Page 115 of Vicious Cycle
After winding down Main Street and other areas where we would be remembered being seen, we made our way back to theschool. Leaving Rev and Bishop, I hopped off my bike and began weaving my way through the crowd of onlookers. Beyond the yellow police tape, I saw the ambulance with its back doors open.
Moving around the taped off perimeter, I started sprinting across the parking lot. With a blanket draped over her shoulders, Alex sat on the floor of the ambulance. While she stared straight ahead, her body suddenly tensed, and her gaze jerked from staring down at the pavement to scanning the tree-lined woods.
I shouldn’t have been too surprised that she could sense me.
Her brows rose in surprise as if questioning my next move. I couldn’t answer her becauseIdidn't know what to do. Having the woman you love have a hand in one of your crimes was completely unchartered territory for me. Not to mention having to adhere to a batshit crazy plan you’d come up with in a blood-stained bathroom stall.
Finally, I dug my cigarettes and lighter out of my cut and lit up. When the EMT finished, Alex said something to him before rising to her feet. Slowly, she began walking toward me. My feet began to move of their own accord, and I met her halfway.
I winced when I got a good look at her in the light. Her struggle with Sigel had been more intense than she’d let on. Both sides of her neck were a bluish green, and her lip was busted and swollen.
“Jesus, Alex,” I murmured.
“It’s okay.”
“No, it fucking isn’t.” I jerked a hand painfully through my hair. “You were hurt because of me.”
She reached out to cup my cheek. “You’re too hard on yourself.”
“And you’re too fucking forgiving.”
Alex’s pink tongue slid out to wet her lips. “Maybe you’ll learn some forgiveness from me.”
Furrowing my brows, I asked, “You want me to forgive Archer?”
With a shake of her head, she replied, “For me and what I did.”
A ragged escaped my lips, billowing smoke between us. “Part of me feels like I can never trust you again.”
Pain filled her expression. “That’s understandable.”
Tossing my cigarette to the ground, I then stomped out the ember with my boot. “But then another part of me realizes why you did what you did.”
Alexandra’s brows show up. “You do?”
“You thought I was dead, and the man responsible revealed he’d killed your parents. That would fuck with anyone.” I brushed a strand of hair out of her face. “Even someone has strong and level-headed as you.”
Tears pooled in Alexandra’s eyes as a mirthless laugh tumbled from her lips. “I don’t feel strong.” She swiped at a tear that escaped down her cheek. “I feel like I’m falling apart.”
I leaned my forehead against hers. “Don’t worry. I’ll put you back together.”
“I love you,” she murmured, as her arms came around me.
After kissing a trail over to her ear, I whispered, “Marry me.”
Alexandra’s jerked back to stare at me with wide eyes. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me.”
“Well, considering what’s gone down between us tonight, I’d like you to repeat it.”
Scratching the back of my neck, I closed the gap between us. “I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry for the way I treated you earlier in that stall. It’s just…”
I ran a hand over the stubble on my face. “You scared the hell out of me going after Sigel and leaving me where I couldn’t help you. It isn’t in me to have women on the front lines, least ofall my old lady—the woman I fucking love. I didn’t know how to deal. You were right to call me a bastard and an asshole because I was…Iam. No matter how hard I try, I always seem to fuck things up when it comes to you.”
Shaking my head, I said, “Jesus, I’m blabbering.”
“Keep going,” Alex urged.
