Page 62 of One Wild Ride

TWENTY-FOUR

Alexander

“This drink’s hot,like your body,” the kid said as he pushed Aria’s coffee order toward her. The final blow, he winked at her.

My eyes narrowed trying to saw him in half with my stare.

“How old are you?” Aria asked trying to hold back her laughter.

“How old do you want me to be?” he countered as he made a kissy face.

“Where’s a manager?” I demanded, glancing around the shop. The only things I noticed were the small wooden tables, a couple of customers, and brown painted walls, but no one who might be another employee.

“My uncle owns Wake Up Joe’s and he’s in the back. I suggest you don’t disturb him.”

“Come on, Aria, let’s go find a seat.” I placed my hand on her back to guide her away from the sleazy kid.

As we sat in a brown leather booth back in the corner, I gazed around the place to make sure I wasn’t followed. I only saw an old man with a golf umbrella despite the cloudless sky outside and a guy in a leather jacket reading a book while enjoying some coffee. He appeared too scruffy to be anyone my mother would hire.

“I did it,” I said.

“Great. So, he hasn’t been back?”

“I changed the locks and codes to the doors on Monday and since then, I haven’t seen Bradley,” I said.

I tried to fire Bradley weeks ago when he attempted to make me believe Aria was using me. He flat out told me no. Reminding me that my mother employed him, not me. He told me my mother had brought up Alexa Dorton again. I worried how far my mother would go to separate Aria from me.

It was difficult for me to be alone with Aria. Especially when we wanted to be intimate with each other as Bradley made it a habit of showing up. Even when Aria came over to work on the mural.

We considered having me stay at her place but every time we would come back to her apartment, we found a new bug. There was no winning with my mother.

She had the power and the money to gain access to anything she wanted. I was unhappy but not that surprised when I discovered my place bugged, but when we found them at Aria’s place too, I wanted to destroy her world piece by piece. Never, would I believe a single word that exited my mother’s mouth again. She’s twisted me and everyone I cared about without a care of how much it hurt.

Aria tried to get me to go to the police, but I knew my mother. She was smart enough to have enough cops in her pocket. A detective Cindy Hardy’s card, from the Chicago Police, fell out of my mother’s coat pocket a few months ago. I knew she had that card for a reason and it wasn’t to report a crime.

“Good. At least we got one person taken care of,” Aria said before she took a sip of her black coffee.

For years I dreamed of being with Aria. Never believing she would want me and now that I could have her, my mother made it almost impossible to be everything I wanted to be with Aria.

I twisted a discarded plastic stirrer in an attempt to delay having to tell Aria what I knew.

A warm hand, soft in its touch halted my finger’s progress with the object. I glanced up to find Aria, her eyes wide with concern.

“He called me,” I finally said unable to hold back when she gazed at me like that.

“Who?”

“Bradley. Just before I texted you this morning. He told me that I can’t even begin to understand how high this goes. That it’s not about me. It is so much bigger than that. When I tried to fire him, and had to change the locks, he brought up Alexa again—” I hesitated as I watched Aria’s expression turn fearful.

But she had to know. Maybe if I told her everything she would agree to leave Chicago and go to that tropical island we talked about. “He said I’m just a tool in my mother’s arsenal. He admitted he was a part of her arsenal too, and the only difference was he knew about it and was paid for it. I was to marry as part of the plan.”

“But why, if he is being paid to help your mom, why would he tell you all of this?” Aria asked.

“Bradly said he meant it all those times he said he was my friend. He saw how my mother poisoned everyone around her with her lies and he saw what it did to me. But he always respected me because I was the one person who refused to believe her. Who wouldn’t let her control me.”

I had no idea how Bradley thought my mom never controlled me. That woman had been manipulating me since birth. It’s only now, that Aria was finally in my life, that I was even attempting to leave my mother’s grip.

“Who is this Alexa? And why does your mom want you to marry her so badly?” Aria asked.

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