Page 24 of Everything After

Alfie shook his head and cast me a dark glare. “You think I’m that petty? Sometimes I wonder if you know me at all. If you must know, I called Andy but he’s out of town, I couldn’t hit up Drew because they were having their neighbors for dinner this evening, and Des had gone to New York.”

“So the next closest person was Sienna?” I asked in disbelief.

“No, I went back there because I met Poppy today. Kara’s Poppy. I found out Kara and Poppy are back in Florida and they’re staying with Sienna for now.”

I stared at him speechless, the fight in me instantly gone because finding Kara had been the last thing I’d expected him to say. I’d met her previously and there had been times over theyears when he’d wondered aloud how they’d faired since he’d helped them get away from her drug dealing partner.

“How are they?” I asked, concerned and intrigued.

“Good.” He sighed. “I only went back to see Sienna because I had questions. She hadn’t mentioned that Kara and Poppy were staying with her. It was only that Poppy recognized me and told me who she was.”

“Aren’t they taking a risk coming back?” I asked, sitting slowly on our bed.

“The threat toward her has gone. The ex-boyfriend and his henchmen are no longer alive. I want to help them. Kara’s working on cruise liners out of Fort Lauderdale. Sienna said she’s saving for a place of her own. I’d like to do that for them… for Gary,” he said, correcting himself.

Despite our argument my heart instantly melted that he still felt it was his duty to help Gary’s girlfriend. “You’re a good man.”

“Funny, you didn’t think that five minutes ago when you were accusing me of something without having the whole picture,” he ground out. I swallowed hard when I saw the dark look in Alfie’s eyes. It was the glare he cast whenever someone had crossed him, and this time, I was on the receiving end of it.

His comment reminded me of my initial accusations of him playing the field when I’d seen him on the college campus with Kara all those years ago. Back then, I’d jumped to conclusions about his involvement with her and other women I’d seen him with, when all he’d been doing was trying to fund their safety. It appeared that I hadn’t learned from that as I’d reacted the same now.

I stood, walked over to the mirror and turned away to hide the hurt and shame on my face. As I stared at my reflection, I wondered how we’d gotten so off course from the loving couple we were, to where we were now.

CHAPTER 13

ALFIE

I knew from how quickly Lily moved and turned away from me, that my rant had likely hurt her. That wasn’t my intention when I’d come back to talk, but she’d gone on the attack the moment I’d stepped into the bedroom, and I’d let frustration get the better of me.

I stepped up behind her, and locked eyes with her in the mirror. My heart felt like it was breaking a little more with every sentence we said to each other. “Are you happy, Lily?”

After a sharp intake of breath, she stared me down. “Where has that come from?”

“I asked you a simple question. Are you happy?”

She spun around to face me. “Why would you ask me that? I love you.”

I placed my hands on her shoulders. “I didn’t ask if you loved me. You can love someone and still be miserable,” I replied, holding her confused gaze.

“Do I look miserable to you?” She frowned, stepped back and flicked a hand down her body. On the outside she lookedincredible, dressed in her sexy, one-piece outfit that was one of my favorites on her. But I also knew that looks could be deceiving.

“Right now, you look good enough to eat,” I replied dryly, fighting off lusty thoughts and filthy fantasies about peeling off the soft garment under my fingertips and taking my fill of her. “But depression isn’t about how you look, it’s how you feel inside. I’ll ask you again. Are you happy?”

“You think I’m depressed?” she challenged in an incredulous tone.

I scoffed. “How many fights have we had in the past six months?”

Her concerned gaze roamed our bedroom while she thought about my question. When our eyes met again, her brow creased, and she shrugged because she couldn’t deny there had been more than a few. “They were disagreements. Our schedules have been heavy,” she offered in explanation.

“Can you remember any time in the past six months where we’ve met up and haven’t argued?”

Watching Lily’s lips morph into a wry twist told me she couldn’t. “I’m not depressed. Life’s been hectic,” she mumbled, not addressing the question.

“It has, but I’ve always made time for you… always gone out of my way to support you and your career.”

“I don’t like this conversation. It implies I don’t do the same for you.”

“Do you?” I blurted. The moment I asked the question I believed there was no turning back. My heart rate spiked because the time had come for me to get to the bottom of why our relationship didn’t feel equal anymore.