Adele
The drive to Alex’s house was a quiet one. He reaches over to turn on the radio and I let out a small smile as Snoop Dog starts playing. I am not sure what kind of music I would have assumed he’d listen too, but for some reason, Snoop Dog isn’t even on the list. We pull off to a residential area and he pulls into the driveway of a beautiful house. It’s two stories and he has a black iron gate surrounding the yard. He reaches forward and grabs the garage door opener and pulls inside the garage. I jump out of the car and Alex narrows his eyes at me. I remember that he told me not to get out of the car without him opening the door. We meet at the trunk and I grab a few of the bags to take them into the house.
The back door opens to the kitchen and Alex turns on the light once we’re inside. The kitchen isn’t at all what I expected. He has all sterling silver appliances but everything else is in black and white. It’s very modern and clean looking. The kitchen has an island table and the counter is in black and white and it’s marbled. He has two black bar stools on each side. Alex starts to unpack the groceries as I watch him. I have no idea what I am supposed to be doing. When everything is put away, he grabs a beer from his stainless-steel refrigerator. He turns towards me and his eyes darken when they meet mine.
“I don’t have to stay here, Alex. I know you don’t like me. You can drop me back off at the club, I’ll pick up the car and I will stay at a hotel.”
Alex sighs and continues to look at me. “Can you please stop saying I don’t like you?”
“You don’t like me, Alex. You made it crystal clear from the minute you laid eyes on me,” I remind him.
“I didn’t trust you, Adele.”
“You trust me now?” I question him.
“I trust you a little more than I did before,” Alex says as he nods his head and takes a sip of his beer. “The important thing is for us to keep you safe, Adele. You’ll tell me about your husband and I’ll get rid of him for you and then we can go about our separate business.”
“What do you mean you’ll get rid of him?” I narrow my eyes at him.
“Does it matter? You don’t want to live your life on the run, correct?” he asks as he tilts his head and looks at me.
“I don’t.”
“It’s late, Adele. I’ll show you to your room and we can get some sleep tonight. Tomorrow morning, we can talk.”
I follow Alex upstairs to his guest room and it’s beautiful. The bedroom has a black dresser with several drawers and the headboard is black. There is a black and white comforter and he has hardwood floors. I walk over to the dresser that has a black mirror and notice how tired I look. It’s been a long night and I can’t wait to get some sleep. I walk over to the bed and as I start to take off my shirt and there is a soft knock on the bedroom door. I open the door and Alex hands me a t-shirt.
“I thought you could use something to sleep in.” I look down at the white t-shirt and nod at him.
“Thank you.” I take the shirt and our hands touch.
“Is there anything else you’ll need? If not, I’m going to turn in,” he says. His eyes narrow and darken as he looks at me.
“No, I think I’m good.” I am not sure why, but we stand in the doorway staring at each other for several more seconds. Alex finally says goodnight and walks towards his bedroom, which is a little too close for comfort. He glances back at me before opening his door and I go back into my room and fall into bed.
Have you ever been so tired, but couldn’t go to sleep? I stared at the ceiling most of the night. Each time I closed my eyes, I pictured Alex’s dark eyes staring at me. I kept thinking about how they would darken and wonder what he’d be thinking about when they did. Alex is very attractive and I always noticed it. When I first met him, he was attractive but the biggest asshole I had ever met, not including Garth. Now I see him as an asshole, but he has shown me he is a somewhat caring asshole. He didn’t fire me after the commotion I caused at the club. He found out that I had an issue with Garth and kicked him out of the club. He even kicked him out before finding out why I reacted the way I did. He could have ended the kindness there, but he didn’t. He brought me home with him. I thought he was going to explode when he had seen that I parked behind him at the club, but I could tell he forced himself to remain calm as he nicely asked that I move my car so he could pull out.
I finally fall asleep and wake up to the sound of loud crashing noises. I get out of bed and head down to the kitchen and find Alex in a mess. There are pots and pans everywhere. A carton of eggs is sitting on the counter, a few broken eggs are on the floor. Flour is all over the place and Alex is swearing like a sailor. Alex takes the handle of one of the skillets and hits it against the table. I jump and gasp and only then does Alex notice me standing in the doorway.
“I’m sorry. Did I wake you?” he asks as he turns looking around at the mess he’s made. I wonder how he could think this wouldn’t wake me? I would think the noise would wake the neighbors.
“Uh.. maybe,” I admit quietly as I scan the kitchen.
Alex closes his eyes as he looks around again and puts the skillet down.
“I thought I would be nice and make you breakfast.”
“Really? I guess that would have been nice.” I let him know because his thoughtfulness is surprising.
“It would have been if I knew exactly what I was doing. I don’t cook, so I just made a mess,” he explains as he runs his hands through his hair and I have to laugh because now flour is in it.
“I have an idea,” I tell him as he turns towards me. “How about I help you clean up and I’ll make breakfast?”
Alex nods his head liking the idea and I walk further into the kitchen and grab a towel.
“Adele,” Alex says my name and I can tell there is an edge in his voice.
“Yes?” I say as I bend over to pick up the broken eggs from the floor.
“Do you think you could put some pants on first?” Alex pleads as we both look down at my legs and I realize that I am only wearing his t-shirt. I toss the towel at Alex and run out of the kitchen.
After putting on my skirt, I head back downstairs and see Alex hasn’t made much progress in the kitchen. It takes us almost thirty minutes to finish cleaning and I decide to make us crepes. Alex decides to keep washing dishes as I cook and I notice that he also keeps eyeing me.
“Why do you keep looking at me like that?” I ask him as I work on the crepes.
“I just noticed that you’re wearing the skirt you wear to work,” Alex says.
“I am. I didn’t go home afterward if you recall. Not that I would have a lot of options. It would be either this or my jeans.” I notice he is still watching me and I ask him to grab the plates since I have finished the crepes. Alex sits across from me at the island and I notice that he isn’t eating.
“You don’t like crepes?” I ask him as I put my fork in my mouth.
“You don’t have any clothes?” he asks.
“I told you that I had to leave home fast. I grabbed a backpack and a closet full of clothes didn’t fit into it.” The intense look in Alex’s eyes manages to stop my fork before it reached my mouth a second time.
“I have enough, for now, Alex. I don’t even know how long I’ll be here, so it’s best that I don’t have too much.” I tilt my head when I hear him take in a deep breath and sigh.
Alex drops his fork on his plate and stomps out of the kitchen.
I eat the last of my crepe and put my plate in the sink. I look over at Alex’s barely touched plate and decide to leave it on the table. Maybe he’ll come back to eat once his attitude has settled. I walk into the living room and Alex is sitting on his black leather sofa bent over and rubbing his hand through his hair. Alex looks up at me and stands up and walks over to me taking me by the hand. He walks me over to the matching black leather chair and sits me down. He kneels in front of me and puts his hands on my knees.
“I need you to tell me about him. I want to know everything, Adele. I want to know everything from where you used to live to where the hell he works.” There is no compromise in Alex’s voice and for the second time, I think a Deluca man has given me no other option but to talk.