Burned

31

            The winter melted away into spring in due time. Inglewood's grounds began to flourish again. Louise remained in Surrey instead of traveling back and forth with Alfie. It felt safer and was certainly a calmer place to stay while pregnant.

One Thursday, Alfie returned to Inglewood after being two weeks away. He was anxious to see Louise and was sick and tired of being separated. His moods were like night and day depending on where he was. In Camden, everyone knew to tread carefully. Little things would set the man off and he wasn't holding back on punishments. But when he returned home to Louise, his short temper dissolved into nothing.

He stepped out of the car and glanced at his pocket watch. It was nearly lunchtime so he assumed Louise was inside or maybe on the patio because the weather was beautiful.

Evelyn greeted him at the door. "Louise is by the stables." She told him. "I figured you could see if she wanted lunch."

Alfie furrowed his brow. "She out there alone?"

"'Course not." The young woman, as well as the rest of the staff, knew it was unwise to let the pregnant woman of the house out without an escort. Louise tolerated it, although she thought it would be nice to take a walk by herself. But Alfie insisted, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. If he couldn't be there to protect her, someone else had to be.

What Louise didn't know was Luca Changretta had already graced him with his Italian presence. He'd stayed in Camden a little longer just to make sure things were in order. Truly, the man was caught between a rock and a hard place now. Luca would not take no for an answer although Alfie had told him to fuck off many times. If Alfie made enemies with the Americans, he very well could be signing his wife's death certificate. If he made enemies with the Shelbys, he was signing his own. He was nearly certain that Tommy would spare his wife but Luca would not.

So he made a deal with the devil and come time for the boxing match, Italians would be there. And it was all because of him.

"Right." Alfie nodded. "I'll ask her 'bout lunch." He agreed and started to head around towards the stables.

~~~~~~~~~~

Louise was standing by one of the fences, chatting with the stable hand. May Carleton's groom was leading Paris around in a circle on a long lunge lead.

Not wanting to spook her, Alfie called out her name as he approached. She turned and a bright smile instantly formed on her face. She trotted a few steps over to him. He embraced her tenderly, kissing her hair. "Sorry I've been long."

"That's alright, as long as you're here now." She murmured and touched his cheek.

"Fucking hell, look at you." He held out his arms to see how much her bump had grown since he'd been away. "Look ready to pop!"

She couldn't help but giggle and lightly smack his arm in reprimand. "Stop it, I still have weeks to go." She reminded him. "I don't want to get any bigger than this."

"Nonsense, you look beautiful. Glowing."

"You're only saying that to flatter me, Mr. Solomons." She retorted and stuck her tongue out at him.

"I wouldn't lie to you, love." He wrapped an arm around her waist and walked over to the fence where she had been standing. "You well, Aidan?" He greeted the stable hand.

"Yes, Mr. Solomons, thank you, sir." The young man replied politely. "M'afraid Paris has gone a bit lame though." He reported.

Louise sighed and rested her arms over the top of the fence. "Yes, she must've been playing in the field and stepped on a stone. Poor thing."