Alix looked at me, and I smiled. “I’m okay,” I said, taking her hand and kissing it. “But if you guys can give me a few minutes with Alix, I’d appreciate it. Rita, do you have your computer with you?”
Rita shook her head. “I don’t, Kade. I actually don’t even have a laptop right now. Sorry.”
“Okay, then first thing I want you to do is go down the street and get a laptop. Don’t worry, I’ll pay you back. Then come back here, we’ve got work to do.”
Rita grinned. “I love it when you spring for shopping sprees. Too bad it’s only for the geek side of me.”
“Don’t rush, it’s not worth sharing,” I retorted, and Rita laughed. She stood up to go, and I held up my hand. “Wait. You have to give Alix and Vince a ride to her house, remember?”
“Oh yeah,” Rita said. “Vince, hallway time. You can tell me what it’s like working for Kade while we wait.”
Once the two of them left, I sat all the way up and wrapped my arms around Alix. It hurt my stitches, but I didn’t give a damn. “I missed you last night, Alix.”
In my arms again, Alix finally let loose with the hurricane of tears and sadness that had been building inside her. I’m sure she had done more, but she had to have been holding back, just trying to stay strong. “Kade . . . your father . . . Mom . . . ”
“I know,” I said. I had cried too, unable to tear my eyes from the news reports that played the scene from the press conference over and over. Fox News even had put up stills of the video, blurring over the nudity but still leaving enough visible that it was easy to tell what was going on. When the nurse had finally come in at one in the morning and had literally pulled the plug on my television, I had finally been able to go to sleep, aided by a sedative. “But you did nothing wrong.”
“I seem to keep doing nothing wrong, yet hurting a lot of people in the wake of it.” Alix sniffled. “And now Mom hates me.”
I held Alix as fresh tears came out, and I reminded myself to try to reach out to Layla, maybe through Dad’s law firm or something. I kissed Alix’s temple and held her close. “She doesn’t hate you, Alix. She was scared and hurt, and yes, angry at both of us. She’d probably have kicked my ass if I hadn’t been stuck up here. But I have a very serious question for you.”
Alix sniffled and wiped at her nose in a very un-model-like swipe. I chuckled and reached over, grabbing the tissue box from my little bedside table. “Here. They’re softer than sandpaper, but not much.”
“What do you want to know?” Alix asked as she grabbed half a dozen of the cheap tissues and started cleaning the mess off her arm.
“Are you still my Princess?” I asked. “Are you still with me?”
Alix sniffled and looked to the sky, blinking. “This is madness. In three weeks, I’ve destroyed my career, repaired and then hurt my relationship with my mother, and in the eyes of a lot of people killed my own stepfather. Everything is saying karma is getting in the way and saying that I should walk out that door, tossing you a Tudor Rose as I go.”
“Logic and karma seem to say that, don’t they?”
Alix nodded, then looked me in the eye. “But you’ve taught me something too. The will is sometimes more important than karma or logic. And my will, my heart, says that I love you. I’m your Princess, if you’ll be my Lord.”
I nodded and pulled Alix in for another hug, this time mindful of the pain in my stomach. It must have been time for another pain pill or something, whatever they had me on. “Then go with Vince. He’ll keep you safe, and after that, do me a favor if you can.”
“What?”
“Find Karla McDonald.”
After they left, I waited for the doctor to come around. Harrington was a busy man, and it was nearly ten forty-five by the time he stopped by my room. “How are you feeling, Kade?”
“Considering the past twenty-four hours, physically I guess as good as possible,” I said. “When do you think we can lose this stupid mask?”
Harrington looked at my chart figures and nodded. “Let’s see if we can get a nurse in here after this to go to just the nasal tubes,” he said. “You’ll be able to at least talk more easily. As the staff says you already had three visitors who all left like you were a General who just sent them on missions, I guess you’re going to need your voice.”
“Among other things,” I said. “Thank you for the leeway on the rules.”
Harrington shook his head. “With the money you’re paying, I should probably let you get away with a lot more. Speaking of that, when do you want to be discharged? I understand that you don’t have a house in the Los Angeles area right now.”
“My father’s house, but I don’t think Layla wants me there right now. Nor would I be willing to take Alix back to her place.”