by Lannah Smith
He was angry he'd dare try to touch Leon.
So he let loose his fists on him.
Ward landed on the ground, face first, in the midst of Skull, Alec and the rest of the guys. They didn't waste anytime beating his stupid ass. All of them had a strong ethic about women and how to treat them and even a stronger ethic about how they felt about men who didn't treat them right. They all may fuck around but they were always clear of their intentions. And that was to fuck.
Leon started for him again, his expression still of deep loathing but John held him back. "Get your shit together, Leon," he told him. "As much as I love to kill him, we can't."
Leon stared at him, breathing heavily.
John stared back, hoping he'd stand down.
Then his eyes slid down. Drawing in a deep breath, he muttered, "My hands are bleeding."
John hissed at the sight of Leon's raw and split knuckles. Al rushed forward, holding the first aid box. But Leon waved him away and started to walk out of the warehouse.
"Where are you going, Leon?" Skull asked, leaving an unconscious Ward to Alec.
There wasn't a hint of emotion in Leon's voice when he answered, "To pick Sophia up from school."
John and Skull exchanged looks. "You can't go looking like that, Leon," John protested.
But he had already left.
"Maybe he's going to break up with her now that this shit's done?" Skull mumbled.
"Not another word, Skull," John snapped. "Get Rohan. We have a mess to clean."
A few minutes later, the three of them stood together in the warehouse. Alec and the rest of the guys had left, bringing Ward with them. To where, John didn't know. He didn't care either. They had another crisis in their hands, this time something that might actually kill them all and John needed to do something about this the soonest time.
Leon was probably with Sophia right now. And the knowledge didn't sit well with him. What was he going to do now that everything was over? Fuck it, Leon couldn't break up with her. He was fucking happy with her. He should let himself be happy for once. And maybe, just maybe he'd stop doing this shit.
John hoped this would be the last.
But he knew that it wouldn't be.
"Shit, there are so many things left to do," John muttered, shaking his head.
"But I thought Alec will take care of everything?" Skull asked. "So there'll be no blowback on us?"
"Still, we didn't anticipate this much to happen," Rohan remarked. "You can't be too careful."
"No, you can't," John replied with zero humor.
"Right," Skull whispered. "So we have to be careful."
John pulled in breath and exhaled. "Yeah."
His gut heavy, he turned to the exit and slid his phone out of his pocket.
Rohan called out to him, "Where are you going?"
"To call for reinforcements," he said over his shoulder.
"Reinforcements?" he heard Rohan ask Skull. "We have reinforcements?"
He got out of the warehouse and found the number he was looking. He didn't like doing this, didn't like calling him out of all people. But they had no choice. Ward had a point. They were just a bunch of teenagers. And there was a line they tried not to cross, the law kind of line. Sometimes, they did, actually most of the time.
But Ward forgot the rich and powerful part.
He also forgot who John was.
Putting the phone to his ear, he waited for the call to be picked up.
And when it did, he said, "I have a job for you."
I stared at the sleeping person on my bed, curled up in a ball and tangled in the white sheets. The moron was sleeping so comfortably.
Like he belonged there.
To say I was surprised to see him in my bedroom was an understatement. My heart almost leaped out of my chest at the sight of him and Julie, who had followed me in with my bag, was startled when I practically shoved her out of my bedroom. Telling her I wasn't to be disturbed until I called for her, I immediately locked the door.
Letting out a long exhale, I slid my gaze to the open window. I walked towards it, yanked the curtain back and looked at giant tree growing outside my room. One of its branch was just a feet away but a good two to three feet below my window. The last time I climbed it, it almost couldn't hold my weight and I wondered how the heck he managed to climb it without it breaking.
The guards who patrolled the grounds passed below my window, talking quietly with each other. I leaned back and let the curtain fall into place. The giant tree should be the least of my worries. What if he got caught by one of the guards? I couldn't imagine what would happen and the possibility he would be caught made me shiver once.
Damn it, he shouldn't even be here anyway.
I was so deep in thought I didn't noticed he had woken up. He stood close behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, burying his face into the side of my neck. And for the first time in the ten minutes he'd been here, I noticed his knuckles were red. I wisely ignored it.
"Did you get in through the window again?" I asked.
"Do you want me to use the door next time?" His voice was tinged with humor.
"You'll get shot before you could even step inside the porch," I deadpanned.
"There's the answer to your question."
John kissed the underside of my jaw, sending a surge of heat through me. The anger, the hurt and the pain that I had expected to emerge at the sight of him didn't even try to appear. Alone in my room, where we shared a lot of memories together, I couldn't summon enough emotion to make him leave. Maybe because I was too comfortable in his arms.
It felt nice.
It felt nice to be hugged like this.
So I didn't make him leave.
At least... not yet.
"Did you get him?" I asked. The curiosity had been eating me all day.
He didn't even need to ask who I was referring to. "Yes," he answered.
"Is Sophia safe now?"
"Yes."
Breathing an audible sigh of relief, I thought about Carol. She'd be disappointed about the party for sure but better disappointed then harmed.
Another thought occurred to me.
What about Sophia's relationship with Gage then?
"Are they going to break up?" I thought out loud.
John chuckled in my ear. "You have too many questions." He sobered and sighed, "He's with her right now and I don't know what he's going to do. But I hope he isn't going to break up with her. I was hoping he'll have his happy ending with her."
I shrugged. "I really don't care if he does."
His arms tightened. "I care," he said fervently.
Jealousy seared into me. "Then make sure he does," I muttered.
I imagined him smiling when he said, "I will. And maybe I'll get my happy ending too."
My head jerked. "With who?" I asked before I could stop myself.
"Care to guess?"
"Stella?"
His arms tightened again. "I thought you were supposed to be smart."
I didn't respond to that statement. "So is it over?"
He grew quiet.
"It isn't," I whispered, a cold knot forming in my gut.
"There are a few strings left to be tied, that's all."
"Then what are you doing here?"
He squeezed me gently. "I wanted to see you. I wanted to..." he trailed off, hesitating. I turned around and looked up at him. "There are a lot of things I want to say to you but not now," he finished. "After seeing all that shit, I just know that I wanted to see you."
I wanted to be happy he said those words. But knowing how easily his heart could change stopped me from feeling such emotion. Instead, I was stuck on what things he wanted to say to me but couldn't.
"Why can't you tell me now?" I grumbled.
"It's not the right time."
I searched his face for some hint of comprehension. His expression was tired, sad and remorseful. Hope sprung in my heart. I shouldn't be feeling this way, he was
a perpetual liar. And I hated it.
I hated that I was dancing to his tune again.
"You have too many secrets, Steele," I replied bitterly.
His face turned to stone. "You have secrets too, Evans."
I tore myself free from him and took a few steps back. "I was always honest with you when we were young," I told him, my voice rising. "Always. But you lost the privilege to know my secrets years ago when you walked out of my life and didn't look back."
He stared at me, his jaw clenched.
"Why did you?" I asked softly. "Why did you leave? Why did you leave me?"
His gaze fell. "I can't answer that right now."
"Secrets are the same as lies," I said, my voice trembling. "And I'm tired of your secrets. I'm tired of your lies."
He didn't look at me and didn't answer.
A painful knot filled my throat and I blinked away the tears I dare not shed. "We were friends. You... you were my only friend. I didn't know what I did wrong then, and I still don't know. But I don't give a damn anymore. You can keep your secrets, I don't fucking care."
He still didn't speak. It hurt, looking at him, so I turned away.
"I'll get Julie so you won't get out through the window and fall to your death," I mumbled.
"You were not easy to forget, you know."
My gaze snapped back to him. He held my stare, his eyes desperately wanting me to understand.
But I didn't understand.
All I could think of were the countless number of girls I'd seen with him. All I could see were his cold eyes when he told me didn't want to be my friend anymore. All I understood was he wanted me out of his life so out of his life I'd stay.
"Really?" I asked quietly. "You could have fooled me."
With that, I turned on my heels and walked out.
But when I came back with Julie, he was gone.
Chapter 15
Seven years ago, John and Terry at age nine
Terry woke up from her slumber when she heard a faint scraping sound coming from the windows of her room. She sat up, her eyes wide, and stared at the thick curtains. After a minute of silence, she began to think she imagined the sound. She was about to lie down when she heard the noise again.
"Yukiko?"
Her name was called out in a soft whisper but she recognized the voice all the same. Her jaw dropped.
"Ouch. Hurry and open the window!"
She hurriedly climbed out of bed and pulled the curtains back. The light filtering in through the windows was sufficient for her to see outside. A boy was hanging on the ledge, looking rather peevish at her.
"Let me in," he furiously whispered at her.
She slid the latch and pushed the windows open. He reached for her and with a great heave, she pulled him up. They tumbled on the carpeted floor of her bedroom with a soft thud.
"Get off me," she grumbled.
"Sorry - ouch, that was my foot!"
"Lower your voice, baka! The maids might hear."
They glared at each other as they both knelt on the floor. Then she blinked as she took him in. He looked like a sight. His jacket was ripped away from his sleeve, his shirt was soiled and there were streaks of dirt on his face. They were the least of her worries, however. Because he wasn't supposed to be here.
He also wasn't supposed to be climbing trees and windows so late at night.
"What are you doing here, John?" she asked when she found her voice.
He continued to glare at her and didn't answer.
"You're not supposed to be here. And weren't you supposed to leave earlier this morning? Your nanny must be worried sick by now. And your parents! What will they do when they find out you've—?"
"They were fighting."
Her eyebrows furrowed. "What?"
His gaze dropped and slid to the side. "They were fighting. My parents."
She bit her lip and shifted closer to him. "John—"
"And I've always wanted to try being reckless," he interrupted with a grin. "It was quite easy now that I think about it. Sneaking out of the hotel was easy. Getting a cab to take a 9 year old here was also easy considering the money I brought with me. And climbing the walls and that massive tree wasn't a difficult task once I get over my initial fears of breaking my neck."
She scowled, "You're an idiot."
"I'll be gone in the morning," he promised. "They'd never know I left. As long as I show up in the lobby they wouldn't care to look into my room."
"But how will you get back?"
"I told the cab driver he's in for more money if he comes and take me back to the hotel. Don't worry," he rushed to tell her when she started to protest. "I could tell he wasn't the bad sort when he tried to call the police when I started scaling the walls."
"You gave him a lot of money, didn't you?" she accused.
He grinned. "He was a kind man. We even talked about his son on the way here."
Terry sighed. She knew John would never change his stubborn mind. Still, she couldn't help but worry over his recklessness. Kind or not, she needed to be sure he was safe. Maybe she should call his nanny...
"Don't even think about it," he warned, reading her thoughts and she scowled at him again. "Whatever you're thinking right now, stop. I'll be alright. Don't over think this."
She watched him stand up and stretched his arms up high. Removing his jacket, he walked to her bed and sat on it. Then he bent down to remove his shoes.
"You're such a brat," she mumbled irritably. When he laid on her bed, she got up from the floor and joined him. "And who said you could sleep here?"
His brows rose. "Surely you're not thinking of letting me sleep on the floor?"
"The thought has merit."
But even as she said that, she tugged the sheets over them and made sure he was comfortable. John was on his back, staring at the ceiling. She laid on her side and looked at him. Worrying about him.
"Do you think this is proper?" she asked him after a while.
"We're children. Of course, it is." He turned to his side to look at her. "And you're not that pretty anyway."
She rolled her eyes. "Just go to sleep, John."
But John didn't sleep.
Neither did she.
They stayed up all night. Just talking.
And when they did fell asleep, they were both holding each other's hands.
I opened my eyes.
The first thing I saw were the piles of work I should have been doing.
Lifting my head from my folded arms on top of the table, I scanned my gaze around the SRC office. The other tables also had piles of folders and files waiting to be done but their occupants were missing. I sighed in relief when I saw I was alone, that nobody had seen me sleeping on my desk and neglecting my work.
With a sigh, I straightened and checked my reflection in the small mirror on my desk to see if I was still presentable. I hadn't realized I had fallen asleep and I was still feeling a bit groggy. I blame the lying bastard who slipped into my room last night.
It was hard to sleep after our conversation.
It was hard to sleep when all I could smell on my pillows and sheets were his scent.
I had Julie change them as soon as I woke up. The curiosity was eating her, I could see from her expression. She had just changed them the day before. And coupled by my enigmatic request last night, that I needed her help for something then immediately changed my mind as soon as we entered my bedroom, no wonder she was curious. She didn't dare ask however because she knew it wasn't her place.
The door open just as I was about to start work again and I lifted my gaze.
Then my jaw dropped open.
Because Hannah was pulling Sophia, her of all people, into the room.
"What the hell is she doing here?" I bit out, staring contemptuously at the tiny blonde.
"You said you'd be here," Hannah answered as she sat on the chair in front of my table. Sophia gingerly took the other seat opposite hers. "I missed you," she continu
ed with a flutter of her lashes.
