TENACITY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Sunday, June 26, 2016
Trey's House
20 weeks...

She woke up the next morning with a smile. But it dimmed when she found he wasn't in the bed with her anymore. It saddened her but she shoved down the feeling, telling herself he'd probably had something to do.

She crawled out of the bed and grabbed the pillow, moving over to her room which was right across his. She dumped the pillow on the bed and padded over to her bathroom to wash her face.

Her stomach protested with hunger as she did, and she discarded all plans of bathing before going down. She looked up at her hair—which had the likes of a bird's nest—and made it somewhat presentable, tying it into a loose bun.

After closing the door to her room, she waddled down the stairs and went over to the kitchen, hoping Maya had cooked something. She wasn't prepared for what she saw.

Trey stood by the counter, his hands at the sides of a little girl—probably four or five—smiling brightly. What hurt her even more was the other woman on the opposite side who stared at the little girl with such fondness.

Her mother.

She was hurt and confused but couldn't bring herself to turn away. She wanted to convince herself that there was no way Trey fathered the child. But a part of her said it was possible, considering they'd been married for the past three years—August would mark the fourth year.

But it didn't make sense.

He had married her because she had gotten pregnant, claiming he didn't want any child of his born out of wedlock. So why hadn't he married the beautiful Asian-looking woman opposite him? And besides, she was almost sure Trey would've told her along the line. Almost. 

The woman looked up, the smile and her joy vanishing when she saw Alexandra's ashen look. She cleared her throat quietly for only Trey's hearing and slid off the stool. With her eyes, she signaled someone was behind him, and confused, he turned, his smile falling off as well.

Immediately, he knew what it must have looked like and stepped away from the counter, walking towards the door of the kitchen.

Zoey—the little girl—got a little sad, thinking he didn't want to play with her anymore. He turned to ruffle her hair, telling her he would see her later. Then told Paige to take her upstairs to their newly assigned room, adding that he would have Maya deliver breakfast to them.

Alexandra watched them walk past her and the little girl looked back at her, equally as confused. When they were out of sight, she turned back around to find Trey very close. "Hey," he whispered. "Are you okay?"

"I'm just fine and dandy," she replied, looking away from him.

At first, he was stunned, then he got angry. He grabbed her wrists, forcing her to face him. "Why are you being harsh? If this is about what you saw earlier, then stop. It's not what you think."

She pulled out of his grip and turned away. She was trying not to jump into conclusions, but it was hard. They'd looked like a family; with a child she had been unable to provide yet.

"Lexi," Trey began firmly, grabbing her and halting her progress, "I didn't leave you in bed to spend time with another woman. The child is also not mine." Lexi paused, then continued struggling against him.

Though she wasn't replying, that pause told him she was listening, and that was all he wanted. "That's Dustin's family; I brought them in for protection since he gave information at the expense of their lives."

She paused again. "How come I've never seen them since I moved in?"

Most of his anger dissolving, he replied, "That's because they've been living down at the base. Now that we've got the situation a bit under control, I decided to move them into a bedroom up here. They've been down there, surrounded by several men."