Page 92 of Alfie: Part Two

West smiled faintly and touched my cheek. “You can’t be that reckless again, Alfie. You almost gave me a heart attack.”

Fuck. I lowered my gaze again, and I hugged my knees loosely to my chest.

Deep breaths.

I had been reckless. I’d jeopardized everything that was good in my life, all so I could get my revenge.

“I hate my fucking temper.” I wiped my face with my arm and shook my head. “I’m so sorry, West.”

“Let’s not exaggerate.” He rose to his feet, only to hook his hands under my armpits and haul me up. With a grunt, of course. “Your temper makes my life more interesting. I just don’t want you to get caught because of it.”

A breath gusted out of me, and I nodded. I had to work on a balance.

West accepted a stack of towels and a packet of disinfectant wipes from Shan.

“How are you feeling, son?” Shan asked.

“Eh.” I shrugged. “You should see the other guys.”

He rumbled a laugh and gave my shoulder a squeeze. “You’ll be fine.”

As long as West and I were solid, yeah, absolutely.

Shan spoke to West next. “Just leave your clothes on the floor. Our cleaning crew is on the way.”

West nodded in understanding and carefully wiped blood off my hands.

I hissed. That shit stung. Maybe my skin had broken here and there after all.

“Pop, I’m heading home,” Finn said in passing. “I gotta stop for ice cream.”

“All right. What do you want me to tell T?” Shan wondered.

“Remodel of the interior—strip it down,” Finn replied. “We’ve had too much traffic here in the last couple of days, so we’ll use it as a storage for a year or so. Then we can sell it.” He nodded at me next. “By the way, Colby’s with JJ tonight, but you gotta make shit right with him tomorrow.”

I winced internally. I owed Colby the biggest apology for how I’d acted earlier. “Aye, boss.”

Kellan piped up from the doorway. “Oi, clothes off. Down to the base layer, at least. West, you’re going home barefoot.”

“Not if he has a good friend who told him to bring an extra pair,” Shan responded smoothly.

I scrunched my nose and felt my forehead crease. “Why would you do that?”

“Because the fucker grabbed a gun last minute,” Shan said. “That can only mean one thing. He was joining the party.”

I flicked my gaze to West, and I didn’t know if he was pretending to concentrate on my hands or what, but we were definitely not done talking.

“I’ll go put out your change of clothes in the kitchen.” Shan walked away.

I kept my stare fixed on West’s unreadable expression.

“Are you okay?” I asked quietly.

He hummed and slipped the wipe between my fingers. “I am. To be fair, I only brought the gun on a whim. Shan insulted my choice of car, and just when I was about to call him somethingcolorful, I realized it could be a good idea to bring your gun—in case I wasn’t too late already.”

Wait, did that mean— “You were at home? I thought you’d be golfing.”

“It was too cold.” He threw one wipe on the floor, then grabbed a new one. “We arrived at the club, looked at each other, and promptly drove home, where Giulia’s leftovers and whiskey waited.”

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