Page 31 of Aleko
Eliandra and the lawyer came out and were immediately swarmed by happy clients, some of whom tried to push money on her. She turned most of it away, but several of the women insisted to the point that refusing got awkward, and Eliandra tucked the money into her bag without looking at it. He knew she needed money, and it impressed him that she had standards about who she would take it from.
“Good job today,” said the lawyer turning to Eliandra as the crowd cleared away, and Alex felt his eyebrows go up at the warmth in the lawyer’s tone.
“Thanks,” said Eliandra, still watching one of the women.
“Lia,” said the lawyer, and Alex frowned at the shortening of her name, “look, I know you don’t like to talk about your own situation, but,” the lawyer put his hand on her shoulder, stroking slightly along the edge of her collar, “I can help you. Let’s get some dinner and talk. Just us. I’m sure we can figure something out—come to an arrangement.”
Alex was shocked by how much he wanted to rip the lawyer’s face off. How dare this idiot human put a hand on her, let alone make an offer like that?
“Lia,” said Alex, his lip curling around the name as he reached out and removed the lawyer’s hand from her shoulder, “does not require your kind of help.”
The lawyer stumbled back a step and Lia whirled around and stared at both of them in confusion.
“I’m just trying to be a friend,” said the lawyer, trying to switch gears. “I was offering to help Lia.”
“Thanks, Carlos,” she said, smiling. Alex didn’t think she had grasped the kind ofhelpCarlos had been suggesting. “I’m fine.”
“Ready for dinner?” asked Alex, smiling at her and turning his body slightly to cut the lawyer out of the conversation.
“Um…” Lia didn’t look sure about going anywhere with him.
“Lia, you don’t have to do that,” said Carlos, sounding stern as he attempted to reposition himself so that he wasn’t talking around Alex’s shoulders.
“Do what?” asked Eliandra, her brow wrinkling.
“Go with him,” said Carlos.
Eliandra’s confusion only deepened. Her head cocked to one side and she shifted her weight slightly. Had she been a wolf the message would have been:you make no sense. She opened her mouth but no question came out.
“He thinks I’m paying you,” said Alex, answering the question her body asked. He watched in satisfaction as Lia took ahurried step away from Carlos as if he were now repulsive. “But considering that he was offering his help in return for yourservicesI’m not sure how he has the balls to be offended.”
“That’s not…” Carlos trailed off, and his face went red, betraying the truth.
“Dinner?” repeated Alex and gestured toward the door.
“Yes, thank you,” said Lia, regaining her power of speech. She looked furious and Alex felt satisfaction at the fact that Carlos was never going to be able to come back from this.
“Lia,” Carlos called after them. “Lia, I’m sorry.”
Eliandra raised one hand in a wave, but didn’t respond otherwise. She pushed through the courthouse door with vigor and it bounced off the doorstop with a clang.
She stood on the courthouse steps breathing hard as if trying to control her temper. Alex wasn’t sure what to say or do now. All of their interactions up to this point had involved yelling. He didn’t want to argue, but he wasn’t sure what to say now.
“You are parked in a no parking zone,” she barked, gesturing at his car.
“Am I?” he asked, looking at his car in surprise. He hadn’t realized she would know which one was his.
She made an angry growl and stomped down another few stairs, stopping and putting her hands on her hips.
“He is a nice person,” she said, her voice shredded with anger and pain. “He cares about people.” Alex didn’t know how to respond to that. “He does a good job for his clients.”
She turned to face him and he saw the raw stinging pain that Carlos had caused her.
“Is it my dress? Is it too short? What is it? Because I have never…”
Her mouth snapped shut and she turned away from him, clearly intent on leaving. He reached out and grabbed her hand. Palm to palm, no more contact than a stranger might make whenshaking hands.
“You’re poor,” he said, blurting out the first answer he could think of.
