บท 18: Chapter 18 Leo And Louis Competing

"He's been dead and gone for ages. There's no way he can harm anybody now. Somebody else must've messed up Madelyn's fingers. I don't know who did it or why they did it," Alicia spoke in a calm tone, but tears began to well up in her eyes.

Louis looked down at the old, plain gravestone with wilted flowers in front of it. The name on the stone was faded, and he had to squint to read it.

He thought to himself, "When I asked her about Chuck, she dodged the question. Then I checked the surveillance footage and saw a figure that looked like Chuck. Now she's spittin' out lies to cover her tracks. She don't even know I had folks diggin' up info on Chuck the minute she mentioned him in her sleep."

"All 98 villagers here shared the same story: there was no Chuck. So the man buried in the grave couldn't be Chuck."

"Alicia had always been upfront and honest, but now she was lying to protect her "Chuck"." Louis was uneasy with this and felt a surge of anger. He was about to expose her lie when he saw her tears. The wind blew hard, and Alicia's frail body shook, triggering his protective instincts.

Louis's heart softened, and his anger faded away. He pulled her in for a hug and said, "Alright, I won't pry no more. Don't cry."

Alicia rested her head on his chest and wept silently. She dampened a small spot on his shirt, and her delicate shoulders trembled.

Louis ran his fingers u p and down her bony spine and teased her, "Next time you come out here, let me know ahead of time, will you?"

Alicia made a soft sound of agreement. Suddenly, a rumbling sound sounded, and Louis let out a soft chuckle. He realized he was hungry.

Alicia was slow to respond, but eventually wiped her tears and pulled away from his embrace. She looked up at him and asked, "Is that your stomach growling? You hungry?"

"Hell yeah," Louis grumbled. "I haven't eaten since yesterday afternoon. I was too busy lookin' for you to think about food."

Alicia felt a pang of sadness. She thought to herself, "It's so damn easy for him to make me think he gives a hoot about me. But last time I felt that way, he used Madelyn as an excuse to file for a divorce."

"Let's head back and chow down," she murmured softly.

The two of them strolled back to the village side by side. When they got home, Leo was setting up a table in the yard, and Doris came out of the kitchen holding a bowl of food. Louis held onto Alicia's hand when he saw Leo, but she didn't pull away.

Leo noticed their clasped hands, and his face darkened a little.

"My phone ran out of battery yesterday, Mr. Martinez," Doris said, sounding a bit concerned.

"It's all good. Let's eat," Louis brushed her off.

They all sat down to eat. Louis peeled a boiled egg and handed it to Alicia, saying, "Eat it."

Alicia handed the boiled egg back to Louis and said, "You're the one with the growling stomach. You eat it first."

Leo let out a laugh. "You're a great cousin," he said.

Louis's face turned to ice, and his voice was frigid. "I am her..."

"Cousin," Alicia cut in, interrupting him. She was getting irritated. "He's my distant cousin. I worked as a housekeeper in his mansion for three years, taking care of him."

Leo looked at her with regret. "You have nice cooking skills. It's a shame you ended up as a housekeeper."

Alicia glanced at Louis meaningfully and said, "It's all good. He paid very generously."

As soon as she finished speaking, she felt a hand on her thigh. The hand started to pinch and tickle her leg under the table, sending her heart racing.

Alicia blushed and subtly glanced at Louis, signaling him to remove his hand.

But he kept a straight face, holding the soup spoon and sipping the porridge in a sophisticated manner. Alicia couldn't tell any of his mischiefs from his appearance. She reached out to grab his restless hand, trying to move it away from her leg, but she couldn't budge it, and he held onto it.

Louis held Alicia's hand, his fingers interlocking with hers, his thumb rubbing her palm gently, making her hand sweat.

With one hand injured and the other held by Louis, Alicia couldn't eat. She sat motionless.

Louis turned to her, with a glint in his eye, and asked, "Babe, why aren't you eating?"

Louis usually called her Alicia, but now he was using the word "babe" on purpose. Alicia pretended to be angry and glared at him.

Louis laughed and said, "No appetite? Want me to feed you?"

He scooped up a spoonful of porridge with his own spoon, tasted it, and held it out to Alicia. "Come on, open up your mouth. Let me feed you."

His voice was flirtatious, seductive, and teasing.

Alicia's face turned red. She tightly sealed her lips and refused to open her mouth.

Louis chuckled even more. "Don't like being fed with a spoon? You want me to chew everything for you?"

Alicia didn't expect him to be so brazen. She rolled her eyes at him in disgust and said, "You've used that spoon already; get me a new one."

When Alicia finally opened her mouth, Louis jammed the spoon in. "We used to share a spoon all the time, and you didn't care. Now that someone else is here, you suddenly care? That's not a good look."

Alicia chewed her food and glared at Louis.

Leo threw up his hands helplessly and said, "Alicia, your cousin really adores you."

Under the table, Louis squeezed Alicia's hand and smiled. "Of course, I'm more than happy to do anything for her."

Doris buried her face in her bowl, like an ostrich trying to hide from the awkwardness. After they finished the meal, Doris finally get to clean the dishes.

Alicia distantly and politely told Louis, "You're super busy with work. Just head back after dinner."

Louis looked at her with soft eyes and said, "Come with me. This place is in the middle of nowhere. I've been worried sick about you all day."

Alicia was so overwhelmed by his teasing that her ears were numb.

Pausing for a moment, Alicia gazed at her injured left hand and stated, "My hand won't be able to work for three months. You don't need to rush back tonight, just take it easy and rest up."

"Fine, but I'll still swing by later to check on you," Louis replied, laying emphasis on "later" and "check on you" like he had some important task to attend to.

Alicia responded promptly, "No need, it's a long way out here, it'll take you hours to get back, and it'll mess up your own rest schedule."

Louis playfully pinched her nose, "You're becoming more and more stubborn, aren't you?"

Trying to avoid his touch, Alicia softly warned him, "Please don't touch me."

"I'm your cousin. Isn't this how we show our love?" Louis teased, stroking her cheek and gently caressing her lips with a daring smirk on his face. He was usually restrained and respectable, but now he looked like a smooth-talking player. Alicia was so stirred up, her face blushing and her heart racing, that she quickly moved away from his touch.

Leo's expression turned sour, and he couldn't take it any longer. He stood up and left. Alicia couldn't bear to stay there any longer either, so she rose and headed towards the bedroom. Louis trailed behind her.

As soon as they entered the bedroom, Louis embraced her from behind, shifted her position, and moved her injured hand aside. With one hand, he held her chin and leaned in for a kiss.