Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Stepping into Alfie’s bedroom feels… intimate.
Which is funny, considering the things I’ve let this man do to me.
The things I’ve done to this man. There’s just something about being in his home that seems like more.
Hotels are casual. There is nothing permanent about a hotel room, but this right here… is his.
“I’ll be back. Make yourself comfortable,” Alfie says, leaving me alone in his bedroom.
I walk over to a door and open it. His closet. As I step inside, the light comes on. The space is only half full, one side all men’s clothes, the other completely bare. It’s also huge. Although I do think my closet at home is larger, and I take up the entire thing alone.
Alfie has suit after suit lined up in a neat row, each spaced evenly apart like a psychopath. His shirts are the same and sorted by color: black, white, and navy.
“Looking for skeletons?” Alfie’s voice makes me jump out of my skin.
Turning around, I find him leaning against the doorway, two champagne flutes in his hands. He holds one out and smirks.
“You won’t find any. I’m clean as a whistle.”
“Sure you are.” I laugh and take the glass. “Thank you.”
“We need to celebrate,” he says.
“What are we celebrating?”
“The fact you just purchased an entire building on the Las Vegas Strip. It’s a big deal, Molly. Especially with all the people working real hard to block you from being able to do so.”
“You know, if you spent more time working and less time fucking me, you might be able to see my next move coming. I doubt it, but you never know. I don’t like to underestimate anyone. Also, thank you.”
“I’d much rather spend my time fucking you than dealing with assholes,” he says.
I walk out of the closet while sipping on the champagne glass. I should ask what’s happening, what this is. I’m afraid of the answer, though. And worse than that, I’m scared I might actually like it. Instead, I turn back to what’s comfortable. Sex.
“Did you bring me back here to talk all night, or to add another notch to your bedpost?”
Alfie smiles. “You will be the first notch on that bedpost, Molly. I don’t usually bring woman back to my home.”
“Why?”
“I’ve never wanted to.”
“Why me?”
“I like you a lot more than I like most people.”
“Even though I beat you tonight?” I raise a brow at him.
“I like you even more because you beat me,” he says. “I already knew you were smart, Molly, but seeing you get something that no one else has been able to get? Well, I’m honestly fucking impressed.”
I put the champagne glass down. “What is happening here, Alfie?” I blurt out, not being able to keep the question in any longer.
“Right now? We’re drinking champagne. Soon? I’m going to strip you naked and take my time reacquainting myself with your pussy.”
I smirk. “That sounds like a solid plan. But what’s happening with us? Why am I in your bedroom?”
Alfie runs a hand through his hair. He looks a little unsettled.
Huh, I didn’t think anything could rock that cool, calm, and collected exterior he’s got down pat.
“I want you like I’ve never wanted anyone else.
When I’m not with you, I can’t stop thinking about you.
I have a feeling that means that—whatever is happening with us—it means you’re mine, Molly. ”
“I’m yours?”
“Yes.”
“Just like that?” I snap my fingers. “You know I have autonomy. What if I don’t want to be yours?”
“You do.” He shrugs.
“Your ego is far too big.” I laugh.
“Tell me I’m wrong.”
I look at him. I can’t tell him he’s wrong, because I do want to be his.
When I don’t respond, he sets his glass on the dresser and undoes his belt. “Get on your knees, Molly.”
The command, that tone… They send shivers down my spine. Just as I’m about to drop to my knees and do exactly what he tells me to do, we’re interrupted by a loud scream.
“Alfie, get out here! Now!” a female voice calls out.
I raise a brow at him. “Friend of yours?”
“I’m going to kill them,” Alfie growls. “Someone better be fucking dying!” he yells out to the hallway.
“Hurry up!” the woman replies.
Alfie turns to leave the room. “Wait here,” he says and then runs out.
Yeah, because that’s going to happen. I’m just going to sit here while he does whatever with some woman who just let herself into his house. I don’t bring woman to my home, my ass.
Picking up my clutch and shoes, I follow him out of the room.
I can hear yelling as I make my way down the stairs.
There are more voices and someone’s grunting.
I stop short when I reach the bottom step.
The once-pristine white marble floors are painted with red.
Blood pools in one spot before there’s a trail of it across the floor.
Following both the blood and the loud voices, I find Alfie in a living room.
His brother and cousins are all standing around while a woman is screaming at them hysterically.
Alfie, though? He’s bent over a guy on the ground.
As I get closer, I recognize him. CJ, one of the cousins. His skin is pale.
Blood… there’s so much blood.
Alfie’s hands are covering CJ’s abdomen. “Where’s the doc?” he asks Hudson.
“On his way. Another three minutes.”
“Fuck. What the fuck happened?” Alfie yells at the woman, who has gone from screaming at the guys to standing still with tears running down her face.
“I… He jumped in front of me,” she says.
“Of course he fucking did. Fucking idiot,” Alfie grunts.
“Worth it,” CJ says through gritted teeth.
Alfie’s eyes connect with mine. “Fuck,” he curses and looks to his brother.
Something silent passes between them before Hudson makes his way over to me. Wrapping his arm around my shoulder, he starts leading me out of the room.
“I’m starving. Let me show you where Alfie hides the good stuff. He thinks no one knows where his stash is, but we all know,” Hudson whispers as if he’s sharing a secret.
I look back over my shoulder. Alfie is staring at me. I want to tell Hudson that I don’t need to see where Alfie keeps the “good stuff,” whatever that even means. What I need to do is get the hell out of dodge.
Instead, I find myself letting Hudson take me through the house into the kitchen.
Dropping his arm from around me, he walks over to a door.
“You see, he thought he was smart with this,” he says as he knocks on a plain wall in some weird pattern.
“Alfie likes tech and gadgets. And between you and me, I think that he thinks he’s some kind of top secret spy with the hidden rooms and shit he has around this house.
Although I’ve never been able to find his armory. ”
“Armory?” I ask.
“Yeah, he’s got a safe somewhere with all the fun toys.” Hudson shrugs as the wall opens. Literally opens.
Okay, that is kind of cool.
I walk up behind Hudson and find a small pantry stocked up with every kind of sugary snack you can think of.
“Told you, the good stuff.” Hudson smirks as he walks in. “What’s your poison?”
“Mmm, I don’t really have much of a sweet tooth,” I admit. I also don’t have an appetite after seeing all that blood.
“Makes sense.” Hudson chuckles.
“How so?”
“Well, you’re dating my brother and he’s about as sour as they come.” He laughs at his own joke.
“Is he going to be okay?” I lean back against the doorway.
“Alfie? He’s always okay. And if he’s not, no one would ever know it.”
“No, your cousin?”
“Probably. Doc will be here any minute now to stitch him up. CJ is just a dramatic bastard. He got shot once and you’d think he got filled with lead.”
“Does this kind of thing happen often?”
“No,” Hudson says.
“But you’re so calm about it?”
“Okay, it happens. But I wouldn’t say often. Honestly, for the most part, our lives are very boring. The most exciting thing to happen to Alfie lately has been you.”
I want to say: Ditto, the most exciting thing to happen to me is meeting Alfie too. I’m also conscious of the fact it’s only been a couple of days. And yet, I feel as if I’ve already known him a lifetime.