AllFreeNovel
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‘Yeah, why not? It’s a few weeks off, though, right?’
‘Not until next month.’
‘If you don’t mind me rattling around the place for a few more weeks. I don’t need to be up at Rosenhall for anything. Depends if you’re fed up with my sparkling personality yet.’ Alfie was a cheeky fuck, but he was easy to like. One of those guys who could get himself into a whole heap of mess, but always charmed his way back out of it unscathed. One day, it would catch up to him.
‘You could move in, and I’d probably not even notice for a few weeks. It’s not like I don’t have the space.’ Bar the staff, it was just me. Alfie’s regular stays over the past eighteen months had been more comforting than I’d expected. When Logan, my eldest living brother, moved in with his wife, I’d felt alone for the first time. Between the six of us growing up together and the five of us left, there had always been a houseful of commotion. Now it was like a deserted hotel. Room after room of silence. When Alfie wasn’t there, I spent more and more time at the club just to have noise and life around me.
I couldn’t wait to have the whole family back for Logan’s birthday. He’d tried to resist the party, but I’d roped his wife Valentina in, and he couldn’t refuse her anything if he tried. She still had him smitten even after two years together.
All of my siblings paired off, and I couldn’t find a single woman I was remotely interested in.
Hell, maybe I’d end up giving in to Alfie after all.
FOUR
CORA
Ruby’s hairy man burst into my room, waking me. I let out a scream as I pulled the covers up around me.
He stood there in nothing but a pair of underpants and white socks.
‘Sorry. Jeez, you weren’t screaming like that when you were spying on us last night. Chill the fuck out.’
‘What are you doing in my room?’ I asked while I looked behind him to check for Ruby.
‘Your sister busted her ankle. There’s a cab coming to give her a lift to A&E, but I need to bounce. You’ll have to go with her.’
‘You’re just going to ditch her when she’s hurt?’ What a creep.
‘No, I’m going to get you to go with her. I’ve got stuff on and can’t sit in a hospital waiting room for hours.’
A beep had him checking his phone. ‘That’s your ride. She’s at the bottom of the stairs. You’d better get dressed quickly.’
He closed the door and left me sitting there, mouth open.
What a fucking asshole.
I only hoped Ruby saw sense and kicked his ass to the curb. Grabbing a pair of leggings and a hoodie and wrestling them on while I stuffed my purse and phone into my bag, I made for the door.
‘Are you okay?’ I asked as I took the apartment stairs two at a time until I reached her.
‘I think I broke it,’ she said, her eyes red rimmed. The ankle jutted out at an angle that was altogether unnatural.
‘Holy shit. What happened?’ Giving her my arm, I helped her to her feet and made our way to the waiting cab with her hopping beside me.
‘It was an accident.’ Ruby’s voice was a little too sharp and insistent for my liking.
The driver opened the door for us and I sat her in the seat before going to the other side and climbing into the back beside her.
‘Tell me what happened.’
‘Honestly, it was nothing? Seth was leaving in a bit of a bad mood. I tried to grab his arm on the stairs and toppled over.’
Narrowing my eyes, I clicked my seatbelt into place. ‘What kind of bad mood?’
‘He tried to make out that you were watching us last night. When we were…’ She glanced at the driver before mouthing, fucking.
Oh shit.
