Page 13 of Alfie: Part One

There was a knock on the door.

“Are you fucking serious?” I automatically stood up straighter, and I peered through the peephole. Fucking hell. No,really. Fuck, fuck, fuck. It was both Kellan and Finn. Suited up, of course.

Thanks for the warning, asshole.

I steeled myself and undid the chain lock, the regular lock, and opened the door.

Both men lifted their brows and gave me a once-over, and I hated Kellan just a bit. With five minutes’ notice, I could’ve at least showered and put on clothes.

“Thanks for the heads-up, Ford,” I said.

He smirked. I got it, I got it. The ambush hadn’t been an accident.

Finn turned to Kellan a little and muttered, “Remind me to never bring this fucker around Emilia. She’ll divorce me or surprise me with a gym membership.”

My mouth twitched.

Kellan laughed and slapped Finn on the shoulder. “I don’t think you’ve got anything to worry about, boss. Your abs have just gone into hiding lately. They might reappear. And Alfie’s gay as fuck.”

“Gym membership, it is,” Finn sighed. Then he faced me and buttoned his suit. But to quote Kellan, the man had nothing to worry about. He was lethally handsome, with steel-gray eyes and cut features. He had a few inches on me too, and I wasn’t precisely short at six feet. “I hear we’re cousins.”

Technically.

I opened the door wider and extended my hand. “I’m Alfie.”

He nodded with a dip of his chin and shook my hand firmly. “Finn.” As he entered, he tilted his head at Kellan again. “He’s got Liam’s eyes.”

Uh, no, I had my own eyes. Cheers.

I didn’t want them to start looking for similarities between me and the Murrays.

“Huh. Maybe you’re right.” Kellan eyed me pensively. “Yeah, you can kinda see it—both Liam and Alec.”

“Don’t make me close my eyes, mate,” I said. I gestured vaguely to the living room and asked if they wanted something to drink.

They didn’t.

Finn wasn’t shy. He took a glance around the living room before he walked over to the shelves and studied my pictures. Plenty of photos on the walls too. Most of them were obviously of the kids, but some were of my folks, me, a couple cousins and their kids…

“Ford mentioned you have a son and a daughter,” Finn said. “How old are they?”

Kellan took a seat on the couch and pulled out his phone.

I cleared my throat and joined Finn. “Uh, Tanner’s eight, and Noelle is six. Their nicknames kinda stuck, so everyone calls them Trip and Ellie.”

“Trip.” He smiled faintly. “They’re cute. I have an army of my own. Children are a blessing. Ain’t that right, Kellan?”

I grinned at that, ’cause I remembered when I’d first told Kellan about Ellie when I’d flown out here to visit. We’d just been approved as foster parents for Tanner, so I’d kept that to myself at the time. And who could blame me? Kellan’s exact words had been, “Congrats on your tax break” and “You know gay men don’t gotta do that shite, right?”

“With all due respect, boss, fuck off.”

Finn and I chuckled. Kellan never looked up from his phone.

He did add something, though. “Lemme be clear. I like the little shits when you can communicate with ’em. But when Finn and Emilia want the house to themselves, and Shan offers to babysit…? Fuck me sideways, I wanna jump off the balcony. There arefiveof them.Five.”

Finn laughed. “Consider it monthly payback for hooking up with my old man.”

Kellan kissed his fingertips, and Finn shuddered.

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