Cornelius had barely arrived with a smirk, smelling strongly of Rory and pheromones when Alexandre was called to testify. I jumped, looking at him in fear. I thought he was going to get away without having to play out this little farce. He squeezed my thigh with a reassuring smile and handed me Mina before kissing us both as he stood. I looked back at Cornelius whose expression had hardened. He came forward immediately to sit beside me as Alexandre walked gracefully towards the front of the court and was sworn in. I could feel the subtle shift in the room as soon as he sat down. Cornelius squeezed my hand, and I realized with a jolt that Alexandre was taking subtle control of the minds in the room. Just a soft, gentle nudging to believe his words. I could even feel myself wanting to hang off his every word, and he wasn't even aiming it at me. Cornelius leaned closer.
"He was always good at that. The manipulation." Cornelius whispered.
"But, so many at once?" I murmured incredulously.
"He's stretching himself a bit thin, granted, but I think that's why just the gentle nudge. He really only needs the jury to believe, but I think he's trying to get as many people off your backs as possible." Cornelius responded quietly. "There are a few members of the press here after all." I moaned at that, but was quickly hushed by Cornelius. "We're missing it."
"...and what exactly did you see, Mr. Rivers?" The lawyer asked condescendingly. Alexandre's eyes locked with mine.
"This girl.. I thought she was dead for a moment." Alexandre's voice resonated through the room, striking my heart. His eyes looked haunted at the memory. She was covered in blood. There was so much of it-the smell was overpowering, and she lay so still, I had to listen very carefully for her breathing and heartbeat." Alexandre's voice cracked for a second and I closed my eyes remembering those last few moments. "When I realized she was still alive, but just barely, and having a much faster vehicle than the hospital-" There was scattered laughter "-and limited time, I made a drastic decision and put the young lady in my car. I remember thinking how light she was, like her life had all spilled out and I was carrying nothing but an empty husk." I heard Alexandre clear his throat and looked at him, a single tear had tracked down his face. He captured my eyes again. 'You can imagine how I panicked on the way home as I contacted my personal doctor to get everything set up-" The panic was real-I could see and hear it. The doctor, well that part was made up.
"Excuse me Mr. Rivers: Why didn't you just take Ms. Ayers to the hospital?" The lawyer cut in. Alexandre smiled gently as he looked at the lawyer as if he was a fool.
"Sir, I'm very rich." More scattered laughter. "I have access to much better medical care, at much speedier rates than normal people do. It sounds cruel and cold to phrase it that way, but it is truth. My doctor was at my residence and prepped before an ambulance could have arrived on scene." More tittering from the audience.
"Beyond which, the young lady was mumbling something about being attacked. If you do excuse me sir, she is a very beautiful young girl. My very first thoughts were that some jealous ex had done something, and the first place they might look is in a hospital. I decided to hedge my bets and hire a private investigator."
"Attacked? Ms. Ayers never mentioned that." The lawyer sneered.
"Ms. Ayers also informed you that she was drugged. Sedated, I believe quite heavily. I'm not sure she was aware of much of what happened around her or what she said. That is, after all, the point of sedation, is it not? Unless you'd like to be aware during your next surgery of course.." Alexandre offered casually. A few snickers from the crowd. "Combine that with the blood loss, and I"m afraid she would have been quite delirious at the time. Something I wasn't entirely aware of at the time, but her physical state was enough to terrify me that someone might be after her." Alexandre continued.
"And why didn't you call the cops?" The lawyer asked.
"Again, have you looked into the stats of abuse victims that are killed once their abusive significant others find them after an attack in which the police are involved? If Carys were trying to escape, I wanted to help her, and please do check your records. I was in touch briefly with a contact of mine in the police department who stated that until I knew more, to wait to see if she wanted to press charges, and if she did to let him know. When Carys was conscious again, she decided to play it safe. She only knew what we had pieced together ourselves, and she was afraid someone she knew may have been involved. If you look into her background, you may see she doesn't come from the most pleasant of environments, and fled her home. She had a right to be fearful, and chose to keep quiet and go into hiding so she could remain safe until we could find out more." Alexandre looked at me again with a half grin.
"Call me a sucker for a beautiful face, but when a beautiful woman asks if she can stay with you for a while until she figures out what happened to her, you say yes." Chuckles came from the men in the crowd. I considered flipping Alexandre off. In all actuality, he was the one who refused to let me go at first. "But what I didn't expect, was falling in love with the mind and heart behind the beauty. Cary is is an unbelievable gift in my life that continues to give. I will never cease to be amazed, and everyday I think I couldn't possibly love her more, I find I'm wrong the next moment." This time there awws from the crowded room. I felt like my heart should burst in my chest. I would have tackled him right then and there if we weren't in public. Cornelius' chuckle brought me back to the present.
"Careful Carys, you're beginning to smell quite tempting." Cornelius purred next to my ear. I ignored him, keeping eye contact with Alexandre, whose gaze was just as heated. I barely heard a thing he said after that, and as soon as they let him go and he came pacing purposefully towards me, I hand Cornelius Mina.
"Please hold onto her for a little while." I instructed and met Alexandre in the center aisle where we shared a rather passionate kiss. The next witness was being called, so I tugged his hand and led him out of the courtroom, following my nose until I found an empty restroom. I pulled Alexandre inside and locked the door behind us, tugging Alexandre to me as I leaned against the door.
"I was mad at you for a moment." I kissed him. "For playing to the old fat men in the crowd." I kissed him again, more deeply. He smirked against my lips.
"It wasn't all playing to the crowd." He murmured, biting my lower lip. "You are incredibly beautiful Carys. No, that's not all that drove me to save you. I have better sense than that. Buy when I walked into that room and saw you sitting there, it broke my heart. You were like a lovely doll someone had broken, the color fading from your skin, your eyes going lifeless. I wanted nothing more in that moment to see you alive again. Hear your voice, see if it sounded like I thought it would. Make no mistakes, I would have saved you regardless of who you might have been, but I was enchanted from the very first moment, love." Alexandre purred, kissing my neck between thoughts.
"Could have fooled me." I remarked, trying to get his shirt off.
"I thought we established that you're rather blind where these things are concerned?" Alexandre chuckled, nipping at my collarbone and sliding my own shirt off my arms easily.
"Ok, I yield, you have a point. I wouldn't know if someone was flirting with me unless they reeked of pheromones if my life depended on it. And even then I would probably think it was for something else." I grumbled, and then gasped as Alexandre bit my shoulder hard enough to draw blood.
"Exactly." He chided. "If it wasn't for the virus, I would probably have to throw you over my shoulder to get you in bed." My pants puddled around my ankles and Alexandre worked his way downward. I gasped, and after that, conversation was forgotten.