Aligned: Volume 3 (18 page)

The woman finishes her song and motions for the crowd to stand as the traditional bridal march begins. I look around but don’t even know where the music is coming from. The crowd gasps as they get their first view of Caroline walking down the aisle.
 

I catch my own view of her a second later and gasp as well. She’s beautiful. More natural than I expected her to look. Her dress is beautiful and hugs all of her curves. It’s more simple than I thought it would be. Her smile is large and bright. She’s glowing as she walks. I catch a glimpse of her bare toes poking out from underneath her dress. She’s walking barefoot down the beach.
 

“When I get married, I want something simple where I can walk barefoot on the beach ...”
 

The memory from when we were kids, probably not any older than ten years old, sinks into my thoughts. My smile turns from fake to real in an instant. She got her wish. Caroline. I think about Caroline for the first time. This whole time I’ve focused on what’s best for Alex and how horrible my life is going to be after today, but I never thought of Caroline. I just thought she should be happy to get the money and fame she’s always wanted. But she’s always wanted more. She deserves more. She deserves to be happy.
 

I can give her that. I can give her happiness. I may never be able to give her true love, but I can give her happiness.
 

I continue smiling brightly as she walks down the aisle until I see Drew. A scowl covers his face as he walks stoically next to her. ‘Smile,’ I mouth to him through clenched teeth. He ignores me.
 

I ignore him and lock eyes with Caroline instead. I do my best to tell her how I feel. That we can be happy together. She deserves it. Her smile gets brighter as she reaches me.
 

I take her hand from Drew as he takes his place beside me. She hands her bouquet to her bridesmaid before she grabs hold of my other hand so that we are holding each other with both hands.
 

“You look beautiful,” I say meaning every word.
 

“Thank you. You look very handsome as well.”
 

“We’re going to be happy together,” I say, not able to hold back from actually saying the words making them feel truer than ever.
 

“I know.”
 

We both turn our attention to the minister who begins the typical speech made before the wedding.
 

“Landon,” I hear Drew hiss in my ear behind me.
 

“Shh,” I say between clenched teeth trying to keep a smile on my face. Why the hell is Drew trying to talk to me during my wedding?
 

“Landon, it’s Alex,” Drew says again.
 

“Shh,” I say again.
 

“Alex is in the hospital. It’s all over the news. She ...” Drew pauses not able to get the next words out. “She might not make it ...”

When the song ends, she mouths the word ‘bathroom’ to me. I nod and watch as she heads to the bathroom at the back of the large establishment. My eyes never leave her body as she walks into the bathroom.
 

“I’ll just get the papers ready for you and Mrs. Wolfe to sign,” Heather Doyle, my realtor says.
 

I nod my head at her as she leaves me alone upstairs in the large mansion we are about to buy. Alexa basically gave me her blessing to go ahead and buy the house the last time we talked, but she had conditions. Conditions I don’t plan to honor. She doesn’t remember our life before, and she doesn’t know what is at stake now. We aren’t as safe as she thinks we are. The only way I can protect her is if she stays here.
 

I open the door to one of the spare bedrooms. The door creaks slightly as I open it. We will have to have that fixed before we move into the house. The bedroom is painted a calming pale blue. I walk over to the white crib against one wall and glance inside to see blankets covered in blue clouds. A stuffed baby elephant sits in the corner. I bend over the crib to pick up the soft toy and stare at it intently. This is what I want. A baby. Something I can pass on my legacy to. Something that will tie Alexa to me forever. Something that will redeem me for all of the damage that I have done.
 

My back stiffens in pain from bending over the crib. I reach into my pocket and pull out the bottle of pain medication I was prescribed at the hospital. I haven’t had to use much, but today is different. I open the bottle and throw back two pills before swallowing without water.
 

I place the stuffed elephant toy back into the crib, cringing slightly at the pain as I do before I glance around the room. Toys are scattered along the floor in an unorganized mess. Diapers are stacked high on top of a dresser. Dirty clothes are falling out of a clothes basket in the corner. The whole room looks like one big disaster.
 

We will definitely need to hire a nanny and a maid to keep this room from looking like this when we have a kid. I couldn’t live in a house this disastrous. Especially when we fill up the five other bedrooms with kids. There is no way this level of disorganization would be tolerated.
 

But this is what I want. A family. A real life. A redeeming baby.
 

I glance down at my watch. Time to go check on Alexa. I move down the stairs quickly two at a time. I head out the large entryway and out the large door to find James sitting in the SUV he brought me here in. I climb in and wait for James to drive me back to Alexa’s condo where she is back from meeting Abby.
 

I don’t like that she had a meeting with someone from a magazine. That means she wants to get back into that world, and I can’t let that happen.
 

My mind immediately drifts to the key that I have yet to find. I looked in the drawer she had locked, but it wasn’t there. I’m out of ideas of where she could have kept it before the accident.
 

“I have to find it, James.”
 

“You will,” James says glancing into the rearview mirror to meet my gaze.
 

“No, I have to find it. My life depends on it.”
 

“What’s so important about this key?”
 

I drop my gaze from James’ stare.
 

“Everything. It’s everything. Without it ...” I can never be safe. I can never have a family. I can never have redemption. “I just need it.”
 

James nods. He knows me too well to ask more.
 

“She hasn’t said anything to you?” I prod again.
 

“No, she hasn’t said anything about a hidden key.” James laughs. “I think you have really lost it, man.”
 

I glare at James. “Has she remembered anything?”
 

“No, she hasn’t. It’s unfortunate. I really thought she would remember me. We used to be buddies.” I notice a frown forming on James’ lips, but I don’t have time to deal with James’ sulking. I ignore his comments. I just hope he’s smart enough to tell me if she starts remembering anything around him. Even the smallest detail of her past. I need to know.

I glance back down at my watch as James pulls up in front of Alexa’s condo. It’s three o’clock on the dot. The exact time we agreed to meet in the lobby so we could go together to get the house of our dreams. I stare into the lobby, though, as I wait in the car. I don’t see her. I dial her number on her phone. I wait as it rings two, three, four times before going to voice mail.
 

I sigh before opening my door to climb out of the SUV.
 

“I’ll be right back,” I say to James, who just nods and pulls his phone out of his pocket. I shake my head as I slam the door shut and begin walking into the building. He really is terrible at security. If he weren’t my friend, I would have already fired him.
 

The elevator ride up is quick. I walk to her door and knock. I wait, but I don’t hear a sound inside her condo. I try the doorknob, and it opens easily. I push inside and that’s when I see her. Lying on the floor. Covered in blood.

I can’t trust Laura.
 

Pain is all I feel. I try to open my eyes, but the pain prevents me. I try to speak, or move, or breathe, but the pain compounding in my head is too much. It’s unbearable. What the hell happened to me? Why is everything so painful? Why can’t I open my eyes?
 

Everything comes back slowly.

I remember having lunch with Abby ...

I remember driving home ...

I remember opening my door to my condo ...

I step into my condo ready to go take a warm shower before facing Ethan to tell him I took another photography job. I close the door before I realize something is off. It feels cold in my condo. Like all the warmth has been sucked from the room. I rub my hands up and down my arms trying to warm my body as I step into the kitchen to grab a glass of water before I go shower. I freeze. Cups and plates are shattered all over the floor. I let my eyes trail up the cabinets. Most of the drawers are half-open, their contents all mixed. My eyes drift up to the countertops and find a couple of pieces of white jagged ceramic scattered along the top. I glance higher to the open cabinets that are now empty.
 

I tiptoe over the broken glass and ceramic covering the floor. I grab a piece of broken glass off the counter and hold it high in my hand ready to attack if need be. I walk slowly and as quietly as I can into the living room as another chill runs up my body. I don’t pause to warm my body up this time, though.
 

I check the living room for any signs of life but find none. The stuffing has been ripped out of the couch. The pile of DVDs is scattered all over the floor.
 

I creep slowly to my bedroom door that’s closed. I never close the door. My heart beats wild in my chest, my palm sweaty as I grip my weapon of broken glass so hard I feel a trickle of blood running down my shaking hand.
 

Whoever did this, whoever tore my condo apart looking for something, is behind that door. I can feel his cold heart beating steadily behind the thin door. I don’t know what I should do. Should I call 911? Should I run? Should I burst through the door and attack? I don’t have time to think.
 

I turn to run out of my condo as fast as my legs will take me. I don’t think about the steps or being careful not to disturb the broken glass. I don’t know where I’ll run. I just know I have to get past the front door. I just run.
 

I’m not far from the door now. Maybe five feet. I’m going to make it.
 

“Don’t move,” a deep voice says.
 

I stop in my tracks only three large steps from the door. Three steps from freedom. A freedom that will never come. I feel something hard pressed into my back. I assume it’s a gun, but I’m not sure. I feel my body trembling slightly. I’m going to die.
 

I’ve survived an entire lifetime of pain. A lifetime of one disaster after another. My dad leaving at a young age. Mother dying not long after. I survived foster care. I survived living on the streets. I survived rape. I survived a targeted car accident. I survived my own death. I’m not going to die now. Not here.
 

“What do you want?” I ask my voice shaky. The man doesn’t respond, though.
 

“I have money. Lots of money,” I say a little calmer. Money is the key to everything. To my survival.
 

“Shut your mouth, bitch, or I’ll shoot you,” the man says.
 

He grabs my arm and pulls me back. I cry out from the pain of his nails in my arm before I realize that I’ve made a sound.
 

Pain shoots across my jaw from a hit with something hard. Like the butt of a gun. I open my mouth to cry out again, but instead, only a small whimper escapes. I’m afraid to do more and end up in more pain. Or worse ... dead.
 

He continues to jerk me back toward the bedroom. Away from the door. Away from freedom. Landon and Ethan both flash across my mind. At least, now, I won’t have to choose. I’ll just be gone.
 

I stumble backward as he pulls me through the kitchen. I grab onto the counter to keep from tumbling to the floor when I feel the hard glass jab farther into my hand. My weapon is still in my hand. At least, I’m not going to go out without a fight.
 

I feel my blood pulsing fast through my veins, and I use that as fuel. In one motion, I use all the strength I have as I whip my body around toward him thrusting the piece of glass deep into his back.
 

I try running. I try one more chance at freedom as my weapon is now stuck in his back, but his grip tightens on my arm.

“You bitch,” he says. I try to hit him, to do anything to get him to let me go, but instead, my hand freezes mid-air as I catch a glimpse of dark black eyes peering through his black mask covering his face. The same black eyes that raped me. The same black eyes from the car attack. They are the same black eyes as the ones I’m peering at now. How ... how is that possible? My rapist is in jail. The men who attacked Ethan and me are in jail. Yet the same eyes are staring at me.
 

It’s the last thing I see as I’m hit hard in the head again. This time hard enough that I pass out.
 

Black eyes. Dark black eyes. I will find you. And I will kill you. I will not let you hurt me again. I will not let anything worse happen. I can’t. I won’t.
 

I’ll survive this. I always do. First, I need sleep. Much more sleep. Then I’ll come after you.