Jessica swirled her wine, watching Alex with predatory focus as he answered the phone. Her silk robe caught the city lights, making her look like some expensive, dangerous painting come to life.
"Sarah?" Alex's expression shifted from annoyance to alarm in an instant. "Wait, slow down. What's wrong?"
The change in his demeanor made Jessica straighten, her glass pausing halfway to her lips. Her eyes narrowed as Alex's face drained of color.
The call ended abruptly, and Alex immediately started gathering his scattered clothing, his movements rushed and clumsy.
"What's wrong?" Jessica set her glass down, moving towards him. "Jason?"
"Nothing," he muttered, fumbling with his jacket buttons. "I mean, I don't know. Sarah was... something's wrong. She sounded scared."
The wine glass slipped from Jessica's hand, shattering against the hardwood floor. Red liquid spread like blood across the expensive flooring. "Where are you going?"
"I need to check on her." Alex's tie was crooked, his collar askew. "I've never heard her like that."
Jessica grabbed her robe, already moving toward the bedroom. "Let me change. I'll come with-"
"No!" Alex glanced at her state of undress, then quickly away. "Stay here. I'll... I'll be back."
Her laugh was sharp, brittle. "You said that last time too."
But Alex was already heading for the door, his mind racing. "I'm sorry. I'll call you."The driver looked startled when Alex burst out of the hotel entrance. "Home," he barked, sliding into the backseat. "Fast as you can."
The drive felt endless. Alex's phone buzzed continuously - probably Jessica - but he ignored it. If Sarah was in trouble... Rain pelted against the windows as the car wound through the city streets, each red light feeling like an eternity.
When they finally pulled up to Jason's estate, Alex was out before the car fully stopped. He rushed to the guard station, his shoes splashing through puddles.
"Where's Sarah?" he demanded, water dripping from his hair. "What happened? Why didn't anyone call me sooner?"
The security guards exchanged confused glances. One of them, Mike - Alex had finally learned their names - straightened up. "Sir?"
"Sarah! My PA! She called me panicking, and none of you thought to step in?" Alex's voice rose with each word, his heart still racing from the drive.
The guards' blank expressions only fueled his concern. They looked completely lost, as if they had no idea what he was talking about.
"We haven't seen Miss Cooper since earlier this evening, Mr. Rivers," Mike said carefully. "She came in about an hour ago, but-"
Alex didn't wait to hear the rest, already pushing through the gate and sprinting toward the house.
Alex was already through the front door, his footsteps echoing through the marble foyer. He rounded the corner to the living room and stopped dead.
A man lounged in Jason's favorite leather chair, expensive suit rumpled, drinking directly from what looked like a thousand-dollar bottle of wine. No Sarah in sight.
"What the hell are you doing in my house?" Alex demanded, scanning the room. "Sarah? Sarah!"
The man's laugh was loose, wet with alcohol. "Well, well! If it isn't Jason Jesus himself!" He raised the bottle in a mock toast. "Back from the dead and looking surprisingly un-zombified!"
Alex stared as the man attempted to stand, stumbled, and collapsed back into the chair with a giggle.
"What, no hug for your baby brother?" Tommy's words slurred together. "Typical. Get discharged from the hospital, don't tell anyone. If not for your crazy ex's Instagram food porn, I wouldn't even know you were up and about!"
Alex's phone chose that moment to explode with notifications. He glanced down to see #JasonRivers trending, accompanied by a candid photo of him and Jessica at dinner. The lighting was perfect, catching them in what looked like an intimate moment.
'When did she...?' His thought was interrupted by Tommy's dramatic sigh.
"Always had a thing for toxic women, didn't you?" Tommy took another swig. "They say I'm the defective Rivers, but at least I never dated an escaped mental patient. Though Jessica does make crazy look good, I'll give her that."
Alex's mind raced to process this new information. 'Mental patient? What the hell did Jason get himself into?'
"Where's Sarah?" he managed to ask.
"Oh, that." Tommy waved the bottle dismissively. "She came by looking for you. Found me instead. Sweet girl, really. Said something about a gas leak at her place and wanted to spend the night here so you all would leave early for your flight. Bit worked up about your dinner date, though."
"But the phone call-"
"Guilty!" Tommy's grin was sloppy. "She left her phone when she went upstairs to check if you were home. Thought I'd have some fun with my voice acting skills. Pretty good impression of a damsel in distress, right?"
Alex's fists clenched. He had to remind himself that Jason would know this side of his brother. Would probably be used to it. "If she's not here, where did she go?"
Tommy attempted to cross his legs, failed, and nearly dropped the bottle. "Said something about a hotel. She seemed pretty upset about Jessica's post." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Guess it's not just models throwing themselves at the legendary Jason Rivers, huh?"
Standing up took Tommy three attempts. When he finally managed it, he swayed like a tree in a storm, his designer suit stained with wine. "If you're not interested..." He started toward the stairs, bottle dangling from his fingers. "I wouldn't mind consoling the poor girl myself."
"Hey!" Alex called after him. "Where are you going?"
"To bed, big brother!" Tommy called back, his voice echoing oddly in the stairwell. "You know how much I hate hotels!"
Alex watched him stumble up the stairs, his mind whirling. Sarah was upset? About Jessica? And what was that about mental patients?
His phone buzzed again - another flood of notifications about the dinner photo. In the picture, he was smiling at something Jessica was saying, candlelight making them both look like movie stars. The caption read: "Some things are worth waiting for. Welcome back, my love. #JasonRivers #SecondChances"
'Great,' Alex thought, running a hand through his hair. 'A drunk brother, a missing PA, and an apparently unstable ex posting about me on social media. What else could possibly go wrong?'
From upstairs came the sound of breaking glass, followed by Tommy's distant voice singing what sounded like a very off-key version of "My Heart Will Go On."
Alex closed his eyes and counted to ten. Somewhere in the city, Sarah was probably seeing that photo of him and Jessica. Somewhere in a hotel penthouse, Jessica was probably plotting his slow death for running out on her. And here he was, stuck in the middle of a life that kept getting more complicated by the minute.
Tommy's singing grew louder, more passionate, and decidedly worse.
'Jason,' Alex thought grimly, 'you and I need to have a serious talk about your life choices.'