Toxic (13 page)

“It couldn’t have been better,” I sighed and smiled.

Chapter Twelve

~John~

I was sitting in my office at work between patients when my phone rang unexpectedly. I’d texted Alix only an hour before to let her know this was my last client of the day and she’d said she was already home getting dinner ready, so I knew it wasn’t her.

“Hello,” I answered, wondering who it was that April had put them through to me.

“You need to come home now.”

Okay, so maybe it
would
be Alix, since that was who was on the other end of the phone.

“Why? What’s going on?” I asked.

She didn’t sound upset or mad, so I was curious since she rarely made demands that required me to leave work. Even when she’d been working, she’d never demanded I come to her, but requested or told me not to and I would go to her anyway because I knew she needed me.

“John. Come. Home. Now.”

She was pissed. That was clear from her tone of voice that time.

“All right. Let me see if we can cancel this client and I’ll be there as soon as I can,” I told her before hanging up.

April was sitting at her desk as I expected. She was inputting invoices and turned to look at me.

“What’s up?” she asked.

“I need to go. Can you cancel my final appointment?” I sighed. I wasn’t looking forward to going home to an angry Alix.

“Sure. I need to talk to you first though,” she said. She fidgeted nervously.

“Can it wait until tomorrow?”

“I’ve already put it off too long,” she said, shaking her head. “Look, I’m pregnant. I have to give you my two-week notice. My boyfriend is moving us to live near his parents so they can help us care for the baby. I hate to leave so soon, but none of this was planned. I’m sorry.”

“Uh… wow. Okay. It’ll be fine. I wish you the best though.” I tried not to grind my teeth. As if I wasn’t stressed enough with this upcoming engagement party with my crazy ex, Alix was upset with me and now I had to find a new secretary. “Please cancel that appointment. I’ve got to go.”

She nodded and I rushed out to my car so I could race home.

Alix greeted me at the door with red-rimmed eyes and my laptop in her arm.

“Precious?” I stepped closer to her, but she stepped away, swiping at her cheek.

“I thought you said you were done with the stalking shit,” she angrily snarled at me.

“I am,” I said, unsure where she was going with it. She had seemed okay after the night I’d confessed everything to her last week.

“Well, John, then you might want to explain this to me, and talk real fast because I’m about ten seconds from walking out the door and never coming back.” Alix stalked to the kitchen and set down the laptop. She opened it, then spun it around for me to see.

“Wha…” I trailed off upon seeing the first picture. It was Alix. Asleep. In our bed. “What the fuck?”

I clicked for the next photo to show up and it was another image of her. And another one. And another. It was clear they were taken on different nights — the bedding changed, as did her outfits, if she was wearing anything at all.

“I didn’t take these,” I admitted as I continued to flip through the images in shock.

“Really, John? You expect me to believe that? They are on your computer and no one else would be able to take such intimate pictures of me in
our
bed in
our
house.” Alix crossed her arms over her chest, anger radiating from her.

“Precious…” I started, but she cut me off.

“Do
not
call me that right now,” she spat.

I stepped back from the computer feeling as if she’d slapped me. Not once in all the time we’d been together had she told me I couldn’t use the pet name. It stung.

“Alix, I swear on my life that I didn’t take these. Not a single one of them. I don’t know who took them or how they got on my computer, but it wasn’t me. How did you even find them, anyway?” I asked, still trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

“Oh, that’s what you want to know? How I found your stash of nude pictures of me?” Alix shook her head and walked away from me.

I knew it was the wrong question, but I was so confused I didn’t know what else to say.

“Alix… please,” I begged as I followed her.

She slid the strap of her purse over her shoulder and spun to look at me.

“I’m leaving, and until you can answer my questions, the wedding is off. It might still be even if you admit to your problems,” she said before escaping out the front door, slamming it in her wake.

I stumbled back to the kitchen and flipped through all the images again and again. Yes, they might have been on my computer, but I had absolutely nothing to do with them. How could I prove that? I looked as guilty as she accused me of being with no way to prove I hadn’t done anything.

The same question ran through my head repeatedly until I grabbed a bottle of whiskey and took it to the living room. Skipping a glass, I drank straight out of the bottle until my mind quieted enough for me to think about anything else.

My phone rang and I yanked it out of my pocket, hoping it was Alix. It wasn’t.

“Hey Gabe,” I said in greeting.

“Man, you sound like shit,” Gabe laughed.

“I feel like shit,” I confessed.

“I’m coming over,” Gabe announced and hung up.

We used to be close, but ever since Alix had come into the picture we’d grown distant. Apparently, he was still determined to be there for me when I needed someone.

A while later, my doorbell rang and I staggered to the door with the bottle of whiskey still in my hand.

“Shit, I’m glad I came over,” Gabe said as soon as he saw me. He pushed the door open wider and came in the house.

“Whatever.” I shut the door and went back to my wallowing place on the couch.

“Are you going to tell me what’s going on or just sit there pickling your liver?” Gabe asked.

I took a deep breath, then another swig out of the bottle, and told Gabe about the pictures.

“So, you really had nothing to do with them?” he questioned again.

“How many fucking times do I have to say that?” I barked at him.

“Okay, okay. So what are you going to do? Who do you think is behind it and why would they do something like that? And why weren’t you in the pictures?”

“Fuck if I know. I’m pissed someone was in the house and looking at Alix naked at all, let alone taking pictures of her. What I don’t understand is, why put them on my computer? It just doesn’t make any damn sense. All I can think of is that whoever is behind it took them after I left for work or something.” I leaned my head back on the couch that just last week I’d spanked and fucked Alix on.

“Well…” Gabe sucked in a breath and then shared a plan with me that just might work to get Alix back in my life.

“But that still leaves the motherfucker who did this,” I slurred, and took another swig of alcohol.

“Give me the laptop. I’ll have my buddy look at it and see what he can find out. He’s the best and he’ll find out if someone has been fucking around where they shouldn’t have been.” He held out his hand for the computer.

“It’s in the kitchen — and I’ll slit your throat if you look at those pictures.” I tried to stand, but my legs gave out and I plopped back onto the couch.

Gabe sighed and stood.

“I’ll get it. And I’m not going to look at them, don’t worry. I can get a free peep show anytime I want.”

I groaned and ran a hand over my face before setting the bottle on the table. I needed to be sober if I was going to get Alix back, and now that I had a plan my brain wasn’t spinning so wildly, not from the situation at least.

Gabe patted my shoulder from behind.

“Get some sleep and sober up, then get your woman back. I’ll be in touch soon,” he said before heading for the door.

The next afternoon, I still felt like shit, but I was sober and freshly showered after putting together a plan of action. After making a stop at the hotel, I found that Jennifer had called out for the day and I managed to niggle her address out of the girl who’d taken her shift.

Assuming that was where Alix was, I headed there.

I sat in front of her house for a few minutes before taking a final, fortifying breath and climbing out of my car. I knocked on the door and it was opened by a very angry-looking Jennifer.

“What do you want?” she barked.

“Is Alix here?” I hoped she was, because if she wasn’t I didn’t know where else to go.

“Why? She doesn’t want to see you,” she sneered.

“I need to talk to her. Please let me see her. I promise, she’ll want to hear what I have to say,” I begged the fierce protector filling the doorway.

She sighed and rolled her eyes.

“You stay on the porch. I’m going to see if she is up to listening to your crap,” Jennifer said before snapping the door closed in my face.

I stood and waited right where I was. If Alix needed me to show that I wasn’t giving up easily or that I’d wait for her, I would do it. I’d do anything she wanted.

Finally the door opened and Alix stepped out in a pair of baggy shorts and an oversized shirt. Her hair was a knotted mess and her eyes were puffy from crying.

“John,” she said softly. “What do you want?”

She refused to meet my eyes and I couldn’t blame her, but it still burned in my chest. I’d kill for things to go back the way they were just twenty-four hours ago.

“I just came to tell you that I am going to go into a program for in-patient treatment. I have problems and if I need to get help in order to keep you, I will do it happily. Please just give me time before you give up on me.” I tried to reach for her hand, but she pulled it away from me. “That is all I came to tell you. I wanted you to hear it from me. I am going to be leaving in two days. You still have a key to our house. Please feel free to use it while I’m gone, or if you are staying here you can get your stuff anytime.”

“Okay.” She nodded and turned for the door.

“I’m sorry that I have hurt you. I never wanted to hurt you. I only ever wanted to take care of you, to be your world the way you are mine,” I admitted quietly, then started down the walkway slowly. While I hadn’t taken the pictures, I was willing to take the blame for them if it meant getting my love back. Plus, Gabe had convinced me that not everything I had done involving Alix was okay and it would benefit me to go anyway.

“John?” Alix’s voice stopped me.

“Yes?” I turned to look at her and was surprised to have her arms wrap around my waist.

“Thank you,” she whispered into my chest.

I kissed the top of her head and folded my arms around her shoulders after the shock passed.

“I want to come home. I want to make this work. Our engagement party is tomorrow and I’d like to still have it. However, I think it’d be a good idea if you went to treatment after it and before our wedding.” She lifted her head to look into my eyes as she spoke. “I believe that you didn’t want to hurt me and that you love me, but you have to learn what is okay and what isn’t if we are going to stay together.”

“Absolutely. I want to be better for you,” I conceded. My insides were fluttering with excitement at having her in my arms again. She hadn’t been gone long, but the fear of never having her there again had been horrifying.

Alix went inside to gather her things and tell Jennifer that she was leaving with me.

I waited outside, afraid of Jennifer tearing into me when Alix and I were still on shaky ground. When she was ready, I took Alix home only for her to tell me that she thought it best if she stayed in the guest room. However, in the middle of the night, she crawled into bed with me and snuggled close.

The next day was a flurry of chaos as Alix and Jennifer got all the last-minute things prepared for the engagement party. It was being held at our house, so I stayed in my office in an attempt to stay away unless they needed my assistance. I’d already taken the day off because I knew I wouldn’t be able to focus on my patients’ problems, so I didn’t have any work to do but I managed to get caught up with little things I normally left for April to handle.

Finally, it was time for me to get ready for the party and I could escape my dungeon for the day. I showered and shaved before walking into the bedroom with a towel wrapped around my hips. Alix was sitting on the edge of the bed waiting for me.

We hadn’t spoken a lot since her return and there had definitely not been any sex or touching of any kind, so I was surprised she seemed to want to talk only minutes before people were supposed to start showing up.

Alix had put on a dress that was cinched under her breasts, then flowed out to her knees. Her hair looked beautiful and smooth with a slight curl to it, while her makeup enhanced her natural beauty.

I ached to take her into my arms and muss her hair as I made love to her, but I didn’t think that was going to happen so I calmly sat next to her in my towel.

“How are you doing, Alix?” I had yet to use her pet name for fear it’d blow up in my face.