Alex's Girl [Lesbian]

Chapter 17

Alex swallowed hard. Val was looking right at her, holding Alex absolutely still and forcing the breath from her lungs with her deep, viridian gaze. At least, it looked like Val was looking at her. And Alex was sure she had just seen the girl try and say her name. It was heartbreaking.

And infuriating.

Alex was going to make whomever did this to Val suffer. Ciro, Nico, Barrington... everyone.  

The woman tried to telepathically send Val soothing messages and comforting words, but the girl just stared blankly at her, as if the temporary life that had come back into her eyes had just as soon disappeared. Now she looked lifeless again, like a doll on a shelf. Though her eyes never stopped looking at Alex's, they no longer held them, and instead it appeared as if she were staring straight through her.

She didn't want to, but Alex had to rip her gaze from Val's eyes. It was slowly killing her, seeing such emptiness in eyes meant to shine. Val's beautiful features were usually lit up with her warmth, with her inability to mask her emotions.

Alex remembered that she had challenged Mayor Barrington's claim on Val, and now didn't know what to say. Mayor Barrington was still looking at her expectantly, as was Ciro, David, and the man Alex assumed to be Ciro's son, Anthony.

Alex cleared her throat and then straightened, her arms crossing over her chest. She appeared nonchalant as she said simply, "She belongs to no one... yet. Mr. Costas said you haven't paid him yet." She tilted her head to the side and met Barrington's eyes fearlessly. "Anyone can buy her still."

Mayor Barrington's lips pursed into a thin line and her eyes narrowed at the blonde. Her dark eyes dipped and she looked Alex down and then up, taking in the bodyguard attire. Now suspicion lurked behind her eyes. She knew who Alex was, had said "Sterlings" rather than simply "Sterling" when she had seen David and his crew. She knew that Alex was not a bodyguard, and if she told Ciro...

This could go downhill very quickly, Alex realized, unless of course Barrington just thought Alex had a strange sense of style. She couldn't act too much like Alex Sterling and she couldn't act too much like a bodyguard, leaning too much one way or the other would alert either Ciro or Barrington to what she was doing. She'd have to walk a very thin line between the two.

Alex's face steeled and her eyes narrowed. With her confident stance, slightly lifted chin, and proud aura rolling off her in waves, Alex Sterling now appeared like an ice-cold statue. Luckily, this also seemed to work well with a bodyguard disguise. She clasped her hands behind her back and continued staring straight into Barrington's eyes.

David glanced over at his little sister and felt like a weight was lifted off of his chest. Though he had been afraid Alex would lose it at the sight of Val's condition he soon realized that he had worried for nothing. If anything, seeing Val had the opposite effect on her. Now Alex was... Alex. She looked like she would rip apart anyone that looked at her the wrong way, and in her eyes was the frosty, uncaring blue that the unfeeling blonde was infamous for. She looked, if anything, bored and impatient. It was a drastic change from the horrified and furious look he had seen on her just a moment ago.  

Maybe they can do this after all.

Ciro seemed pleased with Alex's response and the suspicion on his face was instantly replaced with the wide-smile of a salesman. He offered Barrington a shrug and said, "She has a point, Mayor. I see no reason why we can't bargain. A little friendly competition never hurt anyone."

The Mayor's face contorted with so much rage that despite the full-sized bed in between her and Alex the blonde still felt the urge to step backwards. But the rage was gone in a flicker of a second, replaced only with mild irritation. That was to be expected, Alex thought. After all, Barrington was the mayor so she'd of course know how to control her face and project whatever emotion she wanted to. She was probably just as good at it as Alex, if not better than her entirely due to years of practice.