Only You

Chapter 30

Alexey

I drink in the sight of Elora curled up on the bed, looking content and thoroughly fucked. For a second, I forget myself and entertain the idea of getting in bed behind her and holding her close instead of providing a shitty kiss on the cheek before I ditch.

I discard the thought with an uncomfortable twist of my stomach. I know I can't stay and blur the lines any more. Elora will get confused and it's not fair to her. Shit, I'll get confused and I certainly don't need that.

I walk up to the woman and stroke her hair away from her face, allowing us that bit of spare affection. "You all good? Do you need anything?" I ask, reminding myself that this was her first time, after all. I owe her this much decency, especially since I didn't exactly go soft on her.

She merely shakes her head, nuzzling further into the bed with that painfully cute smile still in place. I sigh, brush my hand over her hair one more time before leaning down to kiss her cheek. Then I force myself to turn away and leave the room without any more hesitation.

When I finally reach my room, I'm almost glad to find my cousin lounging in my bed. Sure, I'm exhausted both mentally and physically but my emotions are too restless for me to get any sleep anyway.

"I know you don't kiss and tell, but you look like a man who just got laid," Cai states as soon as I close the door behind me. I sigh and rub a hand over my face.

"Keep your damn voice down, will you? You'll wake the whole family."

"Right. Sorry, sorry. Now, tell me why you're not beaming," he pushes, shifting to the edge of my bed to make some space for me to sit down.

"I don't think I want to go on with this," I say straight up. That gives him a pause.

"I'm guessing you're not saying that because the sex was bad," he trails off.

"Of course, not." I blow out a breath. "She's fucking amazing. That's just the problem. Today, I almost stayed. It took a great effort to force my body out of that damn hotel room, Cai, and she's a fucking client. I can't have those kinds of feelings for a client," I damn-near whine.

"Okay. So you're freaking out because, what, you're catching feelings? We're there now? It's not like I didn't tell you this would happen but you listed some really good points as to why going through with the deal is more advantageous. You know... the bills. Your family," he trails off and before I can retort anything, a crash from below interrupts us.

The universe is a sick bastard like that.

The crash is followed by the raised voice of my stepfather and Cai and I both perk up. I jump to my feet half a second before he does and am already halfway to the door when my cousin's hand closes around my wrist.

"Don't do it, primo. You know the rules," he warns me.

I do know the rules. And I hate them almost as much as I hate that piece of shit married to my mother. "The rules are changing. We won't need him for much longer. You're right, I need her money. No backing out." The words taste like acid but I swallow them. "I'm sick of this shit. Now, you go to the kids, okay? Make sure they don't come out of their rooms," I tell him and we're out of my room the next second.

"... fucking bitch. You don't get it!" My stepfather's angry words make my blood boil. I hate him. I hate him so fucking much. He brings out a bloodlust within me that I am not used to. One look at his disgusting face and all my calm leaves my body, replaced with the need to hit him for everything he's done to this family.

I step into the kitchen before either he or my mom can say anything else. There are rules but my emotions are already raw from my date tonight. If I hear the scumbag talk shit to my mother I won't be able to restrain myself from doing something stupid.

"You'll wake the kids," I say instead of voicing any of the insults flying through my head. All the while shame burns my insides at my inability to stand up for my family and protect them the way I should. I'm a grown man and still have to bite my tongue like a little kid. All because of those stupid medical bills.

"I'm sorry, hijo. Go back upstairs. We'll keep it down," my mom tells me, her pretty face forced into a strained smile. She knows me too well and sees that I'm on the brink of doing something that I can't afford to do. Like, tackle her piece-of-shit husband for the tight grip he's having on her wrist.

"Right. But it's late. You guys should probably head to bed too," I say while mentally screaming about how much I hate this.

"Listen to your mother and go back upstairs, boy. You don't tell us what to do," the bastard interjects.

I clench my fists and release a tight breath. The tension in the room could be cut with a knife as the old man holds my gaze. In the end, I remind myself to allow him the victory of our little stare-down. Most of the time, it's enough to soothe his anger and forget all about being a dick to my mom. So what if I have to bite my tongue and temporarily have to bow to him, metaphorically speaking. Soon enough, I'll be able to get my life back on track and we'll be able to cut our ties with him for good. We'll see who's smiling then.

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Ik I am leaving a lot out for interpretation here but I hope y'all don't mind:)
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