More Layers: Book Two Layers Series Read online

  I grab his arm. “Lane, please don’t. Don’t cause a scene. This is Jules’ and Nick’s night.”

  Marco looks at us. “Will someone please tell me what going on?”

  “Nothing is going on,” I tell him.

  “The hell it’s not.”

  “Why?” Sam asks.

  “It’s a long story, Sam. One that I don’t want to get into right now, and please don’t say anything to Lex. I’ll tell her.”

  She looks over at me. “I think...she might already know.”

  Jaxson follows her gaze. Our eyes meet. “What the hell is going on?”

  I shake my head.

  He looks back at Sam. “Tell me what’s going on.”

  Sam pulls out her earpiece.

  Jaxson turns and looks at me as his regret washes over him and lands on me.

  I take my earpiece out and hold it out so he can see. Then I turn to Lane. “Game over.” I hand him my earpiece and all but run out of the room.

  I hear Lane and Marco calling me, but I just keep running. When I get to the elevators, Lee is right behind me. I’d forgotten that he was even there.

  “Lex, what’s going on?”

  I wipe a tear off my cheek as the doors open.

  We step in.

  “Nothing Lee, I’m fine I...I don’t feel well.”

  He frowns. “Alexia, what the hell happened?”

  I put a hand on his shoulder. “Let it go Lee.”

  The doors open on our floor. I take my keycard out of my clutch.

  Lee takes it, swipes it, and then opens the door.

  I wait by the door as he walks through the room making sure it’s secure.

  “Okay,” he says, “all’s good.”

  “Thank you, Lee. I’ll be staying in for the rest of the night.”

  “Okay. I’ll be right next door if need me”

  “I’ll see you in the morning, Lee.”

  He nods then steps out.

  I close the door and lean up against it. I hit it with the back of my head. “You. Stupid.” Thump. “Stupid.” Thump. “Girl.” Thump. “Will you ever learn?”

  Then I hear shouting.

  “You need to leave Mr. Ryan, Ms. Grant has retired for the evening.”

  “I’m not leaving until I talk to her.”

  “I’m afraid you are,” Lee says.

  “Like hell!” Jaxson shout.

  Then I hear a scuffle.

  “Fuck!” Jaxson shouts. “Get the hell off me, you big ox!”

  I hear something hit the door—then a loud knock.

  “Open the fucking door Alexia!” Jaxson shouts. “We need to talk!”

  Another thump.

  “Mr. Ryan, we can do this the hard way or the easy way. Either way you’re leaving.”

  “Like hell I am! Alexia, open the goddamn door!”

  I hear what I guess is Jaxson’s head hitting the door.

  Oh, fuck it. I open the door. Lee has Jaxson in a headlock. He’s lips are bleeding and his eye is puffy and swollen. I look at Lee and not a hair is out of place. I guess it’s good to know he’s the real deal.

  “Let him go, Lee.”

  Lee shakes his head. “I don’t think so, Lex.”

  “Lee, let him go.”

  He frowns, and then loosens his grip around Jaxson’s neck.

  I open the door wider. “Five minutes, asshole.”

  Jaxson walks in, rubbing his neck.

  “Boss, I don’t think this is a good idea.”

  “Lee, the man is a bastard, but he won’t lay a hand on me.”

  “Ms. Grant I don’t think...”

  “Lee, please.”

  He shrugs. “Okay, but I’ll be standing right outside the door.”

  “Okay,” I say, and close the door.

  * * *

  “You have five minutes, asshole. Then you are out of here.”

  “It’s not what you think.”

  “So you’re not married?”

  He shrugs. “No...I’m married.”

  I roll my eyes at him then stomp over to the bar. I pour myself a drink and take a large sip.

  “I don’t think there is anything more to say. You fucking lied to me. God, Jaxson, how could you sleep with me...you’re married?”

  “I never lied to you. I never told you that I wasn’t married.”

  “Did you just say that? What the fuck is wrong with you?”

  He fires me a dirty, hurt look.

  “I fucked a married man.”

  “And I fucked a married woman for months.”

  “That’s different and you know it.”

  “How is it different?”

  “You know how it’s different. Zane was never in the picture. Mia is very much in the picture. This conversation is over.”

  “I have four more minutes.”

  “Whatever.”

  “It’s not what you think?”

  “Okay then, Mr. Ryan, why don’t you tell me what it is.” I look at my watch. “You have three minutes and forty seconds.”

  He combs his hands through his long, wavy locks.

  Bastard.

  “It’s complicated, Alexia.”

  I look at my watch. “Three minutes and twenty seconds.”

  He gifts me with, “The Brow.” I hate the fucking brow!

  I look at my watch again. “Three minutes, ten seconds.”

  “I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you, but I...”

  “Wanted to fuck me first.”

  “No!”

  “So you didn’t want to fuck me?”

  “Yes. I mean no...I...”

  I look at my watch. “Two minutes, fifty five seconds.”

  “I never planned to fuck you.” He shrugs. “I wanted to tell you, but I knew if I did...”

  “I wouldn’t have fucked you.”

  “Well, yeah. I needed you, and you needed me. Don’t make this out to be entirely my fault. And don’t make it out to be just about sex. It more than that, and you know it. “

  “I look at my watch. “Two minutes, twenty seconds.”

  “Lex, come on. I’m trying here. You lied to me for months—years.”

  Okay, I’m done. I put my glass down on the bar and walk over and stand in front of him. I lean into him and whisper into his ear. “Yes, I lied to you and you know why. But I never lied about my feelings for you. You tell me you love me. We make love—we fuck. Then we agree to work things out between us. You say you hate Mia, ‘can’t fucking stand her.’ Even before you knew she’d deceived us at the Eventi, you knew then and know now what she is capable of. You know she’s a conniving, manipulative bitch. Yet you continued a relationship with her. You married her, and you won’t tell me why. All I get is ‘it’s complicated.’ I’ll tell you one thing that’s not ‘complicated’...how much I despise you right now.”

  “Lex, please.”

  “I’m done, Jaxson, and your time is up.”

  I turn to walk toward the door and he grabs my arm. “I’ll tell you when we’re done, Ms. Grant,” he says through clinched teeth.

  I look at his hand that is painfully gripping my upper arm. “You just crossed the line, Ryan,” I whisper in his ear.”

  He pulls away slightly, but continues a firm grip on my arm. I turn and lean into him. I look into his eyes then connect my bony-ass knee to his overachieving cock and balls.

  His hand releases its hold of my arm. I step away as he remains frozen. He gives me a look mixed with disbelief, pain and...more pain. Then he makes contact with the rug. He curls up into a fetal position. He slowly reaches for his overachieving balls. Then with great care he cradles them and proceeds to rock back and forth like a two year old. It’s amazing how much power is in one bony-ass knee.

  “You crossed the line, Ryan.”

  He whimpers something, but it’s incomprehensible.

  There’s a firm knock at my door. “Lex, are you okay? Please open the door.”

  I step over the rocking, ball-cradling idiot an
d open the door.

  “Did you talk to him?” Sam asks me.

  I step aside. “We had words...but my meaning wasn’t connecting so I was forced to make another connection.”

  Sam walks past me and sees Jaxson rocking on the rug. “Oh my hell! Jaxie, are you okay?”

  Lane walks in followed by Lee.

  Lee frowns, first at me then at Jaxson.

  Lane chuckles. “Fuck me.”

  Jaxson looks up at him “Don’t just stand there—for God sake, man, get me some ice.”

  Lane shakes his head. “Don’t think so, man.” We all watch as he walks to a small dining table, picks up a chair and carries it over and sits it next to Jaxson. He turns it backwards and plants his ass.

  Jaxson gifts him with “The Brow,” we all cringe.

  “Dickwad,” he hisses. “You think this is funny?” he pants out.

  “Yes. I think it’s fucking hilarious.”

  Jaxson looks up at me with pleading eyes.

  I shake my head.

  He looks at Lee. He shakes his head.

  He looks at Sam.

  She shakes her head. “Sorry, man. I don’t think it’s hilarious, but I do find it entertaining.”

  She turns to me. “Do you think you could pop some corn?”

  Jaxson gives her a dirty, hurt look. “I’m just kidding, Jaxie.” She rolls her eyes. “I’ll get the ice.”

  “Like hell you will!” Lane tells her.

  “Lane, look at him. He’s pathetic. Aren’t guys supposed to bond in moments like this?”

  “He fucking married Tinker Hell. There will be no male bonding, or sympathy.”

  Jaxson looks up at me with those sad puppy eyes. “Please...Lex, I need ice,” he moans out.

  “I can’t take it anymore,” Lee says, and walks toward the bar.

  I grab his arm. “I’ll get the ice. You help him remove his ass from the floor.”

  I walk to the bathroom and pick up a plastic shower cap. Then I go to the bar and fill it with ice and tie it off. I hand it to Jaxson as Lee helps him walk to the sofa.

  “Thank you,” he croaks. Then he puts it over his balls and sighs.

  “My good God. It can’t hurt that bad?”

  Lane and Lee look at me and shake their heads.

  “Really?”

  “Okay, out with it. What the hell happened?” Sam asks.

  I look at Jaxson. “Okay, I’ll start. Mr. Ryan here never told me he was married because he wanted to fuck me first.”

  Sam looks down at him and frowns.

  “You’re an asshole and a stupid fuck. Why in the hell would you marry that bitch?” Lane asks.

  “She’s pregnant.”

  “What the fuck!” we all say.

  “I said...Mia’s pregnant.”

  “How can that be?” I ask, knowing that it’s possible yet not wanting to believe.

  Jaxson sits back and winces. “I know...I didn’t believe it either. But she insisted it was mine. She said if I went and got tested and I was sterile then she would never bother me again. And if I found out I wasn’t—then I’d have to promise to marry her. I thought there wasn’t a chance in hell that I was the father, so I agreed. I went and got tested and I couldn’t fucking believe it. I had swimmers making it upstream.” He shakes his head as if he still can’t believe it.

  “How do you know it’s yours?” I ask him, “She’s lied to you before.”

  “We had a paternity test.”

  “She had an amniocentesis to check DNA?” I ask.

  “No. There is a new non-invasive DNA test that only requires blood drawn from the mother and the father.”

  “Is it accurate?”

  “It’s new, but the doctor said it was ninety-nine percent accurate.”

  “Fuck, Jaxson. You told me you always used a condom.”

  “I was drunk, Lex. I woke up and she was lying next to me.”

  “When did you get married?”

  “A few days ago. That’s why we came to Vegas a couple of days before everyone else.”

  “Unfuckingbelievable,” Lane says.

  “I need a drink,” I say and walk to the bar.

  “Better make it two,” Sam adds.

  “Make it three,” Lee says and follows us.

  I pour our drinks and hand them over. I think I’ve consumed more alcohol in this one week than I’ve consumed in an entire year.

  “Lex, baby. I’m so sorry. I wanted to tell you but I just couldn’t. I thought if I told you...I knew you wouldn’t even talk to me.”

  “I did more than talk to you. I made love to you.”

  “Lex, you have to believe me that I never planned on it going that far. I just...I just couldn’t not touch you, babe.”

  “Fuck, Jaxson, I can’t believe this. I don’t want to believe it.”

  “None of us do,” Sam adds.

  “Lex, I love you so much, and I’m sorry for everything. This baby could be my only chance to have a child of my own. The doctors can’t explain my fertility, and they don’t know how long it will last. I want this baby, Lex, but I don’t want to lose you again. I need you.”

  Everyone looks at me with a disapproving frown.

  I sit down on a sofa. I laugh so I don’t cry. “I’m being punished. God isn’t done punishing me for being such a fuckup.”

  Sam comes over and sits next to me. “Sis, God’s not punishing you. I love you sis, and I hate to say this... but it’s your own damn fault.”

  Lane walks to the bar and pours himself a drink. “I think you’re being a bit harsh, Sam. Up until yesterday we all thought he was a lying, cheating bastard.” He looks over at Jaxson. “Wait. He is a lying, cheating bastard.”

  “Okay, I’ll concede to that,” Sam tells him. “But if Lex told, ‘you know who.’“ She looks at Jaxson. “‘You know what,’ none of this would have happened.”

  “What is she talking about?” Jaxson asks me.

  “Nothing,” I answer.

  Sam snorts.

  “You know why I didn’t tell ‘you know who,’ ‘you know what.’ And you know that I plan on telling ‘you know who,’ ‘what,’ when it’s ‘you know what.’“

  “You know, that what you didn’t tell, ‘you know who’ was wrong, and most likely if you told ‘you know who’ things would be different for both you and ‘you know who.’“

  “‘What’ and ‘who’ are you two talking about?” Jaxson asks.

  “‘Nothing’ and ‘no one,’“ we both reply.

  Lee shakes his head. “This is better and more confusing than The Young and the Rest Of Us.”

  “It’s The Young and the Restless,” Sam corrects him.

  “Whatever,” he says.

  She rolls her eyes at him the turns back toward Jaxson. “Jaxie, you said you just got married. You can file for an annulment.”

  He shakes his head.

  “Why?”

  “She’ll have an abortion.”

  “She told you that?” I ask in disbelief.

  “Yes, and I believe her. She’s fucking crazy.”

  “How far along is she?” Sam asks him.

  “About ten weeks.”

  Lane shakes his head. “You’re a fucking idiot. One word man—’condom.’“

  “I was wasted, I can’t even remember the act.”

  “How is that even possible? Don’t you have to be conscious to get a hard on?”

  Jaxson, Lee and Lane shake their heads.

  “Really? What about ejaculation?”

  They shake their heads again and Sam and I look at them in disbelief.

  I look at Jaxson “I’m still a little confused here. You knew all this before this afternoon and before you made a commitment to working things out with me.” I point to myself because I’m mad and I can. “Do you think Mia is going to let us happen?”

  “Yes—no. I haven’t figured it out yet.”

  “You are such an asshole,” Lane says.

  Sam frowns. “Sorry, Jaxie, b
ut I agree. You’re a fucking asshole.”

  Lee shakes his head. “You’re entertaining, I’ll give you that. But you’re one fucked-up asshole.”

  “I get it, I know I’ve messed up. But what was I supposed to do? She’s pregnant with my kid. I’m obligated to care for her and our baby.”

  “Are you fucking her?” I ask.

  “Of course not.”

  I put my drink down on the bar. “Tomorrow is a big day. We all need rest and I need to think about this situation for a while.”

  Jaxson looks like he’s about to protest then gives it up.

  They all put their glasses down on the bar and head toward the door. “Sam kisses me. “If you need anything, sis, call us.”

  “I will.”

  “You better,” Lane adds and kisses me on the cheek.

  “Jaxie, see you tomorrow.” Sam waves.

  Lane flips him off. Then they leave.

  Lee stands at the door. “I’ll give you two a minute, then I’ll escort Mr. Ryan to a cab.”

  We both nod and he shuts the door.

  “Jaxson puts his arms around me. “Babe, I’m so sorry. I was drunk, and it was the only time we hooked up.”

  “If you are trying to make me feel better, you’re failing miserably.”

  “I don’t know what else to say.”

  “I think we both need some time to think things over.”

  “I’ll give you time to think but I’m not letting you run away again. Nothing worthwhile is easy, Lex.”

  “But being hard doesn’t necessarily mean it’s worth it.”

  “Being ‘hard’ is always worth it,” he jokes.

  I frown. “That’s not funny after the story you just told.”

  “Sorry, I couldn’t resist. But we are worth it, Alexia. We are meant to be. You know it and so do I. We can survive without each other, but we’re not just survivors, Alexia. We want more because we know what it feels like when we are together. When we’re together we become ‘alive.’“

  Start Spreading The News

  Alexia

  “So, how did it go last night?” Sam asks me.

  I turn up the volume on my blue tooth as I look out at the Manhattan skyline. “It didn’t.”

  “He stood you up again?”

  “Yes.”

  “What the hell is his problem?”

  “I wish I knew. We agreed to work things out, and now he can’t have a two-minute phone conversation with me.”

  “Do you think it’s Mia? Maybe she’s threatened to harm the baby if he sees you.”