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He stepped away from me with visible effort, straightening my dress before fixing his own clothes. His eyes didn’t leave me for a moment. At the back of my mind I knew I’d just stepped off the edge I’d teetered on since we met and now my heart and sanity were both completely in his hands.
“Come.” He held his hand out for me to take and after a moment’s hesitation, I did. Now that he had me, he seemed calmer. Like all he’d needed was me.
Eighteen
“Where are we going?” I panted as I tried to keep up with Alfie. He ignored my question as he led me back into the party and straight for the exit. “I have to say goodbye to Bradley.”
“He’ll figure it out.”
“And Angie?”
“She’ll figure it out too.”
“Alfie!” I stopped short, forcing him to either stop or wrench my arm out of the socket. “I have to tell Bradley I’m leaving. He’ll worry otherwise. Wouldn’t you worry if I just suddenly disappeared?”
Over his shoulder I caught a glimpse of the board member I’d spotted earlier, the one I’d been working up the nerve to talk to when Patrick popped up and flung Alfie Tell at me.
“You aren’t his concern.” Alfie’s harsh tone drew my attention back to him as well as the attention of a few guests.
“As his friend, I am his concern.” Just because I’d given up one fight didn’t mean I was giving up all of them. I needed to find Bradley. I tugged my hand out of Alfie’s, his eyes widening in surprise, but before I could march off to find Bradley, I spotted him talking to someone.
I waved at him and motioned that I was leaving. He looked confused but gave me a nod. I was going to have some explaining to do on Monday. My gaze fell on the board member one last time. This opportunity wouldn’t come again, but heated skin met mine, I looked up. Steel greys were fixed on me as his hand enveloped my own, the room faded along with my ambition, and I let him pull me away.
Outside, I shivered as we waited for the car. I dared a glance up at Alfie only to find him gazing at me, his jaw clenched.What? What have I done now?He moved towards me, hesitated, then his arm came around me, warming me up. I could see the cogs turning in his head as he tried to understand his own actions. I got the feeling that Alfie didn’t show non-sexual affection to women very often.
A limousine appeared in front of us. The chauffeur stepped forward to open my door but Alfie blocked him like a child guarding his favourite toy and opened my door himself. I got in and he slid in beside me.
“Where are you taking me?”
“My hotel.”
“Your hotel oryourhotel?”
The corner of his mouth lifted a little, another smile he tried to hide. “I don’t own it if that’s what you’re asking.”
“Is it as fancy as one of your hotels?”
“Of course not, but the nearest hotel of mine is four hours away, so The Carlton will do until my business is done.”Until my business is done.Alfie was a temporary fixture here and suddenly, spending the night with him seemed like a stupid idea. What had I been thinking? He caught my gaze and I fell into those eyes again. Oh yeah.That’swhat I’d been thinking.
“Don’t look at me like that. We aren’t alone and I don’t intend to have an audience the first time I fuck you.”
“The first time? What about the second time?” I joked, but he frowned as if he was thinking it over. It dawned on me that he’d probably had sex with an audience before, probably more than once, at his exclusive Never Tell Club where he had perfected the art of seducing women.
“No,” he answered eventually. “No one’s going to see your body but me. I mean it, Lola. If you have a male gynaecologist, get a new one.” My jaw dropped and he stared back at me, waiting for me to challenge him.
“I don’t like taking orders, Alfie.”
“You might not like it yet, but you’ll learn to love it.” The implication of his words had heat pooling in my core. What exactly was he going to do to me once we got to his hotel? I was out of my depth. Alfie had owned a fucking sex club. I’d had mediocre, non-orgasmic sex with one guy.
The car slowed to a stop. I looked out of the tinted windows to see us arriving at the prestigious Carlton Hotel.
Alfie’s hand was at the small of my back again as he led me up the entrance steps. I felt eyes on us as we entered the marble foyer. At the reception desk was an owl-faced woman with a meek bob and round glasses. I felt her silent judgement ripple over me, along with the judgement of everyone else. I didn’t belong in a place like this with a person like Alfie and it felt like they all knew it. Just when my self-doubt threatened to spiral, I felt Alfie’s hand at the nape of my neck, holding me gently. His touch burned and a strange sensation swarmed my system, as if he had seeped himself into my brainwaves and taken them over, his quiet dominance stilling every thought I had. I found myself wishing I could bottle his touch and save it for every dark moment.
We took a right turn and I found myself in front of a row of lifts. ‘Presidential Suite’ was printed in gold letters over the doors of one. Alfie pulled out his phone and scanned somethingthat looked like a QR code. A moment later, the doors opened. Even a mechanical box didn’t keep Mr Tell waiting.
He guided me in, pressed a button and up we went. I stood still, barely breathing as the metal box took me higher than I’d ever been, straight to the top, bypassing all other floors.
Where Alfie was as cool as a cucumber, I fidgeted. Why was he so quiet? Was he planning what he was going to do to me? Was he leaving me in silence to heighten the tension?