Page 571 of Rage

Twisted Help

By: Lily Prince

Chapter One

Alice

Someone pulled my hair back and whispered, “Looky looky, it’s Alice from Wonderland.”

Inwardly, I groaned. Onlyoneperson would call me that. I twisted my body in my chair and glared at the handsome face in my space. It was Declan West, the son of a family friend. He sat beside me and I glanced at my mom. She nodded like she planned this.

“I saw Declan the other day and invited him to dinner with us. He had mentioned he hadn’t seen you in years.”

I widened my eyes to prevent myself from rolling them. “Maybe that was on purpose,mother,” I snapped. I closed my eyes as I realized that came out harsher than I meant and sucked in a quick breath. Declan spread his legs and my heart raced at the sudden touch. My eyes snapped open, and I glanced at him. “Sorry.”

My mother cleared her throat. “Like I was saying, I wanted to get everyone together. It is my birthday dinner.”

“Sorry, mama,” I mumbled as Declan chuckled under his breath. What my mother didn’t know was the reason I avoided Declan for the last few years. As an adult, you find out what people are truly like. I found out Declan’s family was involvedwith the mafia. That was enough for me to steer clear of him. I wasn’t sure if he was high up or anything. I tried to forget about Declan and my childhood crush on him, which was easy since he teased me mercilessly as a teen. “Declan’s and my life diverged in ways we’d never be around each other normally. It’s just how things are.”

“That’s so sad,” she said with a hand over her heart. I don’t think anyone in my family knew about his dealings. I didn’t want to tell them; it wasn’t my place. The server walked to our table and my mother started to ramble off her order. I turned towards Declan.

“Why’d you accept?” I hissed.

“I wanted to see you again, and I wanted a chance to ask the pretty Alice out.”

“The answer is no. Anyway, I have a date tomorrow,” I whispered.

“He’s the wrong fella for you,” he replied as he brushed a stray lock of his dark hair out of his eyes.

I rolled my eyes before turning towards the server. “What would you like, ma’am?” he said brightly.

I quickly rattled off my order before waiting to finish my conversation with Declan. Once the server left, my mother turned towards my brother and chided him over something he had done recently. Same shit different day. Declan grinned as I turned towards him. His hand darted to my thigh, and I shoved it off.

“You can’t say that. He seems pretty perfect from the app we clicked on,” I said.

“Oh, I know things like this.”

“You’re still a dick. Anyway, you should have refused my mom.”

Declan’s eyes locked onto mine, and my heart skipped a beat. “I wanted to see you.”

“But I didn’t want to see you,” I said.

“Alice, are you and Declan catching up?” my mother said and my head swiveled towards her again.

“Yes, I was just telling him about my plans tomorrow. I have a date with a lawyer I met recently,” I exclaimed.

My mother smiled. “That’s good to hear. Maybe you’ll settle down like your brother. How far is the wedding?” she asked.

My brother chuckled. “Dawna is busy planning the wedding. She can’t wait to be a spring bride,” he said. He turned towards Declan. “I’ll have to talk to Dawna about an invitation for you. How’s your business going?”

Declan leaned forward as he sipped his wine glass. “It’s been good.” His eyes drifted towards me before returning to my brother. “Been single for a while. Been focused at making a name for myself at work. Not all of us are as blessed as you to find the partner of our dreams. The person who completes us and makes us whole.”

I stared at him over my glass. Was he hinting at something? My brother nodded. “Yeah, I’m lucky. What do you do?”

“Family business. Got in with my uncle when he moved to town,” Declan replied. “Been moving up in the ranks. It’s been good.”

“Better than Alice. She’s working at a bookshop.”

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