Free Aligned: Volume 3 by Ella Miles Page A

searched the place to make sure it’s secure. I’ll stand guard outside, but you’re safe,” Curt says leaving us alone in the entryway.  
    I take a deep breath relaxing as I look around the apartment that hasn’t changed since we left. I walk to the living room that still looks like it’s straight out of a designer magazine. An engagement picture of Alexa and I sit next to the TV. I pick it up and look at how happy we were together. We got married a few months later, but we never got the pictures back from the wedding. The attack and kidnapping happened that night. Destroying our wedding. We never went on a honeymoon. We will have to remedy that at some point, but not now. Now, I just want to get back to our regular life.  
    I walk to the kitchen just past the living room. I glance out the large windows overlooking the city. It’s a beautiful spring day.  
    I walk back to the living room to the open stairs leading to our bedroom. Alexa just stares at me from the living room.  
    “Come on,” I shout as I jog up the stairs. It feels good to be moving instead of stuck in bed or held by a physical therapist afraid I’ll fall. I reach the top floor of our apartment that holds our bedroom and bathroom, but that’s not what I care about. I care about the large balcony that juts out from our bedroom. I slide the door open and immediately breathe in the pleasant summer air.  
    I lean against the balcony railing overlooking the city. Alexa joins me standing quietly next to me. I feel at home for the first time.  
    “It’s beautiful out here,” Alexa says.  
    I smile. “It is. It’s our favorite place in the apartment. It’s the reason we bought this apartment. For this right here.”  
    She smiles back. “I can see why. I could easily fall in love with this spot again.” Her eyes meet mine when she says the words. Her eyes say so much more. That she could easily fall in love with me again if I helped her find a way. I will, I promise with my eyes. I will.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Alexa

    I have to find my own evidence.  

    “Let’s go to bed,” Ethan says getting up from the couch on the balcony overlooking the NYC skyline as lights sparkle beneath the dark sky.  
    I nod and get up from my chair opposite him. We haven’t said much since we came out on this balcony. Instead, we opted just to enjoy the warm breeze. We ordered pizza for dinner, and other than that, we haven’t left this spot. Both of us hoping that if we stayed out here long enough, this peaceful spot would bring us back together. Unfortunately, this place isn’t that magical. All it brought us is a sense of peace.  
    Ethan heads straight to the bathroom, and I head to my bag sitting on the floor next to the bed. I dig through my bag trying to find something suitable to change into. All I brought to sleep in is corsets, lace bras, and fancy underwear. Things I was expecting Landon to see, not Ethan. I’m not ready or brave enough to wear this type of clothing in front of a complete stranger, even though I’m married to him.  
    I stand and walk over to the white dresser sitting on the far side of the room next to the door to the bathroom. I open the top drawer to find more fancy underwear. I immediately close it. I try the next drawer, but I find nothing but socks. I try again with the third drawer and am rewarded with shorts. Mostly running shorts, but they will do. I grab a pair and head to the closet, remembering which closet is mine from when I picked out some clothes to take with me to LA. I step inside the large closet overflowing with fancy dresses and business attire. I search through the piles of clothes hoping I didn’t take all of the casual clothes with me to LA. When my hand touches soft cotton, I relax. I grab my shorts and a t-shirt and head to the bed to wait for Ethan to finish in the bathroom.  
    I sit down on the edge of the bed. My hands are trembling a little holding the clothes against my legs. I don’t know what