Page 15 of Falling for Lucifer

Q uiet days at the shop were the best for Lucifer. It gave him time to get lost in his thoughts while he kept his hands busy with the customizations their clients went wild for.

Many years ago, when he and Hades bought their first motorcycles, he knew they stumbled upon their passion.

There was something about working with their hands and making motorcycles look even better than the manufacturer could ever dream.

Lucifer loved what he did, but he noticed over the years, he loved the mechanical part of the job, not the design and customization part.

For now, he needed to stick with Underworld Customs because Hades was on paternity leave for the unforeseeable future.

His mind drifted to Ellodie. It had been three days since he’d seen her or heard from her.

He couldn’t lie and say it didn’t bother him.

She had quickly consumed his days, and he looked forward to interacting with her.

He thought they were on the same page, but now he second-guessed himself.

She hadn’t answered his calls or texts. Etta’s christening was days away, and he didn’t want to miss it.

Not because he wanted to keep up the rouse of the fake relationship for her family, but because he genuinely cared for Etta.

When he finished with the bike he was working on, he cleaned up his workstation and washed his hands in the bathroom connected to his office. Hades had an identical one across the hall. Finally, he was ready to close up shop for the day.

As soon as he got outside, he saw a short man with graying hair and caramel-colored skin placing a sign on the building next to Underworld Customs. They were right downtown in Ellwood, and the street they were on had buildings lined up right next to each other, but in all the years they’d had their storefront, there had never been a building for sale.

“Yo, my man,” Lucifer called out. The man turned and looked up at Lucifer, who advanced toward him. He was a dorky looking fella who looked nervous as hell as Lucifer walked up on him. “This building for sale?”

The man glanced at the building behind them before looking at Lucifer again. “Y-yes. Just went on the market today.”

Lucifer peered at it, his mind racing. Maybe this was a sign that he needed to make a move on the very thing, aside from Ellodie, that had occupied his time lately. A mechanic shop for motorcycles right next to Underworld Customs sounded like a great financial move for the Ashford brothers.

“You got a card?” Lucifer asked.

“You’re interested in the building?” Lucifer simply nodded. The man fumbled around and patted his pockets before producing a business card. “I don’t expect this property to sell quickly. The price is high, so no rush, but call me if you’re serious.”

With that, the man scurried away. Lucifer walked to his car, deep in thought.

It didn’t escape him that the only person he wanted to talk to at the moment was Ellodie.

He had briefly told her his desire to own a mechanical shop for motorcycles, so he felt the pull to tell her about the building for sale to get her thoughts.

Really, it was just an excuse to tell her the exciting news and hear her pretty voice.

He sat in his car for a moment before he decided to call her.

After pulling his phone out and tapping her name, he frowned because it went straight to voicemail.

He tried again two more times before he tossed his phone on the passenger seat and started his car.

He wasn’t about to play games with Ellodie.

Since he wanted to hear from her so badly, he decided to pop up on her.

It didn’t matter that they didn’t have a label on what they were.

All that mattered at the moment was that he missed her.

He drove the entire way to her condo in silence. After he pulled up and parked, he got out of the car quickly and thanked God that he didn’t need to be buzzed into her building, as he walked right in.

His patience wore thin as he jammed his finger into the button for the elevator.

He didn’t even wait for the doors to open all the way before he slid inside and pressed the button for her floor.

The more he thought about the way he felt at the moment because of Ellodie, the more irritated he became.

This entire charade was her idea. Now she wanted to ghost him?

It wouldn’t work like that. Deep down, he thought they had been taking baby steps toward creating something deep.

Maye he’d read the room incorrectly. He would live with that if that was the case, but he needed to hear it from her mouth first.

When he finally got to her floor, he took long strides toward her door and knocked loudly.

It was silent for several seconds before he lifted his fist and knocked loudly again.

It crossed his mind that he may have startled Etta by the ruckus he made, but he would comfort her when he got inside.

Next, he pressed the button for the doorbell a few times, his patience completely nonexistent at this point.

Ellodie didn’t get to do this. She didn’t get to rope him into this shit and then leave him hanging.

He didn’t feel for women often. In fact, it had never happened to this level, so in his head, she had a lot of explaining to do.

In his head, she owed him that because his feelings were now invested.

Finally, the door swung open, and Lucifer’s frown deepened when he saw a man standing in the doorway. He was several inches shorter than Lucifer, and though he could tell the man worked out, he had nothing on Lucifer’s massive muscles.

The man looked Lucifer up and down, which made Lucifer mug him. The hell kind of man looked another grown man up and down. Holding eye contact was way more intimidating than that shit he just did.

“Aye, man, where Ello at?” Lucifer finally asked, sick of the show the man was clearly putting on.

The man’s thick brows rose. “What you want with my bitch?”

“Your bitch?” Lucifer’s face screwed up.

Even if this nigga was Ellodie’s man, he had no right to call her a bitch.

Then there was the fact that she even had a man .

. . Clearly, he was missing something. He shook his head, opting to disregard that comment .

. . for now. He needed to lay eyes on Ellodie so she could explain. “Yo, is she here?”

He smirked, which pissed Lucifer off. He didn’t crash out often, but when he did, it was bad. This man was close to making Lucifer cause a scene.

“Nah, she ain’t here.”

Lucifer was two seconds away from knocking dude out of his way when he heard a timid voice say, “Lu?”

He couldn’t see her, but the defeat and fear in her voice instantly put him on high alert. With great force, he shoved the man standing in the doorway back. He stumbled in surprise. Lucifer watched as his arms flailed before he landed with a thud.

When Lucifer’s eyes landed on Ellodie, who stood just at the edge of the hallway leading to her room and the nursery, he saw red.

The crash out had officially started. There were ugly bruises around both Ellodie’s eyes, and she looked shaken up.

He could see her visibly shaking as her eyes pleaded with him to save her.

She didn’t even have to worry about that. Not one bit.

“Where’s Etta?” Ellodie glanced at the man in front of Lucifer, who slowly tried to stand to his feet. With a swift kick, Lucifer knocked him back on his ass before he looked back at Ellodie. “Don’t worry about this nigga. You talkin’ to me, love. Where’s Etta?”

It took everything in him to stay calm in her presence.

“In my room,” she whispered.

Lucifer nodded. “Go pack you and her a bag. A suitcase, matter of fact. Everything you need for a few weeks. Whatever you forget, we gon’ buy.

You understand?” She nodded, but her eyes traveled back down to the man on the ground who now looked up at Lucifer with a mean mug.

“Look at me, love.” Her eyes snapped back up to him. “Tell me you understand.”

“I understand,” she muttered. He watched as tears filled her eyes.

“Good girl. Go. I’m about to take Mr.. . .”

Silence filled the room until Ellodie finally spoke up to break the tension. Lucifer planned on sitting there all night if he had to until he learned the man’s name he was about to fuck up.

“Wes.” Her voice cracked, and so did Lucifer’s heart at the sound of terror inside her. This her baby daddy? Ain’t no fuckin’ way . . .

Lucifer grinned down at the man, but it wasn’t a friendly grin. “Thanks, love. I’m going to take Mr. Wes on a lil walk.”

“Lu—”

“Go do what I said, Ello. I’ll be back.”

Lucifer didn’t even wait for her to respond. He bent down and grabbed Wes by the size ten foot and twisted it slightly, which caused him to yelp. Then, he dragged him out of the condo and shut the door.

“Nigga, I’m gon?—”

Lucifer cocked his fist back and slammed it into Wes’s face, silencing him into a daze long enough for Lucifer to pick him up and throw him over his shoulder like a rag doll.

It wasn’t until they were inside the elevator that Wes started talking shit again, but it was with a lot less enthusiasm than before. His feet kicked out, and he tried to wiggle out of Lucifer’s grasp, but it was ironclad.