Hey guys, sorry for the delay. But I've updated now! So enjoy reading and do vote if you like.
I looked for the letter everywhere under the mattress, but in vain. The letter was gone; stolen by the person(s) who entered the apartment. This alone proves that the letter would have clearly lead to Burke.
I shouldn't have hid it here. It was too easy to find.
Every little clue that I had about Burke was gone. The call logs, the email in which he sent the pictures, the letter. He really must have had resourceful people. I guess, money can buy loyalty. I had just one thing that could help me out of it and that were the email prints that would help me find the CCTV footage and also a hacking expert. Wow, Burke really had gone far to protect his name this time along. I had to be careful. I heard footsteps behind me and strong arms embraced me from behind. Alex kept his chin on my shoulder and kissed my cheek.
"Are you okay, cara?" he asked, while looking at the state of the room.
"I guess. My laptop is still here."
He came around and stood in front of me.
"Don't you guys have an alarm system? And what about the security? Doesn't this building have a guard or something?"
His eyebrows came together while he frowned.
"This isn't some fancy building, Alex."
"You realise what could have happened if you were here in the house? I care about you, cara. I don't like the fact that you are staying in an unsafe neighborhood."
I looked up at him. His eyes tried to read my thoughts.
"What do you mean?" I asked him, putting a strand of stray hair behind my ear.
"I'm saying that you should move. You could come and live with me for a few days. You're still weak, you know. This kind of surrounding isn't good for anyone."
"Are you back on that again? Alex, do you realise that a week and a half ago we didn't even know each other. I am not going to move in with you."
Why was he being so difficult?
"I am not asking you to move in with me, Brianna. I'm just asking you to stay with me for a few days till the apartment is fixed and police find out who did this. Please, it will reduce so much of my stress."
"You expect me to leave my friends in the same place that you deem unsafe for me to stay in? That is not going to happen."
"They anyway cannot stay here for a few days. The cops have asked you all to move somewhere safe till the necessary investigation is done, because the person who came here had come looking for something. All the valuables are here. David and Ellizabeth can stay in the apartment complex that my company built - free of cost and it is very secure. Its only two blocks away from my apartment."
"Then why can't I stay with them?"
"I just... I just want you to be in front of me all the time for a few days. First the incident in the bar and now this. And you're my girlfriend now."
That struck a chord in my heart. I wanted to kiss him there and then for saying that. But I suppressed the storm of emotions and said almost icily,
"We have been on one date."
"Which is why you're my girlfriend." He was grinning now, which meant I hadn't concealed my emotions well.
He bent down to kiss me, but I kept my fingers on his lips, blocking the way of our kiss. He groaned. I just couldn't kiss him with everything going on in my mind, though I wanted to throw him on the naked bed. It wouldn't be right. It almost felt like I was cheating him. Too many secrets that involved him. He was hugging me now instead and I melted in his embrace. I took a deep breath to suck in the scent of his aftershave and sighed. He brought his hand higher on my back and pulled me closer. His lips were dangerously close to the skin on my neck, where I could feel his warm breath. He dipped them down to touch my neck, leaving a non-existent burning feeling there. I clutched his back at that and his muscles tightened. He tickled and nibbled at my neck, leaving soft kisses everywhere leading up to my collarbone. Woah, this was going way out of hand, but I did nothing to stop. A knock on the bedroom door pulled us out of the fantasy land and back to reality. He groaned and pouted at me. An adult guy making that face was really funny. The door was knocked again.
I jumped over the clothes and opened the door. I was greeted by an officer, looking at me with stoic eyes.
"Miss White, I'm Detective Handson. I would like to talk to you. In private, if you don't mind."
"Sure, I'll just..."
"Actually, she does mind," Alex interrupted.
Oh my goodness, this guy just doesn't give me and his arrogance a break.
I glared at him, but he just chose to ignore me and continued.
"Whatever that you may have to say, Detective, you can say in front of me. I'm Alexander Armenti. I'm her boyfriend."
"You mean billionaire Alexander Armenti?"
I rolled my eyes.
Nice work, Detective. Put more fodder to the already big ego.
"Yes, that's me."
He gave a charming smile to his admirer. I cleared my throat to alert the starstruck cop. He jumped out of his staring game and looked at me embarrassed.
Yup, definitely gay.
"Okay, then you can join us Mr. Armenti. So Miss White, is there anyone you think who may have done this? No valuables were taken, so they were clearly searching for something specific. Is there anything that you're missing."
I almost had Burke's name at the tip of my tongue. But breaking in had proved that Burke was willing to go to any lengths to protect himself. So I stopped myself from saying his name. It was weird that I still wondered whether to just out him. But I knew better than that.
"No, no one."
Alex looked at me with scrutinizing eyes and I just clutched his hand tight.
"Just let me know if something comes up. And one more thing, for your safety, move somewhere else for a while. Just until we find out who did this."
I nodded at the Detective and he left.
I turned to Alex who had the biggest smile on his face.
"Easy there tiger, not so fast. I'm going to have to lay some ground rules." I knew what thought must have come to his mind because he had a smug look on his face.
Not regarding that, pervert.
"Its just about the time of stay. The moment I feel I've recovered from the drug thing, I'm moving in with David and Ellie again. Please, this is going way too fast."
"Wow, you're blunt. You wound my feelings. But you're free to go when you are okay. For now, you're living with me."
And there's the arrogance again.
He locked my arm in his and went to the living room where Ellie was now sitting on the couch with David. She wasn't crying, but she looked rather angry. David stood up when he saw us coming.
"Bree, you okay?"
"Yes, sweetie. I am."
"The Detective said nothing was stolen but we'll have to move for sometime. I'll ask my parents if we can live with them for a while."
"That won't be necessary." Alex spoke for me. He continued,
"I figured with everything going on it would be best if you stayed in one of my apartment complexes. They are very safe and guarded. Plus you won't have to pay rent."
"Really Alex? It would be so much better."
"Oh wait till you hear the whole of it. I have to live in his apartment until I recover," I muttered.
"You're moving in together? You've just met!" Ellie was yelling now, ignoring Alex's glare.
"Okay, not 'moving in' moving in. Just till I recover. I'll move in with you guys immediately after I'm okay," I said making air quotes for moving in.
"Bree, if this is what you want, go ahead."
I smiled at David for saying that. I looked at Ellie and stared at her hopefully. She had the hint of a smile at the corners of her lips and I knew I'd won.
"Oh, come here you."
She came forward and bear hugged me.
"You guys should leave now and let the police do the work. I'll send someone for your belongings in an hour," Alex stated and we left the apartment after that.
Alex offered to give them a ride to their new apartment, so we were a lot of people in a car for such less talking. The silence was awkward, but thankfully the ride couldn't end fast enough. Alex gave them the apartment number and called the reception to make sure that they are welcomed there. I sat quietly all the way to his apartment, trying to brush off the weird tension between us. If the Officer hadn't knocked the door of my room, what all could have happened. It wasn't the right time to start it all. I saw Alex glance at me a few times, but I just kept looking forward. We reached his building soon since he lived only two blocks away. We got out of the car and I looked at the magnificent building in front of me. His driver went to park the car and Alex came and stood next to me, while I stared at the building in awe. It was like the ones you see in movies. Alex put his arm around me and pulled me towards the lobby. The lobby looked like a five star hotel's. There was a receptionist sitting at the table. Right next to him was a huge lounge with a flat screen tv on the wall. There was a small bar on the other side of the lobby.
Wonder why you need a bar in a residential building's lobby.
The wallpaper was beige with a subtle golden design and from the ceiling, that was 2 stories high, hung a beautiful chandelier with an intricate design. There was a flowery, jasmine kind scent that filled the space.
Wow, no wonder everyone wants to have money.
Alex lead me into the elevator and he jabbed in the code for the penthouse.
Of course you live in the penthouse.
I had a strong urge to roll my eyes but I controlled myself. The elevator started to move and within seconds Alex pinned me to the wall and kissed me. With all the phones ringing and the doors knocking, this kiss was long overdue. It was different. It wasn't just passionate, but also it had a hint of hunger, lust, a little anger if you may. His hands moved up and down my back deepening the kiss, sending delectable tickles to my toes. I moved my fingers through his soft hair and my fingers twitched to take his coat off - and mine. Boy, was it getting hot in there. And the elevator pinged. Alex let out a pretty loud groan making it known that he was disappointed. Rescued at the wrong time mister. Reluctantly, both of us left the elevator panting and walked to his apartment that had a guard standing outside. Alex was saying something to the guard, but I couldn't pay attention because my phone buzzed. It was a call from Jack. I couldn't take the call in front of Alex because if Jack was calling, he must have found the files. I kept the phone back in and Alex led me into his apartment. Alex closed the door behind him and stood next to me while I gaped. His apartment was like the ones you see only in magazines. The first thing I noticed was the well stocked bar.
Nice work there, cowboy.
Next to the bar was the seating area with a huge semicircle lounging couch with a glass table as the centre. Opposite to the couch was an aquarium against the wall with colourful fishes and corals and twinkling lights! I was like a kid in a candy store! To the right side was a huge kitchen with a dining space. He kissed my cheek getting me out of my embarrassing stare.
"You can ogle at my house as much as you want because I'm going to go and take a shower. Unless, you want to join me, Milady." He had his infamous smirk again. And the cocky billionaire was back.
"Yeah, why don't you just go ahead and bathe, alright?" I said waving him away. He held his hands up defensively and went to take a shower. The minute he went out of sight, I pulled my phone out. I had a text message from Jack. The message had two words. Two words that brightened my day like I didn't know it could. The two lucky words from Jack:
Found 'em.