Lexi never thought she could find any benefit in her godmother's absence, but they were definitely having easier days since she had left a note informing them that she would be away for a few days but would be fine.
Although she stayed at home for most of the day alone with Billy, the atmosphere of the place had improved now that they could remove the plastic coverings and no longer had to live with the idea – and constant reminder – that there was a woman being tortured in the basement. Neither she nor Billy, however, had the courage to go down there to clean up. Sean had said he would get someone capable of keeping their mouth shut to remove all traces of the horror the waitress had endured.
They had been alone in the house for four days, but it was far from being a honeymoon. Billy was impossible, the drugs were running out, and Sean was angry with his brother, so he didn't want to run an errand to get Billy's tranquiliser. Billy begged Lexi to intervene, but she had faith that those days in the house could be a detox for her fiancé's brother.
"Here," she pushed a steaming cup of tea.
"I don't want your bloody tea," Billy replied rudely.
"Hey!" Sean said in a warning tone.
Lexi touched Sean's arm. He was about to leave the house and wouldn't be back for a few hours. Sean wasn't in the best of moods either; he suspected the Dumani, Luan's money and a Nigerian gang leader's money had disappeared, and apparently, something had gone wrong with his business with Lale that morning.
Elliot was always with him, but that didn't stop Lexi from worrying about what might happen to him. She was also a bit restless being stuck, so she didn't blame either of the Wallace brothers for their bad moods.
But while Billy seemed like he might plunge his face into hot grease at any moment, Sean seemed to be looking for the first person to blow their brains out. A hot temper was something inherent in the Wallaces.
Lately, Billy talked a lot about disappearing. About leaving everything behind.
"I made fake IDs for me and Jacq," Billy murmured, his head resting on her lap, looking sleepy.
Sean was no longer home. His agitation also seemed to influence Billy, and Lexi often felt responsible for two children. The two seemed to live constantly at the peak of their emotions – not in a good way, evidently.
She also worried about the Dumani. Sean gave Alex no rest, demanding answers and positions from him. Lexi agreed, however, that Alexander seemed oddly slippery in recent days.
"Lexi..." her friend called.
"Hmm?"
"Do you really want to marry Sean? Do you really want to be part of this rotten family?" he asked.
She frowned and looked at her friend. Billy showed no remorse for his choice of words.
"You could just disappear again," Billy said calmly. "I can help you if you're afraid Sean will find you."
"Billy... why would I go away?"
"Why wouldn't you?"
"Because I love Sean."
Billy sat up quickly and then looked at her, his eyes flashing with annoyance at her statement.
"Nonsense," he practically spat the word. "You've only been here for a month."
"It feels like a lifetime," she retorted.
Billy couldn't disagree because the past few weeks really felt like a lifetime. Things had happened so quickly.
YOU ARE READING
E M P I R E
Romance"You could be a king. You could have an empire" Lexi and Sean had known each other since childhood and had lived a story for years that involved love, family, business, kisses and guns. When life's turns put both couple together, they try to figur...
