telling her that Alex belonged in that big stone house and not in her cramped life, and the thought that she was the one holding him back from being a king was starting to grow in her mind like a weed that she could not pull out.
Alex noticed how she was pulling away from him, and he reached across the center console and grabbed her thigh, his hand feeling heavy and warm through the fabric of her dress, and he squeezed just enough to make her look at him, his eyes looking dark and intense under the glow of the dashboard lights.
"Stop thinking about what he said, Sarah, I know that look on your face and I told you he is a liar who says whatever he has to say to get his way," Alex said, his voice sounding deeper than usual and full of a hard kind of energy that made her breath hitch, but she just shook her head and looked back at the road.
"He sounded like he cared about you, Alex, and he looked at you like you were the best thing he ever made, and I have to wonder if I am being selfish by letting you stay in my world when you could have all of that," she said, her voice sounding thin and tired, but Alex didn't let go of her, he moved his hand up to the back of her neck and pulled her head toward him a little bit so she had to feel his strength.
"I don't want his world, I want my own life where I can wake up next to you and not have to look at a gold crest every time I open my eyes, so you are not holding me back from anything because that throne is just a cage that I already broke out of," he told her, and he sounded so sure of himself, but Sarah noticed how he gripped the steering wheel with his other hand, and she saw the way his jaw stayed tight even after he finished speaking, and she realized that even if he hated his father, the power of that house was still pulling at him in a way he didn't want to admit.
They got back to her house and Sarah went straight to the kitchen to get a glass of water while Alex followed her, his eyes never leaving her as he moved through the room with that dominant way he had, and he walked right up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pinning her against the counter so she couldn't move.
"You're mine, Sarah, and no old man in a suit is going to change that, so stop doubting us because it makes me want to lock the door and never let you out until you remember who you belong to," he whispered against her hair, and his voice was so possessive that it usually made her feel safe, but tonight it just made her feel more horny.
She managed to get some space and sat down at the table, picking up her phone because she saw a missed call from Mark, and her heart jumped in her chest because he hadn't spoken to her since the day he left, so she took a deep breath and dialed his number while Alex watched her from the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest.
"Mom?" Mark’s voice came through the line, and he sounded tired, like he had been working a lot of hours, but he didn't sound like he was shouting, and Sarah felt a huge wave of relief wash over her.
"Mark, honey, I’m so glad you called, I’ve been so worried about you and I just wanted to know if you’re okay," she said, and she leaned back in her chair, closing her eyes.
"I’m okay, I found a place, it’s a small apartment but it’s comfy and it’s close to the office, and the job is actually going really well, they gave me my first project today," Mark said, and he sounded proud of himself, which made Sarah smile even though she still felt a dull ache in her chest.
"That’s wonderful, Mark, I knew you would do great, I just miss you so much and the house is so quiet without you," she told him, and there was a long pause on the other end of the line, and she could hear him breathing.
"I miss you too, Mom, but I’m just not ready to come over there yet, I’m not ready to see you and Alex together like that, it’s still weird and it still hurts, so I just need some time to breathe and do my own thing for a while, but I don't want to lose you forever," Mark admitted, and his voice sounded younger then, like the son she used to know before everything got so messy.
"Take all the time you need, I’ll be right here when you’re ready, I love you so much," she said, and when she hung up the phone, she felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders, and she looked over at Alex and gave him a real smile for the first time all night.
"He’s okay, he’s working and he’s safe, and he said he doesn't want to lose me," she told Alex, and he walked over and pulled her up into a hug, kissing the top of her head in a way that felt like a victory.
"See? I told you it would work out, everyone just needs to settle down and stop listening to the noise," Alex said, and he led her toward the stairs, his hand firm on the small of her back as he guided her toward the bedroom, and for a few minutes, Sarah actually believed that they might have won, that the dinner was over and her son was safe and she could finally sleep.
She sat on the edge of the bed and started to take off her jewelry, but her phone on the nightstand started to buzz, and it wasn't a call this time, it was a string of notifications that kept coming one after the other, and the sound was so aggressive that it made her stop what she was doing.
She picked up the device and her thumb swiped across the screen, and her blood turned to ice in an instant because the top of the news feed was a link to a local tabloid site, and the headline was written in big, ugly letters that seemed to scream at her from the glass.
Alex saw the look on her face and he was beside her in a second, grabbing the phone from her hand to see what it was, and his face turned into a mask of pure rage as he looked at the screen, because there was a grainy, blurred photo of the two of them in her kitchen from a few nights ago, and they were standing close together in a way that left no doubt about what was going on between them.
The headline read, "The Harrington Heir and the Decorator: A Secret Affair in the Veridian District," and Sarah felt her stomach drop through the floor.