Free Alexxxa by D. T. Dyllin

to go back to the hotel. I’ll make a statement later—tomorrow or something.” Devlin wouldn’t sit in jail for long, not with his father’s lawyers on task.
    “Where are Tara, Josh, and Mac?”
    “They went with Tara to some other club. Tara was getting antsy around the cops so I suggested they go with her and get some generic background filler filming done.”
    Huh . Was Tara doing drugs too? Or was she hiding something else? I wasn’t normally excited to see cops but I didn’t get antsy either. I’d have a little chat with her later about what was going on with her. “So just you stayed?”
    David tried to smile but his lip was obviously bothering him a bit. “Yeah.”
    A spark of warmth started in my belly and crept through out my system, heating my skin. David had stayed to take care of me. But my warm fuzzies only lasted a moment before embarrassment took its place. He’d seen what Devlin had been doing to me, after all. Devlin and I had played rough before, but he’d crossed the line and taken it into scary territory. I’d never been afraid of him before, or anyone else for that matter. If I had been I never would have trusted him with so much of myself.
    “I just—can we go back to the hotel please?” I hated how little and fragile my voice sounded. I wished that the floor would open up and swallow me whole.
    “Of course, whatever you need,” David said softly. He helped me up and maneuvered me so that I was tucked into his side. A part of me wanted to pull away from him, but at least in my position I didn’t have to make eye contact with him and—I felt completely safe with his arm wrapped around me.  I let him lead me outside without really seeing anything in front of me. I supposed maybe I was in shock, and most definitely still drunk. I had a lot to think about and my head was killing me. When we were safely being driven home in the Lincoln Town car, I allowed myself to curl up in David’s lap and close my eyes.
     

 

Chapter Sixteen
     

     
    ~David
     
    I peered down at Alexa’s small body as she slept in my lap. Warmth bloomed in my chest, along with a certain kind of tenderness that I’d never really felt before. Her long blonde hair was obscuring most of her face so I reached down and smoothed it behind her ear. She made a small happy sound and snuggled into me more. As I gazed down at her perfect face I knew two things for certain. One was that she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever laid eyes on. And two, I wanted—no needed, to protect her. Hell, I had already started doing it without the conscious decision to do so. She’d been taken advantage almost all of her life, and she didn’t deserve to be treated so poorly.
    A part of me had wanted her to be some shallow callous bitch, because I’d never really gotten to know her in high school. I’d wanted to film her scandalous life for all to see. To show everyone what she was really like. As it turned out, she was nothing like I’d hoped. She was smart, funny, sexy, and kind hearted. She wasn’t aware that I knew, but I’d done some digging while she’d been passed out in my room earlier. She gave a very big portion of her paycheck from each of her films to various women’s shelters. She also supported her Aunt Suzy. I had been battling the notion of keeping professional distance between her and I right up until I’d walked in on her with Devlin. That sight had shot all hopes of professionalism to shit.
    I’d never known Andy, and Alexa was a mirage. The real Alexandra was someone who most people never got to know. I wanted to know her. I wanted her to trust me. I wanted— fuck —I wanted something that I knew deep down I couldn’t have. Women like Alexa didn’t go for men like me. They picked the Devlin Saints of the world, no matter how poorly they treated them. Unlike in fiction, nice guys usually finished last, and guys like Devlin weren’t hiding a heart of gold—they were just assholes. Assholes who got