Aligned: Volume 4 Read Online Free

Landon needs to hear. He grabs hold of Caroline’s hand again and pulls her toward his dressing room. I don’t follow despite how much I want to. I stay.  
    “God, please don’t tell me he is back with that bitch,” Nicole, one of the stage manager says.  
    “No. He’s not.” Fuck, it didn’t take five seconds for people to notice Caroline here.  
    “That’s a relief.”
    “She’s not that bad,” I say. She’s just broken. Just like the rest of us.  
    “No, she’s worse. I just hope he gets rid of her before the show.”  
    “If she stays to watch the show. Be nice,” I say narrowing my eyes at her.  
    She rolls her eyes at me as if I’m crazy. “Don’t count on it. If she is here, I plan on staying as far away from her as possible.”  
    I run my hand through my hair and grab the base of my neck. I have to push Caroline out of my head. I have to get back to work. I’ve done it my entire life, so I can do it again now. No matter how hard it is.  

CHAPTER FIVE
Alex

    4. The number of items in my backpack. A spare item of clothing, an old camera, twenty bucks, and my mother’s painting. That’s all I have as I stand on the edge of the street at eighteen years old. I don’t have a foster family to take care of me anymore. I’m on my own.  

    I pull into the parking lot for the private airfield. I’m happy that Landon flew private instead of commercial. I don’t think I could handle the paparazzi or crowds. I just want to be in his arms, where it’s safe.  
    I park the car between two Audis and turn off the engine. I don’t get out, though. I don’t want to make a scene inside the terminal. So instead, I sit fidgeting in the car that used to be my safe haven, but now that I know it held secrets from me, I’m not sure how I feel about this car anymore. It doesn’t feel safe anymore.  
    Landon isn’t safe either. Not anymore. Not when he’s with me. I need to convince Drew to hire some bodyguards especially when Landon is out in public. I don’t want Ethan to hurt him. I don’t want anyone to hurt him. But I can’t tell him the truth. I can’t tell him it was Ethan. He’d either kill Ethan or prevent me from doing what I need to do. Either way, I can’t take the chance.  
    I glance up, and that’s when I see him walking from the private terminal toward me. I smile automatically although there is nothing to smile about. Still, just seeing him makes me happy even when nothing else in my life should.  
    He climbs in the car, but his face isn’t as bright as it should be. His smile is weak, forced. His flight must have been terrible. Seeing Caroline again must have been horrible.  
    Our arms go around each other on autopilot, and I exhale deeply. I feel safe, even when I know I’m not. I feel it.  
    We stay like this much longer than usual as the tension leaves both our bodies. This should be over. We should be able to live our lives now the way we want. But this is far from over. I don’t know if he realizes it. I don’t know if he senses it seeping out of my pores, but when he pulls away, his body is saying the same as mine. I love you, but...
    But this fight isn’t over.  
    But you’re not mine yet.  
    But there is so much more yet to discover about ourselves. About our pasts.  
    But we can’t just be happy.  
    But we might not ever really belong together.  
    I turn the ignition in Tessie back on and pull out of my parking spot. It’s weird that he doesn’t speak when he should have so much to say. It’s weird that I don’t speak either, I realize.  
    “How was your flight?” I finally ask.  
    “Fine,” he says harshly. His hand goes to his head rubbing it as if he is trying to rub away every thought he has ever had.  
    “How was the concert?”  
    “Fine.”  
    “How was Caroline?”  
    “Fine.”  
    I stomp on the brakes harder than I intended to and the car screeches to a stop in the middle of the road. I hear a car honk behind us, but I