London Bound: New Adult Romance (Chase Brothers) (32 page)

“Of course. And what about you? I’m sure your parents were counting on an Alexi and Gemma union.”

“Well, I’ve been telling the old man for years that I wasn’t going to marry her. He just chose not to listen. My mother, on the other hand, knew something was off. I think she thought I was the one who was gay. She’s always asking me if I have passion in my life. It’s really awkward.”

Abbie covered her mouth with her hand. “Oh no. She doesn’t.”

“She stopped asking the day we hung out in Brixton. She knew I’d met someone. I tell you she has a sixth sense about these things. She stopped thinking I was gay as soon as the pictures came out.”

Abbie blushed. “I’m mortified.”

He took his hand off the gear shift and patted her hand. “Don’t be. She’d love to meet you.”

Her eyes darted to his. “Uh, okay.”

He grinned. “You know. When it’s time.”

“Right.”

Lex cut off three cars to pull off the M1 and slid onto the surface streets of central London. His driving became even more haphazard, and she closed her eyes so she didn’t have to watch.

“Abbie, do you feel sick?”

She shook her head. “No. Your driving just scares me.”

Alexi chuckled. “Remind me not to take you to Italy or Germany then. I drive slow here in comparison.”

Her heart leapt at the idea of traveling together, but her brain tamped it down. Just because he no longer had a fiancée didn’t mean they’d be riding off into the sunset together. They still had a few things to work out.

Suddenly, Lex swerved into an alley and stopped the car.

Abbie looked around. “Are we hiding from paparazzi?”

He laughed as he shook his head. “No. This is the VIP entrance. I’d still like to keep tonight about us and not the side show, if I can.”

Out of nowhere, a tall Asian man in a dark suit appeared and opened her door for her. Abbie stepped out, and her breath caught as she stood next to him. He was huge. Not just tall, but also massively wide.

When he spoke, his voice was all polished Brit. “Good evening, Miss Nartey, Mr. Chase. I trust you’ll have a pleasant evening.”

Lex led her through the side door, and immediately the aroma of delicious food assailed her. Ginger and garlic were the first scents to make her mouth water. “Wow. I want whatever smells that good.”

“You’ll have to be more specific,” Lex said with a smile. “It all does.”

The hostess appeared in the candlelit hallway and led them to a private table. There were no other patrons in the room, but when Abbie leaned back, she could see into the main restaurant, and the place was packed. She also had a view to the street, and there was a small hoard of people waiting outside. “Where are we, exactly?”

“It’s this new Vietnamese fusion place call Pho. I know the owner, so I called in a favor.”

Once seated, she leaned forward. “I know it’s uncouth or whatever to ask this, but sometimes you just gotta know. Just how do you
know
all these people? And how many favors do they owe you?”

He laughed. “My mate, Andrew, from University is the owner. He spent a summer trekking through Vietnam and fell in love with the culture and the people. Eventually married a Vietnamese woman. They moved back here and opened the restaurant.”

“Wow. It’s a beautiful place. Is he your age?”

“No, he’s a little older. We used to play cricket together.”

Cricket. Right
. She shifted uncomfortably at the thought of just how little she knew about him.

Waiters brought around tea, and Alexi ordered their drinks for them. Once drinks had arrived and their food orders were put in, he sat back and studied her, a slight crease forming in his forehead. “You have to tell me. Is this too much, not enough? I’m finding you very hard to read right now.”

She was hard to read? “Oh. No, it’s fantastic. Tamsin and Sophie had mentioned this place when they took me to Camberwell to hide me last weekend. We were looking to do a girls’ night, but they said it was impossible to get inside. So it’s really nice to be able to actually eat here. I’ll have to remember all the flavors so I can tell them. Sophie, of course, will insist that we try to recreate the meals. For someone who doesn’t cook, she’s really adventurous in the kitchen.”

He frowned slightly. “Your friends aren’t exactly fans of mine, are they?”

She hadn’t prepared for that question. “No, it’s not that. I think they were unhappy that I lied to them about who I was seeing, and they worry about me. Especially Sophie. But Tamsin is in your corner. Sophie will come around.”

He winced. “Abbie, about—”

The first course of hot soup arrived, and Abbie’s stomach grumbled as the aromas of ginger and onions hit her nostrils. “Wow, I didn’t realize I was so hungry. Tamsin kept trying to feed me before I left, since we weren’t sure where you were taking me for dinner.”

He laughed, and it softened the edginess in his gaze. “She thought I’d be starving you?”

“No. More like she thought we’d be going somewhere pretty, but where the food wasn’t very good, or the portion sizes would only be enough to feed a size zero anorexic model.”

He laughed. “Oh, no. I pay attention. I even made sure nothing has mushrooms in it. And I’ve seen you eat, remember?”

She flushed at the memory of the weekend they’d spent together and the way she’d devoured the breakfast he made her. “Yeah, I’d forgotten about that.”

“I remembered.”

Abbie met his gaze. Time to bite the bullet. If she didn’t do it now, she’d get caught up in the romance, and she still had questions she needed answered. “So last Sunday, you said you couldn’t tell me anything about what was going on with you for another week. Can you tell me now?”

He wiped his mouth with his napkin, then gently placed it back in his lap. Abbie couldn’t help but marvel at his impeccable table manners. Of course, he’d probably had a lifetime to learn all of the appropriate spoons and forks. All she’d really learned was to start on the outside and work her way inward.

He cleared his throat. “It all had to do with work, really.”

Her brows shot up. “So what is it you do you do, anyway? I don’t think you’ve actually told me.”

His smile was bright and warmed her. “Well, as of Monday, I will no longer be the owner of the Take Back The Night software application.”

“What happens on Monday? Are you leaving?”

His mouth tightened, but then he answered smoothly, “No. Final sale of my company goes through. Then I’ll just be the acting CEO until they can get someone else to fill my shoes.”

Her mouth fell open. “Wow. I had no idea.”

“How could you? I didn’t exactly tell you.” He took a sip of his scotch. “You weren’t supposed to have an idea. If anybody had a clue and leaked it, the deal would have been off. Hell, it’s still supposed to be a secret until Monday.”

“Why?”

“My father, for one. If he finds out about the deal, he’ll try for a hostile snatch of my company.”

She blinked, and her hand fluttered to her chest. “Wow. Is your relationship that contentious?”

“Yeah, you could say that. It’s always been like that. He prefers Xander. Xander fights less. You tell him to do something, and he nods and smiles then does what he likes. I fight more.” Lex shrugged.

He went silent as the waiters appeared to remove their soup bowls. Once they filled the table with heaping piles of dumplings, rice, and succulent smelling stews, they vanished and left the two of them alone again.

Only then did Alexi continue. “Mum is the one with the titles and the inherited wealth. Dad only got his wealth from leveraging Mum’s connections, name, and Gran-dad’s money. It works for him, and he pretends to love her. I stopped trying to figure out my parents or why my father sees me as the bane of his existence.”

“That must be hard.”

He shrugged. “No harder than having parents who don’t support you. At least I have my mum.”

“But you didn’t tell her about the job?”

He gave a sharp shake of his head. “No. She wouldn’t have meant to let anything slip, but it’s easy to not be paying attention and out comes something pivotal.”

“Must be lonely keeping so much to yourself. Do you have anyone to confide in?”

“Nick, Gem. Sometimes Xander.” He gazed at her through lowered lashes. “Now you.”

Abbie flushed. “I’m sure you have other people you can confide in besides me. There were three hundred people at your birthday party, for the love of God.”

Alexi shook his head, dislodging a dark lock to fall over his brow. “There are a lot of people who want the fun and the lifestyle. Who stand around wanting to be part of the entourage. I’d rather be on my own at my house, honestly. It sucks. I never know who I can trust or who just wants to be my friend because of who my cousins are or because of what they think I can do for them.”

Abbie’s heart broke for the loneliness he must have felt. “No wonder you didn’t tell me who you are.”

He winced. “I didn’t think you were like that. Pretty much after talking to you the first time, I knew you weren’t. I’ve just never had anybody close to me.”

Tears pricked her eyelids, and she blinked them away rapidly. “Thank you for telling me,” she murmured. “What happens now? After the sale of the company, and what does the company do, anyway?”

His eyes gleamed. “Well, Nick and I built software that connects all the elite clubs, restaurants, bars, and lounges in one place. Kind of a social calendar for the fabulous set. Then we expanded it to include certain VIP accesses that aren’t accessible to everyone. We worked out a deal with all the Club Membership places like China White, to allow temporary memberships for anyone we send them, for a cut, of course. And we keep it super exclusive. Anyone who wants access has to pay a pretty penny, and there’s only a set number of all-access passes. So for any given weekend, there will be two passes per club, or restaurant, or lounge or show, or something. It’s first come, first serve. Tonight, at midnight, for example, we’ll release all the availability for next week’s venues. Sometimes we crash the system with all the people trying to get on. We eventually expanded to concerts, and then included lower access things like events and restaurants.” The excitement was clear in his expression, the way he gesticulated with his hands. He loved what he did and was really proud.

Wow
. In a million years she never would have thought of that. “That’s huge. I know lots of people who’d kill to get into the places you have access to. Hell, I’m a bit awed by it all. I wouldn’t want to do it on a constant basis, but they sure are fun.”

“Yeah, going out in London has proved to be a lucrative business.” He smiled ruefully. “Not bad for the kid who was never going to amount to much.”

“Maybe your father will surprise you. He should be proud.”

“Well, he won’t be.”

“I’m sorry,” she said softly.

“For what?”

How could she explain that even before she’d known about who he really was, she’d judged him? “For not seeing past the shine. I’m probably no better than the people you were talking about.”

He took her hand. “Well, you weren’t working on all the information, and you knew something was off.” He squeezed her hand. “I should have told you from the start.”

“I guess I understand why you didn’t.”

“I know it’s a lot to ask, but I’d like another chance. I feel terrible for how things turned out for you. I wish I’d just told you so you could have prepared or something.”

“It’s okay. It’s not like I would have done anything differently. I knew you were different the minute I laid eyes on you.” Abbie raked her teeth over her bottom lip.

A smile tugged at his lips. “Then let me help you out with school. It’s my fault your parents freaked out on you.”

She shook her head and took her hand back. “Alexi, no. I was serious when I said I needed to figure it out on my own.” And that was true. But why did she suddenly feel nauseous thinking about it.

His brow furrowed. “You have to accept help sometimes.”

She took a sip of water to cool her dry, itchy throat. “And I am. I actually have gotten a few photography gigs. A couple of the models that rent from Max have had me taking pictures for them. Jasper too. If I can keep it up, I can pay for school and my living expenses all by myself.”

His lips flattened. “You really won’t let me help?”

“Nope.” Abbie shook her head.

He shook his head. “I really wish you would.”

She inhaled deeply, praying for the lightheaded and hot feeling to dissipate. She refused to be sick on this date.
Refused
. “I know. And it’s sweet you want to. But no. Mom and Dad pulling the plug was maybe the thing I needed. If they hadn’t yanked my world out from under me, I would forever be beholden. Right now, I’m sort of free. I don’t have to take any bullshit. I’m not obligated to listen, and there won’t be any guilt when I don’t.” She paused. “Or at least not much.” The skin on her arms prickled with a flash of heat and she swallowed hard.

He nodded. “I understand the need to be free.” Lex took a sip of his drink and slid his hand across the table to take hers. “Abbie. There’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”