Cherry Wine {lex luthor}

chapter forty seven

My heart didn't stop pounding until well after the agents had left. I couldn't stop imagining what could have happened, the endless scenarios that all ended with Lex in prison. The thought sat uneasily in my stomach, effectively killing my appetite.

"You need to eat, Ruth." Lex pushed a plate of pancakes closer to me. "You've only just begun to look healthy again. You can't afford to miss a meal."

I picked up my fork, pushing a few strawberries around, before sighing and setting it down again. "I'm not hungry." I said. "I'll eat later, I promise."

Lex's face darkened, and I bit my lip. "Ruth, eat."

The kitchen was still strangely empty, the far reaches of the industrial-sized room dark. I gazed around it, avoiding Lex's burning eyes. "Where is everyone?"

"Don't change the subject, darling." Lex tapped the table with two fingers.

I twisted my mouth up, and shoved the plate away. "I'm not hungry."

"Are you feeling alright?" Lex stood, and pressed the back of his hand against my forehead and cheeks. I leaned into the touch, my eyes swimming.

"I'm fine." I smiled, swiping at my eyes. "Really. I think I'm just tired, or something."

"Okay." Lex seemed skeptical, but he dropped it."Listen. Nova called me this morning. She wants to throw you a party."

"You talk to Nova?" I giggled. Nova was the exact opposite of me. I couldn't imagine her getting along well with Lex at all-they were both too outspoken for their own good.

"I do. She seems to have this idea that you would want a bachelorette party." Lex looked equal parts amused and annoyed. "With all your friends. I said I would ask you."

I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. I could not imagine how that conversation went. "I don't want one." I reassured Lex. "Besides, don't all my friends think I'm dead?"

"Well." Lex moved his hand from my forehead to my neck, his thumb dipping into the hollow of my throat. "I assume word has gotten out that you're alive and well, given that every single newspaper in the city has run the story about our engagement. I can only imagine who leaked that story." He gave his phone, sitting on the table, a pointed look. Benji. Or Nova, truthfully. It could have been either one of them.

"Yeah, Dr. Jordan told me about it. You're okay with people knowing, right?" I checked.

"Of course, babe. Why wouldn't I be?" Lex said. I was about to answer when a clap of thunder interrupted me. I jumped, my already frayed nerves jangling. Light rain began to patter onto the wide windows. The light seemed suddenly off, too dark and bruised for the late morning.

"Where is everyone?" I looked around. "Did they not come in today or what?"

"There's a major storm forecasted for this afternoon, so I told them not to come out." Lex smiled down at me. "You aren't scared of storms, are you? He asked, taking in my twisted face.

"No." I lied, but at that second, another peal of thunder sounded, so loud it felt like it shook the windows. I jumped nearly out of my seat. Lex caught me, wrapping an arm around my waist to steady me. Overhead, the lights flickered as the rain and the wind both picked up tempo.

"Let's go upstairs. It might be quieter up there." Lex suggested, helping me to my unsteady feet. The glass ceiling in the party room echoed the rain, making it sound like we were inside of a drum as we passed through. A bolt of lightning lit up the whole house as it shot across the sky. I stopped to watch it as it streaked behind the trees that bordered the property. "Come on, darling." Lex coaxed. I began walking again.