Alexis
now knew how it felt to be tossed into the middle of a tornado.
The crowd had lifted her like a buoy on an ocean wave and had moved
her bodily into the airline terminal; there, a mass of people formed
a chaotic spill of bodies across the gate entrance. Alexis’
eyes widened at the sheer number of them; most were journalists,
ravenous for a sound byte, crowding in to get a statement from her.
At the other end of the room, the Feds were currently dragging Sonny
away; he had turned to take a last glimpse of her and she had waved.
But she didn’t think he saw it through the horde of people.
And just like that, he was gone, whisked away from her to be processed
for his crime.
Now, she was on her own. The earlier bravado she’d shown deserted
her as a thousand questions were hurled in her face all at once.
She felt like a deer caught in the headlights as they pressed in
towards her.
It seemed like a miracle when a hand reached out of thin air over
shoulders, heads, and bodies to grasp her arm. She looked up and
saw a grim faced Jax extricating her firmly from the crowd and pulling
her through them towards a closed door marked Personnel Only. She
nearly tripped over her feet he pulled her away so fast. But finally,
shaking and breathing hard, she found herself behind that Personnel
door with him, closed off from the noise and the commotion at last.
She blinked rapidly, trying to stop the tears, to shield her shock
and anguish from him. She lasted exactly two seconds. The emotion
was too powerful; she had to let it go. Besides, he was one of her
closest friends and her ex-husband. He would eventually see through
her brave front anyway. Relieved beyond words that he was here for
her, she collapsed against his chest, silent sobs shaking her body
as she clung to him.
“They took him, Jax,” she whispered raggedly. “They
took him.”
Jax’s muscled arms came round her securely, anchoring her body
to his. She sank into him, grateful for his strength and just plain
tired of exerting her own. She let him hold her until she was able
to calm herself, then she drew back and looked up into his face.
“You knew they would, Alexis,” he murmured softly, one
finger stroking tears away beneath her eyes. “Isn’t that
why you married him? To save him from jail?”
“There are a lot of reasons for marriage, Jax,” she told
him, honesty shining from her brown eyes. “Sonny and I had
a few. But the most important one is that…I love him.”
Jax stared at her and she could tell exactly what was on the tip
of his tongue to throw at her…the countless reasons why she
shouldn’t trust Sonny with her emotions again…the reasons
why she shouldn’t risk her future on such a man. But then he
seemed to see something in her face…and his whole body shifted
and he didn’t say a thing. He just drew her against his chest
and held her, rocking her like a child. A sigh shuddered through
him.
“I know you love him, Alexis,” he said. “I know.”
There was a quick rap on the door, and then it abruptly opened.
Ric stood in the doorway staring at Alexis and her ex. Thus the
Press got a few more choice photos of her wrapped in Jax’s
embrace before Ric shut the door behind him.
Alexis did not turn to face him immediately. She took her time to
wipe her face with the back of her hand and to compose her riotous
emotions. Squaring her shoulders, she stood to her full height and
turned to look at the district attorney. When she did, her face
was a mask of disdain, cold and rigid. She saw Ric almost recoil
from the ice in her eyes.
“So what could you possibly have to say to me?” she asked,
her voice devoid of emotion.
“You have to know that what you’ve done is a huge mistake,”
he told her gruffly. “I’ve tried my best to protect you…to
put in a good word for you with the Feds because you’re my
friend—”
“Am I?” she asked, her voice monotone. When he looked
nonplussed, she elaborated. “Am I your friend, Ric?”
He swallowed visibly and what she thought was pain clouded his eyes.
But in the next moment it was gone, replaced by the mask he wore
for the public. He and Sonny were so alike, she found herself
thinking.
“I- I thought we were…that we’d come to an understanding,”
he stammered. “We were adversaries in court at first. But we
seemed to have a common aim: to rid this town of vermin like my
brother. You were on my side for a while. Now this…betrayal.”
Alexis’ face was grave. “Betrayal’s an interesting
word. I’m more used to hearing it from your brother actually,”
she mused, folding her arms across her chest. “But it’s
interesting that you choose to throw it at me. Who’s really
been betrayed, Ric? You…or me?”
“You claimed to want nothing to do with him. You claimed to
hate his business and the chaos in his life. Then you show up here
with that phony display of newlywed love out there, making a fool
of yourself. You’re ruining your life, your daughter’s
life! Don’t you understand that?”
Alexis stepped closer to him, fixing him with a gaze that froze
him to the spot where he stood. “No, of course I don’t
understand, Ric. I’m apparently too feebleminded to understand
anything. That’s why you didn’t bother to tell poor stupid
Alexis that I was being investigated. That’s why you didn’t
warn me that I was a part of a federal case that could separate
me from my daughter forever. That’s why you left me to twist
in the wind and find my own way through this mess!”
Ric had the decency to avert his eyes to somewhere in the vicinity
of his own shoes. “I did want to tell you,” he muttered.
“But you know I couldn’t. There are laws against that…the
Feds—”
“Oh come now, we’ve both lived through enough to know
that laws sometimes have to be broken…or in your case, bent
out of shape until they’re unrecognizable.”
“Don’t put this on me!” Ric said on a sudden burst
of anger. “You know damn well you’re lying to protect
Sonny. You married him just to save him from prosecution, but it
won’t work! You’re betting on the wrong man, Alexis.”
“Really? And whom should I be betting on? You? Is that what
this is about? You wanted me to panic when I heard about this case
and come running to you, not to your brother, right?”
This time she caught the look of guilt that passed across his face
before he could banish it. He shook his head, his voice softening.
“No, that’s not the way it was…”
“You saw me in court almost every day. You went out of your
way to engage me in our daily verbal battles. You took me out for
drinks twice, and once to dinner.”
Beside her she felt Jax react physically to that bit of news. His
mouth tightened.
“Yet never once did you give me even a hint that I could be
in trouble,” she continued. “And if your reason really
was that you’re an ethical man who has to play by the rules
of our profession, then I’d accept it and forgive. But we both
know that you and ethical in the same sentence is doubtful at best
and laughable at worst. You were happy that I’d have to betray
Sonny. You looked forward to it. Cuz then I’d have to turn
to you.”
“I didn’t manufacture this case, Alexis. The Feds actually
have witnesses and this DID happen, as you well know.”
“Did it?” she queried facetiously. “I don’t
know about that. I think my husband is quite an honorable man. Who's
to say what really happened two years ago?”
Ric’s veneer of calm rationality slipped and she saw the ugliness
of anger there. “Are you going to continue this playacting?
Why are you doing this? You don’t love him anymore. You couldn’t
possibly.”
Alexis grinned widely as she delivered her final words to Ric. “Oh,
Counselor, I most certainly do love my husband. With all my heart.
That’s why I married him. And if you guys force a hearing on
the validity of my marriage—which I’m sure you will—that
is exactly what I’m going to say in my testimony. I. Love.
Him.”
She held the smile in place as Jax took her hand and led her out
of the office and back through the crush of journalists.
