Page 57 of Little Fury

“Water,” both guys say in unison.

The guys start to carry in plastic bags, tape, and cleaning supplies. I lead them to the great room where the mess awaits.

Marcus brings a couple of water bottles for them. The three of them nod at each other, and then Anthony and Michael get to work.

Mrs. Bodden joins us in the kitchen, where I've put the kettle on to make her a pot of tea. Marcus pulls the tea basket down to let Mrs. Bodden choose what she wants.

She chooses a black tea.“Do you need cream or sugar?”Marcus asks

“No, I like my tea black, but thank you, dear.”

Marcus puts out some cookies and crackers.

“We were just eating. Do you mind if we finish?”I ask her.

“No, dears, eat.”

Marcus and I finish our meals while Mrs. Bodden has tea and a few cookies. Michael comes into the kitchen about 45 minutes later.“Done,”he informs us

“That was fast,” I say.

“It was a pretty clean kill site, Miss. Not a lot of splatters or damage. Whoever did it was very efficient, except the fingers. So, it made our job easy.”

“All right, dears. Then we will be out of your hair. I’ll send the bill to Sebastian.”

“Thanks so much.” I say.

We walk them to the door, and the guys pull out a couple of heavy suitcases.“Oh! Do you want to know where to find your bags should you need them again?” She asks me.

“If you could send that information with the bill to Sebastian, that would be great.”

We say goodbye and close the door.

“You, ok?”Marcus asks me.

“I am,”I assure him.

“I’m going to jump in the shower and clean up. Want to watch a movie?”

“Yeah, but let’s watch it in bed. I’m pretty sure you're going to fall asleep during it.”

“You are probably correct,”I tell him as I leave him and walk to my bedroom.

I take off my clothes and place them in the garbage bin. I’ll burn them later.

I step into the shower, turning the water on hot, seeming to have found a chill over the last couple hours. My mind wanders, thinking about Alexi and Enzo working together to eliminate me. Alexi is cunning. If he can get rid of me and have Enzo take the blame, he will have Marcus all to himself, well, to the Sokolovs, to be precise. I have to admit, Alexi has bigger balls than I thought.

I finish showering and wrap my hair in a towel and another around my body. I can hear Marcus in the bedroom. I leave the bathroom and see him putting a water bottle and popcorn on my bedside table.“Aww, look at you taking care of me.”

“Always,” He replies.

I’m hit with the intensity of what he feels for me. I haven’t entirely accepted it; I walk over to the dresser and grab a pair of sleep shorts and a crop tank top. I drop my towel and look at Marcus in the mirror as I slip them on. His eyes drink me in. I am starting to love the feeling of his eyes on me; seeing that kind of want in anyone's eyes is intoxicating.

I crawl on the bed and get under the covers, propping up my pillows to be movie ready.“What are we watching?”

“What do you want to watch, Ava? I’m not the picky one out of the two of us.”

“But this was your idea, so I thought you had a movie in mind.”

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