Page 48 of The Redemption of Alex Cade
I nodded slowly as I gazed at him. “Kelvin will never put the business on another path. But the one we’re on, it’s not one I can walk anymore. I want my life to be something else, with somebody else. You, Kit, I want my life to be something else withyou. Kelvin can have it all, lock, stock, and barrel. All I know is that I can’t keep living hemmed between the walls that are pushing in on me.”
“He’ll never let you go. You know that don’t you? Because he’s obsessed with you. He won’t let you go without a fight,” Kit said quietly. “You know what else he said?If push came to shove, if he was standing on the edge, he wouldn’t choose you. He might think he would, but he wouldn’t.”
“No,” I said, shaking my head hard. “There’s only one choice I would ever make, and that’s you.”
“Then you’re going to have to fight him, aren’t you? You’re going to have to fight him with everything you’ve got and do everything to win, because he’d rather see you dead than walk away from him.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
ALEX
Sitting on the edge of my sofa, I cradled the coffee between my hands. At three in the morning, it was the dead zone.
Hours before, Kit had told me to go. He’d given me my fifteen minutes before he’d cut the lifeline. He had to think, he’d said, about what he now knew about me, and whether he could live with that knowledge. I didn’t protest, or ask for a chance of forgiveness because my gut told me that pushing him would be the wrong move. But, he hadn’t told me he never wanted to see or hear from me again, and I had to cling onto that weak thread of hope with everything I had.
Now, I had to face Kelvin.
I’d always been the cautious one, the quieter, more reserved of the two us. I knew I instilled respect and when I gave an employee an order to jump, they’d ask how high; but it was Kelvin they feared. And that had been okay, that had worked in our favour. I had to play that caution with Kelvin, I had to tread carefully.
Oh, there was still a massive part of me that itched tomake my way to that Victorian monstrosity in Little Venice and smash down the door before I smashed in his face for what he’d done to Kit, but he’d have my arms pulled up tight behind my back and my face squeezed up against the wall before I could blink. When it came to a physical show of strength with Kelvin, I was beaten before I even started.
I rubbed hard at my eyes. Christ, I was tired but I didn’t know if I’d ever sleep again. Despite everything I’d said to Kelvin, he didn’t believe I wanted out. He didn’t believe I wanted to bulldoze through the brick wall we’d built around ourselves, the wall that had once been our security but was now a prison. He didn’t believe I could want a different life. To him, it was all just words. That meant I had to show him, in black and white. I glanced at my watch. I’d make the call at 7.00am, because the man I needed to speak to had to be awake and alert as I told him what I wanted.
Kelvin was already at Euphoria when I arrived that evening, lounging in one of the desk chairs, twisting from side to side.
“Speak to you later,” he said into his mobile as I entered the office, before he ended the call. I had a suspicion who it was he’d been talking to, but for now I had to leave it. He smiled but there was a wariness in his eyes when I sat down on the opposite side of the desk. He nodded to the monitors showing the heaving dance floor. “Good turn out tonight. Lots to pick from. Might even go down myself, later on. See anything you fancy?”
He was goading me. I had to play it cool but with the anger still boiling in my gut about what he’d done to Kit, it was going to be more difficult than I’d bargained for.
I counted to three in my head, and leant forwards across the desk.
“I went to see Kit. He told me you’d dropped in on him. It was very rude of you to break in, Kel. Why didn’t you just ring the doorbell and wait to be invited in?”
“Well, I suppose I wanted the element of surprise, because we both know he wouldn’t have let me in. I don’t think Kitten likes me very much.”
Kitten. My jaw tightened. I hated that Kelvin called him that, but for now I’d let it pass. For now.
“What you told him, about you and me, the business?—”
“His little suburban soul was rocked to the core. I’ve told you, Alex, Kitten or anybody like him, just isn’t for you. Like it or not, no matter how many skinny blond club rats you fuck your way through, when it comes down to it, it’s you and me. Always has been. What I did, I did for you. Just like it was in the early days.” He raised his arms to his sides, and shrugged, as though already bored.
Under the desk and out of sight, I curled my hands into fists and they trembled, itching to strike hard. I didn’t know if I could hold on, if I could play what was to come cool and calm when it was absolutely what I had to do.
“You called him a clever boy. Yes, I think that was it.”
“Did I?” His eyes narrowed. If I’d had any doubts about having his full attention, I didn’t any longer.
“Yes, you did. A clever boy. As you can imagine, when I went to see him he wasn’t happy with me, not after what you’d told him.” Happy? Jesus. Hysteria burnt in my throat and I swallowed it down. “But he’s a clever boy, like you say. He’d already worked out that the business isn’t exactly kosher. Can’t deny he was shocked at some of your revelations, though. I filled in the rest, or put him right where you’d put a certain spin on it.”
“I told him the truth, told him how it was,” Kelvin said, his voice dropping, taking on that intimate, inviting tone he used when he thought he had to talk me around or down, just as he’d done since I was a frightened teenager. My fists clenched harder, my nails biting into my palms. “Yep, I told him that it would be best for him, for you, for all of us, if he just walked away. And you know that’s best, babe, if you’re honest with yourself. I was only looking out for you, same as ever.”
“He was shaken, no two ways. Thing is,” I said, feigning a casualness I in no way felt, “he doesn’t want to walk away. Not from me.” Christ, but I hoped and prayed that was true but I had to play it like it was the most real, the truest thing ever. “Your little stunt didn’t have quite the effect you were betting on. Maybe he’s not quite assuburbanas you seem to think.”
Kelvin stared at me in silence. His face was impassive, but I knew him well enough to see the flicker of shock in his eyes. It was gone almost before it was there, but it was enough. And I was going to shock him some more.
I pulled an envelope from the inside pocket of my suit and pushed it across the desk to him.
“What’s that?” Kelvin jerked his head towards the cream envelope.
