Bonus. Alexander

Seven years. That's how long it's been since I've been married to the most beautiful woman in the world. Who would have thought that one night in November of 2019 would flip my life upside down in the best way possible? For sure as hell, not me. I never really thought that returning from Spain after burying my wife would lead me to reconnect with the woman I had fallen in love with, even if she was just 17 years old at the time of our meeting.

Life has been a rollercoaster ride. We've had our ups and downs, and one of the worst moments in our relationship happened two years ago. I was stupid and reckless. I had recently secured a new investment with a company in California, and I went out to celebrate while Kat was home, taking care of two toddlers. Needless to say, I had one too many drinks and blacked out, only waking up to a pounding headache and my phone ringing excessively. I don't even know what happened the night before. I found myself in an unfamiliar room, which made me frown as I sat up, pressing my palms to my eyes.

"Can you please turn that shit off?" a voice next to me—one that didn't belong to my wife—asked, making me stiffen. I looked to my left to see a woman I had never seen before, stark naked. The only thing covering her was a thin sheet, which made me look down at my own naked body. I quickly jumped out of the bed and looked around the room for my clothes as my phone started ringing again. Shit. I had over 20 missed calls, 45 voicemails, and 50 text messages from Hayden, David, and Kat, all practically saying the same thing: to call them back and let them know that I was okay.

"What are you doing?" the woman asked as she watched me get dressed once I had recovered my scattered clothes.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" I hissed, grabbing my jacket and tossing it over my rumpled clothes. "What the fuck happened?"

"You're seriously telling me you don't remember?" she asked, dumbfounded, and I gave her a deadpan expression that only made her smile. "We hooked up at your little celebration last night. You were quite drunk and didn't even push me away when I approached you."

"Bullshit," I snarled, knowing that I would have done just that and even mentioned that I was married. I didn't even wait for her to retaliate and left her apartment, calling for a cab before calling Kat, who picked up on the first ring.

"Oh thank God," were her first words, not giving me a chance to speak. "Where the hell are you, Alex?" I could hear the worry in her voice, making my throat clog as tears burned in my eyes.

I knew I couldn't keep what happened from her, so I told her everything I could remember up until I woke up in some woman's bed naked. I knew I had royally fucked up when I heard her breath hitch on the other end of the line.

"Don't come home," she said, her voice struggling. I imagined her with tears running down her face, and my heart cracked.

"Kat..."

"I mean it, Alexander. Don't fucking come home." Then the line went dead. I sighed and let the tears roll down my face, knowing that I broke the promise I made to her when we got together. I promised her that I'd never cheat on her, yet that is exactly what I did.

"Where to, sir?" the driver asked, breaking me out of my thoughts. I gave him the address of the hotel where we had thrown the party to celebrate my new investment. It took us roughly 45 minutes to arrive at The Hilton Hotel, and I quickly stepped out, thanking and paying the taxi driver before rushing inside.

"Oh, Mr. De Luca, we've been worried about you," one of the receptionists said when she spotted me, making me frown. "Your wife has been calling—"

"You have cameras in your bars, right?" I asked, cutting her off. She blinked but nodded. "I want every video recording from last night and early this morning."

"Um, I'm afraid we can't give you those, sir," she replied, making me narrow my eyes.

"I won't repeat myself, Cassie. I want the video footage, and if I have to get a court order, then I will," I stated.

"Then I'm afraid you'll have to get that order," she responded, making me clench my jaw.

"You will be getting it soon," I assured her before turning back and walking to the elevator that would take me to the private parking lot where I left my car.