Dirty Assets Page 7

  I am waiting for an order when Alex walks up to the bar and glances at me.

  “Who is Nick?” he asks with lifted eyebrows.

  “He works for Lola’s family. Frank had him helping me when I started working here.”

  “What exactly did you need help with?”

  “I had car trouble. I had no place to live. Nick was my transportation, he helped me get a bank account, he showed me where I would live.” I look over as the order is being slid across the bar and Alex quickly walks away.

  I watch the clock as I take orders from table to table and before long, it’s one hour until closing. The club is still busy and no one appears to be leaving. I walk back up to the bar and I feel someone watching me. I turn and notice that Alex is sitting in one of the booths with two very attractive men. They both are wearing suits and they both have the dark hair and chiseled faces. I would assume they are Italian since most of the customers appear to be. Not to mention the booths are normally reserved for the rich and powerful-looking type. I almost wonder what type of business these ‘booth’ customers consist of, but I have my own problems and don’t need to stick my nose into their shit. I can’t help but notice how Alex has really focused on me tonight. He seems to constantly be watching me. I don’t know if it’s because he doesn’t trust me enough to take his eyes off me? Or does he have a small kind bone inside that body of his?

  I wish he would stop watching me. It’s really making me feel uncomfortable. Not to mention I think Angie has started to notice and has made rude comments about it. Of course, when she really started to get nasty, Teddy slammed her customer’s order down and advised her it was ready. I thank Teddy and turn my back towards the bar. Once I scan the room I notice the same two men with dark eyes watching me.

  “Can you please see me before you leave?” Alex asks and I lift my eyebrows and look back at Teddy. The club has been closed for one hour and we have just finished cleaning up.

  As everyone leaves, I head upstairs to the office. I gently knock on the door as Alex calls for me to come in.

  “Are you going to fire me?” I ask when I enter the office and I notice his eyebrows lift at my question.

  “No…At least not today. I have been thinking all night about you going back to Lola’s when your ex may know where you're staying.”

  “I have been thinking about that too. I think I might just stay at a hotel tonight. I’ll get a good night sleep and I’ll decide what to do in the morning.”

  “I don’t think that is a good idea either, Adele. If he’s found you this time, he’ll find you again. I have another option for you that you won’t like.”

  “What option is that?” I tilt my head to ask.

  “You’re coming home with me,” Alex states and my knees go weak.

  Alex

  I can’t stop thinking about what Adele told me. I am not the nicest guy in the world. I admit that I use women. There is nothing better than having a woman under my control and having her do whatever I tell them to do. I do it for our mutual pleasure, not to hurt her. I hate any man that would hit a woman. I don’t even consider him a real man if he does. The thought of her being abused by this man who would wear pink pisses me off. It makes me want to go out and find him and make sure he would never hit any woman, especially Adele, again. When we went back down to the club, I kept watching for him to come back. That type always comes back. He won’t give up until he has dragged her ass back home. When I wasn’t watching for him, my eyes focused on Adele. I had always noticed that she was beautiful, but now I see another side of her. I see a woman that has built up walls to protect herself. I see a survivor who went on the run from a man who abused her. I also can see a woman who is tired and who could use someone else being in control. She needs someone who will give her the rest she needs. I have been a bastard towards her because I didn’t trust her. This is a woman who had every reason not to trust me. I probably even reminded her of the bastard she was running from. I never hit her, but I can only assume that he verbally abused her too.

  I try to shake off these thoughts as I meet with some of my business associates. They can tell I am not focused, but luckily, they enjoy hearing themselves talk. When it’s finally closing time and my meetings are done I head over to Adele. I ask her to come to the office before she leaves. She is going is going to fight me when I make my suggestion. To be totally honest, it’s not even a suggestion. I will demand it. I will not let her leave the club tonight alone with that guy looking for her. As far as we know, he’s hiding around the damn corner waiting for her to leave.

  The first thing she asks me is if I am going to fire her. I tense up when she asks because I realize how much of a bastard I have been to her. I won’t admit it, but Adele is probably the best waitress I have. The customers have really taken to her and ask to sit in her section. I will never admit that to her, so to save face, I just let her know that she won’t be fired today. I need to be gentle with Adele, but still make sure she understands that she will have to listen to me. She needs to trust me. When Adele tells me that she won’t be going home, but to a hotel, I realize that I made the right decision. I just hope she realizes it. I advise that a hotel isn’t a good idea and I have a better option for her. Adele is coming home with me.

  Adele’s brown eyes widen and she goes stiff. I almost wonder if she went into shock. The room is silent for almost five minutes before she snaps herself out of it.

  “What did you just say?”

  “You will be no safer staying at a hotel. You need to come home with me.” Adele backs away from me and her back hits the door. I almost start to wonder if I am going to have to chase her down. I tilt my head and move closer to her just in case I do.

  “I... I am NOT coming home with you Alex,” she says quietly.

  “Your ex-husband is looking for you. He might have been in Lola’s house. It’s not safe for you to be staying by yourself.”

  “I can call Nick. Maybe he can stay with me at the hotel,” Adele argues. I get tense and become very agitated. I am not sure who this Nick is, but he isn’t staying with Adele. I don’t care if he was handpicked by Frank, Lola, and her fucking judge father.

  “I don’t trust Nick. I promised Frank that when he returned you would still be here. I would also like you to be in one piece, Adele. If Nick was all that great he would have paid closer attention and maybe your husband wouldn’t have gotten into Lola’s house. Maybe if Nick had paid closer attention, he wouldn’t have strolled into the club. None of that would have happened on my watch, Adele.”

  “You don’t even like me. How do I know I would be safe with you?” Adele questions and I can’t blame her.

  “You have my word, Adele. I promise you,” I say. These are words that I hate to say to anyone. I hate making fucking promises. If she accepts, I would rather shoot myself than break the promise I just made to her. I close my eyes and back away from her.

  “Okay. I’ll come home with you. I will trust you, Alex.”

  I have Adele park her car in my parking spot and hold the door while she seats herself in my car. I didn’t think it was a good idea to have her follow me to my place. I didn’t trust her to show up and I didn’t know if her husband would follow her. If she was in my car, I would notice if I was being followed. The car is dead silent so I reach down to turn on the radio. Adele looks over at me as very loud rap music starts blaring on the radio. I can feel her eyes on me, but I focus on the road in front and behind us. I drive past the turn to my place and decide our first stop should be to the grocery store. I park in the parking garage at the Whole Foods and Adele glances over at me.

  “Sorry, I didn’t expect to have a guest so we need to shop first,” I advise her as I turn off the car and we get out. I shake my head as she meets me near the trunk.

  “Going forward, would you mind waiting in the car until I come open the door?” I ask as I grab her arm.

  “Are you serious?” Adele replies.

  “Yes. I am dead serious. I
’d like to make sure it’s safe for you to get out.”

  We walk into the Whole Foods and I grab a basket. I don’t plan on doing this every night, so I tell Adele to pick up whatever she needs. We seem to have similar taste in food and we start to discuss how we like it prepared. I hate to be an ass, but I sure hope Adele will offer to cook this shit for me. I prefer my women in the kitchen and the bedroom. I doubt that Adele will offer me anything in the bedroom so the kitchen is going to be my only option. I look over at Adele as she starts looking through the frozen section and my phone rings. I pull it out of my pocket and see that it’s Hailey. I close my eyes and open them to see Adele putting shit into our basket. I decide I will ignore the call and within a few minutes, it starts to ring again. Adele looks over at me and smiles looking down towards the ringing phone in my hand.

  “Hello,” I answer knowing that Hailey won’t stop calling if she doesn’t hear from me.

  “Hey, when are you coming home? I’m waiting for you.” She slurs and I close my eyes hoping that she isn’t at my house.

  “Where are you?” I ask and pray that she gives me the right answer. “I am at your house silly,” she answers but it’s not the answer I wanted. I stop pushing the basket and motion for Adele to keep shopping.

  “Hailey, I need you to listen to me. You need to get the fuck out of my house. You have no business being there. Leave the key on the kitchen table and get out.” I whisper so that Adele doesn’t overhear me. She continues shopping, but she is still close enough to hear this conversation.

  “Why are you so mean to me, Alex?” Hailey whines and I can tell she is drunk or high. I don’t have time for this shit.

  “Hailey, I’ll have Thomas pick you up.” I hang up and text Thomas asking him to have her out of my house in twenty minutes. He texts back quickly and tells me that it’ll be done. He questions why I wouldn’t want her there, but that is an issue we’ll have to discuss later. Thomas and I both wanted Adele gone, so he will not be happy to know she will be staying with me. He would probably even refuse to pick Hailey up if he found out I am grocery shopping with Adele for her stay.

  Adele and I argued for five minutes while the cashier watched. She insisted that she pay and I assured her that I would be paying. As we argued the line grew and the cashier asked her to let me pay so that she could start moving the line. As we head back to my place, I glance over at her and she is staring straight ahead. I think we are both silently praying that her staying at my place isn’t a big mistake.

  Adele

  The drive to Alex’s house was a quiet one. He reaches over to turn on the radio and I let out a small smile as Snoop Dog starts playing. I am not sure what kind of music I would have assumed he’d listen too, but for some reason, Snoop Dog isn’t even on the list. We pull off to a residential area and he pulls into the driveway of a beautiful house. It’s two stories and he has a black iron gate surrounding the yard. He reaches forward and grabs the garage door opener and pulls inside the garage. I jump out of the car and Alex narrows his eyes at me. I remember that he told me not to get out of the car without him opening the door. We meet at the trunk and I grab a few of the bags to take them into the house.

  The back door opens to the kitchen and Alex turns on the light once we’re inside. The kitchen isn’t at all what I expected. He has all sterling silver appliances but everything else is in black and white. It’s very modern and clean looking. The kitchen has an island table and the counter is in black and white and it’s marbled. He has two black bar stools on each side. Alex starts to unpack the groceries as I watch him. I have no idea what I am supposed to be doing. When everything is put away, he grabs a beer from his stainless-steel refrigerator. He turns towards me and his eyes darken when they meet mine.

  “I don’t have to stay here, Alex. I know you don’t like me. You can drop me back off at the club, I’ll pick up the car and I will stay at a hotel.”

  Alex sighs and continues to look at me. “Can you please stop saying I don’t like you?”

  “You don’t like me, Alex. You made it crystal clear from the minute you laid eyes on me,” I remind him.

  “I didn’t trust you, Adele.”

  “You trust me now?” I question him.

  “I trust you a little more than I did before,” Alex says as he nods his head and takes a sip of his beer. “The important thing is for us to keep you safe, Adele. You’ll tell me about your husband and I’ll get rid of him for you and then we can go about our separate business.”

  “What do you mean you’ll get rid of him?” I narrow my eyes at him.

  “Does it matter? You don’t want to live your life on the run, correct?” he asks as he tilts his head and looks at me.

  “I don’t.”

  “It’s late, Adele. I’ll show you to your room and we can get some sleep tonight. Tomorrow morning, we can talk.”

  I follow Alex upstairs to his guest room and it’s beautiful. The bedroom has a black dresser with several drawers and the headboard is black. There is a black and white comforter and he has hardwood floors. I walk over to the dresser that has a black mirror and notice how tired I look. It’s been a long night and I can’t wait to get some sleep. I walk over to the bed and as I start to take off my shirt and there is a soft knock on the bedroom door. I open the door and Alex hands me a t-shirt.

  “I thought you could use something to sleep in.” I look down at the white t-shirt and nod at him.

  “Thank you.” I take the shirt and our hands touch.

  “Is there anything else you’ll need? If not, I’m going to turn in,” he says. His eyes narrow and darken as he looks at me.

  “No, I think I’m good.” I am not sure why, but we stand in the doorway staring at each other for several more seconds. Alex finally says goodnight and walks towards his bedroom, which is a little too close for comfort. He glances back at me before opening his door and I go back into my room and fall into bed.

  Have you ever been so tired, but couldn’t go to sleep? I stared at the ceiling most of the night. Each time I closed my eyes, I pictured Alex’s dark eyes staring at me. I kept thinking about how they would darken and wonder what he’d be thinking about when they did. Alex is very attractive and I always noticed it. When I first met him, he was attractive but the biggest asshole I had ever met, not including Garth. Now I see him as an asshole, but he has shown me he is a somewhat caring asshole. He didn’t fire me after the commotion I caused at the club. He found out that I had an issue with Garth and kicked him out of the club. He even kicked him out before finding out why I reacted the way I did. He could have ended the kindness there, but he didn’t. He brought me home with him. I thought he was going to explode when he had seen that I parked behind him at the club, but I could tell he forced himself to remain calm as he nicely asked that I move my car so he could pull out.

  I finally fall asleep and wake up to the sound of loud crashing noises. I get out of bed and head down to the kitchen and find Alex in a mess. There are pots and pans everywhere. A carton of eggs is sitting on the counter, a few broken eggs are on the floor. Flour is all over the place and Alex is swearing like a sailor. Alex takes the handle of one of the skillets and hits it against the table. I jump and gasp and only then does Alex notice me standing in the doorway.

  “I’m sorry. Did I wake you?” he asks as he turns looking around at the mess he’s made. I wonder how he could think this wouldn’t wake me? I would think the noise would wake the neighbors.

  “Uh.. maybe,” I admit quietly as I scan the kitchen.

  Alex closes his eyes as he looks around again and puts the skillet down.

  “I thought I would be nice and make you breakfast.”

  “Really? I guess that would have been nice.” I let him know because his thoughtfulness is surprising.

  “It would have been if I knew exactly what I was doing. I don’t cook, so I just made a mess,” he explains as he runs his hands through his hair and I have to laugh because now flour is in it.


  “I have an idea,” I tell him as he turns towards me. “How about I help you clean up and I’ll make breakfast?”

  Alex nods his head liking the idea and I walk further into the kitchen and grab a towel.

  “Adele,” Alex says my name and I can tell there is an edge in his voice.

  “Yes?” I say as I bend over to pick up the broken eggs from the floor.

  “Do you think you could put some pants on first?” Alex pleads as we both look down at my legs and I realize that I am only wearing his t-shirt. I toss the towel at Alex and run out of the kitchen.

  After putting on my skirt, I head back downstairs and see Alex hasn’t made much progress in the kitchen. It takes us almost thirty minutes to finish cleaning and I decide to make us crepes. Alex decides to keep washing dishes as I cook and I notice that he also keeps eyeing me.

  “Why do you keep looking at me like that?” I ask him as I work on the crepes.

  “I just noticed that you’re wearing the skirt you wear to work,” Alex says.

  “I am. I didn’t go home afterward if you recall. Not that I would have a lot of options. It would be either this or my jeans.” I notice he is still watching me and I ask him to grab the plates since I have finished the crepes. Alex sits across from me at the island and I notice that he isn’t eating.

  “You don’t like crepes?” I ask him as I put my fork in my mouth.

  “You don’t have any clothes?” he asks.

  “I told you that I had to leave home fast. I grabbed a backpack and a closet full of clothes didn’t fit into it.” The intense look in Alex’s eyes manages to stop my fork before it reached my mouth a second time.