Page 38 of Twisted Mates

TWELVE

Xander

The past hours have been spent calling every contact I have in both Virginia Beach and Richmond that’s worth a damn. It’s been a tightrope act putting people on the lookout for Kai while not giving away that there’s an issue. I’ve managed to get a couple of friends to watch for him under the guise of looking out for my kid brother. I’m getting frustrated because he’s left us here with nothing to go on. I’m worried. And all I know is that his mate is heartbroken, and I’ve been here to help pick up the pieces.

And that is the biggest contributor to the guilt that has been eating away at me.

I have no control when Alexia is around. My eyes wander, my thoughts wander, and now, even my hands have wandered. Shit. I wish I regretted touching her. It would make everything I feel easier. I could say I know I crossed a line, and I would never do it again. Truth be told, there’s not a chance in hell of me keeping that promise if I made it. I lose all common sense where she’s concerned.

I relax into the couch and run my hands down my face.

I should go home, let Clayton figure all this out. It’s more his problem than mine. But I can’t leave Alexia to navigate this on her own. I know what a dick my stepfather can be. He will show her no mercy. Granted, she would have Carrington to help, but my sister has always been a people pleaser when it comes to her dad. I can suck down a few miserable days with Clayton to make sure Alexia is all right.

Speaking of Alexia, I'm not exactly sure where she and Carrington went this afternoon. She said shopping but that could be a couple of different places. It’s only been a few hours since she’s been gone, but I don’t like it. Not when she’s potentially in danger. I tried to call her, but she didn’t pick up. I don’t like that either. We’ll have to have a talk about?—

The front door opens and closes, and I spring up from the couch, turning to face the sound of footsteps hurrying in through the foyer.

“You tell him,” Carrington hisses.

“But he’s going to freak out,” Alexia whispers. “He’s your brother.Youtell him.”

Folding my arms over my chest, I rest my ass against the back of the couch and cross one leg over the other. “I don’t care who tells me. But someone’s going to.”

Both girls jump and Carrington tosses her handfuls of shopping bags onto the loveseat. “Alexia, go ahead.”

Alexia stares daggers at my sister, but when I wave a hand at her that saysplease, get on with it,she sighs and says, “Something happened while we were shopping today.”

My ears perk up and I cock my head to the side. “Something. What does that mean? ‘Something’?”

Alexia pulls her bottom lip between her teeth and all I want to do is cross the room to her, pull the flesh loose, and tell her to relax, that she’s safe now. Whatever it is, she doesn’t have tobe afraid to tell me. But I can’t do that in front of my sister. So instead, I plant my feet and brace myself on the couch with both palms.

“Alexia. Please. What happened?”

She takes a deep breath and says, “When I was trying on clothes, someone was standing outside the dressing room staring in through a crack in the door... and I wasn’t wearing anything but a thong,” she finishes in a humiliated whisper.

My fingers close around the edge of the sofa, and I grip it so hard my knuckles ache. “Shit. Are you all right? Did he say anything to you?”

She shakes her head. “He just freaked me out. But I think he might be the same guy from last night.”

My jaw ticks at the thought of the asshole who scared her being the same pervert who was looking into her dressing room. “What makes you say that?”

“A Jeep with a blown-out tail light was in the parking lot.”

Something inside of me snaps. It’s one thing to freak her out by following too closely and another to demolish the boundary of her privacy. No one should lay eyes on her body unless she gives them an invitation to do so.

I stalk past her and Carrington, heading for the front door. “Where were you?”

“The shops at town center,” she says. “Where are you going?”

“To find him and gouge his eyes out with my bare hands.”

Carrington’s jaw drops. “What? Xander, you ca?—”

I hold up my hand. “I can, and I will,” I say. “Carrington, stay here and wait for your dad. And if he asks where we are, tell him anything you want. Just don’t tell him the truth. Got it?”

She must see I’m not fucking around because she doesn’t argue. “Okay, if you say so.”

“I do.” I jerk my chin toward Alexia. “Come on, you’re coming with me.”

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