Page 30 of Never Tell Secrets
I feel sick thinking about that threat. It wasn’t idle. The deadness in his eyes told me he meant it.
Elliot, my father’s goon, had interrupted us. I wondered how long he’d been standing there. Watching like he always did. “Sir, your father has asked to see you,” he said to Charles. For a second I thought Charles might argue, but he didn’t. He gave me another sneer and stalked out. I’d pulled myself to a stand when Elliot turned back and said in a low voice. “I’ll keep him busy. Get her out of here.”
I stared at him in shock. I still don’t know what game he was playing. He was my father’s paid Pit Bull, and he’d never helped me before. I didn’t dwell on it though. I told Sarah to get her things and meet me at the service entrance but she argued,said she needed the job, she didn’t have any money. I said I’d figure something out.
Without another word, I ran into my room and scanned it. I needed something of value. I didn’t have cash. The room was full of trinkets she could take but all of them belonged to my parents. Getting her out of here would get me in enough trouble. I didn’t need to steal from them too. I was panicking when my gaze landed on my violin, safely resting in its case. It’s cheap for a violin, only worth five grand or so, but I’d bought it with my own money. I grabbed it and ran. I found her at the service entrance, terrified and trembling. I stuffed the violin into her hands.
“Take this and sell it. Get any other job, just get away from here. Go.” That was all I had time to say.
She left. Disappeared into the night. That was twenty minutes ago and by the approaching footsteps I can hear, I’m guessing Charles has figured out what I’ve done. I can’t say I care that much. It was worth it. Besides, once you’ve taken one beating, each one after that gets easier. In fact, I
The words cut off there and I don’t want to imagine what happened next. If reading it was this hard for me, how much harder had it been for Alfie to live it?
My stomach roiled as I read, turning over with each new page. I wanted to reach into the pages and pull Alfie away from those hideous people. I wanted to yell at his mother to love him, to protect him so that he could grow up healthy. These people were just as responsible for the shrapnel in my chest as Alfie was. So much more about him made sense now, and yet, I didn’t understand why he thought I would hate him if I learned about his past, so that must mean that there were far more nefarious secrets hidden in these journals.
My body was tired but my mind was suddenly beyond sick of being in the dark. I grabbed the next journal and poured through it, skimming over the pages as he turned 19, 20, and 21. Each entry a new tale of debauchery, woman after woman. Each one a bitter arrow to my heart. Knowing he had a past and reading about it in excruciating detail were two very different things.
I read on until my eyes burned and dawn broke. I stayed up all night until I was sad and frustrated. I knew nothing different than what I’d already known, just more pain, more drugs, more women. I found myself angry with Alfie, angry that he had dumped this in my lap to deal with alone. I sat in my bed surrounded by his fucked up memories as I made a decision. I wasn’t going to read another page. I was done with it.
I packed up the books and sent a text to Elliot. The sun was rising when he arrived an hour later. I met him at the door, the chest at my feet.
“I want you to take me to Alfie.”
“Of course,” he answered immediately. We sped through the waking streets of London, from the parts I was familiar with, to the upscale area codes that would never be in my price range. We finally came to a stop outside of a building so sleek it looked like it was made of glass. I stepped out of the car, looking up at the chrome lettering.Tell Company LTD.Holy crap.
“Miss?”
“Is he working?” I glanced at Elliot who was grabbing the chest out of the boot, “Maybe I shouldn’t bother him if he’s working.” It was barely 6am. I hadn’t thought about the time. “I didn’t expect him to be at work this early.”
“He’s been here all night, Miss.”
I wondered when the all-nighters had started. He had never done that when we were together.
“Then maybe I shouldn't interrupt him.” I was suddenly uncertain of whether this was a good idea or not.
“His orders are that, where you’re concerned, he is to be contacted immediately, day or night.”
“But—”
“Day or night, Miss. Besides, I’ve already told him you’re coming. If I don’t take you up there, there’ll be hell to pay.”
“He’ll come and blow my house down, you mean.”
“No, Miss,” he chuckled. “He’ll be upset with himself and I don’t need him punishing himself more than he already is.” He headed for the building, leaving me to follow him.
Elliot used a key card and code to get inside, and a bored-looking security guard sitting behind the desk gave us a disinterested nod as we passed. It was eerily quiet, like being in a shopping centre after hours. I imagined this place at 9am, bustling. I hated the thought of Alfie spending all night here by himself. We entered the lift and, twenty six floors later, we stepped off. He led me down a glass-walled hall and several turns later, we arrived at a clouded glass office.
A familiar scent hit my nose, a perfume it took me a moment to place.
“Is Angie here?”
“He sent her home when he found out you were coming.”
That was a relief. I pictured them together, working late, her sitting way too close to him. I smiled to myself. It embarrassed me that I used to compare myself to her and think she suited him so much better than I did. On paper, she did, but in reality, she was just more of the materialistic narcissism that already engulfed him.
I didn’t bother to knock and simply opened the door and strode in. Alfie was at the head of a glass boardroom table. Behind him were stands holding blueprints and schematics, the table was scattered with more of the same.
“Lola,” his silken voice stole my attention back to him. He eyed the chest Elliot had just set on the floor before stepping outand closing the door behind him. It must be strange for him to see me and his memories together. In our past life, he’d gone to great lengths to keep them hidden and now, here they were, lying there for the world to see. “That was quick.”
