Homewrecker (BOOK 1)

18

Santiago

I avoided Alessandra at all costs. After she'd gotten home, I took the boys in my office until they wanted to see her.

I didn't care to speak to her.

It was cruel of her. Everything she did, mostly, was out of spite. And I knew exactly why, I just wouldn't allow myself to say it.

How could a thirty year old woman be jealous of someone almost half her age? Why was Alessandra jealous of Adora, anyways?

I knew she was jealous. If she wasn't, she wouldn't have acted the way she did at that dinner. She wanted to be the Kings' favorite woman, and she felt that wasn't the case by the way Mateo treated Adora. She wouldn't avoid Adora at all costs if she wasn't jealous.

Was I missing something? Why was Alessandra King, one of the most powerful women in Seattle, afraid of what Adora Franklin could do?

I looked up when I heard a quiet knock on the door. I saw Alessandra standing there, lips pursed together. She invited herself in and I furrowed my brows together, folding my arms over my chest as she neared my desk.

"I figured you'd want to talk at some point, so I decided to get it out of the way."

I shook my head and pulled my glasses off of my face. "You figured wrong."

She folded her arms over her chest, cocking an eyebrow up at me. "What's your problem, Santy?"

"My problem?" I asked, standing up, "oh, I don't have a problem. But you didn't come home last night. And you didn't even let me know you were alive. You strolled in at twelve today. Don't you think that's a little strange?"

I took a few steps towards her, and she furrowed her brows together up at me. "You want to know what I think is even more strange?"

"Enlighten me," I said, cocking an eyebrow up down at her.

"I think it's strange that Adora felt the need to stay over last night."

I furrowed my brows together. "The roads were closed."

"So why are you so concerned about why I wasn't here? You're defending her, but you're going against me?"

"That's not what's going on, Alessandra, and you know it. I'm concerned because you never even thought about telling me you were okay. I didn't know you were alive until twelve when you decided to walk in like nothing happened. I was concerned about your safety."

"This has nothing to do with safety. Your only concern is that something's going on and you can't use your name to stop it."

I chuckled. "Oh, I'm not worried about that. Out of all the women in Seattle, you should be the smartest and know not to test your luck."

She narrowed her eyes up at me. "No one can ever stack up to a King, am I right?"

I narrowed my eyes down at her. "I don't know, can they?"

I watched her eyes go round, and her oily lips part.

"So I heard you're sick. Anything I can do?"