Lost Heartbeats (Alexander & Maya Book 2) (24 page)

“Talk to me Adam. What’s going on?” I was still driving when Adam’s number lit up the screen of my phone.

“I think you should come back here, Alex.”

It was bad; I could hear it in his tone.

“I’m already driving back. Tell me what happened.”

Adam let out a big sigh. “She was ready, Alex. All dressed up, ready for you.”

“Adam,” I ground out, my temper rising. “What happened?”

“I am in the lobby right now. I went up to the suite just like you asked and told her that you couldn’t make it in time, but you would get back as soon as you could. She thought you were held up at the meeting. When I said you were with Natalie…”

There was a long pause; when I couldn’t take it anymore, I said, “Go back up and tell her I’m on my way. I don’t want her to change out of her dress, we’ll still go out. I will call her after I hang up with you, but you go up and tell her anyway, just in case I can’t reach her.”

“I’m not sure if that’s a good idea, Alex.” He hesitated for a moment. “She sent me down to the lobby to get her a cab. I don’t think it would be a good idea for me to go up there and tell her to wait for you. I already did that the last time and we know how it turned out.”

“She won’t leave,” I said flatly as I frowned at the road in front me. Noticing I was picking up speed, I forced myself to ease up on the gas. “She won’t run away from me,” I repeated, more to myself than to Adam.

“What do you want me to do? Should I arrange a car for her like she asked?”

“No. Don’t do anything. I’ll be there as soon as I can, but if I’m not there in fifteen minutes, you go up to her room. I’m calling her right now.”

I hung up before Adam could answer and dialed Maya.

I wasn’t expecting her to pick up the phone, but to my surprise after the second ring her voice filled the car.

“I can’t do this with you right now, Alexander,” she said as a way of greeting.

Fucking great
.

“Sweetheart, I’m sorry. You have every right to be angry at me right now, but I’m on my way back to you—we can still go out when I get back.”

“Oh, I’m not angry at you, Alexander. Not anymore. I give up. But I don’t want to wait here for you to come back. I’m packing.”

“You can’t leave me, Maya. You said you wouldn’t run away.”

“This isn’t me running away. I really want to, but right now, unfortunately, I can’t. I called Helen, and I’m going to stay with her for a few days. I think it is better if we stay away from each other until I can think clearly. This way, you can be with your friend as much as you want.”

“Don’t do this to me, Maya.”

“I’m not doing anything to you, Alexander. It’s what you are doing to us.”

Her breath hitched and my fucking useless heart broke.

“Baby, you’re crying. Please wait for me, we need to talk.”

“Yes, Alexander. We
needed
to talk. I’m done waiting for you to remember me. For weeks, I waited for you to come back to me in this damned hotel suite. It’s not even that. I asked you so many times to take me with you to Natalie so I could help in any way I could, but you chose to leave me behind. Still, I didn’t say anything. I just watched her drain you more and more every time you visited her. But tonight… Tonight you promised it would be just the two of us. Tonight, I needed you. I told you. What did you do, Alexander? You chose to leave me again, without a fucking word.”

She was crying in earnest now, her words landing a permanent blow.

“Baby, you’re right. You have every right to be angry at me, I screwed up. Just wait. That’s all I’m asking.”

“Just because you suddenly decided to feel guilty, I am supposed to change my plans for you? I might not have a friend who needs me right now, but I definitely need someone I can talk to. And you are not it.”

“Maya. She lost her kid. She is barely holding on. How can you not understand this after what you’ve been through with losing your dad?”

There was a long silence, which scared me even more.

“Maya? Are you there?” I hit the steering wheel. “Answer me, dammit!”

“Do you know why I needed you to be here tonight, Alexander?” she asked, her voice unreadable. Truth be told, I knew our talk was going to be about Natalie, and I wasn’t really looking forward to it. But if it meant I could stall her on the phone until I could get to her before she left, I was ready to hear whatever she had to say.

“I’m only twenty minutes out, sweetheart. We can talk when I get back, or you can tell me right now. I’m listening to every word you say.”

“Good. You are not going to find me here when you get back, so listen carefully.” A short pause. “I’m pregnant,” she said and promptly hung up on me.

Then just as promptly, I hit the car in front of me.

After I hung up on Alexander, I felt much lighter. At least now he knew. Would it be weak of me to say that I was expecting him to call me back as soon as I ended our call? After all, I had dropped a big bomb on him. Wasn’t he supposed to call me back to demand answers? Either way, he didn’t call me back, so I resumed my packing and sent a quick text to Helen saying I was on my way.

Despite being disappointed, pregnant, angry, and a whole line of other things, I really wanted to stay with Helen for a few days. Give Alexander some time to make a decision, or at the very least come up with a solution.

When I heard footsteps climbing the stairs, I didn’t feel the need to turn around and tell Adam to go away. So, Alexander had chosen to call him to stop me from leaving. It was what he had done the last time, too. But unfortunately for him, it didn’t change the outcome.

“I don’t care what you say Adam, I’m not waiting for him to come here. He missed his chance too many times.” I folded another one of my t-shirts, wondering how long I would be able to fit in it.

“Oh, I fucking support this!”

Someone slurred behind me. Someone who wasn’t Adam.

I whirled back, dropping the shirt that was in my hands at the process.

“Jackson what are you doing here?” I asked, my heart beating in my throat.

This wasn’t good. This wasn’t good at all.

“I was looking for my big brother, but I think I found something much better, little Maya.” Jackson took a few steps toward me. His movements weren’t lithe. If his slurred words weren’t a clear indication of his drunkenness, the way he moved sure was.

“He is on his way, Jackson. You can’t wait for him here, you need to leave.” Trying not to show him that he was making me nervous, I bent down and picked up the shirt from the floor, wringing it in my hands.

He stopped and watched me for almost a full minute as I stood there, trying to think of a way to get rid of him. My phone was still on the bed; maybe I could call Adam and ask him to come up?

Before I could make up my mind, Jackson asked, “So this is how it ends?” A smug smile played on his lips. His words didn’t sound as slurred as they had seconds before. “Little grieving Maya, I knew he wouldn’t do it for you. Are you ready to take me up on my offer?”

“Jackson, please, leave.” I threw the shirt in my bag, knowing I looked and sounded ridiculous. As smoothly as I could, I tried to reach for my phone, only to scream in panic as Jackson’s arms rounded on my waist and jerked me back to his body.

Shit…
He smelled like he had fallen into a whiskey bottle, but even drunk he was still stronger than me. On the verge of crying and very much freaking out, I did my best to stay still in his arms.

“Jackson, what are you doing? Alexander will be here any minute now. I just want to leave, please let me go.”
Damn it!
My voice was shaking.

“Aw, Maya, don’t be a spoilsport.” He laughed. His hands clamped down on my hips and he jerked me back to his crotch. I felt his erection against my back and bile rose in my throat.

Staying still wasn’t an option anymore.

As soon as I started struggling, one of his hands let go of my hips and he managed to twist my wrist, making me scream in pain as he captured my hands in his tight grip.

“I told you I would enjoy your scratches little kitten.” He thrust his hips forward, making me take a step to avoid falling on my face.

My heart pounding in my chest, I tried to twist my body away from his. I pushed at his body, tried to pull my hands away—did everything I could to get away. This wasn’t happening to me, this couldn’t happen.

Panting, I stopped moving for a second, looking around to see if I could find something I could use. “Jackson, please,” I begged, my tears already rolling down my face. “Please let me go, you don’t want to do this, Jackson, you are drunk. Alex will kill you for this.” I tried to hit him with my elbow, but it didn’t work—he just pulled back and twisted away.

“Keep talking, little Maya. You know what that accent does to me. Makes me even crazier for your cunt.” He pushed his nose against my neck and bit on my ear hard enough to make me cry out. “We won’t tell Alex how much you enjoyed getting fucked by me, don’t worry about it.”

God. No. No. No. No.

The shock of what was happening giving way to a gnawing terror, I lifted my leg and stepped on his foot with all the strength I had.

Howling with pain, his arms loosened their grip on my wrists and I managed to take a step away from him. Then his hands shot forward and he pushed me onto the bed, face first.

Immediately, I bent my elbows and tried to push up or crawl away, whatever would help me get away from him. Before I could manage to do anything, he pulled off one of my shoes.

“Do you think you can stop me? Remember you started this, precious Maya. Remember you wanted me to fuck you the first day you flirted with me. Don’t get shy on me now. Trust me, I’ll make you feel better than Alex did,” he taunted me.

His words made everything worse.

Inside, I was dying with fear.

I tried to kick him, but he pushed one of his hands between my shoulder blades and got on the bed, his knee keeping my legs in place. He wrenched one of my hands behind my back again and I screamed in pain, afraid he was going to break my wrist. My other hand was stuck between my body and the mattress. Useless.

Completely useless.

I was still wearing the Elie Saab dress Alexander had bought for me. With his free hand Jackson reached in front of me, his hand getting too close. I bucked with everything I had.

“No. Get your hands off of me. Don’t do this, Jackson. Please. Please, stop,” I yelled, knowing no one could hear anything going on in this suite.

I heard my beautiful dress rip, but Jackson couldn’t manage to lift up the dress like he wanted to.

“Dammit! Stay still you stupid bitch. Stay still and take it, take it like you deserve to get it for teasing me.”

I cried harder as if it would help anything.

When I heard Jackson’s hand leave my skirts alone and go for his zipper, I was sane enough to force my body to stop moving—just for a few seconds, and as Jackson fumbled with his zipper and pants, his hand holding my wrist loosened again and his knee lifted from my legs and pushed between them. Hard.

With the very last strength I had left, I jerked my hand free, freed my other hand from underneath me, and elbowed Jackson’s face just as he was getting ready to push his body on me.

He fell on the bed next to me, moaning and holding his nose as he cursed at me. Before I knew what I was doing, I twisted away from him, rolling on the bed, and fell on the other side of it.

The tears falling down from my face made my vision blurry. My whole body was shaking, but I got up from my knees and tripped before I could firmly put my foot down just as Jackson started to crawl toward me on the bed.

“Oh, I’m gonna make you cry for this. I’m gonna make you hurt, bitch.”

Before he could reach me, I managed to lift my skirts, get up, and run away from him with only one shoe on my feet. When I reached the stairs, he was only a few steps behind me, but no matter how strong he was, the alcohol was slowing his steps.

My heart still tripping over itself, I ran down the stairs.

When I thought—when I was sure I was getting away, I heard Jackson right behind me.

“You little whore,” he roared and his fingers viciously caught the tips of my hair.

As soon as I entered the hotel, my eyes found Adam waiting next to the front desk. Our eyes met and he rushed to me.

“She hasn’t come down yet. I was about to go up in a few minutes. I was hoping you’d come before that. Did you talk? Is she waiting for you?” He fell in line next to me.

“We talked,” I growled, unable to hold it back. “I hit a car in front of me. Left it at the side of the road and took off. You need to find someone to collect it. My damn phone is in there, too.”

“Are you okay?” Adam asked, his worried gaze looking over my body for injuries.

“I’m fine,” I bit out.

She was pregnant.

Maya was fucking pregnant.

In front of the elevators I pressed on the call button. I pressed, pressed, pressed.

I wanted to shout it from the rooftops. But why did I feel so angry, why did I want to take someone’s head off?

How could she keep it from me? I’d thought, sitting in the backseat of a cab. Why hadn’t she told me as soon as she found out? But then again, how could I fucking blame her when I wasn’t there most nights?

Jesus,
Maya was pregnant. With my baby. She was going to be my wife. The mother of my child.

But first, I needed to calm down. I couldn’t go off on her like this. I couldn’t get angry at her for keeping it from me when it was my fault she couldn’t talk to me in the first place.

The doors whooshed open and I got in, Adam trailing in after me.

“You sure you are okay, boss?”

“She didn’t leave when you weren’t looking did she? Was she angry when you left? Did she say anything else to you? How did she look when you left her?” I asked, turning my body to face Adam.

His eyes got big and to his credit, he answered every single question I asked until we reached the floor where I would face my very pregnant, very angry Maya.