Page 56 of Alfie: Part Two

No, she fucking wouldn’t. They were joking. The Daughters of Munster wasn’t a thing. Right?

I glanced over at West, only to see him typing on his phone. “A little help here?”

“In a moment.” He didn’t even look up. “I’m texting Shan. I want to know more about boarding schools in England.”

Finn cracked up at that.

Given the circumstances, I thought I was handling the whole thing fairly well after all. I hadn’t freaked out and done anything rash. West and I had talked like adults, openly and honestly. I hadn’t cried into my ice cream. I hadn’t punched a wall, even!

Maturity.

Growth.

“Don’t you think I’ve been extremely mature throughout this assault bullshit?” I asked.

West side-eyed me before he made a turn. We were in the middle of an intersection, having just picked up donuts and coffee for Dad.

“I suppose it depends on where we set the bar, sweetheart,” he said. “Iamsurprised you haven’t been more visibly upset, but let’s not forget that you’ve negotiated the murder of the attacker.”

“Which you’re fine with—that last part,” I said.

He rumbled through a heavy exhale. “Which I begrudginglyacceptbecause I’m evidently a hypocrite who doesn’t think the judicial system’s protocols apply to my family.”

I smiled. “And you’ve handled that very maturely too.”

That earned me another side-eye before he asked me to light up a smoke for him.

I could do that.

One for him, one for me.

We rolled down our windows, and he accepted his smoke.

“Were you serious about the house hunting?” he asked. “As in, you want us to start now, not just look around at Ardmore streets?”

“Dead serious. I want my papi to get his Barbie dream house.”

He chuckled softly. “OurBarbie dream house.”

Yeah, except… “I mean… I’m gonna be happy almost wherever with you. As long as we decorate the house together, unlike last time when you approved things on a tablet that a decorator ruled over. I was an idiot back then because I didn’t care, and it contributed to how I didn’t really feel at home. But when it comes to the house itself, the features, the size, I want you to fall head over heels with it. It’s important to me.”

He hummed and checked the rearview. “Why do I get the feeling you’re acting out of guilt?”

Guilt was a strong word. “I don’t feelguilty…as much as I wanna make your life as easy as you’ve made mine.”

His forehead wrinkled. “First of all, my life is easier now than it was six months ago. I can finallybreathe. Second of all, buy me a nice watch.”

That was cute, but no. I shook my head. “You can’t woo a millionaire with something he can pick up on his lunch break.”

He laughed a little. “Are you trying towoome, baby?”

Fuck yeah! And also, even the score.

I blew smoke out the window. “Wooing is always on the table, but sometimes you deserve more of it when you’ve had to make too many concessions in our relationship. I wanna make it up to you. I wanna show my appreciation like the mature adult I am.”

He sighed in that way that let me know he was gonna go into lecture-mode.

“Alfie, when we were married, you made so many concessions that you became more than one person,” he said. “We’re not doing that this time—and it’s not what I’ve been doing now either. I havereevaluatedthings. Sure, I now permanently live in a morally gray area, but I don’t give a fuck. I just don’t care anymore. We’ll handle those woes together.” He took a quick drag from his smoke. “What I’m high on these days is this…this intrinsic honesty between us. It’s never felt so natural and so genuine before, as if we both require it, and it’s made it so incredibly easy to trust you again. So, believe me when I say I have never been this happy, and I certainly don’t wake up every morning and feel the need to convince myself that I’m doing the right thing. My surrender was absolute and changed my perspective. There’s no going back.”

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