Dangerous Hearts

The Date

Alexander's POV

Joseph had called me an hour ago with an update on the girl from the alley and said that her ex-husband, her son's dad, had backed her into a corner and she'd been hurt. I'd planned on having him and Killian watch over her for awhile before deciding to bring her to the estate, but when I'd heard that, I'd immediately told him to invite her to have dinner with me tonight so that I could see for myself that she was okay. I'd barely even talked to this woman and I already felt the need to be protective of her. Killian and a few of my other men have told me already that they've seen a shift in my attitude lately, so I knew that my encounter with her had already started changing me.

I'd made sure that the chefs had everything ready by the time they got here and all I had to do now was wait for them. Joey had texted me that she'd had a shift at the hospital, but he'd waited for her until it was over and that they were on the way to the estate now and, for some reason, I was more nervous about this encounter than I'd ever been during anything involving guns with my enemies.

I'd be lying if I didn't say that I took extra time picking out my clothes and looking at myself in the mirror. I ended up going with semi-casual clothes: a pair of dark blue jeans and a black button-up t-shirt with the top two buttons undone to keep me from feeling restricted. I dabbed some cologne on and proceeded to try to tame my hair. It was constantly messy, so I tended to use enough hair gel from my own salon to keep it in place, but I didn't want to scare the poor girl off, so I kept it to a minimum and hoped for the best. I also trimmed up my beard a little bit to make it look neat again and then deemed myself good enough.

They still weren't here yet, though, so I found myself pacing a hole through the floor in anticipation.

Fifteen minutes later, I got a ping on my phone that someone was crossing the security line of the estate and Joey texted that they were pulling up now. I couldn't wait to see this woman again and I had to force myself to walk leisurely down the grand staircase to meet them in the foyer. I could hear them chattering as I cleared the landing and walked down the rest of the steps; I wasn't sure what I was expecting to see, but the slight nervousness underneath her pretty smile happened to be the first thing I noticed. It was quickly smothered as I took in her appearance, though. She had a lovely dress on that reached just above her knees, and although she was shorter than I was by almost a foot, her legs looked long and made her look taller. Her long hair was down tonight and her makeup highlighted the fullness of her lips and her big doe eyes, and those were what I focused on right now.

Joey stepped away to blend into the shadows of the room, but still kept a watchful eye on us. He and Killian were my best friends, but they also happened to be my most skilled fighters and bodyguards. Killian was already patrolling the courtyard for us in case something were to happen. It was rare, but sometimes we had unwelcome visitors that needed to be dealt with.

"Thank you for joining me tonight," I said softly to her, my eyes roamed over her again, "you look lovely."

She smiled politely and slightly ducked her head at the compliment, "Thank you."

"Come on, let's get some food. I hope you're hungry?" I said as I put my hand on the small of her back and led her outside. She nodded and slightly tensed up at my touch. I lifted my hand to hover behind her instead to make her more comfortable. I could tell she relaxed slightly after that, but her nerves were keeping her from it fully. Joey gave her a thumbs up as we passed him before moving to walk behind us. I saw her give him a smile in answer and knew that he'd calmed her nerves on the drive over with his usual charisma.

The courtyard was just outside of the double doors in front of us and once they were opened, I heard her gasp. Since it was dark outside, it was lit up with fairy lights all around the trees and on the fences. The fountain was going in the middle with changing lights every few seconds. Our table was set up a few yards away from it and when we reached it, I helped her get seated before sitting across from her.

Her eyes reflected all the lights as she kept looking around and I was mesmerized as I watched her. I didn't want to break her out of her trance, but I wanted to get to know her more and try and figure her out. Most of all, I wanted her to know me and not be scared or nervous around me.

I decided to let her look around for as long as she needed and when she turned to me, I gave her a small smile. "You must have questions, and I'll answer the best I can," I leaned forward a little bit, "but first, can I finally know your name?"

She tilted her head to the side and regarded me for a few seconds. What I wouldn't give to figure out what she was thinking right about now. "My name is Charlie," she finally answered.

"It's nice to formally meet you, Charlie," I liked how her name rolled off my tongue, "under much better circumstances than before. Thank you for helping me out last night."

She nodded, "My job is to help people, and you needed it last night. I'm glad I was there when I was."

I smiled a little, "I am too." I really was. It would've been hell trying to drive back with a bullet still in me, even though I'd managed it before, but I was glad that she'd stumbled upon me when she did. "So, what would you like to know about me?"

"How did you know where I live?"

"After you helped me out, I sent Joseph and my other friend, Killian, after you to look out for you. I wanted them to find out more about you and report it back to me." I answered honestly. I was not known to lie about things, and I figured that it was best to not keep her in the dark about anything. I didn't want it to get messy.

"Why?" She whispered, but it was loud enough in the silence of the courtyard that I was able to hear her.

I sighed, "I'm sure you noticed the two men running from the alley a few seconds before you came along, right?" She nodded. "Well, they were sent to kill me. I was meeting up with an informant for some information about one of my rivals and was led into a trap. While the men who'd shot me were taken care of by my own men, the people who had sent them are still out there and they could have seen you tending to me and gone after you for just associating yourself with me. I wanted to make sure that you were protected in case they decided to follow you."

She looked over at Joey, who was a few feet away from us standing guard, and he nodded to her. It looked like they'd sparked up a friendship already because she seemed to already trust him.

"What exactly is it that you do?" She asked after finally looking back over at me.

The dreaded question...but one that I knew she should hear. "I own various businesses, but I am the current head of our local mafia."

Her eyes widened slightly, but she kept her composure nicely. "The mafia. As in dealing with drugs, human trafficking, turf wars, and illegal operations?" That about summed up the typical mafia lore. Ours was a little different though. We kept out of trafficking and tried to also stay on the more legal side of things for the most part.

"For the most part, yes," I said, "the only difference with our family is that we tend to be protectors instead of hurting people. We rescue people being trafficked or are in trouble with other turfs and put them under our protection or make sure they get the help they need. I also don't condone the use of drugs, so we usually are able to put a stop to those."

"And the other stuff?" She hesitantly said.

I held her gaze, "We do what's needed to keep the peace, but not everything goes to plan."

"And...what is it that you want from me?" Everything was the first word to come to my mind. I wanted her. I wanted-no, needed-her to be safe and happy and I would do anything I possibly could to make it happen.

I saw the chefs coming our way and perked up, "Well, first...I want to feed you the dinner I promised you." She jumped slightly as her plate was set in front of her before thanking the chef as he left. "Then, I want to get to know you better. I want to know everything I can about you, but most importantly, I want to know why you didn't flinch away when I pointed my gun at you."

I saw the shift in her eyes, the openness that was in there earlier, even though I was explaining the terrible things of my life, was now gone and that haunted look was back in there.

"There's not much to know about me," she said softly, and then cleared her throat uncomfortably. I disagreed, but a sharp hand gesture from Joey had me falling back from the millions of questions I wanted to ask.

"I'm sorry if I caused you any distress," I said gently, "I was merely curious. We don't have to talk about that now, okay?" She nodded after a long pause. "Let's talk about other things while we eat," I offered. The chefs made us some honey-dijon chicken, parmesan asparagus, and garlic buttered mashed potatoes. It was one of my favorite meals and my mouth was already watering. "So, what made you want to become a nurse?"

She smiled softly, "I wanted to be able to help people and being a nurse has been a dream of mine for a very long time."

"Why's that?" I figured she loved helping people out, even though I didn't know the real reason for it. I had a feeling that it was something that she was hiding, but hearing that it had been a dream of hers for a long time and seeing the longing look in her eyes had me thinking that whatever had happened to her before wasn't the main reason.

"My mom was a nurse and she made it seem like the best thing in the world. Being able to help save lives is as satisfying as she said it would be." She was far away now, lost in a memory of another time.

"She must be proud of you," I said quietly. She shifted in her seat and pulled herself back to the present. I could see the glimmer in her eyes and nearly panicked, thinking I'd upset her again.

"I hope so. Her and my dad died in a car accident when I was eighteen."

Oh shit... I'm screwing this whole dinner up. I don't think I've said one thing to make her feel comfortable here. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry about it," she reassured gently with a sweet smile, "you didn't know and I kind of walked myself into that one. I learned a lot from them while they were with me."

"I feel the same way, my mother died when I was very young and I just lost my father a few years ago and am still finding it hard to fill his shoes."

"Those must be some pretty big shoes," she joked lightly.

She had no idea. "You got that right," I grinned at her. "So, Joey told me that you have a son. What's his name and how old is he?" Her eyes softened at the mention of her son and I didn't realize I'd stopped breathing until my lungs started protesting and I had to feign drinking my water to keep her from noticing.

"His name is Oliver and he's ten. He's so smart for his age too and he's my best friend. We always look out for each other. My best friend from college, Stella, lives with us and she watches over him when I'm at work. He is one of the best things to ever happen to me," she said quietly.

"He sounds like a great kid. What does he like to do?"

"He loves basketball and most sports. He's even got me attempting to play basketball in our driveway with him," she laughed a little bit. "I'm not the greatest at it, but at least we have fun trying together."

I chuckled softly, "I used to play basketball as well and I like to think that I was pretty decent at it too. My favorite sport is football though." I suppose that's where some of my violent tendencies originated from as well. I wasn't afraid of getting down and dirty, and I definitely wasn't afraid of getting bloody. "I tried to get into all of the sports at some point to see if I could do any of them."

She smiled, "I was able to play soccer pretty well in high school, but as soon as I went to college, I got more into art and books. I don't play much anymore, only when Oliver wants to play it. I'm surprisingly very clumsy, considering I'm a nurse." I grinned at her when she met my gaze again, "I've gotten better with it, but it still messes me up occasionally." She winced slightly before schooling her features back into her usual delicate smile. If I wasn't watching her face as closely as I was, I wouldn't have seen it, and for the moment while we were talking softly in comfortable companionship, I pretended that I didn't see it.

I didn't want to voice it now, when she was finally eating something and calming down, but I didn't know how much longer I'd be able to hold off on it. Seeing her hurt was making me go a little crazy, and I knew that she didn't want anyone to know about it or think that there was something wrong. It took everything in me not to demand that she tell me where she was hurt though. All I wanted to do was help her and do everything I could to protect her from any more harm.

I chuckled, "I have yet to see you be clumsy myself."

"It'll happen one way or another, I'm sure," she joked. She shifted again under the scrutiny of my gaze and I could see the blush forming on her pale cheeks. She was stunning and I found myself wanting to see more of her.

We were finished eating our meal at this point, but I was far from being done being in her presence. "Would you like some dessert or skip it and take a walk with me?"

"I think I'm too full for dessert, so a walk would be lovely," she said as she patted her flat stomach contentedly.

I chuckled again before I stood to walk to her side, "Come on," I held my hand out to her and after a moment, she put hers in mine so I could help her stand. She stood gracefully and sent me a smile of thanks before we started walking at a slow pace so that she could marvel at all the decorations in the courtyard. I could tell she was in awe of everything, but we had yet to say anything since we'd started walking.

I didn't mind so much, I was content just to be able to watch her look around.