Page 52 of Set In Stone

19

krystina

Time movedwith no sense of reason as I followed Hale out to the waiting Porsche Cayenne. His determined footsteps echoed down the steps and onto the pavement toward the car, drowning out the noises of the city. When he opened the car door for me, his glare was icy. He never looked at me that way before. It was almostfrightening.

I’m soscrewed.

I got into the car and Hale closed the door behind me. I waited as he walked around to get into the driver’s seat. As soon as he was seated, I startedrambling.

“Hale, I’m sorry. I don’t know how you knew where I was, but you seem angry. Please don’t tell Alex about this. He’llbe–.”

“Miss Cole!” he snapped. He turned around in his seat to face me and held up his hand. “First of all, I have access to the GPS tracking on your phone. You know this. Now imagine my surprise when Samuel comes to me about your supposed doctor appointment. You and I both know that you didn’t have a doctorappointment.”

I shrunk under his words. Hale wasn’t just angry. Yes, his tone was near murderous, but there was worry in his eyestoo.

“No, I didn’t have a doctor appointment,” I whispered, feeling ashamed. “Are you going to tellAlex?”

He pursed his lips to form a tightline.

“Tell me why you lied and ditched your security detail,” he demanded, rather than answering myquestion.

“Like I said, I’m sorry. I just didn’t know any otherway.”

“Any other way to dowhat?”

A sudden wave of emotion hit me, and tears began to sting my eyes. Perhaps it was from lack of sleep. Or maybe it was because I was just caught in the act. No matter what the excuse was, deep down I knew the underlying issue. It was because I was overwhelmed with worry forAlexander.

I blinked the tears back, feeling frustrated. I didn’t know how to explain this all to Hale. I didn’t know how to explain the many nights Alexander was tormented by nightmares. I didn’t know how to describe the shadows that plagued his eyes during the mornings afterward. But most importantly, I was fraught with worry over the possible legal ramifications Charlie’s interview might hold for Alexander. There were no words to depict how bad my heart ached over the possibility of losing the person I loved above all else, and all because of a gambling addict’s greed. The compulsion I felt to save Alexander from the past, to make it disappear for him, wasoverpowering.

Hale is Alexander’s protector. If he couldn’t do the very thing I was seeking to do, what made me think I had that power? I’m anobody.

Suddenly, I felt foolish. There would be no satisfactory explanation for my actions. The lies, the sneaking around. I had always been a straight shooter. However, I had irrationally allowed desperation to take over who I was. In fact, desperation didn’t even begin to describe how I felt. I yearned, with every fiber of my being, to go back to the place Alexander and I had been when he proposed to me on a hilltop in Westchester. In that moment, it had been just us. Now, it was as if it were the two of us against theworld.

How had so much changed sofast?

The tears I had been holding back came flooding down my cheeks. Words came bubbling out of me as the pent-up frustration boiledover.

“I just…I just needed to do something!” I sobbed. “The article, Charlie, Justine. Alex’s constant quest for answers. The threat of losing him. Everything! I tried therapy with him and it was a disaster. I’ve tried to get him to talk it out with me, but he shuts down – especially after he’s had a nightmare. I don’t know what else to do! I can’t just sit by and watch him suffer anymore, Hale. I just can’t. It’s not fair that he’s being threatened the way that he is. He was just a child and he doesn’t deservethis!”

Hale watched me curiously and his expression softened, revealing a certain amount of compassion over my suddenoutburst.

“Vivian was right,” he eventuallysaid.

“Vivian?” I asked, confused as to why he would bring up Alexander’s housekeeper – ourhousekeeper.

“She was right about the nightmares. She had her suspicions and she voiced her concerns to me. Not to mention, I’m familiar with the haunted look Mr. Stone has at times. I saw it often when he was a boy. You just confirmed what Isuspected.”

I sat quietly for a moment, composing myself as I contemplated Hale’s words. I thought about Vivian and how she was always there, yet she wasn’t. I barely saw her, but I knew she was in the penthouse several times a day. Whether she was delivering fresh laundry, bringing groceries, or preparing a meal, our meetings were always polite and brief. For me, getting to know her was an odd concept, as I still wasn’t entirely comfortable with the idea of having a housekeeper. I didn’t know how to act. However, I was now beginning to regret not getting to know the woman who had been with Alexander foryears.

How much does Vivian know about Alexander’spast?

I made a mental note to try to engage in conversation with her in the very nearfuture.

“What were you doing at the DA’s office,Krystina.”

Hale’s words broke me away from my thoughts. As he sat there, waiting patiently for my answer, I knew hiding the truth from him would be futile. Knowing Hale, he’d find out anyway. I hastily brushed the tears from my face and composedmyself.

“I’m trying to help Alex, but I need time. I was hoping that Thomas Green would be willing to push the trialback.”

---