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“Alexia,” he said, “you’re going to come for me, aren’t you?”
“Ah, God yeah, Pearce.” I sucked in air between my teeth.
“Look at me, then, because I want you to know this.”
I opened my eyes, and he said, “Alexia, I don’t give a fuck what you’ve done in the past because you're all mine now. I love you always and I’ll be with you till the end.”
Hearing those words, his expression of love and knowing he meant it, propelled me right off the edge until I exploded around him. I held on to him for dear life, calling his name over and over. I never wanted this moment to end.
Twenty-Six
John Remington, the Middleton family attorney, woke us up at seven the next morning. The DVD turned up all over the internet and I flipped out all over again.
Pearce called Phil and he came over. He prescribed some Xanax to calm my nerves. I didn’t want to take anything, but functioning wasn’t happening. Everything on my body rattled … my teeth, my hands, my legs, my guts, my brain. I was unraveling at light speed.
Pearce held my hand and wouldn’t let it go for a second. Phil looked at him and asked him pointedly, “Are you in this for the long haul because if you’re not, you need to bail right here and now?”
“What the hell, Phil?”
“Lexi is a patient of mine and I’m only looking out for her best interests,” Phil said in his professional psychiatrist’s voice.
“Damn it, Phil! Alexia is going to be my wife and I’m looking out for her bests interests too!” Pearce exclaimed.
Phil beamed. “That’s what I thought you’d say, but I had to find out for sure.”
“Jesus, I thought you were being a major douchebag.”
Phil surprised us both by saying, “I’m going with you to your parents’. Just saying.”
“Then let’s get this over with. John should be on his way. Alexia, are you ready?”
I looked up at him and shrugged. I didn’t know what I was anymore. He stretched out his hand and I latched on to it.
I wanted to be strong for this, so I said, “Pearce, when we get to your mom and dad’s, let me walk, okay?”
“Depends.”
“On what?”
“Whether I want you out of my arms.”
I wanted to laugh, I really did, but it only came out as a grunt.
We pulled in the Middletons’ driveway, with Phil behind us. About a minute later, John showed up. I really wanted the earth to swallow me whole.
Pearce looked at John and said, “She wants to tell them herself. How’s this going to work?”
“I’ll start and she’ll know when to take over.” John turned to me and smiled. “We’re going to get those bastards, Alexia, don’t worry.”
Getting everyone gathered took a bit longer than I’d hoped. My frayed nerves took a bigger beating because of it. I’d scraped and picked all the nail polish from my fingers and even turned to biting them. My lips were ragged from the constant chewing and the palms of my hands had wounds on them from the way I kept clenching my fists. And that was the least of my worries.
John started the whole thing off about how I was being blackmailed and threatened. He told the family about the video that was now circulating on the internet and how the police were involved. Pearce had given me some tissues which was helpful because they were put to good use.
Then John punted to me, and I caught it. I didn’t hold anything back. I told them about the rough days and what I’d done, skimming over that part but they heard about most of the sordid details of the video. I ended my story with opening the package in the mail and watching the horrid thing I’d received. I had to excuse myself at that point because I couldn’t hold it together any longer. Pearce ran after me to the bathroom where he found me. Why did I have to be such a freakin’ hot mess? Once I calmed down, we headed back to the wolves.
“Did Pearce know about all of this?” Susan asked pointedly.
Pearce went to answer, but I stopped him. I told them that Pearce wanted to tell them this story, but I wouldn’t let him. It was mine to tell and tell it I would. “Yes, he knew every bit of it. I told him before we started dating. He knew everything about me. I never withheld any information.”
