Page 97 of Beneath the Surface

It infuriates me that this whole time she’s been at my father’s beck and call, and I can’t, for the life of me, figure out why. It can’t be for money. Olivia is an oil heiress, her portion of her family’s inheritance alone is more than what our entire family will make in a lifetime.

Ten years ago, I thought she stayed around for me. Foolishly, I thought that what we had was love. But now that I’ve felt what love truly is, I know that’s not the case. Olivia and I were just photo ops, strategically placed and forced into decisions that neither of us had the spine to fight against.

The media training is monotonous, and a few hours later, I’m lying back in my childhood room, my phone on my chest as I silently wait for a text message I know will never come. My body starts to tense, insides jittery with the need for nicotine, so I walk to the patio and light up a cigarette, staring up at the sky.

“Alexander.”

Olivia’s voice floats from the room behind me, and my muscles stiffen, wondering how I was so lost in my thoughts I didn’t hear her come in. I turn around, my eyes narrowing. Her lips are turned down in the corners, a heaviness to her gaze that didn’t exist ten years ago, like her experiences have started to darken her soul until they bled through her eyes.

“Olivia.” My voice is sharp, my walls rising immediately around her. I don’ttrusther.

“I thought that we could take a minute and talk.” She walks in farther, and I move to go inside, but she shakes her head, her eyes shining with a warning. My insides clench, my steps stuttering to a halt. She closes the patio door behind her, walking to the lounger and perching on the corner.

My head cocks as I watch her, wondering what the fuck she’s doing.

“Fewer prying eyes out here on the patio.” She smiles, pointing toward the ceilings. Realization settles like a rock in my gut.Cameras. Of course.

I stare at her, crossing my arms and occasionally taking drags of my cigarette, waiting for her to spit out whatever she came here to say.

“How are you?” she asks after long minutes of silence.

I huff out a laugh, snuffing out the butt of my cigarette on the banister. “How do you think I am, Olivia? I’m peachy.”

She nods, her hand running through her hair. “I’m surprised you’re going along with all of this.”

I shrug. “Yeah, well. Why fight when you can’t win?”

She nods, her mouth twisting. “Yeah, I get that.”

There’s a sadness to her features, and maybe if I was a better man I would try to find the cause, but the days of me wastinganyof my goodness on her is over.

“Do you have a point to being here, Olivia? Or are you just forcing inane conversation to torture me?” I raise my brow.

“No, I—” She shakes her head. “I just wanted to talk. To apologize, I guess.”

My stomach twists. “Apologize for what?”

“For my part in everything. I know you must think the worst of me.” Her voice shakes.

I chuckle. “That’s an understatement.”

Her eyes are wide and glossy as they gaze up at me. “Alexander—”

“I stopped being Alexander the moment you killed our child.”

She swallows and glances down, a single tear falling down the side of her face. Slowly, she lifts her head and locks me into her stare.

“She wasn’t yours.”

45

Lily

Jax left Raindale after the first weekend, but Chase stayed for the next two weeks. It’s been an adjustment to having him back in my life, but a nice distraction, nonetheless. Still, I can’t help feeling like we’re circling around each other’s orbit, unsure of how to break into the atmosphere. Maybe he’s too afraid to push, not wanting me to change my decision on going home, and I’m too afraid of being vulnerable enough to tell him that I don’t have any other choices. So instead, we keep it surface level.

I finished my last shift at Dina’s two days ago, and said a tearful goodbye to Annabelle, who wrote her number down on a sticky note and shoved it in my hands, making me promise to get a cell phone so we could text.

And now, all three of us are packed into his black Ford truck; equipped with a brand-new car seat, and driving down the main stretch of Sugarlake. Baby Chase is at the age where he doesn’t quite grasp what’s going on, but I’ve been thankful that he’s had his uncle here to help mute Mason’s absence. But the past week he’s started to ask when he’s coming back.

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