Wrecked (21 page)

“Later man. Thanks again for the favor.”

“What favor?” Adriana asked.

“He fixed the pipes I was having problems with the other night.” She nodded her head. Clearly he had been lying to her as well.

“Bye Cyrus.” She waved and gave him a sweet smile as they left the bar, and I waited a few minutes.

“Did you enjoy the show?” Cyrus asked, but I didn’t move. “I know you know I’m talking to you, so you might as well buy a drink.”

I got up from my booth and went to the bartender. He put his hands up as if in surrender. I slammed a hundred dollar bill on the counter and left the pub.

“Hey,” he yelled out, but I didn’t stop.

I needed to follow Xavier. I walked back to our parked cars where I watched as Xavier lifted Adriana’s leg up around his hip. He had her pressed against his car, kissing her neck. She moaned. I needed to get out of here because I had seen enough, and I had to meet with someone.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Damien

There was only one other person I knew who needed to know about Xavier, so Adriana wouldn’t have the same fate that Andrea suffered, and that was Andrea.

It had been three weeks since I had texted her from the pub to meet me at the penthouse. She finally responded and clearly misunderstood my reason for our meeting when she answered the door in a sexy negligee. I proceeded to tell her what I had discovered over the past few weeks, and she listened. After I finished, she simply nodded and took a deep breath.

“Are you sure?” Andrea asked nonchalantly, and I simply nodded my head.

“I felt you needed to know the man your daughter was marrying before it was too late. It is obvious Xander Lucas Bane taught his son that money and marriage are only for superficial reasons.”

“I suspected so, but Pierce insisted. Never mind. I need you to take me somewhere.” She quickly dressed herself in a sexy wrapped black cocktail dress with a high slit. She had red fuck- me stilettos, and my dick literally tingled with the idea of using the heels as handlebars.

“Of course.” We left her penthouse and drove through the streets of Pointe Hope in silence.

“You must love her very much to go through the trouble of finding out the truth,” Andrea finally said. I turned to watch her face, and I saw hurt. I realized she did care about me.

“I never meant to hurt you, Andrea. Trust me, I tried very hard not to.”

“Oh, I know your principle of love, ‘Fuck or not to Fuck, that is the question.’ Wasn’t that what you said before?”

I laughed at the memory of our first meeting.

“Good memory, unfortunately Mylie got under my skin and never left.”

“Turn here.” She directed me the rest of the way until we were sitting in the parking lot of O’Malley’s. She left the car like a woman on a mission. She opened the door; there stood the bald- headed bartender with sleeved tattoos cleaning the counter.

“Cyrus, I presume?”

“Hey gorgeous, I’ll be anything you want.”

“Charming,” she waved her hand like he didn’t matter. “I am here in regards to my daughter.”

“Hey I don’t sleep with teenagers!” His shell-shocked expression made her laugh.

“You’re cute, but I meant my daughter, Adriana.”

“Oh,” he paused looked to me, and he remembered my face. “Yeah, I know her. She is my friend’s fiancé.”

“Weren’t you the one who loaned him your truck?” I accused, and Cyrus stepped back looking solemn.

“Hey man, I don’t agree with what Xander does, but I don’t mess with the business he gives me either.”

“Xander?”

“The guy you’re following.”

“What? I was following Xavier Bane.” The bartender pinched his brows and shook his head.

“No, Xavier Bane is his twin brother. The one you’ve been following is Xander. Xavier is in Afghanistan. He wishes he could be like Xavier. Wait, is that what he said?” I nodded my head.

“Son of bitch. He’s a sick fuck. Xavier is a good stand-up guy, but Xander is slimier than his predecessors. If you care about that girl, keep him away from her.”

“Is he telling the truth?” I asked Andrea, and she simply nodded.
I’ll kill him!

“Don’t worry about me darling. Go get your girl,” she gave my hand a tight squeeze.

“What about you? I can’t leave you here,” I protested, but she waved me off like she always did.

“Oh please. Cyrus here will give me a ride, won’t you darling?” She said it seductively, and I saw him nod enthusiastically. He didn’t know he was just struck down by Aphrodite herself.

“Good luck…,” I said it more to him than her.

Then I got a text message from someone I never thought I’d hear from again.

Mylie

It had been three weeks since I had left the hospital and was finally able to return to my life. They had me on so many medications, and, after removing the charcoal substance in my stomach to get rid of the poison, I finally felt alive. Apparently there was a fight that Malory had been involved in which escalated into huge scandal. The surprising turn was that Damien had defended Malory and actually saved her. It was too surreal.

During my stay at the hospital, there was a truce between my best friends, whom I have lovingly nicknamed, the fighting duo. Malory had always been Team Xavier while Rhonda was Team Damien. Now, they had decided they were both Team Damien. However, they didn’t know what he had done to me. Luckily. Diana had been away and didn’t have a vote. They checked on me every day and called every night, and I also had Xavier who would stay almost nightly.

The strange part was that the poison had given me hallucinations. I asked when I saw Xavier for the first time. He had his beautiful golden hair, and I felt scared to ask. So, I went to the person would know. According to Dr. Trotter, the scene at the school never happened. He had met with Xavier and confirmed that Xavier still had his long hair. I was so confused, but clearly Dr. Trotter knew what he was talking about after he listed all the symptoms of the puffer fish poison I had come in contact with. After an officer did a sweep and a lab tested everything I had come in contact with, the lab found that the poison was in my lipgloss.

With each passing day I felt better, and my experience with sex had started to get more intense with Xavier, but lately he seemed distracted. He was texting and mumbling things to himself when I softly put my hand on his shoulder, and that was when I saw the real Xavier.

“Are you spying on me?”

“What?” I felt like he had slapped me. “I would never do that. I thought you were upset.”

“So you always creep around when you are concerned?”

“I wasn’t creeping.” He grabbed my arms so tight I thought they would shatter. “You’re hurting me, let go.”

“Maybe this is what you’re into, huh. Is that why you haven’t given me that sweet pussy?” he whispered in my ear. I felt frightened as the memory of the homeless man came back full force. I screamed. He abruptly slapped me, and I saw stars. He started to rip off my clothes. “I want that pussy, and you’re going to give it to me unless you already gave it up to Damien!”

“Please don’t do this,” I begged, and he saw the real fear in my eyes and smiled wickedly.

“You did, didn’t you? You gave what’s mine to that son of bitch?” he whispered in my ear.

Dear God, he knows!

“Please Xavier, don’t do this.” He furrowed his brows and shook his head as his eyes widened.

“Oh my God Mylie, I am so sorry. I was just role playing baby. I’m so sorry. I thought we could spice things up. Baby. Look at me. Please. I’m sorry,” he begged, but I couldn’t look at him.

Get out
was all I said.

“Mylie, I didn’t mean to,” he pleaded with me.

“I SAID
GET OUT
!”

He looked solemnly at me but grabbed his things and left the house in a sports car. I had been avoiding Damien for so long that I had started to get into a comfortable routine with Xavier, but tonight made me realize how much I missed Damien. When we made love, there was a tenderness that had touched my soul. My heart ached because I hadn’t seen him, and I knew he denied his feelings. I knew without a doubt he loved me. But he hadn’t tried to get in contact with me, so I now I was certain I had to move on.

He made his decision, we would never be. Over the weeks, there had always been someone to care for me, cook for me, and look after me, and I was never alone, until now. Lord, would Xavier come back? Would he have raped me, or was it really role-playing? I finally broke, everything was too much, and I didn’t have the one person who could fix it all. I needed to get out, so I texted the one person who would save me.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Mylie

My rescuer came with an extra- large cheese pie and sat on the couch. He was in casual attire wearing his snakebites again. This was the Kyan I knew. The official Kyan just didn’t fit.

“What exactly happened?” Kyan asked with a mouthful of pizza as we snuggled under a blanket on the couch.

“He--,” I couldn’t even say it. The fact was I clearly didn’t know Xavier.

“He who?” He furrowed his brows and out went my Kyan and entered the official Kyan.

“Xavier.” I sighed. “I think he would have raped me tonight.” A single tear fell down my cheek, and I set down the pizza.

“Mylie. That’s not possible.”

“Are you fucking kidding me? Are you actually defending him?”

“Mylie--”

“Ugh. Guys will protect each other. Unbelievable!” I threw my hands up and started to get up, but Kyan grabbed my hand and pulled me down.

“Mylie listen to me.”

“Kyan, let go.”

“It couldn’t have been Xavier.”

“Unfuckingbelievable. Seriously Kyan, you need to let go.”

“First, Xavier would never jeopardize his career. Second, he would never do something that would befuddle his family name. And last, he would have to be here. And he isn’t; he’s in Afghanistan,” he rationalized.

“What!” I processed everything he was saying, but I couldn’t even comprehend it. “Xavier is here practically every night, Kyan!”

“Mylie, that’s impossible!”

“Is not! I see him every night.”

“With Skype?”

“What? No! He comes over here, in my bed, EVERY night! Ask Nik.”

“Xavier Bane is a Corporal in the Marines. He is on tour in Afghanistan. We investigated and then informed him of what happened to you. Mylie, you are not dating Xavier.”

“Oh my God!” I closed my eyes. What the hell was happening? Who the hell was I sleeping with? “Jesus it makes sense! Jesus Christ! It makes fucking sense!”

“What makes sense?”

“Adriana Belafonte said Xavier was her hero, and it was awesome that I would want be there by his side knowing his sacrifice. I didn’t understand what the hell she meant. She is marrying his brother Xander Bane.”

“Poor girl. That guy is a complete jerk. He makes his father look like the pope. I particularly don’t like Xavier, but Xander is the worst of the twins.”

“Why?” I shook my head because clearly someone had been playing a cruel joke on me.

“Because he is charming as he is crazy, your typical sociopath. Luckily, he has been on meds for as long I as I can remember. His father always kept him on the straight and narrow. Anyway, do you have a picture of Xavier?”

“Yeah, on my phone.” I reached in my back pocket of my jeans and pulled out my phone. I quickly found a picture of my Xavier and handed it to Kyan.

“Son of a bitch.” He stood up and pulled out his phone and made a call. “Bowers, I know who killed Mercy and who has been trying to kill Mylie. And I have a suspect for the other case.”

“You do?” I asked completely surprised.

“Yeah, have an officer pick up Xander Bane. I’ll be there shortly.” He closed his phone and looked at me with sad eyes. “My’--”

“What is it?” He stood there, and I already knew what he was going to say, but I still wasn’t prepared for the shock of it.

“You’ve been seeing Xander Bane.” The air left my body, and I collapsed on the couch.

“Fuck!” This couldn’t be happening, but it was. “He isn’t on meds.”

“How do you know?” Kyan sat next to me and grabbed my hand.

“You said his dad made sure he took meds, but his dad isn’t even in Pointe Hope anymore. He’s been hospitalized.”

“Jesus Christ!” He pulled me from the couch. “We have to go to the station. Plus, I think we finally have a lead on another case.”

“What case?” I grabbed my purse, walked out of the living room, set the alarm, and locked the door behind me.

“You don’t know?”

“Know what? Kyan just spit it out.”

“Professor James has been missing for three weeks. No one has seen him or Andrea Belafonte.”

“What? Wait, maybe they ran away together?” I tried to say, but I knew there was no way she would miss her daughter’s wedding. “No, Adriana is getting married—Oh my God! Kyan, we have to check on Adriana. She is marrying Xander!”

“Shit!” I thought Kyan agreed but when I looked up to see what he was staring at, there before us was the shaved -head replica of my Xavier, the real Xavier Bane.

“You’re real,” I said quietly, but his stoic expression was nothing like my Xavier. This man was lethal, and he obviously knew what his brother had done.