Devil | A Solomons

TEN - A SPARE KEY

"Where were you?"

"Fuck!" Irina let out a huge breath as she closed her front door and saw Luca sat in her living room, a glass of whiskey on the table beside him and a single light glowing in the corner.

"You scared me, Luca."

He rose to his feet and approached her slowly while she hung up her coat, placing her shoes neatly underneath, tucked out of the way.

"I'm sorry. You didn't come home and I couldn't find you at your office, Kristian said you'd left early, I got worried."

Irina swallowed, staring at Luca. She had given him a key to her home a few weeks prior when they were sleeping together more often than they had been recently, though now she was starting to regret her decision. The idea of having him in her home at anytime without her knowing wasn't as appealing as it was before speaking with Alfie.

"I went to the pub," she replied, heading into the kitchen and pouring herself a glass of red wine, "Long week."

Luca stood behind her, easing his arms around her waist and placing a delicate kiss on the soft skin of her neck.

"I just want to take care of you, Irina."

She froze, closing her eyes as she felt his lips grace her body. He had irritated her by being in her home unannounced, though he knew how to change her mood without having to try very hard.

"I know," she said, "Your guy still outside?"

"Yeah," he nodded as she turned around to face him, pushing back his dark hair with her fingertips, "Why?"

"You mind leaving me tonight? I'm exhausted, I just want to rest, have some time to myself."

Luca looked more than a little hurt by Irina's proposition, but he was more than happy to do anything she asked of him. A sad smile crept onto his lips just before she reached up onto her tiptoes and gave him a gentle kiss.

"Sure, you just remember to call if you need anything, alright? I can have my guys here in minutes."

Irina watched as he grabbed his overcoat from the arm of the chair and pulled it over his body. She wouldn't normally have sent Luca away like that, and admittedly that evening it was harder to say goodbye that she'd have liked.

There was something in the way he stood on her doorstep looking up at her with his hat in his hands and a glow from the moon in his eyes that for a moment, made him pure. Even though Irina knew that Luca Changretta was anything but pure, she saw the glimmer inside of him every time she looked for it.

She didn't want him to leave as he kissed her hand, but she still let him go. Irina wasn't one to become overly involved with men, but when she did, she wasn't sure why she always seemed to pick the troubled ones. Every man she'd ever cared about romantically always came with some kind of baggage, and Luca's was unfortunately heavier than most.

Basked in the golden darkness of her home, Irina sat and drank her wine with the gramophone playing quietly from the dining room, a muffled sound that relaxed her as she stared out of the window, watching rain drops fall down the glass.

She thought about Thomas Shelby, wondering when she'd next hear from him. It had been a while by then and Luca had told her things had been quiet between both groups of men, though he was more than capable of lying to her.

She thought about Alfie afterwards. Her empty fireplace reminded her of him and the way his eyes reflected the flickering orange flames. His presence was ominous but the aura she felt around him was warm and gentle, she liked being in his company. Alfie made her laugh, even when she didn't want to. He made her smile and he made her think about things she would never have thought about, had he not hit her with countless intrusive questions that without alcohol she would never have answered.

Alfie wasn't like any other man Irina had ever come across, but she wasn't sure whether that was a good or a bad thing. Still, he was perhaps the closest thing to a friend that she had in London after the many years she'd spent there, and that was a nice thought to let sit at the front of her mind.

Her phone rang just before midnight, the sound abruptly cutting off her innocent daydream and mindless wandering. Hauling herself from her chair, she sluggishly walked into the hallway, glass still in hand, and answered the phone.

"Zakharov," she said, swallowing a mouthful of wine.

"Have you been drinking, Irina?"

She tried to keep her face straight as she heard Alfie's voice on the other end of the line, but to no avail. The smile was too strong to be contained as she placed down her wine glass, holding the phone to her ear.

"Perhaps. Why the late night call?"

Irina heard him shuffle around in the background and the faint sound of ice cubes clicking in what she knew would be a short crystal glass.

"Are you alone?"

"Aren't I always?"

He chuckled quietly, leaving time for a long pause before speaking again, "That greasy Italian not with you, no?"

Irina shook her head even though he couldn't see her, "Just me."

"Do you love him?" He asked without warning.

"Love him? Love Luca?"

"Yeah," Alfie replied in a chirpy tone, "Do you love the bloke?"

It was Irina's turn to pause next. She stood and thought about Alfie's question for a moment, unsure of what her answer would be, and also unsure of his interest in the question.

"I don't think I'm capable of loving any man, Alfie."

"Why's that?"

Irina wasn't sure. She loved her father and her brothers in a way that a daughter and a sister would, but she could never imagine herself looking a man in the eyes and letting them know her heart belonged to him. Irina felt as though she simply didn't have the time to fall in love, the capacity in her mind or her heart to feel anything more than she already felt for the world around her. Being single never felt like a burden, she'd never felt as though something was missing, and she certainly didn't feel like Luca Changretta was making her whole. She was enough on her own.

"I don't know," she replied, "Perhaps some of us are better off alone."

Alfie's question had caused a chain reaction of thoughts inside Irina's head. She rarely gave love and marriage a thought, and yet there she was, stood in her hallway trying to imagine herself stood opposite Luca, a ring on her finger.

She couldn't do it. Irina could imagine her and Luca in a million and one different situations, but at an altar together just wasn't one of them.

"Why do you ask?"

Alfie cleared his throat and Irina heard him swallow what sounded like the last drops of whiskey, the ice rattling around an empty glass.

"I wouldn't want to hurt you if you did love him, that's all."

"Why would you be hurting me, Alfie?"

"Because I'm going to cut his throat, Irina."

an;; I know this might be low-key boring atm but it will get more Alfie-Irina heavy soon!! Let me know ur thoughts pls!! thank u xxx