In quick steps, Sean and Lexi ascended the stairs of one of the unfinished developments by the construction company. Before the sun rose that morning, they had left the house and dispersed. However, Alexandra had insisted on Sean and her staying together - he could tell his wife hoped to change his mind about the idea of her going to Ireland while Sean remained in London.
The small army of men his mother had recruited from their homeland followed them like watchdogs. They formed a human barrier and watched every corner for danger. Sean was armed, and he had given instructions that morning for Alexandra to keep her weapon easily accessible to him.
They finally stopped climbing stairs when they reached the top floor. The team of eight had split up so that some would guard the east area, others the west, and two would stand guard at the door of the flat where Sean and Lexi would be hiding - although 'flat' was a generous term for the dump they were in.
"It'll be temporary," Sean said quietly, but he wasn't referring to the location.
His wife hadn't spoken to him yet. Not since the previous night when she had decided to sleep in his old room. He thought it would be better, it would be too painful for both of them if they spent the night together.
She remained silent for a while. She stood with her back to Sean, looking out the window with her arms crossed. Her slender body was tense, clearly tense and perhaps frightened by the whole situation. Lexi held the gun so tightly that her knuckles were white.
Things weren't supposed to be like this, he thought. Alexandra wasn't supposed to be carrying a firearm.
He approached her slowly and made a move to take the gun. She, however, moved away from him before he had the chance. It was only then that Sean noticed his wife had tears in her eyes.
It hurt to see her like that.
"Is this why you married me?" Lexi wanted to know. "Was it all rushed? Were you thinking of sending me away, right? You weren't concerned about any rights. First, because it's not like I need the damn money, and second, because I said that if you sent me away a second time, it would also be the last."
Sean swallowed. He feared that the distance might actually make the woman in front of him reconsider if what she really wanted was to be with him.
Was a part of Sean, under the guise of protecting Alexandra, also trying to shield himself from the possibility of losing her for good?
Lexi smiled, but there was no humour in it.
"What an act of bravery, darling," she said softly.
She left the room, her boots making a loud noise against the rotten floor. And then Sean heard the door close, and his wife collapse into one of those rooms.
After dumping the entire contents of breakfast down the toilet, Lexi felt her legs too weak to stand. She leaned against the bathroom door and held her throbbing head.
She could hear Marian's voice coming from the living room. Sean and she were talking.
Marian had come with the intention of fetching her. The older woman still didn't know that Sean had no intention of going with them to Ireland, and apparently neither did Jacqueline or Billy.
"Billy still isn't answering the phone," she heard her godmother say.
That was definitely on purpose, as only a few minutes ago Lexi had received text messages from her brother-in-law.
"I have new identities for me and Jacqueline. If you want, Yelena Belvik is also available."
Although it made a small smile appear on Lexi's face - because even after the fight, Billy cared about her, and also because her identity had been made with the name of her childhood doll - she, unlike Sean, would obey the marriage vows.
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...
