The Lies That Shatter by A.V. Asher

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Alec was a fucking mess.

He took a large sip of the coffee, grateful it was strong as hell. Sitting back in the witness room chair, he rubbed his eyes that were gritty from the lack of sleep. He didn’t have to be here today, but he wanted the chance to make it right with Mercedes. All night, he’d tossed and turned, thinking about the damage he might have done.

Christ, the look on her face, the way her soft smile fell.

If she never spoke to him again, he wouldn’t blame her. His jealousy and anger had eaten at him until he lashed out. He honestly couldn’t say why he responded to her question with something about Kristin.

Fuck.

Seeing Mercedes with Ezra was killing him.

He wasn’t one to talk. Kristin had firmly planted herself at his arm. And that last statement Kristin had shot off about going to bed was a deliberate blow aimed squarely at Mercedes. Kristin was playing dirty. Not for the first time, Alec questioned why he was letting Kristin play at all.

Guilt, maybe?

Declan was right. Alec wasn’t in love with Kristin. Not anywhere close to it. But abandoning her in San Francisco didn’t seem like the right thing to do either.

But damn if he didn’t want to.

Mercedes was making him go mad. The scent of her shampoo wafting through the air, the way her hips moved when she walked. That wasn’t mentioning the tight dresses and high heels she wore to court. His imagination kept going wild with lust for her. The image of those tight little skirts being pushed up around her thighs, plunging himself into her while she cried out his name.

Last night, Alec had glimpsed a new tattoo on her forearm, and his pants immediately grew tight. Who knew he was that into tattoos? He’d imagined so many ways of taking her that he thought he might be losing his mind.

Alec was used to being in control. He could anticipate how the world around him would move and know what to do. But since Mercedes had returned, he had completely lost all sense of balance.

The large form of Noah Ramirez looming in the doorway dragged him out of his fantasy. Alec’s heart picked up its pace and he looked past the agent, hoping to catch a glimpse of Mercedes. He was disappointed to see Noah was alone.

“Is Sadie coming in today?”

Noah gave him a nod. “She’s been here.”

“Oh, I thought . . . I haven’t seen her in the witness rooms.”

“She has her own room now. Lots of calls today.”

What kind of calls would she be on right now? “Do you think I could see her?”

Noah grimaced with uncertainty.

Kristin was suddenly at his side. She set a tea on the table next to him. “Mercedes asked to be in a separate place, she doesn’t want to interact with any of us. Just leave her be.”

Annoyance brimmed in Alec’s chest. “I have a few things I need to say to her.”

Pain crossed Kristin’s face, and she looked away.

“If you see her, will you ask her if I can have a word, please?” Alec said to Noah.

“Sure man. If she’s too tied up, we’ll be at her sister’s again this evening. I’ll let her know you’d like to talk to her.”

Closing arguments were wrapping up in the case and his time was growing short.

* * *

That evening,Alec was determined to have a word alone with Mercedes. If he could only talk to her, let her know he wasn’t trying to hurt her and that he only needed a little time to process everything.

The sound of an electric guitar was coursing throughout the house, and Kristin looked to Luke in surprise. “You guys are playing the music awfully loud,” she said, her voice raised to be heard over the music. The song floating up from the stairs wasn’t anything Alec recognized.

“Oh, that’s Sadie and Ezra.” Luke grinned. “They got here a little while ago and decided to jam. You can go down if you like. Everyone else is already downstairs. They’re finishing up.”

As much as Alec hated seeing Mercedes and Ezra in the same space, he loved watching her play. Everything about her changed when she held an instrument.

But as he made his way downstairs, he found it wasn’t Mercedes who was playing. She had a guitar perched on her lap, her slender arms poised on top of it as she sat enraptured by what Ezra was playing on his electric guitar.

She was lost in the moment. Her expression was soft as she focused on Ezra’s fingers strumming out the tune. It kept changing from intense and fast to slow, almost a ballad. Each change made Mercedes’s grin widen. Ezra would occasionally look up at her, like he was gauging her reactions. It was as if they had done this a thousand times before. And they probably had.

Mercedes leaned forward a little more, the tip of her thumb rested between her teeth. The slight movement sent a shiver through Alec, making his cock twitch.

When the song was over, Ezra looked to Mercedes. “What do you think?”

“I loved it,” she said without hesitation.

Ezra’s smile widened. “Really?”

“Yeah, it was fantastic.” Mercedes held up a finger. “Can I make a suggestion, though?”

“Always.” Ezra’s gaze was all for Mercedes.

“When you get to that riff in the chorus, you should go up a chord and not down.”

Ezra frowned. “Which one?”

Mercedes sat back. “This one.” And with little effort, she played back Ezra’s song. Ezra’s face dropped to a playful annoyance. When she finished, he stared at her. “Did you seriously learn that song after hearing it once?”

Her eyes went wide. “Uh-huh.” She nodded. “But did you hear what I meant?”

“I did.” Ezra let out a breath in exasperation.

Mercedes frowned. “What? You don’t agree that it should go up?”

“No, you’re right, it should go up. It’s just . . . It took me weeks to write that song. And you learned it like it was nothing.”

Mercedes chuckled and stood. Alec’s mouth went dry. Those little dresses she wore to court were a strain on his control, but today she had taken off the suit jacket, exposing a dark blue silk tank top. Her arms were toned, much more so than when she’d been in London. The tattoo on her forearm stood out against her pale skin. Jesus, she was sexy as fuck.

Mercedes put her arm around Ezra’s waist and grinned up at him. “Thanks for that. So much fun.”

“Anytime.” Ezra beamed at her.

The twist of jealousy hit Alec again. The connection between them was weighing him down.

“Pizza’s here!” Luke called from upstairs, and the party moved up to the main floor. Kristin poured two glasses of wine and brought one to him. They settled around the dining table, much more casual than the night before.

“Oh, good news,” Charlotte said to Mercedes. “I was able to get Calvin to close up The Whiskey and Cask for a little private party tomorrow.”

Mercedes grinned broadly. “Seriously? Oh, I miss that place.”

“What’s The Whiskey and Cask?” Shake asked.

“It’s an actual speakeasy that’s been around since the 1920s,” Charlotte said. “The main bar off the street was once a cigar shop. And all these fancy dressed people would visit the shop but not buy any cigars. But if they knew the password, they were allowed into the speakeasy, which is hidden below.”

“I worked there in college. It’s so cool,” Mercedes said. “There are all these hidden rooms behind bookshelves and five different tunnels that take you to various exits all around the block.”

“There’s a codeword you have to use to get into the place, even today.” Charlotte added. “For tomorrow night, it’ll be ‘symphony’.”

Mercedes’s gaze darted to Alec and then glanced away. Symphony was the code name Alec had given her when he’d first help her flee Jason in the London hospital.

“Are you ready for this all to be over?” Charlotte asked Mercedes. “I can’t wait to have a bit of normal.”

Mercedes smiled. “There are so many reasons I’m glad this is almost over. I’m ready to move on with my life.”

“Have you decided which job you’re going to take?” Cressida said.

Alec’s heart dropped. She had job offers lined up? Everyone knew her plans except him.

“I’ve narrowed it down to New York. The money is good, and I can explore the advocacy portion of the Washington DC job at the same time.”

What the hell? New York and Washington?

She was going to be so far away from him again.

Charlotte’s face fell. “I was hoping you would want to take the San Francisco job.”

“I know, honey.” Mercedes frowned. “And I want to be near you guys and the baby. But right now it’s better if I start over.”

Alec wanted her to take a job in San Francisco, too. It was the next best thing to her being in London. He’d planned to live here for a few months once his company’s new office space was ready.

“When are you going to look for a place to stay in New York?” Cressida asked.

Mercedes shot a shy smile at Ezra. “I actually have some time. Ezra is letting me use his apartment in Manhattan.”

Alec curled his fist, trying not to be obvious in his pain.

“Oh, that’s so sweet. Congratulations, you guys.” Kristin gushed.

Mercedes glanced at Alec and flushed. “I don’t know if that’s necessary. But I appreciate him letting me crash there until I have a place of my own.”

Mercedes living with Ezra, even for a day, gnawed at Alec. The way Ezra was looking at Mercedes made it clear he wanted her in his bed.

“What’s this?” Ezra murmured. “Is that the scar?”

Ezra was looking down at the space between himself and Mercedes. The only way Ezra would have known there was a scar on her leg was through touch. He’d already been touching Mercedes.

Alec balled his fist and tried to cool his temper. Too much damage had been done by letting his control slip.

Mercedes stood and slid the hem of her skirt up to show the puckered pink scar on the outside edge of her thigh. “Yeah, that’s where the bullet entered and then exited on the other side. I want to cover it with a tattoo someday too, but it needs more time to heal.”

She sat and gave a tight smile to the group.

“Let’s hope you never catch up to Alec in bullet wounds, lass,” Declan joked, clearly trying to lighten the mood.

“What do you mean, catch up with him?” Kristin said, her head tilted. “They’ve both been shot once, and he took that bullet for Sadie. Seems they’re already equal.” She sipped her wine. “I know it’s different here in America, but in Britain, we don’t have businessmen getting shot all the time.”

“Businessmen?” Confusion tainted Mercedes’s tone. Her frown deepened, and she leaned forward. “Alec’s been shot twice.”

“Twice?” Kristin said in alarm. “I thought it was just the one time last year? You were still recovering when we met.”

Alec winced, covering it by grabbing his glass of water. They hadn’t discussed all his prior wounds. In fact, they had never discussed much related to his work.

“Oh, honey. Alec’s been shot and stabbed and all sorts of other body damaging things.” Shake popped off. “Didn’t you ever wonder where the scars on his chest came from?”

Kristin flushed. “I hadn’t really thought to ask.”

“You hadn’t thought to ask?” Mercedes said. It was more than disbelief in her tone. It was outrage.

Kristin’s mouth tightened and her gaze fell on Alec.

He cleared his throat. “I took a bullet in Afghanistan when I was in the military. Most of the other minor injuries came after that.”

Mercedes narrowed her eyes and looked at Cressida. Alec didn’t miss the little shrug of Cressida’s shoulder.

“But you were stabbed too?” Kristin asked.

“I’ve been . . . stabbed a few times, aye.”

Kristin’s mouth dropped open. “A few times? Recently?”

“The most recent was last year. Jason stabbed me when he attacked our safe house where we were keeping Sadie.”

“You were there for another one of these attacks on her?” Alec didn’t miss the distaste in her tone when she referred to Mercedes.

“Aye.” Alec added a warning to his voice.

Declan scoffed. “You could say that. They destroyed that safe house. There were so many bullet holes in it they weren’t able to salvage the entire front of it.”

Kristin’s eyes widened. “It was a gunfight?”

Alec was getting annoyed at the way Kristin was going on about this. He was a security expert. Was this really that shocking?

“And Alec killed one of them,” Declan added.

Okay, that’s a little much.

“You’ve killed someone?” Kristin looked up at him in disbelief.

Alec winced. “We should talk about this later.” Only Mercedes and Declan knew his kill count. He had no plans to share that with Kristin now.

It was Declan who moved the conversation away. “What are you planning to do between New York and Washington?” he asked Mercedes.

“Oh well, the New York job is at a corporate law firm, much like I was doing here.” Her smile widened. “But the Washington DC job will be with a nonprofit who lobby to strengthen domestic violence laws in the US.”

“That’s amazing, Sadie.” Alec couldn’t help but say. Knowing she would use her skills to help other survivors like herself warmed his heart.

Mercedes smiled broadly, a flush creeping up her cheeks. It was the first compliment he’d given her since she came back, and she was glowing.

After dinner, Alec looked for a way to get her alone. An opportunity finally arose when she and Cressida were talking in the kitchen.

Unfortunately, Kristin intervened. She threaded her arm through his. “I’m not feeling well. Can you take me to the hotel?”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I just want to rest.”

Torn between wanting to help Kristin and the need to talk to Mercedes alone. Alec didn’t want to leave without first talking to Mercedes.

“Alright, give me just a second.”

Mercedes was leaning against the counter, her wineglass held delicately in her hand. Alec leaned into her, and her eyes went wide. “I have to step out for a tick, but I’m coming back. Will you be here for a while? I was hoping to talk to you.”

Alec was so close to her he could see the whisky-colored flecks hidden in her eyes. They traveled down his face, landing on his mouth. Her exhale was hitched, and she looked away. “Um, actually Ezra and I are leaving too.”

A shock of grief and jealousy made him immobile.

He was too fucking late.

He hadn’t had a chance to talk to her in days, and now she was leaving with Ezra.

She picked up her purse and slung the strap over her shoulder. “You’re going to the party, right?”

“Aye, I’ll be there.”

“Good. It’ll be fun.” For the first time, Mercedes’s expression sparked with joy.

“Alec? Are you ready?” Kristin called from the arched doorway.

Mercedes’s face held a resignation in it, and she gave him a tight smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.” She brushed past him and joined Ezra at the door.

Ezra’s face lit up, his hand smoothing around the curve of her back. It was possessive, intimate. If he thought his heart couldn’t shatter anymore, he was wrong.

As Alec got in the car to drive Kristin to the hotel, a heaviness suffocated him. She was really gone. Not because she was dead, but because he’d let her walk right out the fucking door and right into the arms of a man who had already broken her once.

“Well, it looks like Mercedes and Ezra have worked out everything.” When Alec didn’t respond, she added, “They certainly look good together.”

“Really? I hadn’t noticed.”

“Yes, you did.”

“What do you want me to say, Kristin?” An edge had taken over his voice. “I told you I didn’t know what was going to happen, and I don’t. You want me to make promises to you I can’t make. I’m sorry, but that’s where we are.”

“So even though Mercedes went home with Ezra tonight, you still aren’t sure about us?”

The image of Ezra touching Mercedes’s body haunted him. “I’m doing the best I can.”

“I think it plays out perfectly,” she said. “Sadie and Ezra have so much in common. Their music talent, their childhoods. All of it. They’re perfectly suited for each other.”

No, they fucking aren’t.

Alec turned the car into the hotel car park, maneuvering into a space. He knew exactly what needed to happen.

Damn, this was going to be hard.

He killed the engine. “Kristin, we need to talk.”