We danced for at least an hour while sipping wine in between each song. It felt great to live in the moment without worrying about anything else. I laid my head on his shoulder while we swayed back and forth. I felt my stomach growl; the laugh Kole let out let me know he heard.
"You wanna eat?" I asked trying to hide my blush
"Yeah" he replied holding my hand as we walked over to the picnic.
I watched as he pulled out the finger foods first followed by two Italian subs.
"Thank you" I said as he handed me my food. "Not just for feeding me but for planning all this. It for sure beats whatever prom would have been like back home. It's way more special this way" I explained before taking a big bite of my sub.
"No need to thank me, you deserve the world" he said smoothly before taking a bite.
The butterflies in my stomach felt like they were lodged in my throat, it was like he literally took my breath away. I must have been staring hard because he froze before taking another bite and looked at me with his eyebrow raised.
"You're pretty amazing, you know that right?" I asked trying to calm my nerves.
He let out a small laugh "As long as your happy, so am I" he said avoiding my compliment.
I was going to say something, but the thought went out the window when my favorite song came on; Charlene by Anthony Hamilton.
I dramatically dropped my sub and grabbed Koles hand pulling him up.
"What? What's wrong?" he asked looking around
"Nothing, this is one of my favorite songs" I replied laughing
He playfully rolled his eyes as he settled back into his calm demeanor. I wrapped my arms around his neck taking in all the lyrics. Something about this song filled my soul, it got me through a lot. The instrumentals in itself brings a comfort I can't explain.
"Isn't this song kind of sad?" Kole asked softly
"Not necessarily, it's raw emotion. You can feel the regret, the sadness, but most importantly the love." I explained simply "It's soul grabbing from beginning to end"
"Ahh" he said in understanding.
We stayed silent as the rest of the song played, enjoying every moment of each other's company.
After a few more hours of dancing, food, and drinking I was definitely feeling the buzz. So much so that I had a sudden urge to go swimming. Without looking back at Kole I walked far enough for the waves to reach my ankles, it was a little chilly but not bad. The sun had already set leaving a dark orange color that was slowly fading away now. I glanced around to see the distance of the other houses, with it being darker now I doubt they will see me if I slipped my dress off.
Without another moment of thinking I pulled the dress over my head tossing it behind me. It must've been the wine giving me the confidence to practically strip naked. I had a black strapless bra on with black lace panties to match.
I took a few more steps until I was knee length,
"Lexi!" Kole said from behind me "What are you doing?"
I turned around so that I was facing him, watching while he looked me up and down with a shocked expression on his face.
"Swimming!" I yelled back to him as I backed up farther in the water.
"Don't make me have to come in there and save you" He joked walking closer to the water.
"Well you can stand there or come make sure I don't drown" I said with a smirk on my face
Thats all it took for him to pull his clothes off and come toward me. I tried to swim off, but he grabbed my ankle and pulled me back to him,
"You don't need to go any deeper" he said with a low laugh
"So your scared to go deeper?" I joked.
"I'm never scared" he said in a more serious tone. I felt my heart skip a little as he looked deep in my eyes, "I'd swim across the ocean for you if I had too"
"I know" I said wrapping my arms around his neck taking in his body heat. The breeze was picking up now that the sun is completely down. I can feel the temperature of the water lowering, sending cold chills through my body.
Kole chuckled a little "Are you cold?" he asked pulling me tighter against him.
"A little but your helping keep me warm" I said softly
"Common let's grab towels" he said with an amused look on his face.
"Sounds good to me" I said switching my position to his back, wrapping my legs around him "I'm hitching a ride to shore" I said laughing
He just smiled and shook his head holding my legs in place. Once he was ankle deep I jumped of and took off running,
"Race ya!" I yelled as I sprinted to the house. Not even 3 seconds later Kole flew past me to the door. Once he touched it, he turned around smirking while holding his arms up flexing as if he just won an Olympic race.
I came to a walk a few steps before the door, "Show off" I said in between deep breaths.
"You asked for it" he taunted as I walked past him toward the hall closet. I grabbed two towels and walked back to the kitchen where Kole was still standing. I tossed him his towel before wrapping mine around my body. I grabbed my phone checking for any missed calls from Laurena, but there was only a text from an unfamiliar number. It was from 5 minutes ago,
"I know something you don't know" the message said. I replied asking who it was before glancing up at Kole, I needed to handle this. The last thing I want to do is worry him over nothing and ruin the good mood he was settling into.
"I'm gonna hop in the shower real quick, I smell like salt water" I said with a smile turning to walk toward our room.
"Sounds good I'll use the spare bathroom" he said
I quickly walked to the bathroom shutting the door behind me before reading the reply
"You know who" is all it said. Then a picture came up of the front of Koles house. When I zoomed in I seen it was Laurena sitting in the living room,
"Don't you dare, Tommy" I replied. Who else ruins every good moment or mood I'm in.
"I'll kill them both right now." the next message said. Then another came right after
"You have 2 options, keep fighting me and they die or come to me willingly"
I gripped the phone so tight my knuckles were turning white. My phone dinged two more times, but I didn't look at it right away. I shut my eyes and take in a deep breath trying to calm down as my body started to shake and my breathing became shallow. I tossed the phone on the counter and jumped in the cold shower. Having a panic attack right now is not going to help anything, all I need to do is breath and prioritize my thoughts.
Focus, Lexi. Focus! I kept repeating to myself in while letting the water splash against my face. Kole would never ever let me be a part of any plan again after the kidnapping. But what other choice would he have beside risk his life to save his parents just to keep me safe from Tommy. Suddenly an idea popped in my head, I quickly washed up and got out throwing some sweats and a T on. I finally grabbed my phone reading the messages
"Times running out dear" it said with another picture attachment. This time it was from behind the tree in the front yard, capturing both Alaric and Laurena. I felt my heart pick up in pace,
"Okay you win" I typed with shaky fingers, "Where do you want me to go"
After sending the message I crossed my fingers and dialed Davids number. This has to work.
Kole POV
After my shower I ran outside to pick up everything, especially our clothes. I haven't felt this happy in such a long time. Lexi amazes me more and more every day, the more memories we create the deeper I fall for her. The more I want to protect and provide for her so she never has to worry about anything else ever again.
When I was done getting everything cleaned up I grabbed two water bottles from the fridge. Realizing it had been a while since I finished, I checked the time on my phone. Lexi doesn't ever drink so maybe it was hitting her a little harder than I thought it would. Hopefully she's not feeling sick, or dizzy.
Not wanting to intrude I waited a little while longer, getting a few small snacks together for her to put something on her stomach when she comes out. But after waiting another 10 minutes I decided to head toward our bathroom, trying to bury the small feeling of concern I felt in my stomach. I knocked on the door,
"You okay baby?" I asked softly. There was no response, so I knocked again "Lexi?"
When she didn't respond again, I twisted the doorknob "I'm coming in" I said before opening the door all the way.
What the hell? She wasn't in here. I looked around the bathroom then walked into our room looking for her. I pulled my phone out dialing her number, I heard her ringtone from inside the room. I called back so I could listen for where it was coming from, finally I followed the noise back to the bathroom.
My stomach sank once I seen it was in the trash can, what was going on. She couldn't have walked out I would've seen her, her shower water was still running when I went outside to clean up. Why would she put her phone in the trash can, was she really that drunk? I shook that thought out of my head, she might be a light weight but there's no way she's that out of it off what she did drink.
I unlocked her phone going to her call log, it was completely cleared. All that did was raise another red flag, I went to her messages to look for her most recent conversation. I notice an unsaved number at the top so I immediately opened the thread.
As I read through the conversation my entire body stiffened, no, no, no, this is not happening.
"FUCK" I screamed into the air. Pulling my phone back out I called my dad
"Hey son we were just about to call you" my dad answered
"Dad, it's Lexi"
After filling my dad in on what had happened, they headed straight for the jet to head back. I already called Robby, but there wasn't much he could do but try and get a track on Tommy and Pete. Of course by the time they left Tommy was nowhere to be found, he probably was never there and had Pete doing his dirty work as usual. My heart was beating so hard and so fast it almost made it hard to breath.
I wanted to be angry at her but I couldn't, she was put in another impossible position because of the people in her life. And she chose to sacrifice herself thinking she was saving the people she loved, including me. It felt like my chest was caving in with a thousand pounds of force pushing down on it. Tommy knew exactly how to get to her, no doubt after how strong she was during their last encounter. It's obvious she would do anything to keep the ones she loved safe at all costs. There was no doubt he had planned this out, which made it even more imperative that I get a location on him before it's too late and he jumps the grid.
If I had to guess he's going to try and force her to love him, fake play boyfriend and girlfriend or something insane to match how deranged he is.
I swear I'm going to kill him and his entire family after this, everyone is going to pay.