Chapter 34
Thirty-Four
“ A boat?” I stood on the dock, Alfie on one side, Elliot on the other, staring at the vast vessel floating in the sea. “You want to take me on a boat?”
“It’s not a boat,” Alfie replied, “it’s a yacht.”
“Are they meant to be that big?” I thought yachts were tiny things. I pictured a lone fisherman in a little boat, a single sail blowing in the wind. That was nothing like the white, three-tiered behemoth in front of me. I stared at it, wondering how something so huge could still be so elegant.
“It’s a superyacht. Come on.” Alfie took my hand, helping me on board The Isabella .
“Dare I ask who Isabella is?”
“I have no idea,” he said as we stepped onto the stern. “I won her in a poker game years ago. The yacht I mean, not the woman.”
I snorted and shook my head, the ease with which Alfie made jokes these days wasn’t lost on me. On the main deck, Alfie led us port side and through a door into the cockpit. Elliot slid into the driver's seat and a few moments later, we were moving.
“Do you get sea sick, Miss?” Elliot asked.
“I don’t know, I’ve never been on a boat before.”
“Well, I’ll take it easy.” It was strange seeing Elliot out of his stiff suit. He’d traded it today for light trousers and a loose white shirt. He looked relaxed here, like Alfie.
“Thanks, Elliot.” Alfie clapped a hand on his shoulder before pulling me away. Leaving the cockpit behind we stepped into an indoor and outdoor facing bar.
“Holy crap,” I gasped. This was surreal. I gripped Alfie’s hand tight. When he’d said today was going to involve an obscene display of wealth, he hadn’t been joking. Alfie, in his cool grey suit and Ray Bans, looked perfectly at home here. I, however, was feeling vastly out of my depth.
“You said you could handle it.” Alfie was smirking at me but I didn’t miss the uncertainty in his voice.
“I can.” I gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. “Where are we going?”
“Out into the ocean. We need space and privacy. Well, as much privacy as we can get with a team of staff on board.”
“There are staff here?” I looked around, waiting for a maid to pop up any minute. I’d have to be careful not to leave any mess lying around.
“Of course, you probably won’t see them until dinner. Would you like a tour first?”
“First?” I stammered as I scrambled to keep up. “First before what?”
Alfie smiled. “You’ll see. Come on.”
Twenty minutes later, I stood on the sun deck, gazing out at the passing ocean, Corfu reduced to a blip in the distance. The Isabella was a floating playground and the sun deck, boasting a dining area, sunbathing space and infinity pool, was the cherry on top of a very decadent cake.
“What do you think?” Alfie asked, his Ray Bans concealing the uncertainty I knew would be showing in those cool greys.
What did I think?
The tour had blown me away. Alfie’s life had always been alien to me, his mansions, clubs, cars…it wasn’t my world. This was something else.
The lower deck contained eight cabin pods, a cinema, gym and games room complete with a snooker table that invoked memories that gave me goosebumps.
The main deck consisted of a vast lounge, a dining room containing a twelve seater marble and steel dining table, kitchen and an owners cabin which Alfie said he would show me later.
Unlike his mansion, this space was warm and welcoming, full height windows soothing the monochrome colours. The upper deck bathed me in sunlight, a stunning level made for sunbathing and al fresco dining.
So, what did I think?
“I love it, Alfie.” It wasn’t a lie. I truly did.
“It’s not too much?”
“It’s way too much,” I laughed. “This is the part of your world that you like?”
“This is the fun part, yes.” As he spoke, the yacht slowed to a stop, the engine humming below as we stood a calm statue in the ocean. “Come, we need to get you out of those clothes.”
“Excuse me?” I arched a brow at him but he just grinned and led me back to the main deck.
We entered a lobby with a large central staircase that led to the owner suite he hadn’t shown me earlier.
Once again I was left speechless by the luxury in front of me.
This ‘suite’ was bigger than my entire apartment.
“This is your space today…and tonight if you want to stay.”
I looked around, finding a walk-in closet, an office and a stunning bedroom with an ensuite. The spaces were filled with natural lighting, the planking covered in dove grey carpet. “Shouldn’t the Owners Suite be your space?”
“It usually is. Today it’s yours. I’ll use one of the guest cabins if we stay the night.” Alfie leaned against the door frame as I hovered by the bed, nerves gathering in the pit of my stomach.
“And if I don’t want to stay the night?”
“Keira’s parents live on the coastline, we’ll sail there and drop you off.”
Was it really that easy? I felt my brows knitting together as I looked up at the man that was taking my breath away with every new day.
Today, he was getting everything right yet I still felt off.
For once it wasn’t him, it was me. I felt a little lost. My instinct was to ask for space, to ground myself alone, but I was supposed to be letting him in.
“Can you take those off?” I gestured at his glasses and he pulled them off immediately, placing them on the vanity. “I’m feeling a little out of my depth, seeing your eyes calms me.”
“I get it. Maybe we should ban sunglasses in future.” I let out a short laugh. “Talk to me, Lo.”
I sighed and sat on the bed. “Alfie, this is…”
“A lot. I know.”
“Do you?” I glanced up at him, wondering how he could possibly understand what I was feeling when I wasn’t even sure.
“Yes. Your world was a lot for me too. The first time I ever went to your house, that dining table, old and worn out…it blew my mind that you wouldn’t get rid of it just because it was your grandmother’s.
” He ran a hand over his jaw. “I couldn’t fathom sharing a bathroom, I don’t think I’d ever stood on a creaking floorboard before in my life, or experienced shitty water pressure.
” He held my gaze, his eyes gentle but firm.
“This is my life, Lo. I can tone it down here and there but this is always going to be my life. You need to get used to that. Wealth isn’t wrong. ”
I paused, knowing he was right. “I know but I haven’t earned it.”
“But I have. Yes, I was born into it but I’ve worked hard enough to deserve what I have now and I want to share it with you.” He took a step into the room, standing over me, claiming my space in that way he always did when he was making his point.
“Alfie, I?—”
“Enough, Lola.”
With just those words, he sent me back in time. How many times had he shut me down when he didn’t want to talk about something? Those words always came right before a manipulation, a seduction, but before I could start to panic, he knelt in front of me.
“I love that you think that way, I love that you struggle to accept things you haven’t earned for yourself but you need to get used to this.” His tone was fair but firm. He was understanding, but he wasn’t going to let me walk all over him or his life either. “Stop overthinking.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright, I get the imposter syndrome.” Is that what this was? Before I could pick that thought apart, he stood. Taking my hand he led me into the walk-in. “Get changed, bathing suits are in the top drawer of the dresser.”
I swallowed, those butterflies wreaking havoc in my tummy. “I feel like this is a bad idea, Alfie. You, me, skimpy outfits and Greek sunshine.”
“Seems like an excellent idea to me. I can control myself, Lola. I won’t fuck you till you trust me, that was the deal.” I don’t think he knew how close I was to trusting him.
“I know that but?—”
“But you haven’t shown me your body in years and you’re self-conscious I won’t still like it?” He cut me off and as always, he read me like a damned book. I crossed my arms in a failed attempt to hide my insecurity.
“Well, you’ve probably spent the last two years sleeping with a hundred supermodels so…”
He stepped closer to me, invading my space but not quite touching me. “I requested my personal shopper send over only bikinis, no one-pieces, because you have a cluster of freckles right here,” he brushed his fingers over my hip bone, “and I’ve missed seeing them.”
Once again, the man left me speechless. Did he have any idea how close I was to letting myself be his again?
He held my gaze until he was certain the weight of his words had sunk in, then he stepped away, breaking the moment.
“You change in here, I’ll change in the bathroom. I have a surprise for you anyway.” With that, he left me alone in the closet. Just me and my butterflies.
My hands shaking, I opened the drawer, pulling out one bikini after another before finally selecting a blue one, the least skimpy out of all the items.
I changed quickly, eyeing myself in the mirror. For the most part, I liked my body. My breasts weren’t quite the same size and despite the sunbathing, my skin was still painfully pale but I looked good.
I ran my fingers over the cluster of freckles, a tiny piece of my body I’d never thought much about but now found so beautiful. I wondered if this was love, real love, not the twisted infatuation we’d felt before.
Looking at myself through Alfie’s eyes raised me from ordinary to extraordinary. I noticed my beauty, my best and worst qualities too. I wondered if Alfie felt the same way, I hoped he did. I wanted him to know how extraordinary he was to me.
Dragging my eyes away from my reflection, I returned to the bedroom and sat on the bed to wait for him.
My certainty of him grew with every passing day but showing Alfie my body meant trusting him with it and I didn’t know that I was ready to do that again.
I was jolted from my spiralling thoughts when Alfie knocked on the bathroom door.
“Are you ready?”