CHAPTER 10 ALFIE
ALFIE
That was the funniest shit I’ve ever seen in my life. I shouldn’t laugh, poor El is struggling, and it seems to be one thing after another already, but… it was hilarious.
“So, what do you expect her to do now, genius?” I say once my laughter finally subsides.
Caden hasn’t laughed even a little since Elodie darted back into the house. “I don’t care. But if she keeps giving me aggro, I’m going to up my game.”
“She’s just a girl, Caden,” I say, folding my arms. “She’s scared, she’s hurt, she’s probably traumatised by a dozen different things. You could be just a little nicer to her.”
“I was nice!” he cries, chucking the hose inside the garage. It clatters and scrapes along the concrete. “I started off as nice as possible. It was her who threw it back in my face.”
“Ah,” I say, nodding, “and your precious ego’s bruised.”
He shakes his head, picking the rag up and chucking it in the same direction as the hose. “It’s not that.” He runs a wet hand down his face. “I don’t know. She’s just annoying.” He nudges the kickstand off with his foot, then wheels the bike into the garage.
“She’s got under your skin already,” I tease.
“In a bad way,” he hisses.
“Alright, whatever you say. You’re not really giving her a fair shot.”
“I just gave her a chance to get back into my good graces.”
“She told you it was her dad, why not believe her?”
He huffs, rakes his fingers through his black hair. “I just have this gut feeling.”
I close the magazine on my lap. Zen gardens now my secondary thought. “And what did you think you were going to do if she did give you another name?”
He hangs his head. “Kill them. Obviously.”
I snort. “And why’s that?”
“Because she’s my fiancé.”
“That you claim to hate.”
“I do hate her. It’s about protecting my reputation.”
“Of course it is.”
He scowls at me. I hold my palms up and get up from my seat, following him into the garage so he can lower the main door. “I’ll go check on her, make sure she’s not setting fire to your wardrobe.”
He waves me away, and I enter the house, chuckling to myself.
I follow the wet footprints El’s left all the way to his room. When I get there though, my amusement dissolves.
“El, what’s wrong?”
She’s sitting cross-legged in the middle of the carpet, in the middle of a puddle, bawling her eyes out.
“I can’t take this stupid shirt off because of the drip,” she wails.
I see the issue. Her shirt’s off one arm and bundled up around her neck. She doesn’t seem fazed by the fact that her chest is on full display to me. I suppose she doesn’t have any dignity left to care about clinging onto.
Ignoring the cute tits and pebbled nipples, I lower myself to the floor. “Here.” I detach the tube from the cannula in her arm, pull her shirt over her head. “Easy.”
She sniffles.
I take her in, red blotched face, bloodshot eyes.
Pure defeat and helplessness dripping off her.
Letting my empathy get the better of me, I scoop her up into my arms and lead her into the bathroom, she pulls the IV drip along with us.
I set her down on the chair in the corner and run her a bath, listening to her quiet sobs.
Once the bath is filled, I gesture for her to come forward. She climbs into the tub and settles into the steaming water. Only then does her crying finally fizzle out.
I let her lie there, going to Caden’s wardrobe and pulling out a fresh outfit for her.
He did this, so he can sacrifice his clothes.
Something tells me he wouldn’t like it if I dressed her in mine.
No matter what he says, how much he denies it, something about Elodie has captured his attention.
If anyone else spoke to him like she did, a bullet would have been shot straight between their eyes and he’d be done with it.
I lay the outfit down and go back into the bathroom.
Scratching the back of my head, I say, “There are clothes on the bed. Did you see how I detached the drip so you can get dressed?”
She nods silently.
“You going to be okay?”
Her face screws up and she nods silently again as another sob bubbles up.
I sigh. “I’ll leave you alone. And… El?”
She lifts her head just enough to lock her eyes with mine.
“Please,” I say, “please stay out of his way.”
I see her throat bob, and she turns away, staring down at the water. “My fucking pleasure.”
I close the door behind me and rub my eyes. If the two of them are a match made anywhere, it’s from the deepest pits of the hottest corners of Hell.