Chapter Seven
Alexa*s surgery went well. The doctor*s wired her jaw shut so she was unable to speak for several days. It didn*t really matter though. She was being given so much pain medication that she wasn*t even coherent half the time. Mostly, she slept. That was probably for the best, however, the drug-induced sleep. With thoughts of Tyrell constantly plaguing her, it would have been hard for her to rest any other way.
Alona was on a nonstop vigil at the hospital, but JC had work to do. He stopped in at least once a day, whenever he could fit in a small visit around all of the meetings and recording sessions he had jammed into his last bit of time in LA. What he couldn*t get done in LA, he had rescheduled to take place once he got back to Orlando. He also made sure that all the guys knew he was coming home and that any promotional work they had to do would be postponed or they would have to do it without him. None of the guys asked many questions. They knew that if JC was offering his home to a virtual stranger, she had to be special.
When the police officers came to see Alexa, she declined to press charges. No amount of coercing from either JC or Alona could change her mind. They finally gave up and let her do what she felt was best, but it was clear that neither of them agreed with her decision. Surprising as it was, Tyrell never showed up at the hospital. He made no attempt to contact either Alona or Alexa. And JC had his personal security guard on high alert twenty-four hours a day at his house in LA. He had also arranged for a guard to be posted outside of Alexa*s room. Maybe JC*s fame couldn*t stop Tyrell completely, but it could certainly hinder his efforts.
~*~
"So, this is my house," JC explained nervously as he punched in a security code and opened the front door, ushering Alona and Alexa inside. It had been a full week since Tyrell attacked and raped Alexa and they were finally arriving in Orlando.
"Nice," Alexa commented. She had just recently started speaking again. Her jaw was still wired but she was able to mumble well enough to be understood.
Alona just looked around and shook her head. *No one should be allowed to have this much money,* she thought to herself.
The house was peaceful, calm, something that Alexa wasn*t used to. And she nearly jumped out of her skin as the three walked into JC*s living room and were met by two large black men. She didn*t recognize either of them and their statures alone made them rather ominous. Her hands shook as she stared at JC, her eyes wide, wondering why he wasn*t running or calling for help or doing something*anything.
JC reached out and put an arm around her shoulders. "Calm down, sweetie," he whispered soothingly. "This is Dre and Mike. They*re gonna be with you whenever you need them, okay? You can trust them, I promise."
"Nice to meet you," Alona offered, shaking the men*s hands. She too had been slightly frightened to see these two men standing in JC*s living room, but she wouldn*t let it show. "I*m sure the two of us won*t be nearly as difficult to deal with as your normal clients." She shot a friendly but accusing glance in JC*s direction.
JC laughed sarcastically. "Ha ha, very funny. Watch it or I*ll make you live with Chris."
"Well it can*t get much worse than this, can it?"
Alexa listened quietly as her best friend and JC continued their normal banter. She didn*t believe that they disliked each other but she could sense the tension between them. She normally would have commented on it, but after that first day in the hospital everything had changed. Alexa no longer felt like herself. She had been taken out of her element. And as kind as JC was being, she had to admit that she still didn*t feel completely safe. She knew Tyrell better than anyone. He wouldn*t go away this easily. And to make things even worse, she missed him. It was demented and she knew it. But she couldn*t just make her heart stop feeling. She*d been with Tyrell for over two years, through good and bad. A heart doesn*t forget that much time.
"Hey, Lex, you okay?" Alona asked, noticing the far away look in her friend*s eyes. She*d been drifting off like this a lot lately.
"Just tired," she replied, trying to smile but not really able to. Her face was still badly bruised and it seemed that she was in constant pain.
JC turned from the conversation he had been having with Dre and Mike. "Come on girls, I*ll show you both to your rooms. I*m sure we could all use some rest. The rest of the guys will be coming over later to meet you."
~*~
Tyrell sat menacingly in a large leather chair in one of the back rooms of the club. He cracked his knuckles and stared at the bulky black man in front of him. He didn*t like what he was hearing.
"I tried, Tyrell. But their management ain*t hiring anymore security right now. There*s not a damn thing we can do. She*s gone bro. Why you sweating this? You know you*re better off*that bitch was getting in the way*"
The man was cut off by Tyrell*s hands on his throat. He pushed him back into the wall and held him there firmly. "You ever call her a bitch ever again and you won*t live to tell about it, ya hear?"
He shook his head as best he could and tried to swallow. "Sor*sorry," he choked out.
Tyrell let him go but remained standing only inches away from him. "Now, don*t tell me there ain*t nothing we can do about this. Lex is MY woman. She will always be MY woman. And she WILL be coming back to LA. I don*t care what condition she*s brought back in. I just want her brought back. She needs to learn that she just can*t leave whenever she wants to. I*m leaving it up to you to help me teach her that lesson, Jalen. Are we understanding each other?"
The look in Tyrell*s eyes was unmistakable. If Jalen hadn*t been used to it, he probably would have shuddered. But he understood. Smiling, showing two gold teeth which gave his face an eerie glow, he nodded.
~*~
Alexa bolted upright in her new bed. Her breath came in short gasps and her heart was racing. She had been sleeping lightly but now there would be no chance of that. Images of Tyrell wouldn*t leave her mind. Trying to breathe deeply, she attempted to calm herself. *It was just a dream,* she thought over and over again. But it was so real. It was like he had actually been right there in her room. Alexa had never felt so unsafe in her entire life. And she couldn*t figure out why. She was thousands of miles away from him. She had two men that were nearly twice Tyrell*s size looking out for her. And, as far as she knew, Tyrell had no knowledge of where she was. But still*something didn*t feel right.
Without even realizing it, Alexa had started to cry. Sob really. It was the first time she had let all of her emotions out since the day of the attack. Burrowing her head into her pillow, she cried until she felt she had no more tears. And then she cried some more. This was horrendous. She hated feeling this way. But there was nothing she could do. She felt so alone. All she wanted was someone to hold her.
"Lex?" as if on cue came JC*s concerned voice from the doorway.
This only made her cry harder. She wished that they had met under different circumstances. She didn*t want him to see her like this. Especially not when he had been so kind as to let her and Alona stay with him. She wanted, no, needed to be strong. At least that*s what she kept telling herself. But she couldn*t make the tears stop falling.
JC was at her side in seconds, closing and locking the door behind him. He sat on her bed and pulled her to him, rocking her gently. "Lex, sweetie, you*re okay. You*re safe now. I*m not gonna let anything happen to you. I promise." He meant those words with every ounce of his soul. The past week had brought JC closer to Alexa than he thought was possible, even if she couldn*t really talk to him. But Alona had been their go between. He had learned so much about Alexa*s life and she had been more than interested in his. Not his life with NSYNC, though. His normal life, his parents, his siblings; everything that lay behind the music. It wasn*t often that people like Alexa came around. It would be a cold day in hell before he would let someone take her away from him. As she continued to cry, he simple stroked her disheveled auburn curls and whispered what he hoped would be soothing words into her ear.
The knowledge of Alexa*s true feelings for JC hit her suddenly. It came on the heels of him vowing to keep her safe always. She believed him. She wasn*t sure he could do it, but she believed that he would try. It had been years since she had ever had the urge to trust anything a man said to her. Her father had betrayed her by leaving the family when she was just ten. Her first true love in high school had broken her heart after cheating on her with her so-called best friend. And then, any shred of trust left in her heart had been ripped apart by Tyrell. But now*even in her extreme fear and immense pain*she knew what she had been denying since the first moment she had laid eyes on him, staring up at her over his foolish disguise of dark sunglasses. Alexa loved JC. She felt like she had known him forever. A past life, perhaps? She didn*t know. She couldn*t explain it. But it felt good. His arms around her felt good. And in those arms, she slowly drifted back to sleep.
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