“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 onfull 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.
CHAPTER 11
ELODIE
Ifind the only solace in this place is in the presence of Alfie. He’s the only thing that’s kept my head from exploding since I got here. He’s been so nice to me. He changed my drip bags for me over the last couple of days. He offered me food, I attempted to eat it. He offered me praise and reassurance when I failed, which sent butterflies fluttering in my belly. He told me Maggie usually sorts the cooking out, a chef preps meals for them and Maggie reheats, but he stated he’s making my own meals to make sure I get what I need to rebuild my strength and recover. He brought me another pack of biscuits after I devoured Fiz’s. These were chocolate chip. One of my favourites. How can he be affiliated with those other two monsters?
He kept me company in Caden’s room, only leaving when the boys got home from whatever jobs they had going on. He’s a good conversationalist. He’s also good at evading questions about his family, other than the occasional warnings to “behave.” He said he’ll work on convincing Caden to give me proper clothes. I omitted to tell him I actually like wearing his clothes now. They’re soft and hang off my body. But now it’s become about the principle. I should be allowed my own fuckingclothes. I thanked him for the offer, even though I know Caden won’t budge on his decision. Even if he felt bad – which he definitely doesn’t – he won’t swallow that gargantuan pride of his.
Alfie’s such a gentleman. Even though he hasn’t let me out of his sight since he put me in the tub after Caden soaked me, he’s made zero attempt at making me feel uncomfortable, coming close to me, touching me. It’s almost like he’s afraid to catch something, the way he pulls his hand away when we get too close. It’s fine though, he’s just a gentleman.
Call me delusional, but I think he’s spending so much time with me because he wants to. It’s obvious. He knows I’m not going to cause any trouble because of those demons he calls dogs, so he really doesn’t need to be my shadow. Either that, or he’s trying to make sure I don’t bump into Caden unsupervised. But I’m going with the former option. I like the idea of Alfie liking my company as much as I like his.
