Unexpected Attraction

Episode4

I’m sitting on the bed inside Amelia’s room, her sleeping form curled up on my thigh as Alice gives me the full details of everything that led to those messages, beginning from when my wife died at the mall.

It happens that Amelia had seen the face of the man who shot her mum that day, and the man would have pulled the trigger on her, too, but the cops arrived, and he escaped with his g**g. He traced and found her through the news—where she admitted to having seen the ‘bad man’ who shot her mummy and could recognize him anywhere by his black afro hair—so he devised a plan to eliminate her. Seeing it wasn’t going to be an easy one for him as I became so protective of my child—never leaving the house with her—and even leaving my businesses to be with her, he had to find another way, which brought Alice to the picture.

He probably got wind that I needed a babysitter months later and forced Alice to apply with strict instructions that she would do as he said.

She’s been feeding him information about us—I and Amelia— and I don’t know how I feel as I’m hearing her say he even made her start making advances at me.

“But I swear, I didn’t do it because he asked me to, I did it because…” she sniffs again and looks away at an invisible thing on the dresser in a corner of Amelia’s spacious bedroom. Her hair looks disheveled and is that a scar I see on her shoulder blade? I’m sure I’ve never noticed that since I knew her.

“Because?”

“I… I. I did it because I truly liked you. I’d fallen for you from the first time I walked through the main door downstairs for the interviews, but. I had to stick to the plans so as not to have Jake get mad at me.” She sighs.

“Then why did you stop sticking to the plans?” I think I know the reason, but I want to hear it from her, I want to see the expression on her face as she admits that she couldn’t take her attention off my handsome self.

“I could no longer deceive myself that I loved Jake and can’t survive without him even after seeing this hot, kind man who happens to be my boss and a grieving single father.” She’s trying to hide a blush as she’s saying this, but I now know her a little more to know when she’s flattered.

Amelia stirs in her sleep and mutters some incoherent things before sighing back to sleep. I’m grateful her nightmares have stopped, they haunted her for months after her mum’s death, the same way it haunted me that I couldn’t protect the two women I loved my whole life. We had to see a therapist and to the glory of God, we’re both healing, until this morning when I learned this new truth.

“So you’re saying you were checking your employer out from the first day you came in here?” I bite my lips softly to keep myself from smiling.

She says nothing, instead, she smiles shyly and wipes off the drying tears on her cheeks.

“I’ll help you get out of that mess you call a relationship and also make sure that b****y fucker rots in jail for causing people pain,” I say and beckon for her to come closer. She climbs into the bed and I draw her into myself, kissing her lips and nibbling a bit at those soft small lips of hers.

“I’m sorry, Mario.” She whispers into my ears just as my left-hand slips underneath her nightie to twitch her right n****e, making a soft moan escape her lips.

“St..op it, Mario. Amelia’s here please.” She tries to stifle her giggles.

***

Two weeks later…

We’re inside the car—the cops and I—parked a little distance away from the address Alice gave us as to where the assassins are hiding. We’re waiting for the signals because she walked in some minutes ago, and I can’t explain this nervousness that’s washing over my whole body.

My palms are sweaty, and my heart is beating faster than normal. After hearing her side of the story with much believable evidence, I brought in the cops, and they urged Alice to play along with Jake, leading him on by telling him she’s trying to buy time so as not to be suspected.

We’ve carefully followed this up for two weeks and today, we’re here because Alice told Jake she has carried out his wish, and she came here to hand over a bag of ‘money’ she made away with.

I want to laugh at how hectic it was to get Amelia to lay like she was dead for Alice to take photos as evidence she’d killed her. It was chaotic, but we pulled it off, and now I’m holding myself from jumping out of this car and rushing into that highly fenced and gated house to see whether my woman is safe.

Amelia is at my friend’s family house and once all this is over, we’re leaving this state for a new place where we’ll start our lives again, away from the traumas and happenings of the past year.

Two weeks of planning and preparation have led to this moment. I take a deep breath, my heart racing with fear and anticipation. The police officers nod at me, and we move forward, surrounding the house. Alice is inside, and I can only hope she is safe.

Standing there, I am hit by another wave of intense heat. I can feel the large drops of sweat rolling down my back, and I honestly can’t remember sweating this profusely. My legs are jittering with fear and anxiety as I hear the loud voices of Alice and a male voice. I can tell he’s her so-called f*****g boyfriend.

The signal comes, and the silence is shattered by the sound of shattering glass. The police officers clad in deep navy-blue uniforms, and armed with rifles, burst into the house through the front door and windows. I follow close behind, my heart racing a mile a minute, and I’m almost gasping for breath.

“Get down! Get down now!” The officers shout, their voices echoing through the large building.