London Bound: New Adult Romance (Chase Brothers) (27 page)

“Fine, I’ll behave.”

With his hand on the door, Lex kissed her briefly. “I was thinking, how about instead of you just coming over, we go on an actual date. You know, where I take you to dinner, maybe a little dancing.”

She grinned. “Like a grown up date?”

“Yeah, let’s pretend to be grown up for a minute.” He swung her hand gently. “I want to show you off. No more sneaking off for a few minutes here and there.” He’d talk to Gemma. It was long past the time their charade ended.

Taking Abbie’s hand in his, he opened the door. Immediately, flashbulbs blinded him. Time slowed in that moment. The flash of the bulb hadn’t yet extinguished but he yanked Abbie back into the room and slammed the door.

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!”

She stumbled before righting herself on the bed. “Alexi, what the hell?”

Adrenaline coursed through his veins. He dragged his hands through his hair. “Shit., Abbie, I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry.”

Eyes wide, she blinked up at him. “For what?”

“The damn paparazzi. Shit. I fucked up.”

A frown furrowed her brow. “Seriously, Alexi, what’s going on? Why are you freaking out? Just tell me what—”

He couldn’t even process her questions. “We need to get the hell out of here. I’m going to open the door and I need you to shield your face. Can you take your hair down and duck your head?”

She stared up at him. “So you’re not planning to tell me what the hell is going on?”

“Abbie, I can’t right now. Please just trust me okay. I need to get you out of here. I’ll explain everything. Later.” Much later. Once he’d taken care of the fucking paparazzi and could think past the buzzing in his ears. “Please, I’m begging you.”

She stood smoothly. Reaching up to her hair, she removed an elastic and several pins so the braids shielded her face. “This good enough?”

Her eyes were wide and guarded. Pain sliced through him. He was losing her. He’d freaking blown it. “Yeah.” He took her hand and squeezed. “I’ll take you back to Sophie and Max, and I’ll take care of the arsehole with the camera.”

She tugged on her hand a little but he didn’t let her go.

“Alexi, we’re going to talk about this right?”

He worked his jaw. “We will. Just not now.” He had to fix this. Somehow.

Chapter 27

Shit storm didn’t cover the depth of the mess Alexi found himself in. His phone rang on the nightstand, and he peeled open gritty eyes to glare at it. Five in the morning. When he saw Gemma’s name, he cursed.

The moment he answered, it was clear she’d been crying. Through a round of muffled and choked tears, she whispered, “Fuck, I’m so sorry, Lex.”

“Hey, hey. You didn’t fuck up. I did. All of this is my fault. Unfortunately, I’m reaping what I sowed.”

“I’m so sorry, Lex. I saw her talking to that piece of slime, and I didn’t put two and two together until we left the club. I confronted her about it, and she denied it, but I don’t believe her.”

“What are you talking about, Gems?”

“Jacinda. She called the paparazzi. She’s the one who had the photos leaked.”

He sat up in bed, and his skull throbbed. “What the fuck?”

“God, I’m so sorry. I never thought she’d do something like this. To force my hand.”

Shit. Shit. Shit.
What the hell was he supposed to do now? If the paparazzi thought they had a credible source, there was no getting in front of the story. “How bad is it?”

“It’s bad, Lex. Every other minute or so, I get a new notification on my Google alerts.”

He hung up with Gemma then lay back in his bed. “Fuck!” The curse came on the wing of a primal roar he swore would wake his neighbors. He’d had less than two months with Abbie before things had gone to shit.

By the time Nick called, any sliver of hope he held onto had evaporated. “Were you ever going to tell me, mate?”

Alexi bit out a curse. “Sorry, Nick. I didn’t exactly know what to say. ‘Hey, I’m falling in love with some American girl.’ It wasn’t supposed to happen, but it did.”

His friend was silent for a moment. “I don’t know how you could do this to Gemma. She’s a great girl.”

Lex walked over to his dresser and grabbed a pair of sweats. Since he was up, he might as well go for a run. “Yes. She is, but to be honest, she’s been more my friend than girlfriend or fiancée for a while. And she knew I was falling for Abbie.”

Alexi could picture the confused frown on Nick’s face. “I don’t understand. Gemma knew, and you guys didn’t break up?”

He wasn’t ready to go into the whole mess. Besides, he couldn’t. Not without outing Gemma, and he still had to protect her as best he could. “Look, it’s complicated. What I need to know is how this affects the sale. Toshino was clear they wanted no negative press. And with the Paparazzi sniffing around, do they know I’m your partner and CEO? If they find out, and Dad is tipped off, he’ll move heaven and earth to block that sale.”

“So far, I’ve heard nothing, but I’m on it. I’ll also try to get in front of it, if I can. I’ll call the lawyer next. What’s your next move?”

“Fuck, I don’t know. I’m caught between dealing with Abbie or trying to get in front of my father. If he’s heard, he’ll be furious and try to slap some restraints on me or something. He still can’t actually make me join him. But it’s going to be ugly.”

“Okay, then maybe it’s best you stay out of his way. I’ll do what I can on my end and let you know what happens.”

“Cheers, Nick.”

“Uh, Lex?”

“Yeah, mate?”

“Do you really love her?”

His stomach knotted at the word love and it doubled him over. “Yes.”

“Then I’m sorry this has turned into a cluster fuck. I hope she’ll listen to you.”

“You and me both.” She probably wouldn’t. But it was still early enough she might not have seen it yet. Even if she had, he had to try to explain.

His brother was the final call of the early morning. All Xander said was, “Well, at least I know I couldn’t have fucked everything up this bad.”

“Seriously? Alexander. I clearly don’t need this shit right now.” Quickly, Lex tugged on socks and his trainers. At least he could run out some of his frustration.

Xander was silent for a beat. “Do you think any of it will come up?”

Icicles formed in Lex’s veins. He hadn’t given any thought to what would happen with a media scandal. All the Chase family secrets would come crawling out of the darkened shadows. “I don’t know, Xan. I’ll call the lawyer and see about a gag order.”

“Let me do it.” Xander sighed. “You sound like shit.”

“Thanks for that.”

“Well, you do. Any word from the old man yet?”

“No, but I’m sure it’ll come. But something like this is beneath his concern unless he thought it tarnished him in some way.” Lex sighed. “I’m not sure how I fucked this all up so badly.”

“Well, that’ll teach you to snatch a woman right from under your brother’s nose.”

Lex ground his teeth. “She wasn’t yours, Xan.”

“I know. I couldn’t have her anyway. And let’s face it. I’m even more of a mess than you are. If it’s any consolation, I would have fucked this up even more spectacularly than you have.”

Lex’s heart squeezed. “I love her, Xander.”

“Then fucking fix it. If you managed to find a way to be truly happy, don’t let that shit go for anything.”

* * *

Abbie whacked her alarm as it cheerily buzzed. Peeling the duvet back, she checked the time. Six thirty. Her brain scrambled for any viable reason why she couldn’t possibly go on the shoot this morning. But when she found none, she forced herself into a sitting position.

She shouldn’t have gone out last night. Her brain automatically went to their hushed moments in that darkened room. The moments before he’d started acting like a crazy person. She shivered at the memory of how he’d driven her to the edge of crazy. Even as the memory sank in, her core softened and contracted at the thought of his lips teasing her. But the following imagery of what had happened after was like taking an ice water bath.

He’d deposited her back in VIP, whispered something to Max about taking her out through the back when they were ready to go. Then he’d practically run out of the place with Nick in tow.

There was a faint knock at her door.

“Yeah. Come in.”

“You up? It’s your mother.”

Abbie frowned. “Unfortunately.” She was not in the mood to deal with family hysterics so early in the morning.

Tamsin clomped in with her duvet wrapped around her and black bunny slippers on her feet. She plopped on Abbie’s bed dramatically as she handed her the phone.

“Mom, is everything okay? Dad, the girls?”

Her mother’s voice was crisp and cold. “No everything is not all right. We sent you to school. Decided to support your foolish attempts, and this is how you repay us?”

An icy fist slowly wrapped frozen fingers around her gut. “Mom, you’ll have to start from the beginning. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Her mother scoffed. “I find that hard to believe. What daughter of mine gets herself in a tabloid magazine and doesn’t think I’ll ever notice? I mean, you can’t get into a medical journal like your sister. You have to go and let it be something tawdry like
OK
magazine.”

OK, magazine?
Now she knew her mother was really out of it. “Mom, have you been having mimosas again? You have to be famous to get into that magazine. And I am distinctly not famous.”

Tamsin patted her knee and then grabbed Abbie’s laptop from the desk. She quickly typed a search for Abbie’s name and
OK
magazine.

“Mom, I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Stop lying, Abbie. And how could you do this to Evan? He loves you. Sometimes men just need to figure out what they want, and you go and do something like this to him. Something so public. Not to mention what you’re doing to that poor girl.”

Abbie and Tamsin watched in horror as page after page of results appeared on the laptop’s screen. There, in full color, was a photo of her kissing Lex that first night on the rooftop. Then there was the one of them leaving Brixton Gold, and finally one of them coming out of the sex room last night, looking flustered and well sated. The headline read “Britain’s Royal Billionaire Bachelor and His American Dalliance Break Fiancée’s Heart.”

Shitballs
.

Tamsin stared at her.

Her mother’s voice sounded like it was coming from the other end of a very long tunnel. “Abena Nartey, are you listening to me?”

Abbie could barely get the strangled breath out. “Y-yes, Mom.”

“If you think this is how we behave, then I’m sorely disappointed. You’re to come home immediately.”

Surprise and annoyance edged to the surface. “You want me to
what
?”

“You heard me. Come home. This little trip down rebellion lane has lasted long enough. You’ll come home, and we’ll sort this out as a family.”

“But there’s nothing to sort out. I met a guy. We’ve sort of been seeing each other.” She slid a look at Tamsin and noted the tight set of her lips. “It’s not that big of a deal.” Except, their relationship was all over
OK
fucking magazine.

The room spun. Why were they in
OK
? Then she read the headline again. Royal? Fiancée? She sucked in a deep breath and tried to focus on what her mother was saying.

“Mom, I’m not coming home. Despite what you see, I’m actually thriving here. I’m getting to explore all kinds of things.”
In the bedroom…
“My course is going well.”
Okay, so small fibs didn’t count.
“I’m working hard like you’ve taught me to do all my life. Is this really about the fact that I’m in a magazine, or is this about the fact that you no longer control me?”

Her mother’s voice went up an octave. “Control? You think this is about control? We’ll see how you feel about control when we stop paying for school.”

Fuck
. Sweat popped on her brow. “You would do that?”

Her mother sniffed. “We would be happy to pay for you to go to a school closer to home, or for you to go to law school, or medical school, but this, this frivolous thing has thrown you off track.”

Tears burned her eyes. “So you’re saying that you and Dad, that would be it, you would cut me off just for doing what I think is best for me?”

“It’s your choice, Abbie. But we’re not going to support you making poor decisions. Leaving Evan. Running off to London. Dating this piece of cheating scum. I don’t care if he is royalty. You’re nothing more than someone to be used and discarded. At least Evan loved you.”

Fury made Abbie’s voice tight. “Evan hit me, Mother. He hit me. That’s not love. If you actually cared about me and were less concerned with social standing, you’d see that he would have killed me eventually.”

She swallowed hard, not daring to look at Tamsin.

“If you do not come home immediately, you are drawing the line in the sand.”

Hot tears brimmed in her eyes. “I guess I have, because I am certainly not coming home.”