Chapter 29 Admiring Naked Louis

Louis' words totally got Alicia hooked. She remembered when Bonnie had dropped the bombshell that Kithara might have been set up.

Alicia checked out her bandaged left hand and couldn't help but wonder if Madelyn had anything to do with her injury.

After an awkward silence, Louis let out a low "hmm" noise.

Alicia turned around, grabbed her med kit, and strutted towards him, asking, "Did you catch Kithara?"

Louis pinched his phone and faced her. "She's gone missing," he said.

Alicia's eyebrows scrunched up. "Missing?" she asked.

"Yeah, I sent some peeps to hunt for her at her crib and her family's spots, but she was gone. Her family had called the police. We got to wait for updates," Louis explained.

Alicia's eyes narrowed. "It's fishy that she vanished right after you sent your people to track her down," she said.

Louis plopped himself down on the couch and crossed his long legs, acting like it was no biggie. "Her brother got nabbed for jacking stuff from a tomb and snitched on some people. It's only natural that someone would want to come after her for payback. Her vanishing act isn't surprising."

Alicia didn't say anything. It was way past her bedtime, and she didn't feel like getting into it with him. Arguing without any proof was pointless and would only mess up their relationship.

After setting her med kit on the coffee table, Alicia walked over to Louis and checked out his right hand. It had a bunch of little pieces of glass embedded in it.

She scolded him gently, "You're so careless! I hurt my left hand, and now you hurt your right hand. Are we trying to match or something?"

Louis pulled his hand away and said nonchalantly, "It's just a flesh wound. It'll be all good in a few days, and it doesn't even hurt."

"How can it not? You're not the Terminator," Alicia shot back. She grabbed a disinfectant cotton ball and wiped away the alcohol and blood stains on his hand. Then she shone a flashlight on it and used tweezers to carefully remove the glass shards.

During those two years, Louis was a total mess. He couldn't handle his own stuff and was always throwing tantrums and breaking stuff. Getting injured was a regular thing for him, which is why Alicia had become a total pro at patching him up. She was speedy and efficient.

After finishing up, she applied some medicine to his hand and gently warned him, "Watch yourself next time, or I'll be pissed if you hurt yourself again."

She was a little annoyed and a little bitter, but her voice was calming and soothing, almost like magic. Louis' bottled up frustrations started to dissipate.

He looked down and saw her big, beautiful eyes staring back at him. His gaze got deeper, but he kept his voice cool. "We talked about having a kid, right? So why the hell are you still taking birth control?" he asked.

Underneath his calm expression, he was hiding his true emotions.

Alicia was caught off guard for a sec, but then she composed herself and turned her face away. "I think we're still young, and we don't need to rush into having a kid. A kid isn't some toy, it's a life. Once they're born, we got to be responsible for them. A kid could fix things between us, but it could also make things worse."

Louis lifted the corners of his lips and fixed his gaze on her pure and beautiful profile. The emotion in his eyes was unclear as he said, "You've got a strong will."

Alicia didn't respond, closed the medicine kit, and caught a whiff of the faint scent of alcohol coming from Louis. She asked, "How much did you drink?"

"Not much," Louis replied, sounding a little defensive.

"I'll make you some hangover juice," she said as she stood up, but Louis grabbed her wrist. He pulled her into his arms with a little force, rubbing his chin against her ear and whispered, "No need, I didn't drink that much. Your hand is injured, don't bother."

Alicia found herself held in Louis' arms, her back against his broad chest. She could feel his heart beating very fast, but instead of feeling warm and her heart rate accelerating, she felt mixed emotions. After a few seconds of silence, she said, "It's late, go wash up and sleep."

"Okay," Louis replied, letting go of her and standing up.

The two of them went upstairs and into the bathroom. Alicia helped him remove his watch and shirt buttons, unbuckled his belt, and asked, "Do you want me to help you wash?"

"No need, my left hand can still be used. Just a quick rinse is fine," Louis said.

Alicia turned on the showerhead and adjusted the water temperature for him before stepping out and waiting quietly at the door.

This was what she had been doing for the past two years. When the sound of water stopped in the bathroom, she pushed the door open and brought a towel to help Louis dry off. He dried the front himself while she helped him dry the hard-to-reach areas on his back.

Looking at his strong physique, beautiful muscle lines, and heroic back, Alicia felt a wave of emotion. She used to see him sitting in a wheelchair, feeling depressed and hoping he could stand up, but now that he was standing, his aunt and father felt she wasn't good enough for him.

Louis and his so-called high society friends were truly focused on money and didn't care about feelings at all. After Alicia finished wiping him down, he put on his robe. They both tied the belt of the robe, with Alicia using her right hand and Louis using his left. Together, they pulled and knotted the ends perfectly, like a well-oiled machine.

Louis looked down, fixated on her beautiful eyes, and asked, "If I didn't have money three years ago, would you still have married me?"

Alicia's heart skipped a beat. Henry had said the same thing to Louis earlier tonight, and now Louis was asking her. A sense of foreboding slowly crept up on her.

She tried to play it cool and asked, "Why are you asking such a pointless question?"

"Okay, let me ask you this: if I lost all my money now, would you leave me?"

Alicia thought about it for a moment and replied, "I have money; I'll take care of you."

Louis raised his eyebrow slightly. "How much money do you have?"

"Over twenty million," Alicia replied without hesitation.

Louis laughed and pretended to be surprised. "How did you get so much money? You didn't spend any of the money I gave you all these years?"

Alicia nodded, giving Louis the lowdown. "I don't spend a ton of cash, honey. Véronique's doc bills are on you, and my mom's got a pension. When I give her cash, she won't take it, just tells me to stash it for myself. You handled my daily expenses, and I used the gift cards you give me to score some fresh threads and makeup."

Louis patted her on the head, smiling. "Gosh, aren't you the money-savin' queen?"

Alicia beamed back. "I don't just save, I earn too. When my hand's healed up, I'll get back to work. I'm a whiz at restoring ancient paintings. And in our line of work, we can uncover some pretty valuable treasures we can flip. Back in the day, I used to sell my art under my grandpa's name and make bank, up to a hundred grand at auction. If you ever need some extra dough, I'll just whip up some more paintings."

Louis was impressed, whistling in admiration. "You're a superstar, babe."

Alicia laughed, feeling good. "And I know a thing or two about finances. Just the other day, I dropped twenty million in a three-year fixed-term account, and the bank gave me a sweet 4% interest rate on that big deposit. The interest alone is over 2.5 mill!"

She cupped Louis's face in her hands, giving him a sweet smile. "Even if you were broke, I'd still take care of you like nobody's business."

Louis's eyes glimmered, as if he was touched by a star. He leaned in, drawing her close and softly kissing her hair. "Why're you so good to me, baby?"

"Because you treated my whole family nicely," Alicia replied, feeling a little playful.

Louis's eyes darkened. "Just because of that?"

Alicia rolled her eyes a bit. He was being a bit dramatic tonight. "Well, what else should I say?"

Louis looked at her shadow on the floor, his eyes deepening. "Do you love me?"

Alicia's smile froze, her mind racing: "Of course, I love you, but what's the point of saying it now? Our marriage was falling apart, and love alone can't save it"

She didn't believe a flimsy word like "love" could change anything. In the end, he'd always listen to his dad.

Alicia smiled, pulling back from his embrace. "Let me blow-dry your hair, and then we'll hit the sack."

She got the dryer from the cupboard and had him sit down. The sound of the machine hummed in her ears, and the scent of her perfume filled the air.

Louis smiled, a little wistful. "She's good to me, but she doesn't love me. I can never replace Chuck," he thought.

After the blow-drying session, they crawled into bed. This time, Alicia dozed off quickly.

Suddenly, a booming clap of thunder shook the room, jolting her awake. She rubbed her eyes, looking around. Louis was nowhere to be seen.

A thought hit her like a lightning bolt, and she jumped up, throwing on some clothes. She knew she had to find him, no matter what.