Sinful Addiction

Part 22 - The most beautiful disaster

A/N: This chapter gets...dark. I initially wrote it a bit more explicitly, but I edited it back to be a bit more vague. Nonetheless, there is still some fucked up shit in it that helps to understand why August is so haunted by his past and I think it is very important for that to be understood, especially for the next few chapters...anyway...

C/W: Violence, guns, knives, explanations of torture, mental abuse, and manipulation. Removal of body parts. Body disposal. Use of acid.

1 Week Later

"Where have you been?" August barks from where he is sitting on Alexia's couch waiting for her as she walks back into her dark apartment. He is almost invisible. August is dressed in an all-black suit. His tie is pulled loose and is draped over his neck untied, the top few buttons of his shirt are undone. His hair is a mess and he has a drink in his hand given the tone in his voice it isn't his first.

"Fuck." She mutters under her breath startled by him being there she jumps slightly as she drops her bags by the door. Her body is exhausted. Every inch of her hurts, and she hasn't slept in days. She flips on the lights. "What? What are you talking about, you know I was in LA."

August was supposed to pick her up from the airport but she just assumed he got caught up in a meeting. If anyone should be pissed it's her but her chronic understanding that sometimes things come up and are unavoidable is allowing her to remain unphased. Maybe he lost track of time. He wouldn't leave her there on purpose.

Finally getting a good look she can see that he is seething.

Or maybe he would.

August stomps over to the table where she has collapsed into a chair. She is in a pair of black leggings and a large hoodie to prevent anyone from seeing any of her injuries. Until the case is closed nobody can know she wasn't in LA. She figured it would only be a matter of time before August found out since they have a tendency to be naked within minutes of being alone but she would take that as her chance to explain the whole issue about not being able to tell him things right away and she hopes with the company of bruises he will put two and two together.

Unclasping a large envelope he dumps a pile of pictures onto the table. "What the fuck is this? If you were in LA to meet with investors for The Vault like you told me." Looking down at the table there is a pile of pictures of her and Sam in Poland, Venezuela, Caracas, and most recently from this past week in Paris. "You just lied to me with zero hesitation."

Fuck.

Her heart shatters looking between August's broken expression and the photos.

"Where did you get these?" Thumbing through the pictures, all of which had to be shot the day they arrived. She hadn't clocked anyone following them but this explains why the mission went sideways so quickly. "Did you have me followed?" Alexia is a forgiving person but forty-eight hours of literal torture because he was insecure or jealous? That might be pushing her understanding nature.

They must have been made the minute they arrived. The only problem, she can't tell August the truth about why she was there. Even worse, she can't explain who Sam—the man she was with—is. Not yet. She would get charged with obstruction of justice and the danger it would put August in wouldn't be fair even if this is the reason they were made.

He would be detained indefinitely. They would interrogate him—do a deep dive into his past to determine if he is a security threat. If the mission ends up being unsuccessful they could use any knowledge he has of it to tie him to the failure.

If he were to let his emotions influence him, even a little, he could say something that would reveal his entire past. She has been the interrogator in cases like that, and nothing is off-limits. It may be fucked up but if she were trying to get answers out of him it would only take a few minutes to uncover his family's past and got him to talk.