Page 50 of Casino King

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I look away for a moment. “Why are you here? I thought you had work.”

“I do. I just wanted to see you.”

“Oh,” I breathe, surprised, and Alec’s dark eyes float over my face. “I’m glad you came,” I admit softly.

“Good. Let me take you home.”

“I don’t want to go home.”

“Then where do you want to go? I’ll take you anywhere.”

“I know a place.”

Changing my shoes, I untie my skirt and pull on a pair of sweatpants. Alec takes my bag and guides me out of the studio with his hand on my lower back – a comfort that eases the pain of the flashbacks racing through my mind.

Alec’s car has fully tinted windows, and it feels like we’re in our own little bubble with just us in the small space.

I give him directions to my favorite spot and we ride in silence as I watch the afternoon sun glint off the ocean next to me.

Parking next to the large rock wall that’s meant to help ward against hurricane storm surges, I get out of the car and start walking, not even waiting for Alec. I feel his presence behind me as I step up onto the jetty that extends out into the ocean.

I keep walking out farther and farther, my eyes only focused on where I’m stepping.

Luckily, there’s no one else out here right now, and when I’m about three quarters of the way out, I stop on a relatively flat rock that’s able to fit the both of us.

Alec hasn’t said a word. He just followed me silently, knowing I needed this.

The wind whips all around us as the waves crash up onto the rocks, sea mist coating my face. Shivering, Alec’s arms come around me instantly, wrapping me in his warmth from behind like a blanket of security. I haven’t felt safe like I do with Alec in far too long, and because of that, I find myself telling him things I haven’t told anyone before.

“My brother moved us here from northern Jersey after my parents died,” I start, and Alec begins to stroke my arms. “I found this place on my second day here when I was feeling too much and needed space. The apartment felt too small, so I got on my bike and just rode, needing someplace big. A place that felt bigger than everything I was feeling.

“I come here when I feel like I do now. When every breath feels like too much of an effort and the memories find their way to the surface and I can’t push them back down.”

I have the sudden urge to tell him everything. To give Alec what I’ve been carrying around with me for six years. He’s strong enough to carry it along with me, and I’m strong enough to let him.

“My brother was all I had after my parents. But then he was taken from me too. He was murdered right in front of me.” Alec’s release of breath at my confession blows across my exposed neck, sending another chill through me.

“James was only 19 when my parents died, but he wanted me to stay with him, which is why he moved us here. He said there was always money to be made in AC. He was lucky to find a construction job during the day and then he worked in the casinos at night. Two of them on rotation so he could get more hours.” My voice shakes, thinking about how hard he always worked. For me.

“I didn’t get to see him that much with me still being in high school and the hours he worked, but he did anything and everything to make sure I could still dance. He knew it was all I had besides him in my life.” Tears slip down my cheeks and I blink slowly, the wind drying them almost instantly.

“What happened to him?” Alec asks me, his arms tightening around me. “Who did it?” he asks a little harsher.

“I don’t know,” I whisper. “It all happened so fast. All I saw was my brother crumbling to the ground. And blood. So much blood,” I choke out, my voice breaking at the end as images of that day flash in my mind.

Spinning me around, Alec keeps one arm wrapped around my waist to steady me, and grips my chin with the other. I allow myself to get lost in his eyes as tears fall from mine. He gives me strength. He’s anchoring me to him so I don’t just let myself blow away in the breeze.

“I’ll take care of it, Tessa,” he tells me with all the confidence in the world.

“What do you mean?”

“I’ll take care of it,” he repeats.

“How?”

“My men will find him.”

“It’s been six years,” I whisper.

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