TENACITY

CHAPTER ONE

Friday, April 15, 2016
Trey's house

Lexi was seated before the crackling fireplace, a cozy blanket draped over her to ward off any additional chill. Lost in thought, she was startled by the forceful slam of the front door.

Heart pounding joyously at the thought of seeing her husband, she rose gracefully from the rug and went to the kitchen to retrieve a glass of water from the fridge for Trey.

She wondered what had put him in such a foul mood today.

"Alexandra?!" She jerked in surprise, some of the water spilling from the glass as she wondered about the situation. "Alexandra? Where are you?!"

She gripped the glass tightly, moving in the direction from which his voice had come from. She found him ascending the stairs, his posture rigid. Even in his tension, he maintained a certain gracefulness about his movements.

For a moment, she observed him, savoring that fleeting respite, because once he found her. . .she didn't know what might happen. The fact that he had called her 'Alexandra' instead of 'Lexi' filled her with apprehension.

"Trey," she whispered softly. He halted abruptly, then whirled around sharply, fixing her with a piercing, icy glare. She trembled as he descended the stairs like a raging bull, taking two steps at a time until he stood directly in front of her, his towering height making her feel small.

"Ah, there you are. My wife," he spoke with a chilling calmness that unsettled her more than his yelling would've, and the way he emphasized 'wife' sounded like he was trying to convince himself of the fact instead of being proud.

"What's the matter?" She tentatively reached out a hand to touch him but froze when he moved out of her reach. Her heart ached. It wasn't until she looked into his eyes that she saw an emotion she never expected he would someday direct at her.

Hatred.

And beneath it, pain.

She whispered his name, already wondering if she had done something to hurt him. "Please, stop," he hissed, his fists clenched. "Drop the pretense."

"What do you mean?" She stammered, bewildered, racking her brain for any possible thing she might have done to cause him pain. Nothing came to mind.

He stepped closer until his face was inches from hers, his warm breath brushing against her cheek. "I hate you for hurting me like this," he murmured in a strained voice.

Alexandra closed her eyes, trying to hold back tears. She had seen it in his eyes, but hearing him say it aloud, in such agony, was almost too much. "Two reasons," he held up two fingers, preparing to enumerate them.

"Trey—"

"If sleeping with Donovan behind my back wasn't enough, giving him the project I had been pouring my heart into was a new low," he murmured, his eyes glistening with tears.

"What? Which project are you referring to?" She whispered, struggling and failing repeatedly to recall the specific project he was talking about.

He stood, stunned. The fact that she hadn't even denied being with Ethan cut him to the core. Consumed by hurt, he impulsively slammed his fist into the nearby wall in an attempt to regain control of his emotions. Having even a sip of alcohol on his way home had clearly been a terrible idea; it was clouding his thinking.

Alexandra's eyes closed, and the tears she had been struggling to contain streamed silently down her cheeks. "Don't act like you don't know, Marie," he spat out her middle name as though it were a curse. She opened her eyes, confusion and pain evident in them, and for a moment, Trey almost relented.