Page 45 of Vicious Rule

Maybe Alex has a point when he says Gideon has always gotten a better deal from his parents.

“Sasha!” she calls out when she sees me. “You are a sight for sore eyes! I swear every trip I take on that plane gets more difficult with each time. I told Helix he needs to buy something more comfortable to travel in, but I think he actually likes it. How are you? All settled in with your new job with Alex?”

I hurry down the stairs to greet her as I always have whenever she used to visit Gideon at the hotel. Unlike her husband, Kerry Rule never fails to charm everyone she meets, and she doesn’t terrify anyone either.

“It’s great to see you again,” I say as I hug her. “Alex is upstairs resting. He’s going to be fine.”

She nods and gives me a big smile. “Of course he is. I never worry about my oldest child. Gideon I worry about all the time, although I have to admit I’m much less concerned now that all he does is run the hotel since his father let him out of the family business. And Autumn I worry about because she’s my baby. But Alex? I swear he’s invincible.”

“This time it was only a bullet to his shoulder. They don’t know who did it, though,” I say as I wave over a guard to take her bags. “Let me take you up to your room so you can get settled.”

Kerry slides her arm through mine and tugs me toward the stairs. “Let me look in on that son of mine first. Do you know his father actually told me Alex got shot and then in the same breath said, ‘So you might as well stop there on your trip to see Gideon and Aria.’ Can you believe him? I swear they’re far too blasé about all the violence.”

I want to agree with her because I think she’s right. Both father and son are far too casual about the violence in their lives and particularly the violence they cause. I know better than to comment like that, though. As kind as Kerry is, she tells Helix everything. It’s odd, to say the least, since I know for certain he tells her very little about his life and business.

She seems happy enough with the arrangement, though, so who am I to say it doesn’t work? They’ve been married for over twenty years. Something must be going right between them.

“I’m sure Gideon and Aria will be happy to see you,” I say, changing the subject as we reach the second floor hallway overlooking the entryway.

“Can you believe they’re having a baby? I’m still walking on air. I don’t know if I feel old enough to be a grandmother, but I can’t wait!”

“You certainly don’t look old enough,” I say as I study her face and think to myself this woman must have found the fountain of youth. She barely looks as old as her sons.

That makes her blush, and she squeezes my arm. “You are so sweet. Thank you. You always took very good care of Gideon, and I know you’re doing the same thing with Alex. His father mentioned it might be a rough transition for you. Has it been?” she asks as we walk toward Alex’s bedroom.

Again, I wish I could tell her the truth, but that’s not possible, so I smile and say what I must. “Your two sons are like night and day, but I can work with just about anyone.”

We stop in front of his bedroom door as she nods at my comment. “I have no doubt about that. You’re a smart woman. You’ve made your way in this world of theirs, and you should be applauded for that.”

Something in the way her smile doesn’t make it all the way to her eyes tells me she either doesn’t mean that compliment or she has something else on her mind. I wait for her to continue, but instead she slides her arm from mine and walks into Alex’s bedroom without even knocking.

He’s sitting up in bed in the dark talking on the phone, but Kerry flicks on the lights. “Hello, honey. A little birdy told me you might need your mother for a few days. Are you okay?”

Alex’s face lights up, and he quickly tells whoever he’s talking to he needs to go. I watch in surprise at how sweetly he reacts to his mother. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him act this way toward anyone.

“I’m fine. The reports of my demise are exaggerated, as usual. I see you found Sasha.”

She looks over toward me standing near the door and smiles. “Of course! Like any good assistant, she’s always nearby.”

I smile at her compliment once again before he says, “She’s not just my assistant, Mom. Sasha’s my girlfriend.”

Oh. My. God. Did he just announce to his mother that we’re a couple now?

We never talked about him telling his parents about us. I’m not even sure there is an us. Not really. He wanted to pretend we were a couple and I said I wanted the real thing, but I never truly thought I was his girlfriend. That sounds so traditional, and neither one of us is anything close to that.

Kerry’s head practically spins around three hundred sixty-five degrees when she turns to look at me in utter shock. “Girlfriend? She didn’t say anything about that on our way up here, and of course, your father told me nothing about this.”

Terrific. Now I look like I was hiding the fact that we’re together, or worse, I’m embarrassed by it.

I stammer out, “I…Alex seemed like a better…maybe I should leave you two to talk.”

With a glare, I let him know a little advance warning he planned to announce that to her would have been nice. He winces for only a moment before beckoning me over to the bed.

“Come sit with us, Sasha.”

Never in my life have I felt so uncomfortable, and I usually love spending time with Kerry. This whole girlfriend thing has me thrown for a loop, though.

I mumble a few words about having work to do, but he refuses to let me leave, insisting I join them. Reluctantly, I make my way over to the bed and sit down where he’s patting his hand on the covers while Kerry sits in a chair a few feet away.

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