Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty-Two
Idon’t know how to help her. Molly hasn’t stopped crying, and nothing I say or do is working. I’m lost. I know she’s grieving and coming to terms with losing her friend, but it’s fucking breaking my heart not being able to make her feel better.
Molly’s leaning against the edge of the counter as I run a bath. I’ve poured bubbles and salts and lit candles my mother insisted I needed in here but have never used. Until now.
“I wish I could take away your pain.” I sigh.
I unzip the back of Molly’s dress. She lets me peel it from her body without a word. Next, I remove her bra and panties and then take her hand and guide her to step into the tub.
Once she’s settles in the warm water, I turn towards the door, only to have her reach out and grip my hand. “Are you leaving?”
“I’m just going to the kitchen to get you some tea. I’ll be back.” Leaning down, I press my lips to the center of her forehead.
I need to do something, which is why I walk out and make my way into the kitchen. I turn the kettle on, pull a mug down, and find a chamomile tea bag. Molly mentioned she liked the stuff one night. I made sure I had it here the next day.
“How is she?” Mom’s voice has me glancing over a shoulder.
“She keeps crying. I don’t know how to make her stop,” I admit.
“You don’t, Alfie. You let that girl cry as much as she needs to and you be the shoulder she leans on while she’s doing it,” Mom says.
I nod, because what else can I do?
“You need to see a doctor and get your nose set.” Dad walks into the kitchen.
“I’m fine,” I grunt.
“Your nose is broken, Alfie. That’s not fine. The doc is on his way,” Dad says, his tone nonnegotiable.
We haven’t spoken about what happened, who was responsible, or if there are any left out on the streets I need to hunt down. As soon as we got back to my house, I took Molly upstairs to my bedroom. I sat on the bed with her for thirty minutes, holding her in my arms as she cried.
Then I decided I needed to do something, which is why I ran a bath, and now I’m making her tea.
The kettle switches off, letting me know the water is boiled. I turn back around, pour some into the mug, and add a little cold water from the fridge to make sure the tea doesn’t burn her mouth.
“I’ll send the doc up when he gets here,” Dad continues.
“Thanks.” I pause. “You know, I think I get it now.”
“Get what?” he asks.
I look across at my mom. “Why you guys got married after only knowing each other for two days.”
“Alfie, do not go doing anything stupid with this woman. Let’s not forget why she’s in our city.”
“She’s buying buildings, Dad, not trying to steal our business.” I frown at him.
“Don’t listen to him, Alfie. Trust your gut,” Mom says with a huge smile on her face.
“Trust his gut, Charlotte? We have one kid married off. We don’t need to lose another,” Dad grunts.
I walk out, leaving my parents to their ridiculous argument, and head back upstairs. Molly is still sitting in the bath with her knees up out of the water.
“Here.” I hand her the mug as I inspect the scrapes on her knees. “How much do those hurt?”
“Not much. The water just stung a bit.”
“What do you need me to do, Molly?” I sit on the edge of the tub.
“Do you hate me?” she asks, instead of answering.
“Why the fuck would I hate you?”
She shrugs. “Because they tried to use me to get to you.”
“Pretty sure you’re the one who should be hating me right now,” I tell her.
“I hate myself…”
“Well, that doesn’t work for me. I happen to really like you and I won’t have anyone hating you.” I smirk.
“You can’t stop me from hating myself, Alfie.”
“I can and I will,” I vow as I pull out my phone. I open my emails and start typing out a note to my legal team. “I need your lawyer’s name.” I look up at Molly.
“Why?”
“I’m having some documents sent to him for you to sign,” I explain.
“What documents? You want me to sign an NDA or something about what I saw? I don’t need my lawyers for that, Alfie. I’m not going to tell anyone.”
“Good to know, but no. I’m having prenup paperwork sent over.”
Molly coughs and splatters out the tea she just sipped. “You what?”
“A prenuptial agreement. It’s what two people sign before they get married.”
“Okay, two things. One…” Molly holds up a finger. “I don’t need your money, nor would I ever try to take it. Two…” Another finger. “People don’t need a prenuptial agreement unless they’re actually getting married.”
“Okay, one.” I mimic her and hold up my own finger. “The paperwork is to protect your assets for you, not the other way around. If you ever decide to try to leave me, you won’t have to worry about me going after anything that belongs to you. And two.” Another finger. “I am going to marry you.”
Molly smiles at me. “Do I get a say in this?”
“You always get a say. As long as the answer is: Yes, Alfie, I’d love to marry you. Let’s go out and find a chapel right now.”
Molly laughs, which I fucking love. “That’s not happening. Why do you want to marry me?”
“Because I fucking love you,” I tell her, and realize I’ve never said those words before.
“I love you,” I repeat so she really hears the words.
“When I woke up tied to a chair, my first thought was you and that I was glad you were headed to my house. I thought if you were here, you’d be safe.
I wasn’t concerned for myself, Molly. I was worried about you.
” I run a hand through my hair and pause.
“And then, when they brought you into the room, my heart stopped. I couldn’t even look at you, because I knew if I did, I would break.
And I needed to stay focused so I could get you out of that room alive. ”
“That’s why… you wouldn’t look at me?”
“Yes.”
“I want you to know that I love you too. And when the moment is right, I will marry you. But now, I need to go home. I need to be there for Angus’s parents. And I need to spend some time with my mom, while I still can.”
I nod. “Okay. We’ll go to Portland tomorrow.”
“You don’t need to come with me.”
“I do, because I’m selfish and I don’t like the idea of being away from you, especially states apart.”
“I don’t know how long I’m going to stay in Portland, Alfie.”
“I’ll stay as long as you need.”
“You know that I will still have my acquisition team here working on the deals for those remaining two buildings. You might want to be around for that, so you can pretend you still have a chance at stopping me.”
“My father can handle it.” I shrug. “I also don’t really care anymore.”
“Really? What happened to not wanting anyone moving in on your city?” she asks while using air quotes.
“Well, it’s going to be our city when we’re married.” I wink at her. “Besides, who better to help you open a casino or whatever than me?”
“I’m not opening a casino.” Molly snorts.
“Why not?”
“I hear they’re all run by a bunch of mobsters. I’m going to refurbish those buildings. Turn them green, transform them into the biggest retail center the Strip has ever had,” she says.
“That’s what your plans are?”
“What did you think they’d be?”
“Your company builds office towers, extremely-pricey office towers. I figured that’s what you’d be doing here.”
“I build what suits the demographics of the area. For this city, retail is what’s going to make me and my investors money.”
“I’ll have the jet ready to take us to Portland tomorrow.”
“You know, we can fly commercial, Alfie. It’s way better for the environment,” Molly suggests.
“Okay, commercial.” I can’t help but screw up my nose at the thought.
“Don’t be such a snob.” Molly splashes water at me before holding up a hand. “Help me out.”
I’m glad she’s stopped crying. Her eyes are red, and I know those won’t be the last of her tears, but for now, I managed to distract her.
I brace her up as she steps out of the tub. Then I grab a towel and run it over her body before wrapping it around her.
“I really love your heart, Alfie. I know you say you don’t have one, but I see it,” Molly says.
“Let that be our secret.” I wink and lead her out into the bedroom. I find a hoodie and put it over her head, discarding the towel.
Molly sits on the bed as someone knocks on the door. I open it and my father and the doc walk in.
“Doc’s here to fix your face,” my dad announces.
“Can you fix perfection?” Molly says aloud. She quickly snaps her mouth shut.
I smirk. “Good to know you think my face is perfect.”