Page 58 of With This Mask

Alec isn’t on campus. He isn’t home.

He’s out somewhere.

“Fuck, Alec, where are you?” I breathe as tears sting my eyes.

And just then, a few raindrops fall from the sky.

Defeated, I turn back toward my own apartment.

Rain lashes against my skin, each drop a cold humiliation. I’ve been combing the campus for Alec, but it's like he vanished into thin air. Disappointment and desperation gnaws at me, persistent and sharp as the gusts that whip through my soaked hair. The world feels stupidly empty right now without him.

"Dammit, Alec Vanderholt," I mutter to myself. My voice is swallowed by the storm, and I can't decide if I'm more furious or worried. I could just text him my congratulations. But this feels too big. This is his whole life now. It feels like something I need to say in person. If only I could fucking find said person.

My building looms ahead, the lights a mockery of warmth when all I feel is an icy void. The rain drenches me to the bone, clothes glued to my skin, a shiver running through me that's got nothing to do with the chill. It’s that hollow sensation, the one that screams that something’s missing—no, someone.

I fumble with my keys, cursing under my breath. Finally, the lock clicks, and I stumble into my tiny space, dripping and defeated.

"Where the hell are you?" I growl as I peel off my jacket where it drops to the floor in a wet slop. I’m about to head to the shower when a pounding on the door sets my heart racing. I take a step for the door, and they pound against it again.

"Hold your freaking horses!" I snap, flinging the door open, ready to unleash hell on whoever's decided to drown in the rain just to annoy me.

But it's Alec. He's standing there, looking like a damn wreck, all bruised knuckles and a split lip that makes my stomach twist. There’s lingering rage in his eyes. His nostrils are flared and his jaw clenches hard. I’ve never seen him like this—raw as the storm raging outside.

"Shit, Alec, what happened to you?" The words leave my lips before I can stop them, my anger evaporating into concern.

He doesn't say anything, just stands there with his jaw clenched, eyes burning with something fierce and desperate. I feel… nervous under that scrutinizing stare.

"Get inside, Alec." My voice doesn't waver, even though my hands do. I grab his arm, rougher than necessary, and haul him into the too small space. The door slams shut behind us, sealing out the storm's cacophony.

"My father," he starts, voice a low growl that ripples with barely restrained fury, "he threatened your family. Because of me."

The words hit like a punch to the gut. His father, the mogul with a heart colder than his diamonds, is the reason the two of us have been miserable for the last four weeks. Despite how desperate I was earlier, suddenly, I can’t speak. I don’t know what I dare say.

But my non-answer is answer enough.

“He can’t touch your mother’s house anymore,” Alec says darkly. He stands just a few feet away from me, frozen, his hands on his hips. “No one will threaten her loan again.”

The blood drains from my face. “Alec, did you…?”

“Neither of you has to worry again, I made sure of it,” he says hardly.

Holy shit. Alec paid off my mother’s mortgage. On his own. “How… how did you find out?” I ask, feeling timid.

Alec’s blue eyes blaze as he stares at me. “It didn’t make any fucking sense, Salem. Why you’d just detonate everything. But then my father kept pushing Victoria down my throat, kept talking about the acquisition he wanted in on with some bank. So, I went to his house last night, and I asked him, point blank.”

I’m kind of impressed William told Alec the truth.

Emotions bite the backs of my eyes. “He said he’d tank your company if I didn’t walk, Alec. I couldn’t… You’ve worked so damn hard for this.”

Alec takes a step forward and brushes my soaked hair out of my face. “You didn’t have to shoulder that alone, Salem,” he says, his tone low and soft.

“Yeah, well, your dad is pretty damn scary, and I kind of care about my mom and you,” I say softly as my eyes shift from his down to his lips.

"You never have to worry about him again, do you understand?” he asks. He brushes his split knuckles against the back of my cheek, and I understand now.

There was no intruder at the Vanderholt mansion. Alec walked right through the front door. He confronted his father about what he’d done. And then Alec beat the shit out of his own father.

Fuck.

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