by Lannah Smith
Pushing his chair back, he stood to stretch his sore muscles. Alec was leaning against a bookshelf, a phone to his ear. His scowl indicated that he wasn’t happy with what he’s hearing. By the time he finished the call, he looked as though he wanted to throw the phone across the room. Moving towards Christopher’s desk, he stopped in front of it.
“They’re sending the forms you need to fill out and sign so they could send them over to the accountants. As soon as possible.”
“Is that the reason for your scowl?” Christopher asked, taking a seat again.
Alec walked behind his desk and stood next to him, looking at his laptop. “I’m not scowling.”
“Yes, you are.”
The photo on his laptop captured Alec’s attention. Christopher tilted the screen up so he could get a better look.
“Jesus,” Alec mumbled.
Christopher echoed his sentiments completely. “One dead,” he muttered.
“fuck.”
“It isn’t our men.”
Alec’s attention cut to his face. “Whose?”
“Locke’s.”
“Why was he killed?”
“The man was caught snooping around the warehouses,” Christopher answered. “He panicked, pulled out a gun but our men were faster. Locke’s getting desperate.”
Alec turned back to the screen to the photo of the man slumped to his back, blood pooling around his body. “I can see that,” he muttered.
“Shouldn’t you be outside?”
The change of topic made Alec straighten away from him. “What are you talking about?”
“April might need more hands,” he pointed out. “You need to keep watch over her.”
Alec’s brows shot together. "fuck this. I'd rather face a hail of bullets than to keep watching over her.”
“What’s the problem?” Christopher folded his arms across his chest and lifted a brow. “You were chummy with her earlier, weren’t you? One might say the two of you are close.”
Alec’s head twitched and his eyes went guarded.
“All her bruises have faded,” Christopher went on. “Now she looks strikingly beautiful. It’s not your fault if you can’t take your eyes off her. I won’t be angry.”
This was wrong to say, he knew, when Alec pulled in a hiss of breath through his teeth.
"April Locke may be strikingly beautiful but she's not perfect,” Alec bit off. “She's not whole. She's broken. And I spent years trying to fix a broken woman but still failed miserably in the end. I don't need and want another woman who has to be fixed in my life anymore."
Christopher’s gut got tight.
He wasn't trying to be an asshole when he made that joke but clearly, this was one of those occasions where he unintentionally was.
"You know I was joking right?" he pointed out.
"I'm not in a joking mood," Alec answered tersely.
"Clearly," he deadpanned. "Do you want me to apologize, brother Alec?"
Alec's face darkened even more.
"We aren't brothers."
"If I marry April, we will be."
"Oh, for God's sake." Alec ran an agitated hand through his hair and turned away. "Shut your fucking mouth."
Christopher took in a breath.
Then he whispered, "If you'll just get a DNA test done, you'll know if it's true."
Alec sucked air in through his nose and turned back.
"I'll rather not know the truth," he muttered, his eyes showing his torment. "Because if it’s fucking true, you know it'll be my bullet through Edward Locke's fucking head, not yours."
Christopher thought about it. Though he wanted to help Alec find the truth about his birth, he’d very much rather kill Edward Locke himself. And he’d very much prefer to deal with Alec’s anger at the moment and quickest way to get rid of the pain in his friend’s eyes was for him to stop being a dick.
"Fine," he acquiesced in a whisper.
"We'll not fucking talk about this anymore, you hear me?" Alec did not whisper.
"Yes, sir."
Alec gave him a glower that made him feel like a complete dick.
Then Alec turned and pulled the door so viciously, the door bounced with a bang on the wall. Storming past a visibly startled April, Alec shifted left and Christopher lost sight of him.
"What did you?" April peeked inside the room and gave him a look of deep disapproval. "You didn't finish your work again, did you?"
He grinned at her. "Come inside, honey. You can keep me company instead of that big, old grouch."
"No," April continued to frown at him. "Stop pissing Alec off and finish your job."
Then she closed the door behind her.
Chapter 47
John couldn't figure his girlfriend out.
Sitting up on the bed, with the sheets pooled around his waist, he stared as she moved around their bedroom, getting ready for work. He watched her which was something he had always loved to do. His girlfriend was a beautiful woman, especially in the short white wrap dress she was wearing that only enhanced her figure.
"When are you going to leave?" she asked, turning her head slightly to the side to look at him. She was now sitting on her vanity, putting her earrings on.
He looked at the alarm clock on the night stand. "Soon."
Scoffing, Terry looked at her reflection on the mirror. "Go take a bath. You know Leon doesn't like to wait."
He knew. He'd been best friends with Leon since they were five.
And judging by his conversation with his best friend on the phone last night, whatever they were going to talk about sounded urgent because Leon sounded thoroughly pissed.
Leon was rarely pissed these days. And Leon rarely called for a meeting unless it was a problem that involved one of them. John had an idea what it was going to be about. After what he learned from his bodyguard when he had him dig a little, it was high-time they talked about this shit.
John’s mind returned to Terry when she stood to put her shoes on. Frowning, he stared at her. She'd been a little subdued these days. Ever since Sophia gave birth, ever since the first time she held the baby in her arms, she'd been quiet and melancholic.
John had heard her conversation with Skull.
Despite that, he acted like he was clueless because he wanted her to tell him it herself when she was ready. It didn't mean he was being patient. This, whatever it was, was eating her and he was hoping he’d discuss this with him soon. He didn't want to wait too long because he didn't want Terry to keep being upset by herself.
He would rather she be upset with him. At least he could do something about it.
"Come here," John gestured with his hand for her when she was done putting on her shoes.
Her sigh was loud enough to hear across the room. She looked annoyed when her eyes went to him.
"I'm going to be late."
He patted the space beside him. "You won't," he promised.
Putting her hands on her hips, she told him crossly, "You're insatiable, you know that? We just did it not long ago."
"Get your mind out of the gutter," he chuckled. "I just want to tell you something without having to shout across the room."
"It's not even a large room," she mumbled. "And I have a meeting in an hour."
Despite her complaints, she still went to sat next to him.
"And you're still naked," she went on to complain.
John tucked a strand of her beautiful black hair behind her ear. "And you're wearing too much clothes," he murmured.
She gave him a deep scowl. "John, I swear to God..."
Laughing, he took her hand and squeezed it. "I'm just kidding, sweetheart."
"What do you want to talk about?" she looked at the time on her wrist impatiently. "I really have to go."
"I just want to tell you that I love you."
She let out a long-drawn sigh. "I know, John."
"I just want you to remember that."
"How can I forget when you keep professing your love for
me every three hours?"
He grinned. "I just had the thought that maybe I wasn't showing you enough."
"Oh, you've shown it a lot, don't worry," she said wryly, looking at the wall behind the bed meaningfully. "Because even the neighbors are complaining."
The neighbors, being Hannah and Will who were only temporarily staying while their own apartment on the floor just below was being renovated, had been pretty vocal about the noise when the two couldn't even keep it down themselves. Fortunately, they had gone back to their apartment last night.
"Then why?" John asked Terry.
Her brows drew together. "Why what?"
Squeezing her hand again, John leveled his gaze to hers and asked, "Why can't you still trust me?"
He felt rather than saw her stiffen.
"Why can't you still tell me what's on your mind?"
She snatched her hand away and knifed up the bed. "I don't know what you're talking about," she mumbled.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about, Terry," he returned firmly.
Her eyes jerked to him. "I don't have time for this," she snapped. "I have to leave."
"Then go," John nodded. "Go to work."
Hurt flashed across her face. She opened her mouth to speak but he wasn't finish.
"Just know that even if you still have no time for this conversation, I'll always make time for it. I'll always make time for you. I don't like seeing you upset so I'm trying my hardest to be patient but despite that, for days’ end, you've been looking upset."
"I haven't been looking upset," she blurted out.
Ten years together and he still hadn't earned her trust.
This was his Terry. This was his strong, independent girlfriend.
He just wished she could depend on him more. He wished she could open up to him more because he didn't like seeing her so damn miserable when he worked hard to keep her happy.
Whatever her problem was, it involved him. And he had already used every means he could think of to get her to at least discuss what was bothering her. Terry, being Terry, wouldn’t budget unless she was well ready to or until she had fixed the problem herself.
This started two years ago when Leon proposed to Sophia.
Marriage frightened her. And John didn't know why when they both loved each other and he was ready and willing to take this step with her.
Pushing the covers aside, he stood in front of her, holding her face between his hands. "When you're ready to talk, I'm here," he told her softly. Her eyes were inscrutable. She’d learned to do that since she was a child. "I'm always here for you. You're never going to get rid of me, Terry."
He watched her lose the shield and try her hardest to keep the tears at bay.
“If I did something wrong, tell me.”
“You did nothing wrong, John. I’m not angry at you. The way I’ve been acting has nothing to do with you.”
“I’m thinking it does,” he muttered with a frown.
She lowered her gaze. “I’m sorry if I upset you.”
He all but growled, “I don’t care if you upset me. I just want you to stop being upset.”
A sigh escaped her lips.
"Alright," she muttered in an appreciative tone, pushing closer to him to rest her head against his shoulder. "I'll keep that in mind."
He grinned and wrapped his arms around her.
Hell, but he loved this woman so much.
She lifted her head and scrunched her nose.
"You know you're still naked right?" she whispered.
His grin grew bigger.
"You want to come back to bed?" he asked in an equally soft whisper.
Her lips twitching, she tried to glare at him but failed. "You're really insatiable."
But despite her complaint, she did go back to bed with him where he showed her, once again, how much he loved her.
◆◆◆
"You're late," Leon grunted when John walked into his office.
And walking in, he saw that Rohan was already there, sitting on one of the armchairs, looked just as pissed as Leon.
“What the hell took you so long?”
“Sorry. I got busy.”
Rohan looked at his wet hair. "Yeah, you definitely were.”
John aimed a sheepish grin at Leon. "Your new office is coming along nicely."
Leon wasn't in the mood for the pleasantries. "Sit," he barked.
Sighing, John took a seat. And Leon didn't waste any time getting to the issue at hand.
"Skull runs a criminal enterprise."
John glanced up but his expression probably didn’t show the surprise that the statement should have brought because Leon couldn’t quite conceal his own surprise at this. Rohan’s face, too, wasn’t one of surprise but of angry acceptance.
Leon exhaled through his nose angrily. "Damn it all… You both know already?"
"I wasn't certain," Rohan admitted. "But I knew there was something fishy going on with him when I couldn't hack into his computer anymore."
John lifted his brows. "Why were you trying to hack his computer?"
"You'll know a lot about a person through his personal computer and emails, John," Rohan answered in a slow manner like he was making a child understand. "And the difficult and more impenetrable the security is, the more that person has something to hide." Rohan was clearly still irritated at him.
"Have you hacked into ours too?"
"Leon's technically a client so no. And I don't really give a shit about you."
"And you?" Leon looked at John. "How did you know?"
John blew out a breath and leaned back. "I'm a businessman. I do business with him too. And my ever efficient and loyal bodyguard makes sure that the people I do business with is clean."
"He's not clean," Leon muttered. “He’s a fucking crime boss. One of the most feared crime bosses in the city’s underground, if you can even believe that.”
"He tried to cover his tracks pretty well which was why it took us so long to find out," John squeezed the arms of the chair, making his knuckles go white. "Apparently, the numbskull is not a numbskull anymore."
"He's never been a complete moron," Rohan inserted, glaring at John. "He's damn perceptive."
"And fucking secretive."
"You know he only wants the best for us."
John scoffed, "Just like the fucking rest of us."
"Enough," Leon interrupted. "Enough with the rhymes, enough with your shitty quarrel. We need to talk about how to get Skull out of the deep shit he's in."
He'd been trying to lighten up the mood. Hell knew that Leon was about to burst and Rohan's forehead was crinkled with so much worry he probably was about to too. It wasn't like John didn't feel as deeply as his two friends but this was Skull. Leon might drop whatever he was doing just to help them, Rohan might use his brilliant mind to solve the problem, John might use his money and connections to take care of it but Skull... he'd get rid of it for them before they’d even noticed it was happening.
Over the years, Skull was one of the people they appreciated the most because he was like a solid rock.
Changeless, constant and steady.
Or so they thought.
Because never would they ever imagine that Skull would not only turn to organize crime but lead it.
"He's probably not that deep in," Rohan argued. "He's not stupid."
"He's been conversing with the heads of two of most notorious crime families in New York," Leon deadpanned. “One of them is the boss of all bosses.”
Rohan winced. "Jesus."
John whistled. "That's good.”
Turning his angry gaze towards him, Rohan spat, "How is that good?"
"If he has those two powerful men on his side, then Edward Locke can't touch him anymore."
"But he won't get out of a life of crime."
"And he probably never would," Leon muttered with a sigh. "Look, I didn't ask you to come here to help me deal with Skull. This is me informing you about it, not asking anything
. I am dealing with things concerning him right now but I can't tell you the details."
