Twenty three

Brielle's smug smile lingered as she tilted her head slightly, clearly waiting for a reaction. My heart pounded in my chest, but I refused to let her get to me. I met her gaze evenly, hoping my calm façade held.

"Is that so?" I finally responded, keeping my tone polite but distant.

She leaned in closer, her voice dropping conspiratorially. "Oh, yes. We practically grew up together. I suppose he's mentioned me? Or maybe he hasn't. Alexander can be very... private."

There was a subtle dig in her words, a challenge hanging in the air. She was fishing for a reaction, hoping to make me feel out of place, unworthy even. I could feel the tension in my shoulders, but I forced a smile, refusing to rise to her bait. I couldn't fall for her witchy plans

"Alexander doesn't talk much about the past," I replied, keeping my tone neutral.

Her smile widened, eyes glinting with satisfaction. "That sounds like him. Always so focused on the future... on what he needs. You should know, Ivy, people like us—people in his world—we understand each other. There's a lot of history between Alexander and me. History you'll never be able to touch."

I swallowed the knot forming in my throat. What did this witch mean? Her words shouldn't have bothered me, but they did. Was she right? Did I really know Alexander at all? I had been learning pieces of him slowly, like assembling fragments of a puzzle, but it was still so incomplete.

Before I could formulate a response, Alexander reappeared, his presence cutting through the tension. Brielle's demeanor shifted immediately as she turned to face him, her voice sugary sweet. "Alex, darling, we were just catching up."

Alexander's cold gaze flicked between us, and without a word, he extended his hand toward me, a silent command to join him. I took his arm, more than relieved to get away from Brielle's barbs.

"Excuse us," he said curtly, leading me away from her and into a quieter corner of the room.

For a few minutes, we walked in silence. The weight of Brielle's words still lingered in the air, pressing against my chest. My grip on Alexander's arm tightened just slightly, unsure of what to say, unsure of where I stood in all of this. Why didn't he tell me about this? Wasn't this information part of the whole plan?

After a few moments, I couldn't take the silence any longer. "Did you... did you know Brielle well? Before?" I asked, my voice hesitant.

Alexander's jaw tensed, and he was quiet for a moment before he responded. "We were acquainted," he said, his voice clipped.

That answer didn't satisfy me. Acquainted? Brielle had practically claimed they were in love. I wanted to ask more, but I held back, feeling the icy wall between us solidifying. This wasn't the place for such a conversation.

"She mentioned something about... history between you two," I said carefully, my heart pounding in my chest as I tested the waters.

He stopped walking, turning to face me, his expression unreadable. There was a flicker of something in his eyes—annoyance, maybe, or frustration. So something really happened. "Brielle has her own agenda. Whatever she told you, take it with a grain of salt."

How do you expect me to take this, Alexander!!? The finality in his tone made it clear he didn't want to discuss it further. I nodded, forcing myself to drop the subject, even though my mind buzzed with questions. What was it about his past that he was hiding from me? And why did it feel like I was constantly running into walls when it came to getting closer to him? My head was already bruised and was going to be broken at this rate.

As we resumed walking through the crowd, Alexander's hand rested on the small of my back again, the heat of his touch grounding me even as the confusion swirled in my mind.

'Just stop acting like everything is normal when it's not Mr' was what I wanted to say. We had to keep up this front for the purpose of our mission.

The rest of the evening passed in a blur of polite conversation and hollow laughter. All the while, I couldn't shake the feeling that Brielle was watching me, her eyes filled with smug satisfaction. Her scheming brain must feel happy. And beneath it all, I couldn't help but wonder—what had she really meant? And why did Alexander seem so determined to keep me at arm's length?

As we headed back to the resort later that night, the silence between us felt heavy with all the unsaid things. I stared out of the window of the car, my reflection blurring against the dark glass.