Chapter 32
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
ALEX
I woke up early, after I’d finally fallen into a deep and heavy sleep. Kit was curled up next to me, and I slipped out of bed, careful not to wake him. Making myself a coffee, I went out to the frost covered garden.
Beneath the tree at the end of the garden was a mound of muddy raw earth. Buster’s pitiful, messy little grave.
The back door opened, pulling me out of my thoughts.
“I woke up, and you weren’t there. I thought you’d gone.”
“I’m not going anywhere. Don’t you realise that by now?” He offered me a smile. It was small and weak, but it was there, and for that I’d be forever grateful. “How are you?” It was a stupid question because his pale skin and the dark shadows under his eyes told me exactly how he was.
His gaze found the grave; his eyes glistened but the tears didn’t fall, not this time. Instead he sniffed and nodded his head. “Okay. I think. Calmer, as in not hysterical.”
I put my mug down and wound my arms around him, and he sighed as his body pressed in close to mine. “I have to go soon.” Instantly, Kit’s muscles stiffened.
“No. Please. Stay with me today. I promise not to be an hysterical mess.” He looked up, his eyes begging me to stay. And I wanted to, Christ knows that’s all I wanted. Just us, the door locked and the whole shitty world kept at bay. But I couldn’t, not after what had happened.
“I can’t leave this, Kit. You know I can’t.”
He was trying to formulate an argument against me doing what I had to, but there was no argument, we both knew it. Nodding in defeat, he began to turn away, but I caught him by the hand.
“Kelvin won’t be back—”
“How can you be so sure?” A spark of fear flared in his eyes, a spark I had to douse.
“Because I know him. I know how he operates. You have to trust me, Kit.” I squeezed his hands tight, adding emphasis to my words.
“I want you to go back to bed and get some more sleep because you look fucking awful.” He snorted and his lips twitched, which was enough.
I led him back inside, out of the cold and out of sight of the raw reminder of what had happened.
“I have to go now, but I’ll be back later. ”
“You promise?” His tired, red eyes gazed hard into mine.
I pulled him into my arms and closed my eyes, feeling his warmth and the weight of him, feeling his heart beat.
“I promise,” I whispered, as I held him close, not wanting to let him go but knowing, for now, I had to.
I was back at Euphoria, where everything had started, and where everything would end.
Sunday, the one day of the week Kelvin laughingly called our day of rest. I’d had a hunch this was where he’d be, when I set off from Kit’s.
If he wasn’t, then I’d hunt him down. But I didn’t have to, because I’d seen his car.
Not the SUV he’d used to stalk and terrorise Kit with, but his big, solid Volvo.
My guts had churned, when I saw it, and so had my fury, but where it had been a raging fire the night before, now it was ice.
I let myself in, ready to disable the alarm if Kelvin hadn’t reset it, but the light on the panel failed to pulse.
The club’s silence pressed against my ears.
No thumping bass, no laughing or shouting clubbers raising their voices to be heard, no press of sweat slicked bodies grinding against each other.
The place that had always heaved with life, that had been hard wired into my DNA, felt like an alien, former life that had nothing to do with the man I was now.
Pushing through the Staff Only door by the bar, I climbed the stairs making my way towards the office where I’d find Kelvin.
Voices, muffled but unmistakable.
My steps faltered. What the…? My whole body tingled, and sweat pooled in my armpits as Kelvin’s deep voice was joined by another, one that made my gut clench: the oily tone of Mehmet Aksoy.
I needed to turn around and retrace my steps. I’d wait for Kelvin at his house, confront him there. Just the two of us, just him and me. No audience.
Instead, I crept closer, catching fragments of a conversation that now had nothing to do with me
…Movement of product… Eastern Europe and South East Asia… Significant profit margins…
I pushed open the door, and the conversation died.
Kelvin lounged in his usual chair behind the desk, his sleeves rolled up.
His eyes met mine and he tilted his head, the way he always did, a hint of a smile on his lips as though he’d been half expecting me.
Across from him, Aksoy’s bulk was squeezed into the chair I always sat in, one manicured hand curled around a whisky glass.
Aksoy’s lips curled into a greasy smile, the same one he’d bestowed on Kit weeks before, and just like then I wanted to smash it off of his face.
“Ah, Alex. Kelvin led me to believe you couldn’t make our meeting today. Yet here you are, and the timing’s perfect. Kelvin and I were just discussing the… expansion opportunities.”
“Get out.”
Aksoy’s eyebrows lifted. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me.” I stepped closer, my nose filling with the sickly sweet stench of his cologne. “Get the fuck out before I throw you out on your fat arse.”
His face darkened and his eyes darted towards the corner of the office. One of his goons, in sunglasses and an ill fitting suit, stood ready to pounce if needed.
Aksoy placed his glass on the desk and lumbered up out of the chair. Ignoring me, he turned to Kelvin. “You said this was handled.”
“Just a minor hiccup. Everything’ll be sorted.”
“No.” I shook my head. “It won’t be.”
Aksoy looked between us, his eyes narrowing to thin slits. “Ah… do I detect domestic troubles? A lovers’ tiff, perhaps?” His upper lip curled in a sneer. “Sort yourselves out before you contact me again. And Kelvin? Don’t call me until you’re sure you can deliver what you promise.”
The door slammed behind him, leaving Kelvin and me alone.