My heart pounded as he led me through the lobby. What kind of punishment was I going to get for this?
Outside, we barely had to wait a moment for the valet to bring his car around. It was too hot as I slid inside. The valet had parked it in the sun. A major fuck up that for once, Alfie didn’t seem to care about. He switched on the AC as he drove us away. I watched the Carlton Hotel sign disappear behind us, leaving old memories with it.
I sat quietly, Vivaldi accompanying us until we arrived back at Harrington. Still, he said nothing. Hand in hand, he stalked across the grounds, I had to hurry to keep up.
I knew where he was heading. Without me having to ask, he kicked off his shoes before stepping into the Evergarden. Once there, he let go of my hand. He paced the space in bare feet, taking in deep breaths.
I watched him. He looked on the verge of explosion. “Are you mad at me? It’s okay if you are.”
He shrugged out of his jacket and threw it on the ground. I stared at the crumpled garment. I’d never seen him leave a piece of clothing unfolded in his life.
“No one has ever stood up for me before. To her. To any of them.”
I wrapped my arms around him. He buried his face in my neck, I felt his tears dampen my skin. I held onto him, swayingus gently in the golden afternoon. This is what the Evergarden was for. For him. To feel safe enough to do this.
“You know I’ll always protect you, right? You have the money to protect your lifestyle and a security team to protect you from physical harm but this,” I placed my hand over his chest, “I’ll always protect this.”
He pressed his forehead to mine. Alfie had never been a man that accepted affection easily but it was getting better each time.
“So, are we done with her? Do you want to see her again?” He didn’t answer. “She at least seemed to care, even if it is just about money.”
“She’s lying. Playing it sweet to get between us. If she can make herself look like the caring one it makes you look like the difficult one. I’m nearly thirty seven years old, Lola, not once in my life has she ever said that she cared about me. Convenient now that you’re here all of a sudden she’s the doting mother.”
“Why bother though? I’m hardly a threat to her wealth.”
“You make me happy and I hold the purse strings. That’s a threat in itself.” He sighed, shaking it off. “Tonight. Dinner. It’s your turn. I’ll be on best behaviour with your father. Promise.”
Twenty-Three
Keira and I had celebrated our eighteenth birthdays at this restaurant. We’d danced on the chairs and drank our first alcoholic drinks here. Well, our first legal ones anyway.
The awkwardness of this dinner was a stark contrast to that one. Natalie was animated but there was a tension around her mouth. Riley was more formal than I’d ever seen him, distrust resting behind his eyes whenever he spoke to my father. Ryan was blissfully oblivious.
“I saw Keira’s Instagram post the other day,” Natalie said. “New York seems to suit her.”
“Yeah, she’s having a great time.” I missed my best friend more than usual tonight. After dealing with Alfie’s mother today, I had little patience left for my father now.
“That’s your friend from childhood?” John asked.
“Yes, you met her when I was little.”Before you abandoned us to drink yourself to death, I thought. For Natalie’s benefit I kept that part to myself.
“Right, yeah,” he said though I could see that years of drinking had addled those memories. “You must miss her.”
“I do. She’ll come back for Natalie’s wedding though, I’m sure.”
“I hope so, we’ve settled on a date. A month from now!”
“A month?” I gasped at my sister.
“Yes, we got the Luttrellstown Castle for the reception. They called and told us they'd had a cancellation on the exact day that the church also has an opening! Isn’t that lucky?”
“Very lucky.” I looked up at my man, my chest felt like it was about to burst. I loved it when he used his powers for good.
“I’ll clear my diary,” Alfie said.
“I hope so, we can’t get married without a best man.” Natalie’s smile faded when she noticed the confused look on Alfie’s face. “I thought you’d asked him,” she hissed to Riley.
“Not yet. I was going to wait until he’d gotten a few drinks in him but the bastard doesn’t drink.” He grinned at his friend. “What do you think? Will you walk me down the aisle?”
