CHAPTER 19 ELODIE #2
Once I’m all dolled up, wearing makeup that I hate to admit brings out my blue eyes, blush on my cheeks that makes me look like I’ve got some remnants of life still running through my veins, and wearing a navy blue sparkly fucking ball gown of a dress, I head downstairs, the heels of my stilettos click-clacking on the hardwood floor.
I feel like Bambi on ice, it’s been years since I wore heels – wore any shoes, really – and my ankles are threatening to snap already.
With my heart in my throat, my palms sweaty, the loose tendrils that Maggie had manoeuvred to hang freely from my pinned bun falling in my eyes, I walk into the lounge and see three suited and booted men that, for a moment, make me forget how to breathe.
Fiz has this curly hair primed and groomed, tight neat curls falling loosely around his head.
They’re all in black suits, but Fiz wears a charcoal grey rollneck sweater over his white shirt and the same white gold chain lacing the folded collar.
He’s currently hovering by the fireplace, looking at the couple of framed pictures of people I’ve never met, the sharp line of his jaw shadowed and honed under the dim light of the lamps.
Alfie’s kneeling on the floor in his suit, still working on that Lego model while he waits.
It’s the stillest I’ve ever seen him when he’s sat in front of that thing.
It seems to be a calming hobby for him. His golden hair is gelled and the loose curls at the end are all nestled into the nape of his neck.
His broad shoulders spread wide in front of me, the black blazer looks one inch away from splitting if he curls his body over any more.
And Caden Blackwood faces me, locking his eyes with me as soon as I walk in.
He looks like he was just pacing, nerves emanating from him and hitting me from across the room.
His white shirt is pressed and pristine, hugging his slim frame while his blazer remains unbuttoned.
His tie is dark red, the same as blood. He’s got rings on his long fingers.
Thick silver and black bands that glisten in the light as he sticks a couple fingers in between his tie and collar to tug at it as he glares at me.
He still has that dark and depraved air about him, but it’s brightened just the slightest by something compelling.
Something that makes my skin prickle and my stomach twist as his eyes glue to me.
He doesn’t look at me with the promise of pain but rather…
I don’t know what I see there. An awkward, glazed look that makes him seem like a nervous teenager. He almost looks harmless.
I swallow hard and step past the doorway, trying to remember how to gather air in my lungs so I don’t pass out.
I clear my throat. Alfie and Fiz turn round to face me.
“Woah,” Fiz says, giving a low whistle. “You clean up good, Sleeping Beauty.”
I’m suddenly thankful for the blush on my cheeks, hiding the way my skin is heating under the weight of their eyes.
Alfie scans me head to toe and gives me a wink that sends a flutter through my stomach.
Caden hasn’t taken his eyes off me since I appeared, but he doesn’t say anything other than, “Ready?”
I go to speak but my throat contracts with discomfort, choking off my words, so I just incline my head.
Alfie straightens and he and Fiz walk to the doors, where I spot their beasts of dogs hovering. They both kneel and say their goodbyes to their furry companions, and when I look back at Caden, I see that he’s still just… staring at me.
I shake it off, making my legs work to get me to the front doors, walking straight past him. They all smell fucking divine. They always smell good, but it seems tonight they’ve showered themselves in heaven and serenity and then dived into a pool of sex appeal.
I shudder at the thought. Nope. Don’t go there.
Fiz holds the door open for all of us, and as soon as Caden moves closer to me, a rod shoots up my back. It’s like I’m struck by lightning whenever he gets within a couple of feet of me; his presence is overwhelming.
We file out, Alfie holds the back door of his black BMW open for me.
I bow my head to avoid looking at his dashing smile and climb in as gracefully as I can with this spaceship of a dress.
Caden gets in the back with me while Fiz joins Alfie in the front.
I look out my window as Alfie drives away from home – their home – the house.
Fiz controls the music. Sleep Token plays and dissolves the awkward silence.
I have to actually think about breathing to make sure I am. It’s like I’ve forgotten how to function. Everything feels hot and suffocating, and my chest hasn’t unravelled since Caden told me about the party this morning.
I dare to sneak a look at Caden, angling my head to the side just enough to spy him.
I catch his neck turning, and it’s almost like he was looking in my direction.
Probably was, the guy can’t stop glaring at me whenever we’re in the same room.
It’s like he’s paranoid I’m going to pounce at any moment. Smart.
I turn back to the window. Who even knows what’ll happen tonight.
That’s what’s killing me the most. Wrapping itself around my throat like a snake.
I’m a part of this world, sure, but I live behind a screen.
Coordinates and codes. That’s it. I don’t know these people for real.
I don’t know what they’re like outside of their little devious, murderous jobs.
Caden’s family could be the nicest people in the world.
His dad could be the coach of a kids’ football team.
I’ve never heard anything about his mother before.
Is she in the picture? Does she bake cookies on a Friday night, or does she plot the murders of innocent children?
Who’s to really say? I could be worrying about nothing and it could be any normal engagement party with champagne and balloons and cheesy 80s music.
“Will you stop?” Caden’s voice makes me start and I whip round to face him. When I look at him with a confused look, he jerks his head toward my lap.
I look down and see my arm. I’ve been raking my fingernails up and down my bare arm. For a good while it seems, if the angry, raised pink lines are anything to go by.
I pull my hand away from my arm and shove it under my thigh. “Sorry.”
Caden reaches over and grabs my wrist, inspecting my skin under the minimal light in the car. “Jesus, Elodie, you look like you’ve been scratched by a goddamn kitten.”
I feel heat rush up my neck. “Sorry.”
“Stop saying sorry,” Caden hisses and then huffs. He undoes his seatbelt and takes off his blazer. He hands it to me. When I just gawk at it, he rolls his eyes. “I don’t need anyone looking at your skin tonight. Put it on.”
I take it with a shaky hand, unsure of what’s happening. Injuries and marks aren’t exactly the most abnormal thing around these people. Why would a few pink lines get his back up?
I take my seatbelt off anyway and pull the jacket on, the size draping me like a cloak. And that smell. Caden’s smell. The mixture of cologne, soap, and stress envelopes me. Once my seatbelt’s back on, Caden looks away again, so I do the same.
What the hell is going on with him?