Gilded Cage

Chapter Twenty-One

After the events of the past few days, I would have gladly slept for a whole week, but the doorbell seemed to have other plans. I had been ignoring it, hoping whoever showed up so early in the morning at my doorstep would simply go away. At the fifth ring, though, I raised my head from under the pillow and loudly groaned. I was awake anyway; I might as well go see who was bothering me.

I heard a couple of voices coming from the hallway, while I unwillingly dragged myself downstairs. Apparently, James had already answered the door, letting Alexi fucking Holm into my home. The moment I spotted him, I stopped in my tracks, blinking rapidly as sleep left me all at once. It had been a couple of days since I had saved him and Thomas from Albert. Thomas had left the farmhouse in an ambulance, while Woolf had brought me and Alexi at the police station with him, after making sure we were both well enough to be interrogated. He had kept us in a small room with no windows for hours, questioning us like we were the criminals.

Luckily, blaming everything on Albert hadn't been too difficult; the police hadn't found any evidence of his involvement in Allan and Eliot's death in his house but, of course, he had been charged with kidnapping and attempted murder. Alexi's kinship with the commissioner had also helped us be released with no further concerns on our part. To Woolf's disappointment, we were once again free men. Albert was just a crazy person. Case closed.

After that, Alexi and I had gone separate ways; he went back to his family and I locked myself in my house. We hadn't had the chance to actually talk to each other. Now, Alexi stood in my hallway, a place I had never imagined him to be. He still had some bruises on his face, but other than that he looked much better than when I had found him in that basement. He was dressed in a brown suit, with a white shirt and a burgundy tie, and a long black coat. He looked perfect. My morning boner approved.

James was telling him something about being a big fan of his and his books, and Alexi was just staring at him with a polite smile. It was a fake one, though, I could tell. Only then, I remembered that Alexi was a famous writer of gothic novels and it was normal for people to recognize him.

"Hello," I croaked.

Both of them turned towards me.

"Oh, Mr. K.! Good morning!" James said, enthusiastically. "I thought you were sleeping, so I answered the door for you."

"I was... sleeping," I replied, slowly getting closer. The floor was cold under my bare feet. I shivered, hugging myself, and raised an eyebrow at Alexi. "Not anymore, thanks to you."

"Your butler?" he asked with a smirk, pointing at James.

"Hey! I'm not a butler. Not that there's something wrong with being a butler, but..."

"Okay, Jones. Thank you. You can go."

James immediately stopped talking, pressing his lips together. He waved a hand at Alexi and made to leave. As he ran past me, he whispered, "I didn't know your friend was the Alexi Holm."

"Piss off, Jones."

"Yes. Sorry."

I waited for James to disappear upstairs again, before asking, "What are you doing here?"

Alexi shrugged. He wanted to appear casual, but I could see the tension underneath. "I wanted to see how you were doing. After..."

"Saving your arse from a homicidal maniac?"

He chuckled and God, help me, I missed that laugh. I shook my head and sighed. I needed to remind myself that he wasn't here to stay; he had a family he was going back to. A family I had nothing to do with.

"So, you have a daughter."

I mentally slapped myself. I didn't know what made me say that of all things. The situation couldn't get any more awkward.