Chapter 117

[ALEX]

A storm raged inside my head, centered on one person: Mia Carson. Her stunningly enchanting grey eyes and brown locks had captivated me since the moment I first saw her. Every part of me wanted to go to her room and kiss that mouth that had spewed accusations at me last night, but a more sensible part recognized her right to her hurt feelings. I needed to let her be.

I credit my mother for instilling the empathy I felt as a child, even while all I wanted was to watch things burn.

And they will. Xander will pay for making Mia cry. No one gets away with messing with me the way he did, and he did it intentionally. He made my Mia cry.

"Thanks for meeting me," I said to Hannah, without real gratitude, once she was in my car.

She shook her head, dismissing my thanks. "Why did you call me?"

"I just felt like seeing my beautiful fiancée."

She stared at me as if I'd grown two heads, shifting uncomfortably and crossing her legs. Her usually heavily made-up skin was bare; her eyes were sunken, and her blonde hair was braided into messy locks resting on one shoulder. "What?"

I smiled—a fake one, but she didn't need to know that. "We were set to marry early next year, but… I was thinking we should push the date up. How about… next month?"

Her eyes widened. "You want to marry me? I—I thought you were looking for ways to call it off."

"Changed my mind."

"B-But why?!"

"Something about what Xander said last night, about how you're beautiful." I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

"Xander said that?" Her surprise was audible. "He said you should marry me because I'm beautiful?"

"Something along those lines."

"That son of a…" She muttered, then stopped, looking at me. "I don't want to marry you, Alex."

I pretended to be hurt. "You've wounded me."

"I don't love you." She took an exasperated breath, looking utterly done with me.

"Love doesn't exist, Barbie," I mocked. "I can give you status, money, power. And I'd say I'm not bad looking. So what is it?"

"I love someone else," she replied plainly.

I smirked. "Someone else, as in the unhinged idiot who barged into my house last night wanting to share a girl with me and encouraging me to marry you?"

Hurt flashed in her eyes, though I knew that had little to do with my telling her I was sleeping with someone else. She blinked, masking her emotions like the perfect robot she was raised to be. "This girl," she commented, "she's yours?"

"She's mine," I stated. "And I'm going to destroy Xander for suggesting he could share her. Unless you give me a reason not to."

After a successful morning doing what I do best—ruining people's lives for fun—I returned home to the girl sitting impatiently on the couch. She looked freshly bathed, her hair still damp, but her eyes were distant. I didn't think she'd slept much last night or eaten any of the breakfast I'd asked the chef to prepare for her. Lana stood behind her, watching Mia closely. Mia sprang up when she saw me.

"Where were you?" Her accusatory glance fell on me, and she crossed her arms.

She was cute when she was worked up.

"Work," I replied.

"Sit. I'll tell you everything," she instructed, and I blinked slowly, taking my place on the couch. I didn't miss the way she intentionally put distance between us, sitting across from me, or the way she looked sad.

Oh, Xander was going to die for this.

"I had a best friend. Her name was Alina. She and her family died in a house fire six months ago because of a faulty fuse." Mia paused, taking a breath to calm the shakiness in her voice. "She wasn't even supposed to be there. She had moved out and was just—she was just visiting. All of them died."

My jaw clenched. "So when you heard me and Bakshi talking about a fire…"

"You mentioned it being around six months ago. Seven now, I should say, since I've been here for over a month." She sniffed. "I recorded it because I—I thought you could be responsible, and I wanted to get to the bottom of it."

"Okay."

"Okay?" She looked up, maintaining eye contact for the first time that morning. I hated the tears glistening in her eyes; Xander would pay for each one. "So—so, did you do it?"

I shook my head. "I'm hearing her name for the first time."

"Sandler. That's her last name. It doesn't ring any bells?" I hated the hope in her voice and expression.

I shook my head.

"Are you lying?" She confirmed one last time.

"I thought we established last night that I'm a liar, and I was playing you all along," I subtly taunted.

She retreated back into her seat. "You're lying?"

"Why should I tell you the truth if you don't believe me anyway?"

Mia's mouth opened and closed. Her nose flared; anger was visible as she stood. "I told you what you wanted to know. Let me go now."

"No."

She glared at me. "You can't keep me captive forever, King," she seethed, using the fake last name. "As if you're queen here." I wanted to roll my eyes at her childish taunts. "Dispose of the trash. We need to make space for your…"

The urge to murder, which I'd been suppressing since last night, rose as anger. With a swift motion, I grabbed her arms and pinned her to the wall.

"What did I tell you last night?" I growled. "Do not badmouth yourself. You are not disposable, and you're certainly not trash."

Challenge consumed her gaze. "I'm not allowed to badmouth myself? What about that friend of yours when he assumed I…"

"He will pay for it."

"Let me go, Alex," she hissed, wiggling violently. "I'm going home. You can't keep me here forever. I told you what you wanted to know, so let me go."

"No."

"I'm going to go anyway." Fire burned in her eyes. "I'm going to walk out of here. If you want to stop me, ask your men to shoot me."

My grip loosened at the hate in her words, and my eyebrows furrowed. "All this sudden dislike just because you found out about the deal between me and Hannah?"

"It's not a deal!" she cried. "It's an engagement. Call it that. And yes, that is why."

"Then there's an easy fix." I stepped back, arms folded.

She froze, and I knew she hated the hope in her voice. "What?"

"I won't marry her," I announced. Her gaze softened.

"You won't?"

"No," A sinister smile played on my lips. "I'll marry you instead."

A/N: My new book, My Bully Alpha, is out NOW! The first chapters are posted. Please give it a chance.