Braylee raked her fingers through her hair. “Come on Alex. The tension between you two is obvious to anyone with a pair of eyes. Gina didn’t sleep with Luciano, and it was pretty noble of her to sacrifice her happiness for the love of her sister and niece.”
“Is that what you think happened?”
“Unless, there is something I’m missing, then yes.”
Alex moved a little closer to Braylee. Close enough to caress her cheek. “First, I love you. I want a life with you, not Gina. If that wasn’t clear already then, I’m making it perfectly clear now. The tension you’ve felt between Gina and me is my utter frustration with her trying to play puppet master in our lives for all of this time. Yes, she stayed away from Cecily, but she made the Manchetti’s pay for it. While we may not have paid for it in money, we paid for it in other ways. I do believe that Gina loved her sister and that she loves Cicely. What I also know is that she has never done anything that was entirely selfless in her life. Gina didn’t tell me the truth because somehow it would have affected her chances of gaining control of Xiou Industries. I could never love a woman that would choose a company over the love of those she claimed to care about.”
Braylee whispered, “Are you sure Alex? I can be a handful myself.”
“Yes, you can. You drive me insane, but we have one thing in common that speaks to my heart. You love your family as much as I love mine. You’ve proven you’ll do anything for them. That’s the kind of woman I want in my life.”
Just as Braylee was about to finally tell Alex that she loved him too, Cecily came out of the bathroom fully clothed. It was obvious from the look on their faces that they weren’t sure if she’d been in the shower at all.
Feeling the intensity of their gaze on her, Cecily looked down at her clothes. “What?”
Alex responded, “You’re fully dressed. Don’t you want to rest? You’ve been through a lot.”
“Rest? Here? God no. I’m fully dressed because as soon as you say let’s go, I don’t want to waste any time with putting on my clothes. I just want to leave. If I could sleep in my shoes, I would.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, the room started to tremble and shake violently. It seemed to last forever but was probably only a few seconds.
Cecily’s head popped up. “What was that?” Just as quickly as it started, it stopped.
“Remember, I told you this is monsoon season. We’re on the side of a mountain. I don’t think we’re too far up, though.” Alex looked around the room. “Get your bags. It could be nothing, or it could be something. Either way, we’re getting the hell out of here tonight.”
Braylee knew exactly what Alex was saying without having to say it directly. “Alright, but it’s dark outside, and the rain and wind are still pretty intense. Going out there in this might not be such a good idea.”
He shook his head. “Neither is staying here.”
“I’ve had enough of this place. I’m with Uncle Alex. I want out.”
Within twenty minutes, Alex, Braylee, and Cecily, along with his security team, were in two of the rental cars they’d driven in earlier. Miraculously, they got a signal out and called ahead to the pilot and his assistant. They were still onboard the aircraft. They’d never left.
The drivers did their best to keep both cars steady as they slowly descended from the elevation of the mountain. There was only one narrow winding road, and the rain was coming down so hard that the windshield wipers couldn’t keep up with the assault on the windows. It was terrifying listening to what sounded like rocks the size of boulders hitting the roof of the car. One wrong turn or slip and they could end up falling over the side of the mountain. Nervous energy enveloped the car. Other than the sound of mother-nature whipping up her fury, the only other sounds that could be heard were silence and breathing; heavy breathing.
After driving at a snail’s pace for more than forty-five minutes, the ground started to tremble underneath their tires. The tremble turned into a ferocious shaking. Just in the nick of time, they’d made it to what seemed like the base of the mountain right as it began. There was a low rumbling that seemed to be getting louder and louder. Because it was dark outside, they couldn’t tell if the noise was in front of them or behind.
Alex squeezed Braylee’s icy fingers in an attempt to reassure her. As soon as both cars made it to the bottom, they accelerated on the gas in their attempt to get to the airstrip. They were either driving headlong into the noise or away from it. The rumble was turning into a full on growl. Without warning, the car started to skid. It lurched from the right and then to the left. The driver was losing control of the car. There was an earsplitting CRACK of thunder…BOOM. It was as if the car had split in
