Page 37 of No Longer Safe

Why me?

“Did you meet Ace’s grandmother?” Carina’s voice made me jump and I opened my eyes.

Ace was typing on his phone but stopped when I didn’t answer. His eyes narrowed. “Oh no, she didn’t try to kill you, didshe? I told Alexei to stay here with the both of you until we got here. I see he didn’t keep his promise.”

The mention of the man who was taking over my brain only made me short-circuit further. “No, she didn’t.”

It was all I could say. Was that true? Was what Alexei said true? I couldn’t think of anything else even if I wanted to, even if I tried with all of my might. Because deep down, I knew it was true. Who was I?

Chapter Twenty-Six

Audrey

Much to Ace’s displeasure,he was kicked out of his own penthouse when his grandmother threatened him. To anyone else, it would have been laughed off, but after what Alexei told me about her and how many times she came at me with her cane, I knew better.

Nana got there and it seemed to even everything out. She decided that she was going to stay in the room across from Grandmother’s. Neither one of them wanted us to address them by their names, but at least Nana was friendlier. I could handle Nana, but Grandmother? Not so much. At least they were friends and kept each other busy.

Carina and I decided it was the perfect opportunity to have a sleepover and so I moved most of my belongings into Ace’s spotless space. The next day we would be headed to upstate New York and the day after, Brian would be headed right for me. I didn’t know how I felt. I didn’t know how I was going to mesh these lives together. Thankfully, Alexei stayed away but thinking of seeing him the next day had my brain on a tailspin. What was I supposed to say to him? How was I supposed to act? Obviously, I was supposed to act indifferent and like what he said hadn’t caused heat to pool in my lower belly.

On my fourth spoonful of ice cream, Carina hit the bowl out of my hands. The bowl hit the bed and thankfully, none of the contents spilled out. But I did look at her like she was psycho.

“What was that for?”

“You haven’t said anything to me since you got in yesterday. Every word out of your mouth has been monotone and weak. You are anything but weak. What’s going on in that head of yours?”

I ran my tongue over my front teeth. “I don’t know.”

“Are you nervous about Brian coming into town?”

I shrugged.

“Wait a second, Alexei was here with you. He didn’t just leave you withGrandmother. What happened?”

I stared at her.

She jumped on the bed and crawled toward me. There was a murderous glint in her eyes. “I’m serious. I haven’t seen you like this since that one time you accidentally ate a gummy and you didn’t even know you were high.”

I snorted out a laugh. Oh man, my first experience with pot when I was 13. That kickstarted many wild days and nights.

“What did Alexei do?” She whispered as if anyone could hear through the walls of the soundproof room.

I chewed on my bottom lip. “It’s not what he did, it was what he said. It’s been playing on a loop inside of my head. He told me he couldn’t stop thinking about me.”

“Gasp!” She threw herself off the side of the bed. I didn’t need to even check on her, her black hair all disheveled popped up on the side of the mattress. Her dark lips were open as she stared at me from the floor. “What else?”

“He said it’s driving him crazy not knowing who I was before Brian told me who I was supposed to be.”

She threw herself back dramatically again and then popped back up, her hair even crazier than before. “This changes everything!”

I rolled my eyes and stared down at the melting ice cream in my bowl. “It changes nothing, I am still engaged. I still love Brian.”

“But are youinlove with him? You refuse to answer that part of the question. You can love him all you want, but sometimes love isn’t enough.”

I knew this conversation very well. It was something her mom told her when her father left them. Her mother loved her father more than anything, but as she told Carinalove is not enough.

“I thought he was everything I could have ever wanted. He has a stable job, he works hard, he’s passionate about his career…”

She interrupted me. “But is he passionate about you?”

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