“You think she’s telling the truth?” Nolan asked.
“I don’t know yet, but I’m not going to treat her like she’s a guest at my home and share my bank details with her,” I replied. The others smirked at that.
The truth was, I still didn’t know how I felt about Elsie. I didn’t know what was real and what wasn’t.
My cock wanted something but my brain told me something else—and that felt like a greater war than the one we were fighting with Aldo.
I stopped by a pizza place on my way back to the apartment.
It was only after I left the house once Dad was done lecturing us on all the ways we’d teach Aldo a lesson—that I realized I hadn’t left any instructions for Elsie.
Was there even any food at the apartment?
I didn’t want her to feel like a prisoner at my place. I wasn’t in a position where I trusted her completely, but I didn’t want her to feel tortured or threatened either.
I’d never had people staying at my place, so being hospitable towards guests wasn’t something I was used to.
I arrived at the apartment and let myself in.
She wasn’t in the kitchen or the living room and I figured she was in the shower or taking a nap in the spare room.
I got the pizza, fries and soda ready for us on the kitchen table, then went looking for her.
She wasn’t in the apartment. I looked everywhere. Even under the fuckin’ bed. She was gone.
I should’ve known.
I never should’ve crossed that line with her.
I had a feeling in my bones this chick wasn’t as fault-free as she made herself out to be. She couldn’t be that sexy, that beautiful, that smart and that oppressed by Aldo too.
There was a catch.
She’d lied this whole time.
Were her parents alive and well?
Had she gone back to the Barons and reported every detail she remembered about me? About us? What did she want?
If she wanted to infiltrate the family, wouldn’t it have made more sense to stick around a little longer?
The thoughts ravaged my brain while I walked around the apartment, fuming.
My hands were bunched up in fists. I needed to do something. I felt the rage and adrenaline pumping through my veins. I was bursting at the seams. I felt like an idiot.
An idiot who had allowed himself to believe her. Even for a few hours.
I consoled her. I wanted to make her feel better when she told me her sob story about her parents.
Fuck!
I pulled the pizza and the rest of the food off the table and threw it all on the floor.
And that was when the front door opened. I heard it and ran out to look.
Elsie walked in, as calm as usual. She looked up at me, surprised, and said “Oh!”
I lunged at her, pushing her back until she was pinned to the wall. She wriggled in my grip but I had my hands on her arms. She wasn’t going anywhere.
When she looked into my eyes, she stopped struggling. Maybe she saw what was going on, why I was acting that way—because I didn’t know where she was and expected the worst.
Then I pushed myself into her, taking possession of her mouth.
Seven
Elsie
After Tristian left earlier, the thought of running away crossed my mind.
Things had gotten way too complicated here and way too fast.
When I made my escape from Aldo and took Davey with me—I figured the Dohertys would’ve welcomed me with open arms since they were in the middle of a war with Aldo.
I expected to be treated better than this.
Instead, I now lived with a man who didn’t trust me. Neither did the rest of his family. And the worst was that I wanted him. I wanted his body and I wanted to win his trust. As desperate as that sounded.
I felt that bubbling excitement every time he looked at me. I wanted to please him, even though I’d spent my life trying to live on my own terms, without trying to win anybody’s affection.
I especially never wanted to rely on a man for happiness.
My dad had taught me that. He had told me I needed to love and respect myself enough to not seek it out from someone else.
Which was probably why being around Tristian made me angry, made me weak. I had finally met a man who’d made me give up my life’s code. I yearned for him, and couldn’t stand the fact he didn’t feel the same.
But even though I thought leaving the Dohertys would probably help me feel better, I knew it’d be a stupid thing to do.
The chances of Aldo finding me and dealing with me was way lower when I was around a Doherty. I’d exposed myself to almost certain death if I lived without their protection. At least for now.
So, I went for a walk around the apartment block. I hadn’t been gone more than twenty minutes when I returned.
Tristian had left the door open so it wasn’t a difficult adventure at all.
When I walked back through the door, I wasn’t expecting him to be back. I thought he’d be gone the whole day. The whole night even. He didn’t really want to be around me, right?
So when I saw the rage and surprise in his eyes, I didn’t know what to make of it.
He charged at me, pushing me back into the wall. And as I peered into his angry bloodshot eyes, I realized something he tried to hide—Tristian Doherty actually cared about me.
He cared about what happened to me.
It wouldn’t have made any difference to him if I left now. Aldo would kill me and that wouldn’t affect his life. If I was spying for Aldo—it wouldn’t matter either. He knew I hadn’t taken any information against him that Aldo could use.
So the only reason for him to be angry was because he
