Ruin: Part One

Chapter 16




"You have a secret." Alexa pulls on my ponytail from behind.

I almost choke on the mouthful of wine I'm trying to swallow. "What secret?" It's not a random question. When it comes to secrets, I'm hiding more than one.

"You're seeing someone, aren't you?"

"Seeing as in dating?" Nice stall tactic, Kayla. You really expect that's going to work?

She scowls as she takes a seat beside me on the weathered couch in my apartment. "Call it whatever you like. There's a man in your life."

"Why would you ask me that?" I try to level my voice. I haven't seen Ben since the diner but that means little in the big picture. I'm still sorting through my feelings. I'm debating whether or not to talk to Noah. I feel torn between my friendship to him and Lex and my attraction to Ben.

"There's a man's tie hanging from the towel rack in your bathroom." She tosses her head towards the hallway. "It's expensive too."

"How do you know if it's expensive," I scoff in an overly exaggerated attempt to change the subject. I knew that tie was there. I liked having it there as a reminder of Ben. Now it's pushing me into a corner.

"Noah just bought a new suit." She taps her hand on my thigh. "It was expensive. I saw that exact tie at the store. Noah almost bought it."

"Noah in a suit?" I struggle to conjure up that image. "He's not a suit kind of guy, is he?"

"He's a handsome kind of guy," she counters. "I like when he dresses up if we go out for dinner."

"Makes sense." I breathe a sigh of relief. If I can keep her on the subject of her fiancé, I'll keep her off the subject of the twin brother of her fiancé.

"It was nice to see him spend some money on himself." She takes a large drink from her wineglass. "He's going to get a tux for the wedding."

I smile at the joy in her voice when she talks about her wedding. "It's coming up soon."

"We're signing a pre nup next week."

"You're signing a pre nup?" It's not that surprising given how successful Noah is. He used to sell the nude photographs he took of women for tens of thousands of dollars. That has to add up quickly.

"It was my idea." She shrugs her shoulders. "He's worth a lot of money."

"He sold a lot of photographs back in the day," I tease. We don't talk about Noah's former career much anymore. It's never been a sore spot for Alexa. She posed for him too at one point.

"He got a huge inheritance when he turned twenty-five." Her words are slightly slurred. "It was from when his mother died."

I know more about that event than I should. "I guess a pre nup is a good idea then." I can't think of anything else to say.

"Do you want to know something?" She swallows the last bit of wine that had settled at the bottom of the glass. "It's about his brother."

Hell, yes, I want to know.

I nod only slightly.

"I think Noah hates him because of that money." She runs her finger along the edge of the glass. "He got some money too."

"Why would you think that?"

"I heard him talking to Ron about it on the phone." She's whispering so loud that I'm certain anyone passing by on the street would hear every single word she's said.

I had wondered how Ben could afford his apartment and wardrobe on an ER doctor's salary. "Sometimes money makes people crazy." I spin my finger in the air. "I'm sure their problems go deeper than that."

"I don’t know about that." She starts to stand before falling back into the soft cushion of the couch. "Noah hates Ben. If it's not the money it has to be a woman."

It is a woman. It's the woman who gave them life. The very same woman whose death pulled them apart for good.