He glances at me and frowns as he grabs the loaf of bread from the side.
"Making a sandwich, duh."
"Make yourself at home, why don't you," I grumble.
"Get used to it, man. Now that I'm better, I'm gonna be around a lot more. Leo and I have already discussed everything he's been handling over the last month, and now I've had the all clear from my doctors, I'm going to start training with him as well, to build my strength back up. I'll be back at your side in no time."
My lips tug up at the corners as I think about the progress he's made in the last month with his recovery, and I'm glad he's already thinking about getting back to being my second-in-command, because I know he hated that Leo took over for him.
"So come on, tell me, what did you do for her to mention shooting you?"
The small smile falls from my face at his reminder of Alicia, and I lean against the kitchen counter opposite him, watching as he cuts his sandwich in half, and I sigh.
"I didn't do anything."
He laughs and gives me an incredulous look.
"I don't believe that for a second."
"I didn't!" I protest. "She told me I was unimpressive! She genuinely looked disgusted by me. Then, she brought up the whole meeting with Sophia when she was getting married to Jericho. Firstly, I don't even know how she knew the ins and outs of what happened, and secondly, she said she'd happily shoot me unlike Alessandro."
He chokes on his mouthful as he begins to chuckle, patting himself on the chest as his eyes water.
I narrow my eyes at him, hoping for the food to lodge itself in his throat.
"No wonder the girls said she's a badass. Jesus. That's hilarious."
"No, it's not," I retort. "She's bratty, entitled, and venomous with her words."
"Venomous?" he asks, taking a sip of his drink. "Like a snake?"
I nod. "Yes. Like a little viper. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if she tried to poison me while she lives here."
"This is exciting," he says, smirking at me. "I can't wait for her to get under your skin."
I groan and walk out of the kitchen, leaving him behind to raid my cupboards while I walk down the hallway and into the living room, moving towards the stairs off to the side that lead to the bedrooms and my office.
As soon as I'm in my room, I shut the door behind me and lean against it, closing my eyes as I twist my fingers through my hair and sigh.
I have four more days of peace before this woman is going to infiltrate my life, and I'm dreading it.
My mother tried to convince me to share my bedroom with the woman after we're married, and she moves in here, but I shut that down immediately.
My eyes coast across my room, taking in the neatly made double bed in the middle of the room, covered in black silk sheets, with sleek units either side of it, which both hold a lamp and picture frames. One of which is a picture of me and Sophia when we were kids. The other is of us with Jess and Jaylen after my aunt's funeral, all dressed in black with solemn looks on our faces.
Tearing my eyes away from the picture, I look over to the wardrobes along the left side of the room, and the chest of drawers next to me by the door with my rings and chain necklace resting atop of it.
My bedroom is plain and simple, and I like it that way. It's minimalistic, and it's all mine.
I don't want someone I hardly know coming in and disrupting things.
I'd originally planned on turning Sophia's old room down the hall back to the basics and allow Alicia to sleep there, but my sister kicked up a fuss about it—even though she hasn't used the room in almost a year and most likely never will again—so I made a compromise, and I agreed on letting her and my mother decorate the bedroom next door to mine that's connected via the shared bathroom between the two rooms.
Slipping out of my clothes, except my boxers, I make my way into the bathroom, grabbing a fresh towel from the linen closet that's to the right as soon as you enter the room. Placing it down on the closed toilet seat, I walk over to the shower, leaning around the frosted glass panel that separates the shower from the rest of the bathroom and turn it on, allowing the water to heat up as I walk over to the double sinks opposite.
Glaring at the sink to the left of me that's currently empty, with no clutter surrounding it, I snatch my toothbrush from the pot in front of me and go through the motions of brushing my teeth as I stare at myself in the mirror, trying to think of anything other than the woman haunting my thoughts.
Unfortunately, my attempts are futile because she's infiltrating my mind.
