shuffle around in my seat so I can make better eye contact with him. He shakes his head again. Damn him, he knows I’m not going to make a scene in front of the kids.
‘Please tell me where we are going, J, because if I’m not mistaken, it appears we are heading toward Miami and nowhere near Orlando International,’ I say sternly and as quietly as possible. I try to release my hand from his grip, but he tightens it further instead. ‘You’re not going to tell me what’s going on are you?’
‘Not here, no.’ He indicates toward the children.
Jeremy never eases his grip on my hand. I can sense his nerves and anxiety, which just go to heighten mine. Our eyes eventually connect. His are cloudy, blanketed with intense emotions, and he mouths the words ‘I love you’ as I notice a tear well up in his eye. Oh, dear god, this must be killing him just as much as it is me. I close the distance between us and snuggle underneath his shoulder. He releases my hand, only to quickly clasp it again with his other hand, so he can wrap his arm around me. We remain this way in silence while we watch the rest of the world go by, on our way to our yet-to-be-disclosed destination.
Sex is the great unifier. In its big slower vibration, it is the warmth of the heart which makes people happy and together, in togetherness.
David Herbert Lawrence
Jeremy
I embrace Alexa as close as I acceptably can in the presence of the children. Martin is driving the limo fast, but within legal limits, to Adam’s penthouse in South Beach, Miami.
Adam is Leo’s brother. He inherited the same wealth as Leo and he is, potentially, Robert’s new boyfriend, based on their recent successful rendezvous in London. I contacted Robert, Alexa’s husband, after we received the letter, informing him that she was at great risk again. He agreed without hesitation to meet us on the East Coast and Adam offered his place as the meeting point given its convenient location and additional security. It also had a helipad if we happened to get hold of Leo in time. So our plans seamlessly fell into place.
I thought it would kill me not to discuss and work out a response to Jurilique’s letter, as per Alexa’s request, but in the end it worked out for the best. We’ve been able to ensure the kids weren’t affected and still enjoyed their holiday, and I’ve been able to make arrangements during the evening when Alexa has been asleep. If she thinks for one second I would let that bitch lay another finger on her, she can’t know me as well as I thought.
After pulling a few medical strings, I’ve been able to access Elizabeth’s medical records from when she was in hospital with appendicitis two years ago. It appears that she has type A blood rather than type AB like Alexa, so it is impossible for her to have the same unique allele, or alternative gene, that we discovered Alexa has during the experimentation process, which is something of a relief. But that’s assuming that this type of anomaly is genetic, rather than, say, being triggered by some specific medical condition or reaction … that would be highly irregular, though everything about Alexa’s blood is unusual to say the least. From the tests we have done to date, her particular anomaly only appears to relate to XX chromosomes, not XY, thereby specifically impacting females. If this finding proves to be true, there is then no need to test Jordan’s blood, and we could confirm that the children are of absolutely no value to Xsade, or anyone else for that matter. I haven’t wanted to bring it up with Alexa until we know for sure. Given that she wasn’t keen on the idea of testing the kids in the first place, I decided to let sleeping dogs lie, not wanting to upset her further given everything she is going through.
This may be good news for the kids, but from my perspective, this knowledge puts Alexa at significantly greater risk because she appears to be one of a kind, at this stage anyway. I also know that, once a company such as Xsade discovers what we know of the composition of Alexa’s blood, they would keep her in their facilities as a human laboratory rat until they extract every last detail about her to fulfil their research requirements. Who knows if she’d ever see the light of day again?
I know I’m a dominant presence in Alexa’s life, but I also know I’ll need more than a strong hand and weighted odds to be able to convince her of our plan. She must be made to understand that under no circumstances will I ever submit her to personal risk and danger. Thankfully, I will have a few people on my side before we embark on such a discussion.
Finally, we arrive at South Beach. I open the car window hoping that the crystal-clear sky and the smell of the ocean spray will lighten her mood, but it is clear to me that this change of plans has heightened her anxiety, maybe even sparking anger. Nothing I haven’t handled before, just the circumstances are now more extreme.
We stall at a boom gate before security allows us entry and we descend into the darkness of the garage. A security team surrounds us as we pull in to park and Martin turns off the engine with a relieved look on his face that I register through the rear-view mirror. A bystander would have to conclude that our arrival, surrounded by such heavy security, indicates fame, politics or the filthy rich! Alexa takes a deep breath before allowing me to escort her out of the car. She indicates for the children to stay behind in the car and promptly shuts the door on them.
‘Jeremy, tell me what the hell is going on here?’
She is seething, not a good start.
‘We can talk about it in the apartment, AB. Not here.’ I shift her aside and quickly open the car door. ‘Come on, kids, you can hop out now. I have a surprise for you upstairs.’
I help them shuffle out of the limo, more to avoid her death stare than anything else and we make our way to the lift. If we weren’t in Miami, I would swear I’d been frostbitten by the icy atmosphere.
Martin enters a convoluted code and the lift finally begins to ascend. When the elevator doors open, even I’m taken aback at where we find ourselves. It’s a penthouse suite that looks out toward the aquamarine waters of Biscayne Bay and the depths of the Atlantic Ocean.
I’m temporarily distracted by the view as the kids rush past calling out, ‘Daddy, Daddy’, and then I notice that both Adam and Robert are standing by the mirrored bar in the centre of the room. While they are in the midst of hugs and introductions, I turn to Alexa, whose face has gone from furious red to deathly pale and for a moment I don’t know quite what to think. She appears to have gone into shock so I gently guide her to the lounge, sit her down and fetch her a glass of mineral water in between greeting the men.
It has been a while since I’ve seen Adam but I’ve known him for almost as long as I’ve known Leo, and that’s well over a decade. He isn’t as tall as his older brother and has a stockier build, but he has the same light brown hair and blue eyes and seems as friendly and outgoing as ever.
Robert looks simultaneously relaxed and nervous, which I suppose would be the case when your children first meet your ‘new man’. It’s weird to think that they need to go through what we’ve just been through with the kids. Everyone has appeared pretty adaptable to date so hopefully that will continue.
It has taken the children all of two minutes to notice the swimming pool just beyond the sliding glass doors so now they are hassling Alexa for a swim. ‘Please, Mummy, please. Can we? We’ve got our swimmers in our luggage. Can we?’
I’m not sure whether she is going to faint or be furious, which is strange because she is usually so easy for me to read, but then again, I’m still adapting to
