Running From Destiny (16 page)

“Jackson, what are you doing here?” I ask him loud enough for him to hear me over the music.

“I could ask you the same thing, Alexandra.” He takes my hand and leads me out of the bar, into the lobby area.

“Did that guy hurt you?” He asks, his hands are on my face, but his eyes are scanning my body.

“No, he didn’t. But I didn’t need you to come to my rescue, I’m a big girl. I could have handled him.” I tell him.

“No one touches what is
mine, Ally. No one.” He leans in and kisses me. But I push him back off.

“No Jackson. Not now, not here.
You haven’t told me why you’re here, I thought you were in New York.”

“I came back for the weekend, to check on the remodel and a few othe
r
matter
s
here.” He tells me as he pulls me closer, staring at my lips. “I saw his mouth on you, Alexandra. That mouth belongs to me.” And he swipes his tongue over my lips, licking into my mouth in one swipe, forcing my lips open to welcome him in. He makes me so weak. I can’t resist him. His every essence consumes me and I give into him.

B
ut I quickly come to my senses. “Jackson, stop.” I push back against his chest. His body heat and firmness tingles my palms. “You left, it’s over. I’m not going to go back.” I tell him. But he doesn’t listen. His hand moves up from my hips to my breast, caressing the upper swells that are peaking out of my dress.

“It’s not over, Ally.
Come with me.” He pulls me toward the door, but I dig my heels in and stop.

“I am not coming with you, Heather is here and I’m not leaving without her.”

“Fine, let’s go find her. She’ll go with us.” He says. I laugh. Out loud, yes I do. If he thinks he can command Heather to go with us, he’s sorely mistaken, but he takes my hand and leads me back into the bar toward where she is still sitting, sucking face with Doug.

“Heath
er.” I tap her on the shoulder. She looks up from Doug’s face and her eyes flash open. She looks like she’s seen a ghost. “Heather, we need to leave. Now.” I tell her.

“Unh uh, not going yet.” She purrs as she looks up at Doug.
“You go, I’ll catch a cab home.”

“Heather, please come with us.
You’re drunk and you don’t know what you are saying, come on.” I tug on her arm.

“Get off me!
I’m staying.....arghhhh!!” Jackson cuts her off when he picks her up and throws her over his shoulder. Damn he’s strong. Doug just looks at Jackson like he’s going to kill him, but when he stands up from the bar stool and peers up at Jackson’s eyes, he sits back down.

Good move.
I wouldn’t mess with him either when he’s like this.

“
Put me down!” Heather squeals. Jackson moves like a cheetah to the exit and like a lost puppy, I follow. I’m shaking my head because I don’t understand this at all. He’s so damn controlling. He leaves for New York, doesn’t call for weeks and now this. Well, bring it on Mister, because I got news for ya, I’ve had weeks to prepare for this!

The Bentley limo is parked out front on the curb and the driver is st
anding there holding the door. He tosses Heather in like she weighs nothing, “Get in.” He tells me. I scoot in beside Heather who is now angry. Yikes. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her this angry before.

Jackson speaks to the driver briefly then gets in the car.

I’m hot. And no, not that kind of hot. I’m hot as in fuming, steaming, kick someone’s ass mad. Rage has filled my being and my fists are clenched at my sides. My chest is heaving and I’m short of breath. Oh no, not a panic attack! Not now. I close my eyes and take deep breaths trying to calm myself, but it only works enough to bring tears to my eyes. I can feel them prick the insides of my lids and I struggle to fight them. One tear slides down my face, but I’m able to swipe it away before he sees.

We pull up to the front door of the building and t
he driver opens the rear doors. No one had said a word during the entire drive, including Heather. As the driver opens the doors, I finally look at Heather and she’s passed out cold on the seat, her head settled in Jackson’s lap. I have to fight off a laugh. Yeah, she was angry before, but she’ll be glad she was rescued before ending up raped or dead somewhere.

Jackson gets out and
lifts Heather into his arms. I stare at his arms and chest as the muscles flex and bulge. I need to get over this quick if I’m going to battle. I can’t even look at him or I will turn into a puddle of goo before this fight has even begun; and I plan to fight.

I slide out of the car and follow Jackson as the c
oncierge opens the door for us. “Ma’am.” He nods his head at me.

“Frank.”
My voice catching on his name. We ride up in silence, and Heather hasn’t moved at all. The doors open into the penthouse and Jackson goes straight for the stairs, taking Heather to one of the bedrooms so I walk into the great room to the windows that overlook the streets.

My brain feels like a ping pong table, the ball going back and forth and I feel a headache coming on, but I dare not let on or this conversation will go nowhere.

I don’t hear him come into the room, but I feel him. His presence sends chills up my spine and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I see his reflection in the glass, so I know he’s right behind me. “Alexandra.” Is all he says.

I take
a deep breath and turn to him. “Jackson.”

He lea
ns in for a kiss and I back up. “No, you will not try and distract me. I am so angry at you right now. I’m so angry I could spit nails, and you don’t want to be in the way when that happens.”

“Come, let’s sit.” He holds his hand toward the sofa.

“Actually, I’d rather stand. What the fuck was that back there, Jackson? You can’t keep doing this!”

“Doing what, Alexandra.
Protecting what’s mine?”

Mine

“I am NOT yours, Jackson. I am ME! I don’t need, nor do I want, you jumping in to save the day. I don’t need saving, Jackson, and I need you to leave me alone.” I wrap my arms around my waist and glare at him. His eyes move to my breasts as my arms have pushed them up a little higher than they usually are. I notice this and drop my arms.

“Yes, you do.
I saw you in a dangerous situation with a man that wasn’t taking NO for an answer.....” he says.

“Wait, YOU won’t take no for an answer either, what mak
es you any different than him?” I start shaking because I am so angry.

“Sit, Alexandra. Please.
You’re shaking and I don’t want you falling in those shoes.” He says as his eyes focus on my stilettos, then travel up my legs. Geez. I feel his gaze as it travels up my body. Yeah, the same damn body that thinks it’s okay to betray my brain.

But he’s right, I feel
like I’m on the verge of collapse so I sit on the other end of the sofa. He moves toward me and I scoot back as far as I can go, my back hitting the arm. “Stay back, Jackson. Please don’t come any closer.” I whisper at him.

He obeys and stops, but his eyes have not left mine.

“I can’t do this Jackson. You need to go back to New York and get on with your...life, the life that doesn’t include me. I’ve tried to fight you and as long as you’re here, I.....” I drift off.

“What Alexandra, please continue.” He says as he slides a bit closer to me, placing
his hand on my knee. I look at his hand and back to his face, and he removes his hand. Good. Glad to know I have the power to control him with just a look.

“I know, Jackson.
I know all about what’s been going on in New York and I realized I was just a distraction for you, a challenging game. Well, you won. Game over, Jackson.”

He drops his head into his hands, scrubbing his fingers through his hair.

“It’s not what you think, Alexandra.”

“Bullshit!!!” I scream at him.
“It is EXACTLY what I think it is, Jackson. Tell me, were you ever planning on telling me that you’r
e
engaged
?
Huh? Were you ever planning on telling me that you are actually an attorney and the magazine is just a side job? You expect me to tell you everything about my life, but you divulge nothing! I had to search for you online to get any information. Then, the news was covering your....Madison’s troubles.”

“Shit.” He says.
“Alexandra, please let me explain.”

“There
’s nothing to explain, Jackson. We. Are. Done. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get Heather and go home. There’s nothing left for me here.” I say, hoping it hurts as much as he’s hurt me.

“We are not engaged anymore.
We didn’t tell that to the press because she has enough on her plate to deal with right now. We haven’t been engaged for years. I broke it off when she refused to seek treatment and it only made it worse, so I stepped in to help. She has issues and I can’t abandon her right now. Please understand.”

“What I
understand is this. You lied to me.... and to quote you, ‘I don’t take well to liars.’ Jackson.”

“No, I didn’t lie to you....”

“Yes, you did! Omitting important facts is the same as lying. Did you think I would have agreed to any of this had I known?” He shakes his head in denial. “I can’t do this. I won’t do this. I will not be the other woman.” I say as I walk toward the room where Heather is sleeping.

“Ally, you aren’t th
e
othe
r
woman. You are th
e
onl
y
woman. Please believe me.” He begs.

I’ve never had the honor of watching such a proud man beg,
but that is what he is doing. He’s on his knees by the sofa, his fists clenched tightly together. His green eyes are.....wait, are those tears? Fuck. He’s gonna fucking cry!? Now what do I do?

“Jackson.” I say as I walk back towa
rd him, my voice calming some. “You have to understand why I am so angry. I fought you and fought you and you kept pushing. You knew I was uncomfortable with this...this, whatever it is, yet you persisted and you withheld information. I can’t trust you and I don’t involve myself with anyone I don’t trust, especially a man. I have trust issues anyway and here you go making a mockery of that.”

“No, that’s not what this is.
Please sit down and let me explain. Then, if you still want to end this, I will take you and Heather home and you will never hear from me again. Please?”

He looks so vulnerable.
And as I have said before, I am weak. So I sit down and wait for him to begin.

“My parents and Madison’s parents “arranged” for us to be
married when we were children. I know, that’s old fashioned, but it was what they did. Madison and I have known each other since then, grew up together. She was my best friend for many years and we got engaged when we were in college, just like our parents wanted.” He pauses before continuing, I can tell that this is difficult for him, so I just sit quietly.

“Once I received my undergrad and headed to law school, Madison got a modeling contract
with Elle Magazine. She was young and naive, but she was so excited and I promised I would support her while she followed her dreams. But she developed bulimia and started making herself sick every time she ate. She refused to put on any weight and risk her modeling career so I confronted her, as did her parents and her agent. She went through rehab and got better, but then she fell in with the wrong crowd and started doing drugs.”

“She started smoking pot, which was innocent enough at first.
But she started gaining weight and moved on to cocaine. When the weight she had gained didn’t fall off easily, she started purging again. This time she refused treatment. Swore she had it under control. I was away at Yale and she was back in New York, so I couldn’t help much and her parents wrote her off. Disowned her, so to speak. She’s been in and out of different rehab facilities since then. In fact, she had just gotten out right before she was arrested.”

“When did
you break off the engagement?” I asked him.

“Years ago, but she never got over it and I felt responsible for her relapse,
because she never recovered. That is why I had to go to New York. Now she’s facing a prison sentence and she will never survive it. Her parents stepped back in and put her in a secured facility, and she’s under suicide watch. I have to go back to New York tomorrow to meet with the prosecuting attorney and the judge on Monday.”

I take a deep breath before speaking.
I want to make sure what I say makes sense and that I’m not just talking out of my head.

“Look, I’m sorry for what
both of you are going through. Bulimia is serious business as is the drug use and I understand why you have to help her. But, you were already pursuing me before all of this happened. That’s a big problem, considering the press is still calling you her fiancé. If the press finds out you have been going behind her back with me, well… That could generate problems for both of us. I can’t take that chance. Neither should you. This has to end. Now, please take us home.”