Confessions After Dark by Kahlen Aymes Page A

anything to do with why you look like hell?”
    Alex’s lips quirked in the start of a grin. “Awww, thanks for noticing,” he said with mock sarcasm. “I didn’t think you cared.”
    Charles scowled. “Don’t be petulant. Your mother noticed last Sunday that you weren’t yourself.”
    “Well, Allison bothered me!” Alex complained. “She’s always yapping at me about one charity or another. I already wrote her a check for twenty thousand toward whatever she’s working on this month, but all she does is go on about the tax write-offs and how I should give more. Who in the hell does she think she’s talking to? Is she the one with the MBA?”
    “Alex, Allison may get a bit overzealous, but her heart’s in the right place.”
    “Her incessant nagging wears on my nerves,” Alex huffed. “It’s not her place to question my decisions with the company or my personal life.”
    When his father continued to glare at him, Alex shifted uncomfortably in his chair and ran a careless hand through his already unruly hair.
    “Whitney is her friend, Alex. It’s only natural for Allison to ask about her.”
    During the family get-together, Allison took him aside to admonish him for not telling her that his relationship with Whitney had ended. Alex had been hungover from a night of feeling sorry for himself, liquor giving him the strength to resist calling or going to Angel, and he didn’t take it well.
    “Whitney is a money-grubbing little bitch, Allison.”
    “She said you dumped her without an explanation!”
    “That’s not true. I told her that she’s a money-grubbing little bitch,” he said with a distracted smirk, humor replacing his irritation. “I’m sure she failed to mention that she called in to a live radio show about how horrible I was to her? If I wasn’t already out, that would have sealed the deal.”
    “Shut up! She did what?”
    “Oh, yes, she did, Allison. I’m not surprised she didn’t mention it. She never was any good at accepting responsibility for things.”
    “You mean that new show that’s getting so much buzz? Which was it? At Darian’s station. Umm,” she pondered.
    “Angel After Dark,” he grumbled, pouring himself another drink and holding the glass out to her. “Want one?”
    Allison shook her head. “No, thanks. I know her. I mean, I spoke with her.”
    Alex’s curiosity was piqued and he turned, leaning back against the bar while Allison sat opposite him in one of the wingback chairs. Tension tightened the muscles in his neck and increased the throbbing in his head, but the ache eased by just being able to talk about it. “About what?”
    “She has connections to a band I wanted to hire for the benefit.”
    Alex relaxed slightly. “Oh. When was this? Have you met her?”
    “Two or three weeks ago, I think. No, I haven’t seen her, except for the shots promoting the show, but you know how those things are. It probably isn’t her anyway.”
    “Mmm hmm.”
    “Why?” They were close and Allison’s eyes narrowed. Alex was out of sorts, quiet, introspective, and not himself. He looked tired, like he’d rolled out of bed and threw on the first thing he found, and more telling, he didn’t argue when their mother asked personal questions. He simply left the room. “Do you know her? Do you know what she told Whitney?”
    He contemplated how much to say. He hadn’t confided in anyone, not even D. “She told her to get her shit together and walk away,” he answered quietly. He took a long pull on his drink and the ice clinked on the side of the fine crystal glass. “Whitney didn’t have the balls to follow through, and I called the show the next week and told my side of the story. Whitney, no doubt, painted a biased picture. Angel, however, had her own ideas on men like me . User, womanizer; you know the classic stereotype. She had no problem showing her distaste.”
    “Oh, my God. I can only imagine. I’m sure you were ruthless in defense of your position.”