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He seemed to have gotten past his immediate anger and was now eyeing her with mounting concern. Alexa wondered if her expression was as shattered as she felt on the inside.
“No, I’m fine,” she lied. She didn’t need him to come in with her, that much was the truth.
“Okay. I’ll see you at work tomorrow?”
“Of course.” As much as she would like to take a few days off, Alexa couldn’t afford to do that right now. She had to handle the shitstorm she had helped create.
“Okay then. If Victoria calls,do notanswer. I’ll communicate directly with her lawyer. That is the only contact that will be happening between our two companies from now on.”
Alexa nodded dismally. Though she knew that was what had to happen, Jared’s words felt like a door slamming shut on her heart.
She checked in at the front desk. The friendly receptionist stood up to show her the way. “Can I have someone take your bag, Ma’am?”
“I—um. I don’t have a bag.” To her intense mortification, Alexa felt tears welling up in her eyes. “I don’t… I don’t have anything.” She took a shuddering breath, desperately trying to forestall impending meltdown. Almost all of her stuff was at Victoria’s house, and there was no way she could go back there. The tears thickened.
“Oh—that’s alright, Ma’am. If you’d like, we could send a shopper down to the mall to get some essentials for you?”
Bless this woman, and the hotel, for offering such a service.
Alexa sniffed. “Yes, please. Here.” She dug around in her bag and came up with her credit card. “Please be sure to add a reasonable tip for the shopper’s time and expertise.”
“I don’t need your card, Ma’am. We’ll charge the amount to your final account to be paid when you check out, and you will be able to specify any tip you like. You’ll just need to fill in this form for me…”
Alexa blinked back her tears, trying to read the shopping form. She filled in her size and ticked off for five outfits—two casual and three work appropriate—two pairs of pajamas, a spare pair of shoes, underwear, basic toiletries and some books from the classics section, specifyingThe Count of Monte Cristo. She needed to do some comfort reading.
“Thank you,” Alexa said quietly, handing over the form.
“It’s a pleasure, Ma’am. Would you like to be seen to your room now?”
“Yes, please.”
The friendly receptionist ushered Alexa to her room, with the distinct air of someone who wants to be rid of their charge before said charge has a mental meltdown on their watch.
Alexa stood just inside the door for a few moments after it closed behind her, looking at the nice but impersonal room. She wanted Victoria. She desperately wished that Victoria was someone else—anyone else. Not the CEO of the St. Clair Foundation. If it were any other hurdle, they could have leaped it together, but this… There was no coming back from this.
Alexa had known this from the moment she found out who Victoria was. She had foolishly thought that staying with Victoria on borrowed time would allow her to say goodbye and get some closure.
What a stupid thing to think. There was no closure, no real goodbye. No last kiss or wishing each other well. It was just messy and painful and a dozen other awful adjectives that Alexa couldn’t think of right now.
She finally let the tears flow freely as she flung herself onto the soft bed. This was such a mess. She didn’t know if her heart would ever recover from this. Even though she was still so mad at Victoria she could practically spit flames, what made it worse was that Alexa loved her.
Still. Even after everything that had happened, she was in love with Victoria. She wished that she could turn these feelings off, but if there was a way to do so, she didn’t know it.
Tomorrow, she would have to be strong. She would need to face the world and start to clean up the mess that she had created for herself.
For now, she allowed herself to be weak.
Alexa clutched the pillow to her chest as she spiraled into misery.
9
Victoria
“Has Alexa Rossi been released on bail yet?”
The police officer gave her a dirty look, no doubt remembering how he’d had to pull Alexa Rossi off Victoria’s face. “I’m not at liberty to reveal that, Miss St. Clair.”
Right. Of course. Well, if Alexa wasn’t already out on bail, she soon would be. Victoria’s stomach was dancing with nerves. When she went home, would Alexa be there?
