Chapter Text
The fog was thick, thick enough for Evelyn to breathe and feel it invade her lungs like the intoxicating scent of cigars in a poker room. Days like these made most people stay inside, sheltering beneath the roofs paid for by the labor of someone more deserving.
She liked hazy days the most. It was like she had the entire city to herself, no one around. Even if they were, the fog was too thick for her to see them. They were mere shadows passing from one plane of existence to another.
It was her happy place. Well, it had been her until she realized she would much rather be in the arms of a man who seems to want to keep her close. She wasn’t naive. She knew that Alfie’s interest in her grew the more she evaded his unrelenting grasp. Their desire closed around her willpower each time she was near him.
Did that make her stop?
Absolutely not.
Alfie peaked her interest more than anyone she had met. His gruff language and manner of speaking drastically differed from the men of her daily encounters around Camden. She’d be willing to bet he’d say the same exact thing about her.
The click of her heels on the uneven stone of the sidewalk mixed ominously with the silence muddled by haze. She felt as though she could shout and her voice would echo back, the audible interpretation of two mirrors facing one another.
Somewhere above her the midday sun was bearing down through the clouds, shrouding the city in obscurity. Alfie was adamant she be on time to the bakery so they could drive out to the country and make it to the races with minutes to spare.
She still had half a thought that Alfie didn’t actually have a “mission” for her to execute and just wanted to steal her time to stroke his own inflated ego. Whatever the case, she didn’t have the heart to be annoyed. Alfie challenged her in a way that other men didn’t. Most treated her like a child while the others saw her as a walking cunt waiting to be fucked. That’s not to say that Alfie didn’t want to fuck her.
She could see it in his eyes, the way his pupils darkened when she sucked her bottom lip between her pearly teeth. His fingers twitched when she smoothed out the wrinkles that gathered along her waist, angry that he wasn’t the one caressing the soft fabric down her hips.
The thought propelled her forward even faster.
Her spine tingled with anticipation. Evelyn felt like she was about to see Alfie in the wild, stalking his prey like a famished tiger at the peak of testosterone. She had witnessed his formality at the bakery, and his forceful tone at the barrister’s office. Today, though, she would see him attack. She just knew it.
It was frightening to her. Not the idea of Alfie protecting his territory as the Alpha of Camden Town; no, she was scared by her excitement. She was terrified by the way that her knickers were soaked at the image of his forearms pressing an enemy against the wall by their throat.
She had seen things in her life that she wished could be erased from her memory like footprints in a desert. Picturing Alfie in those thoughts… changed them.
Long ago she watched someone get shot in cold blood on the floor of her mother’s factory. The man was young and had made a careless mistake, letting a furnace build to the point of threatening the other workers. The foreman simply took out a pistol and shot him dead. When the constable came, he claimed the shooting as a “greater good for the safety of the other workers.” That was only the first of many times that Evelyn has witnessed death. She clutched at her mother’s skirts, gagging at the sight of fresh blood weeping onto the dirty, concrete floor.
But if it were Alfie doing the killing, it was suddenly rationalized. She imagined him, suspenders taunt on his chest as he raised the pistol and let the bullet fly out without so much as a blink. Of course he would have had a good reason. She would stand behind him no matter what. That’s what made her skin crawl with exciting dread.
It made her feel alive.
She looked up and saw the formidable stacks of bakery beyond the thick smog beckoning her forward.
Though she would never admit it aloud, Evelyn fed off of feeling vulnerable. She wasn’t helpless, nor scared. She believed vulnerability was heavily influenced by the unknown of the future. That twinge of excitement when you turn a corner not knowing who, or what, was on the other side.
It was like wading above the surface in open water, knowing that something was lurking beneath her, friend or foe.
Her entire life, she’d hung off the ledge of uncertainty. Feeling vulnerable… that was a luxury. One that Alfie gave her.
“Are you just standin’ there for the rest of the fuckin’ day? As much as I’d love to watch you all dressed up for me, we’ve got a drive ahead of us.”
Speak of the Devil, and he shall appear.
The haze cleared around her and suddenly Alfie was there in all his glory. His aura charged at the fog and pushed it back like a wave of soldiers storming the front. She couldn’t hold back her grin.
“Alfie,” she greeted him, nodding her head and taking careful steps across the stones beneath her feet. His frame was leaned against the front door of an expensive vehicle. The wheels were nearly as tall as her.
“Little one,” he replied, his own smirk accentuating the dimples in his cheeks, just at the edge of his beard.
He loved the way Evelyn’s face would flush with a faint pink whenever he used the nickname. Her innocence, though buried, shone through her eyes. He saw what others could not: a girl, longing for something protective, but not persuasive. Alpha instinct bloomed in his chest at the sight of her. He never wanted it to ebb away.
“I thought I was supposed to meet you at the bakery.” Her voice teased him through a blatant accusation. “Are you that eager to see me?”
“What kind of gentleman would I be, makin’ you walk any extra steps and risk ruining your pretty shoes.” She saw the playfulness in his eyes, but knew a small piece of that statement was true. If any other man had said that to her, they’d be kneeling on the damp ground with a grimace. She didn’t need to be babied, nor did she want it.
With Alfie, it was just different.
Evenly shrugged. “It’s okay, I would have just made you buy me a new pair. The bread business has been doing good this year, I’m sure you could afford it.”
His hand ran through his beard in a clear attempt to hide his smirk. “As long as I can help you try them on.”
“No promises.”
Alfie offered his hand and helped her up into the car. His fingers lingered a touch longer than socially acceptable, and Evelyn savored every second of it.
As he shut her door and walked around to the driver’s side, she got the chance to admire the luxurious interior. She’d been in the back of a copper’s vehicle, multiple times. This was her first go-round in the front. A taste of the wealthy she had looked down on yet secretly yearned for. Her hands ran across the soft, worn leather with a smile.
“Nice, yeah? Got this one a few months ago. She was a pricey thing, but more than fuckin’ worth it. Drives like it’s floatin’ over water.” Alfie’s voice brought her back to reality. Evelyn hadn’t realized her companion had opened the door and slipped in until she felt the heat emanating off his muscular shoulders, even through his jacket. “I can’t say I’ve ever had someone like you sittin’ next to me.” Alfie made the seemingly open space look cramped. Luckily her size fit comfortably without having to maneuver her legs much.
“Someone like me? I surely hope you’re not referring to my status as a woman with a cunt.” The words cut sharp but her tone removed all animosity.
“Crass little thing, you are. For your information, I was referrin’ to your beauty.”
“That’s not true. I’m sure you look in the mirror and think you’re the prettiest in the room.” She smiled in jest, eyes trained towards the vacant road.
“Is your goal to bust my fuckin’ balls any time I give you a compliment.”
“No, just some of the time. You’re fun to tease.”
“You’ll be sorry to say that later.”
“We’ll see.” She loved this, the banter between them. Life is much too serious to go without it. Alfie shook his head, already feeling his mood lightening. A few seconds of silence passed while Alfie closed his door. She hesitantly opened her mouth again. “Thank you.”
“For what?” he asked, pausing his hands from starting the engine.
“The compliment.”
“Just speakin’ the truth. Especially when the rich pricks at the races try to wine and dine you later on.” While he wanted those words to be in jest, he knew it to be true.
Evelyn shrugged, unaware of Alfie’s concern. “I’ll have you to look out for me.”
“You will. That don’ stop their eyes from wanderin’ though.”
“I can’t just rip them out with a spoon? Maybe I can feed their eyes to the posh mothers who think their baby boys rule society with their fake investments and wicked concubines.”
Alfie shot her an unrelenting stare before loudly laughing. “You’re somethin’ else, you know that?”
“Better than being another sheep in the herd.”
“That it is, luv.”
He turned on the engine, sending a jolt of vibrations into her core that she hadn’t prepared for. She unintentionally let out a quiet “oh” that sounded more pleasurable than surprised. That, in addition to the close proximity of her current infatuation, made for a very squirmy reaction.
Evelyn knew Alfie was looking at her. She refused to meet his eyes and instead stared through the front. If she didn’t acknowledge it, then it didn’t happen, right?
Alfie pulled the car from the curb, weaving through the disappearing fog and down the streets leading towards the city outskirts. The silence was heavy, but not uncomfortable. The ever present tension hung around them like a summer breeze.
“Is it a long drive?” Evelyn asked, breaking the hard silence with a soft voice.
“Long enough,” he replied. The air began to clear of industry smog as the green pastures finally came into view. “Rich folks love to be seen in the country. Makes them look more down to earth, even though their hands never touch the fuckin’ ground to begin with.”
“No work, all play,” Evelyn muttered. She was well acquainted with the pedestal by which the upper class lived on, taking the blood and sweat of others only to turn it into gold for them. “You’re not like them.”
She watched Alfie fist the steering wheel a little tighter. “Cause I grew up from the dirt. Some people choose to forget it. But every time I look down at my rings, I can feel the fuckin’ filth beneath my fingernails.”
The glance of self-consciousness from beneath his stone exterior caused her brows to furrow. Had she realized this was such a sensitive topic for him, she would have tread a little lighter. It disarmed her, seeing his barriers crack. “That’s certainly not a bad thing. It’s gotten you this far, hasn’t it?”
“That’s one way to look at it.”
“It’s the only way to look at it, or else you’re so deep in your own pity that you can’t find your way out of the darkness.”
“You always this optimistic?”
“I didn’t used to be. The older I get, the more I realize things don’t get better until you make them. Optimism is simply the first step.” Her statement held a matter-of-fact tone, though she didn’t know if it was her her benefit or Alfie’s. Either way, he heard it.
“I admire that,” he replied, his eyes still trained on the road. Dirt Wet from the melting snow flew from both sides of the tires leaving a thin wake of dust in their trail. “Seems stupid, though. It can get you into trouble.”
“Trust and trouble don’t always go hand in hand.”
“I’m trouble,” he said, arm raising up and onto the ledge beneath her head. His smirk seemed genuine aside from the hint of insecurity that crinkled his eyes. Her chocolate gaze latched onto his immediately.
“Yet I still trust you. Maybe you're an exception.” Evelyn’s voice rang with a truth that both scared and thrilled Alfie to his core. Her eyes shone with the sparkling sun and a smile that could blind a thousand men with one glance. Wisps of dark hair flew around her face like an ocean of wheat stalk waving in the breeze.
She was beautiful.
And he was in way over his head.
Evelyn shifted in her seat, looking out towards the hills blanketed with thin layers of snow and filled with cattle and horses that ran with the wind. She was enamored by the feeling of freedom that always seemed too far out of her grasp. The open air smelt of winter frost that was nearly melted by the high sun at this point in the day. When she was a child, she begged her mother time and time again to take a day trip to the country and have a picnic. It seems as though she finally got her chance.
Trees hung over the road and created a canopy of withered leaves and shaded vines. She had almost forgotten how clear the air could be without the smoke pollution and increasing number of automobiles lining the streets. Living in the city felt like living in a bubble filled with cigarette smoke. Alfie was a pin, tapping the surface of her small world and bursting into it with fresh air and new perspectives.
Every so often, Alfie felt his gaze shift to Evelyn’s face as her eyes flickered across the landscape around them. The light from the sun filtered through her long lashes, casting shadows across her cheekbones like a baby bird lifting its wings.
His days were filled with such monotonous darkness, made even darker by the violent means of his business. He thought nothing could possibly surprise him. Yet here she sat, the personification of a humanity so different from his own. Mutters of wonder bounced from her lips and through the breeze hoping to find their way into someone's deserving ears. Ever so slowly, he watched her carefully constructed walls fall brick by brick, revealing the soul of a little girl that grew up faster than she should have.
He didn’t realize his own walls were tumbling even further than hers.
Alfie pulled off the main road and onto a thin trail heavy with gravel that pinged off the inside of the tires. The car bobbed with the uneven ground causing Evelyn’s body to slide over to Alfie’s as he held onto the wheel with a firm grip. She scanned the surrounding area for any signs of human life, but the farther the road went, the more she realized this was not the way to the races.
“Where are we going?” she asked with the slightest hint of hesitation in her tone. She trusted Alfie, whether she wanted to or not, but that didn’t mean she would blindly follow him into an uninhabited field with nothing but a small knife to defend herself.
He didn’t spare her a glance, keeping his eyes facing front. “Just a quick stop on the way.” He didn’t seem bothered, so obviously this had been in the plans. That didn’t make Evelyn feel any better.
“In the middle of nowhere? If I didn’t know any better, you’re about to shove a bullet in my throat and bury me in a field.” Her words were joking, but only enough to quell the need to jump out the car and run to the nearest person.
“Is your imagination always this fuckin’ wild?” Alfie looked at her like she’s magically grown another tit while he wasn’t paying attention. She scoffed, lifting her thighs to see better out her window. Alfie’s arm immediately shot out in front of her and put pressure on her lap, forcing her back down. “Sit your arse down until the car stops or I’ll be peelin’ your face from the metal!”
She rolled her eyes, sitting deeper into the bucket seat and placing her hands back on her lap. “Alright, alright,” she muttered, more to herself than to Alfie.
“Roll those eyes at me again, sweetheart. I dare you.”
Without thinking, a reflexed sorry, Sir ran from her lips before she could drag it back, her face blushing a light sheen of pink that reminded him of the countryside sunsets that inspire the most renowned of painters.
Alfie’s jaw clenched, showing a tiny slip of unrestrained attraction that represented a sea of dire longing for her body to be writhing beneath his own. He could only imagine those two words being chanted like a prayer as he drove into her sweet cunt until he bottomed out. She had no idea what those two words meant to him.
Did she?
Evelyn hadn’t experienced the gratification of higher education, but she definitely noticed subtle signs of human interactions. In Alfie’s case, she wasn’t sure if he was truly angry at her, or if the emotion was self-targeted. Either way, the vision of his veins thrumming beneath the surface of his forearms stirred her craving for him.
He promptly stopped the car, leaning his head against the hard surface of the steering wheel to gain his bearings back. He needed to keep control of the situation.
Control.
“Righ’ then,” he said, shoving in the door open and lifting himself out. “We’ll be here for a bit.“ He took long strides to the opposite side of the car and assisted Evelyn as she hopped to the ground. Her heels sunk into a soft spot of mud in the road making a wet squelching sound as she suctioned it out. She didn’t give it a second thought, except to remind Alfie that he owed her a new pair. Surely he would oblige.
Her legs brought her to the feathery blades of grass at the edge of a large field, damp from snow. In the distance she could see cheap wooden fences that contained a small herd of cattle. “Here?” she asked, walking further into the pasture. “There’s nothing here.”
“Exactly,” he said, brandishing a pistol from his pocket.
She jumped, created a larger distance between the two. “What the hell, Alfie?” Her voice rang out, catching the attention of some cows grazing and making them drift away from the couple. Her heart thrummed in her chest.
“I’m flattered, but I don’t need to threaten you just to get you under me. That’s something you beg for.”
“You don’t need to be a bastard about it. Point it away from me!” Her hands went up to block her face, like the bullet would simply bounce off the supple skin and leave her unharmed.
Alfie took the gun and carefully flipped it, making sure the handle was facing towards Evelyn. She eyed it wearily, dropping her hands and digging them into her sides. She’d had many encounters with weapons like this, but the only one she’d ever had to use was the small pocket knife currently attached to her garter.
“I will protect you, righ. I will, luv. You can trust me to do that. But I’d feel a helluva lot safer knowin’ you had somethin’ else to help you out of trouble. You know, on the off chance that I cannot be there.” Walking towards her with careful steps, he gently removed her arm from her side, running his hand from her elbows to her fingertips. The motion eased her tense muscles enough for Alfie to unclench her fist and open her palm. The skin on skin contact distracted Evelyn from the cold metal that stung her hand like eyes walking from a dark room to the light outdoors.
“I’ve never used one of these before.” Her voice came out small, no longer hiding beneath the strong bravado and blunt sarcasm. She looked at the piece of metal with trepidation. It didn’t necessarily look that dangerous. The black welding sloped into smooth curves that beckoned her hand to graze upon the surface. She knew, though, that this little thing could turn a grown man into a pile of skin and bones choking on his own blood. It was small, but lethal.
Like her, some could argue.
Alfie simply nodded. “I thought as much.” His tone harbored no judgement nor condescension. He let the words sit with her, observing her fingers twitching for something to hold onto. He almost volunteered his.
“I don’t know how.” She searched his features for some kind of reaction, but merely found acceptance. Possibly even a twinge of excitement on his part.
“That’s alrigh’ luv, I can teach you,” he replied with a soft smile most wouldn’t believe coming from someone so hardened.
“I don’t even know what I’m going up against.”
“If all ends well, hopefully fuckin’ nothing, yeah? I wouldn’ put you in harms way without knowin’ you can handle yourself.”
“I can.”
“You know what I mean.”
“So tell me. The plan, I want to know the plan.”
“It’s quite simple, sweetheart. I need you to distract an easily distractible man.” That’s it? Evelyn wasn’t expecting a gunfight or rushing battalion but she certainly hoped for more than just becoming a distraction.
“What exactly am I distracting him with, my womanly guiles?”
Alfie barked out a laugh. “No guiles needed. I imagine just walkin’ through the door with those hips of yours swayin’ from side to side is more than enough. I could send you to that tent with a burlap fuckin’ sack over your head and men would be beggin’ to buy you a drink. Which brings me to rule number one: no drinking. I need you ready for anything. When you’re drunk, the only think you’re ready for is the next round.”
“I don’t drink much to begin with.”
“That’s good. Admirable, even.”
“Do you drink much?”
“Like a fuckin’ fish.” Her eyebrow perched as she bore into him with a look of annoyance, to which he just shrugged off. “You do realize what business I’m in, righ’?”
“Yes, I’m well aware Mr. Solomons.”
“It’s my duty as a businessman to test my products. Can’t be sendin’ pure shite overseas and hope they order more.”
The girl couldn’t help herself, having a instinctual reaction to roll her eyes so far back into her head, the whites were visible.
Fuckin’ brat, Alfie thought with a smirk that could combust a pair of knickers beneath the robes of a nun.
“What’d I say about those fuckin’ eyes? That’s two strikes today, little one. Don’ let me catch you doin’ that again.”
Evelyn felt a rush of warmth heat her cheeks, both high and low. Her body bristled with the lingering vibrations of his commanding tone that swept through her nerves and set them on fire. “What will you do, put me over your knee?” She intended her question to sound firm, yet her voice trembled in sync with her weakening knees.
Heavy steps crunched against the fallen leaves and melting snow in purposeful steps as Alfie stalked forward until he stood in front of Evelyn, leaving only an inch or two of space between them. Her unwavering stare stayed eye level with his broad chest. Whether out of defiance or nervousness, she wouldn’t admit. Her breath hitched being in such close proximity to him. He could practically hear Evelyn’s pulse beating against her neck and chest. “You won’ be able to sit correctly for a fuckin’ week.”
A wave of weightlessness fluttered through her bones, forcing an almost silent whimper from her throat. Alfie’s knees bent just enough to make up for the near foot of height difference between the two. She felt his hot breath puff across her forehead like an endless August day, feeding into her primal desires. He registered the emotions as soon as their eyes met.
He had the same ones.
“Is that something you’d like, sweetheart?” His hand picked up curl that had fallen from beneath her ear, tucking it back into its proper place. A knowing smile reached across his features with a gentleness she hadn’t seen from him before. She felt like one of those china dolls she had begged her mom for as a child, yet never got.
Is this what it feels like to be wanted?
Without even dwelling on it, Evelyn’s head slowly nodded, almost undetectably so, like she was trying to convince herself more than Alfie. Her mother never disciplined her as a child. It was never necessary. Evelyn behaved as well as a street kid possibly could. She followed her mother’s rules, which were slightly different from the rules laid out by the land.
With this in mind, she had absolutely no clue why the thought of Alfie’s hand upon her plump bottom made her thighs squeeze together like two hands pressuring fresh juice from a lemon. Surely she didn’t want to be hurt, right?
While the thoughts were bouncing off every possible brain cell in her head, Alfie became stuck in his own. He marveled at the petite girl in front of him. She can go from a bollock-busting firecracker to a submissive little thing in the snap of a finger. His finger, to be exact.
The butt of the gun grazed against her fingers with a shock to the system. Evelyn shook herself from her Alfie-induced stupor and refocused her eyes.
“Let’s get back to the task at hand,” Evelyn said, her voice starting shaky before leveling out. The red in her cheeks began to fade even though a small patch of pink lingered on her skin like a paling sunrise.
“You’re all about business, aren’ you?” His soft teasing made her giggle. He was transfixed by her, his stare never leaving her face for fear he’d miss a single second of her smile. She grew nervous under his gaze.
“Alfie…” Evelyn grabbed the gun from his lax grasp and turned around. Maybe if she couldn’t see him, she could focus more. That sounded reasonable. “The longer you keep me here, the more of a window we miss to make our move, though I barely know our exact purpose being there.”
“Does everyone get under your skin this easily?”
“Just you, Sir,” she drawled over her shoulder. The rays from the sun glided across her hair and reflected a yellow glow. “Now tell me who our mark is, how to use this god-awful thing and- Alfie, stop looking at me like I’m your last fuckin’ meal before your execution!” She initially wanted to come off as annoyed but she secretly revelled beneath his darkening eyes. She wished her problems would melt beneath the heat of his stare. At the very least, they could stay like that forever.
“Blame yourself. I can’ help it.”
“Do you flatter all the women you work with? Or am I just the lucky one.”
“‘Course not,” he said, waving off the claim with a sly smile. “You’re the only woman I’ve ever worked with.”
If she knew how to use the gun, she would have shot him.
“Come ’ere.” He motioned towards her with gentle, calloused hands. “It’s easier than it looks.”
“I highly doubt that.” She placed the gun in his hands again. The metal coating was warm with the heat from her skin. Alfie’s hands gripped her shoulders and spun her around so his front was snug into her back. It was like penance, feeling every curve of her waist yet not being able to touch. His chin nearly rested atop her head.
With his hands eased over hers, Alfie positioned the grip of the gun into Evelyn’s hands. Covering her fingers with his own, he raised the weapon to her eye-level. “Now the trick is to treat her carefully.”
“Her?”
“Yes, her. With that smooth skin and glorious curves, it would be a shame to not address her properly. So, shut it and listen, luv. You’ve got to treat her well. Don’t grip her too hard or she’ll feel constricted and backfire into that pretty little nose of yours.”
Evelyn unknowingly dipped her back further into Alfie’s silhouette, seeking the comfort of his overbearing stature. She couldn’t control the way her body sidled up to his like they were seeking warmth in an abandoned tundra, even though the winter chill provided relief from the blaze of desire beneath her skin. How could she think straight, let alone aim a gun, when they stood so intimately against each other?
“Do you have to be right behind me?” she asked, attempting to conceal her breathlessness with fake annoyance.
“Do you have to open that fuckin’ mouth all the time?” he retorted.
“What on earth would keep you this entertained?” She turned her head to make sure he would hear the words, only for him to nudge her back.
“Raise your arms like this,” he muttered low into her ear as his hands slid to her elbows and guided them up. She pointed the muzzle of the gun. The shakiness of her grip betrayed the cool confidence she desperately wanted to exude. The faint smell of nicotine wandered into her nose, filling her head with a cloud of sensual appetite the only Alfie could satisfy.
“It’s heavy.”
“You’ll get used to it. Just means we’ll have to practice every week.”
Evelyn’s arms tired within seconds of holding the dense metal at eye-level, grateful for Alfie bearing a majority of the weight. A gust of wind rushed from beneath the snowy hills of the field forcing them to close their eyes. He could feel goosebumps rise on the exposed skin of her hands and tried to cover every inch with the heat of his own. Even when the air went flat, Evelyn kept her eyes closed. Blinded to one sense, she unconsciously focused on the weapon sitting snug between her fingers. The cold seeped through her bones. She felt like her skin had molded to the metal, a jolt of voltaic electricity stirred in her center and passed through her bloodstream like a winding river.
“You feel that?” Aflie asked, his eyes not moving from where her fingers tensed on the pistol. He knew that feeling, the horror-filled thrill of holding a deadly weapon paired with the moral turmoil of right and wrong. It’s like imagining a small, innocent child with a butcher's knife: you want to stop it, but you’re also filled with a needy curiosity to know what circumstances would create such an environment in the first place.
“Yeah,” she replied, eyes opened and squinting at the rays of sun emerging from behind an errant cloud. She wasn’t sure how to feel.
Alfie nodded gruffly, though she couldn’t see with her eyes still trained on the gun. “Look over there,” he said while pointing to a large oak in the distance. The branches were heavy with the snow piled neatly on top. Like a typical mother, the oak bore the weight with elegance. Another gust of wind ran across the field. Something hung from a tired branch, only noticeable when it began swinging from the static tree.
“What is that?” she asked, looking over her shoulder at him. Alfie lifted the gun and pointed at the hanging object before dragging back the hammer and pulling the trigger. Not being prepared for the strength of the kickback, she nearly jumped out of her skin when the sound penetrated her ears. He boxed her into his arms and held her tight to make sure she wouldn’t jump back.
“Target practice,” he said, the smoke of the gun distinctly trailing from the tip in the chilly air.
“Bloody hell, give a girl a warning first!” Adrenaline charged beneath her skin and sent her heart rate skyrocketing. Alfie chuckled causing Evelyn to deepen her scowl. “Fuckin’ shock me into death, why don’t you?”
His hands released from her slowly, pulling back the gun and slipping it into his own waistband. She immediately missed the heat from his body once the cold sunk back into her skin.
Evelyn watched the hanging object swing, identifying it as a long tree branch tied in the middle with thick, woven rope. It was obvious to her that his “target practice” was quite worn by time and weather. She could only imagine the surface riddled with bullets and slashes. She turned her head towards Alfie, who was busy counting the loose bullets in his pocket before dropping them back in. “How did you know about this place?” she asked, clutching her jacket a little closer.
He looked around at the scenery, already memorized to heart. “I used to come out here as a boy. It’s where I learned to shoot.” He knew every rock, blade of grass and speck of fucking sand that made up his childhood escape.
“Oh,” she replied with surprise evident in her tone. “I didn’t realize.” Evelyn felt a little guilty. She’d been flinging complaints since stepping out of the car when he was sharing a piece of his boyhood with her. She didn’t know why but her nerves prevented her from asking. They weren’t that close, merely business associates with a plethora of sexual tension that hung over them like the rainy season in the tropics. That didn’t stop the faint smile from touching her dimples. He had cracked the door open to his past, just for her. She wasn’t going to force herself in, though she knew over time that the opening would only get bigger.
Her attention was drawn to the pistol now poking out from beneath his waistband. Her brow scrunched together in curiosity. “Aren’t you going to teach me how to shoot? Was that not the point of us coming out here?”
“Not today, luv. We’re going to be late.”
Now she was even more confused. Her mouth opened, then closed, and opened again. “Then why show me the gun at all?”
“You’ll be surrounded by them today. I wanted to make sure you knew what they looked like, so you wouldn’ faint at the sight of one. I have a smaller one in the car for you to carry.” His smirk crossed his face and lit up his hazel eyes. A hand waved her forward and they began their short trek through the melting snow and to the vehicle.
“But what good is carrying it if I don’t know how to shoot.” She reminded Alfie of a child desperate for a piece of decadent chocolate.
“Another day. You have my word. I don’t want you knowing how to use a gun today, cause I know you’ll actually use it. We need to keep it quiet. Too much attention is bad for business.”
“What happens if something goes wrong?”
“It won’.”
“Alfie-” Suddenly she was pulled back by his fingers wrapped around her wrist. Her stood before her, the unrelenting mafia man preparing for battle. He grabbed her by the shoulders and brought his face eye level to hers. The intensity radiated off his figure. She looked to the ground, not having the willpower to remain on him.
“Oy, look at me.” Her gaze snapped back up at his command. “It won’t. I wouldn’t let anything happen to you. You’ll have a gun to wave around, and I know you well enough to guess that there’s a sharp blade somewhere beneath all that clothing.” A baby blush rose across her cheeks. The idea of Alfie thinking about her without any material hiding her figure… made her skin heat. “Plus, I like havin’ you around too much so I’m not plannin’ on gettin’ rid of you yet.” She didn’t know what she was looking for in his features, but she saw nothing but truthfulness seep from his mouth.
Evelyn nodded. “If anything happens to me-”
“My balls are yours to do whatever the fuck you want to.”
The corner of her mouth quirked up in a half smile. He wished it waa the full one, but he’d take it for now. “Fine.”
“Good.” Alfie released her from his grasp and clapped his hands together. Gone was the commander of Camden Town, replaced by the too-excited man nearly hopping in front of her. “Now get your arse in. The races await.”