by Lannah Smith
He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms, a smile tugging on his lips.
It was hard to believe but she was adjusting well to her new environment. He knew how nervous she had been on their journey and how she regretted not being able to stay for a few more days in the cliff house. He did too. Christmas had just been yesterday and he would have wanted to spend more time with her, now that he had resolved things between them. He fucking didn’t want to come back just to face all sorts of problems that would take him away from her.
But he had to. Duty called.
Cow suddenly lifted its head, its eyes focusing on him. It pushed off the floor to trudge towards him and he uncrossed his arms to pick it up.
“Were you a good girl?” he murmured, cuddling it close.
Its only answer was a paw swipe at his face, which he dodged with a chuckle.
April brought her hands down once again to the floor, only to find that the cat was no longer there. She jerked her head around. It was only then she noticed him. And it was only then he noticed the earbuds in her ears.
Plucking one bud out, she said, “How long have you been standing there?”
He grinned and dodged another paw swipe. “I just arrived.”
She scowled at him but did not move from her position. Putting the struggling cat down, Christopher straightened and said, “I’m home, April.”
Her face didn’t show it but he knew she liked hearing that.
Yanking off the bothersome tie, he walked deeper into the room and tossed it on the chair that sat perpendicular to the sofa, along with the suit jacket he shrugged off. Her eyes followed them in disapproval. He made a mental note not to be the usual mess that he was, knowing April liked to keep a clean house.
He kept his eyes on her when he asked Jaehyun, “She didn’t cause any problems, did she?”
“I can hear you, you know,” April muttered, narrowing her eyes.
He knew. He just wanted to tease her.
Behind him, Jaehyun answered, “She asked me where the guns were. Should I have told her?”
The narrowed gray eyes slid over Christopher’s shoulders.
“It’s behind a panel in the study, honey,” he told her. “I’ll show you how to happen it later.”
“Oh, for God’s sake…” she rolled her eyes and lifted herself up on the sofa, twisting into a sitting position. “I prefer knives, if you must know.”
Seeing an opportunity and acting quickly upon it, Christopher lied down on the sofa and put his head on her lap. She stiffened.
“If you’re sleepy, you should get on bed.”
“This is my moment of happiness,” he muttered into her stomach, closing his eyes. “I won’t let you take it away from me.”
Her fingertips brushed against the side of his forehead and his hair. “Well, if you insist on staying there, you might as well remove your clothes.”
He smirked. “You missed me that much, honey?”
“You have blood on your collar, Christopher.”
shit.
His eyes flew open.
“If I tell you I had a nosebleed, would you buy it?”
“Get off.”
Lifting his head off her lap, he sat up and looked at her. Then he lifted his arm to protect his face from the book she swung at him.
“You lied to me!” she snapped, hitting his arm with the book again. “You said you’d go to work!”
He reached out and caught the book. “I did go to work,” he told her.
She let go of the book and crossed her arms. “Does your work entail torture?”
“If there is a need, yes.”
She looked like she wanted to throttle him. Not faint. This was a good sign but it didn’t mean he was getting away unscathed. Jaehyun stared at them, looking like he badly wanted to pull his phone out and record the whole scene. And amusing as it may be for him, Christopher would throw Jaehyun out of the damn window if he did.
“You just can’t keep your hands off me, huh?” he said, trying to touch her but she gave him a look of deep freeze that made him drop his hands. He clenched his jaw. At the corner of his eyes, Jaehyun slipped into a room, giving them privacy.
“If you want me to tell you—.”
“You know I want you to tell me,” she whispered in a tight voice. “And I know you only want to protect me. I know you don’t want to worry me. But I’m always worried, Christopher. All the damn time. And when I saw that blood,” her face crumpled for a moment then she managed to control it, “when I saw that blood, I just…”
He didn’t let her finish and pulled her close to him. She let him hold her for a few seconds before she pulled away, rising to her feet. He remained seated, caution dictating him to do it, cursing himself for being careless.
fucking hell. He should have been more careful. But the monster ruled his senses, making him forget such simple thing. It had been too long since it had tasted blood.
Christopher knew since he was a child that something was wrong with him. There was a monster inside of him. It appeared and made a home when his parents died inside that car.
Growing up, the monster’s hunger pulsed through him, dark and dangerous. His grandmother didn’t notice, she was too busy giving him everything he could ever want. His grandfather did. But the old man didn't have any interest in him other than being the successor. Whenever the old man Lawrence looked at him, his eyes were always like glass beads. Even when Christopher pushed him off the stairs in an emotional outburst when he was ten, his grandfather hadn’t given a fuck and brushed off the incident like it was nothing.
Only with April did the monster calmed. He didn’t feel like a freak. Then she was gone and the monster took over until he almost lost the ability to control it.
Then school happened. The bullies happened. And every day, all he could do was to keep quiet and endure the bullying.
Endure it.
Endure it.
Even though he wanted to scratch their eyes out and bash their heads in with a rock.
"Don't ever fight back, Christopher."
Christopher lifted blackened eyes up from the carpet of the study. His grandfather’s eyes glittered as he stared down on his grandson.
“Because you might not want to stop.”
Fearing the monster, knowing he might go crazy if he didn’t control it, he didn't fight back. He purposely let himself be a target. A part of it was because of what his grandfather warned. But a larger part of it was because he had hoped April would see him like that. That she would pity him. That she would take him back.
She didn't.
It was Terry who tried to help him but she couldn't save him. Not when she needed saving herself. The ones who saved him from the very bottom and put him on top next to them was Leon, the most violent delinquent of the school, and John, the wealthiest boy in the city. They were at the top of the school's caste along with April. And despite not wanting to get close to them, the two were adamant to keep him by their sides.
They must have thought he was a weak little bunny and pitied him. But he wasn't. He was a despicable human being just like his grandfather. He played their friendship game until he realized that he liked being their friend, until he genuinely began to care for them.
Until he was obsessed with taking care of them and protecting them.
And being with them allowed him to be who he was even just a little. A shithead who searched for fights, who enjoyed getting beaten and beating them back up.
Leon, back then, needed the violence to feel.
Christopher needed it to breathe.
He hid too many shadows under his mask. And the only person who knew it was his grandfather. Alec. And his men. And now April.
The real him was slowly being revealed in front of her.
“Are you hungry?”
Christopher blinked twice and lifted his head, focusing on April. She was still angry. He thought he might have imagined the question.
“Sorry?” his brows drew together.
“Come,” she proffered her hand. “I saved some dinner for you.”
“About the blood—.”
“Let me pretend for a little longer that we’re normal,” she whispered, looking at him with grave eyes. “That we’re just a normal couple. That I’m just a regular woman who’s going to feed her man.”
“Your man,” he repeated, grinning and taking her hand. He stood up, kissing her knuckles.
“Whatever. I don’t want to know everything just yet but I’m done with the lies,” she glared at him. “And if you really need to do that part of your work, bring a change of clothes with you.”
“I will,” he immediately promised. “This won’t happen again, honey.”
She studied him closely as if his face would tell her the veracity of his words. He wrapped his arms around her as she did, pressing her to his body.
Hell, but how he missed her while he’d been out.
He glided a hand up her neck, staring at her lips.
And how he wanted to make love to her right there and then—
“Aren’t you hungry?” she grumbled and he took in her the still angry expression on her face.
Christopher decided to wait until bedtime.
Chapter 59
I had to pretend nothing was wrong.
But all I could see was that smile.
That smile that held his secrets. That disturbing smile that held his dangerous shadows. It had warned me. Over and over again. It had made me tremble and I didn’t understand why when I knew I was safe with him, when I knew that he would never harm me. Now I did. It was because of the darkness he hid inside of him.
I smelled it first before I saw it. The scent of blood was unmistakable. It made me sick. It made me think he’d done this on purpose, to let me in. To accept this side of him? I’d only need to ask to know. But I didn’t. I’d been dying with curiosity but I was afraid of the answers, to discover the truth. It gave me the chills just thinking about it.
Mad dog, I heard them whisper when they thought I wasn’t listening. It was what his men called Christopher, not Skull as I assumed.
Meeting all the men that had been protecting us inside his house on the cliff, I had learned that Christopher surrounded himself with the best. But their personalities were not what I was used to and they definitely did not hold back when talking about their boss.
When I asked Chet, his IT guy, about what he thought of Christopher, seeing as Chet was the only guy who didn’t seem to ridicule his boss, this was what he thought.
"He's the only person who could be knocked down but still come up laughing," Chet said after thinking about it for a long minute.
"I'm sure that happened." I didn't doubt him the least bit.
"Numerous times,” Chet nodded somberly, pushing his glasses up his nose. “Especially when he rubbed his friends the wrong way."
Out of all things he could say about Christopher, I was confused why this was the only thing he could think of. Why all his men refer to him as mad dog. I’d known Christopher was a little twisted since he loved getting into fights back in high school but I’d never pegged him for someone who was that twisted.
Finding it hard to breathe, I took out the chicken that I had been reheating from the microwave. Christopher was using the time while I prepped the food to take a shower. By the time he returned, I had his meal ready on the wide counter.
He gave me a kiss to show his appreciation then I sat in front of him, watching him eat. It seemed that he was thinking deeply of something and he looked exhausted so I didn’t try to engage him in a conversation until he had eaten every morsel.
“I think it’s the first time anyone actually used this kitchen,” I told him when he was drinking water.
His gaze came to me. “It actually is,” he admitted. “I rarely stay in this penthouse.”
“Do you still live in the same place?” I asked, referring to that barn house he had renovated into a modern pad in their property back in high school.
He shook his head. “I bought a house next to Rohan’s last year. You’ll love it. It’s in a wonderful and quiet neighborhood.”
I liked hearing that. It would mean seeing Emilia all the time.
“I haven’t told her about you yet,” Christopher told me in an apologetic tone, reading my thoughts. “Only the men know that you’re with me. She’ll be happy to see you again.”
“I do miss her but I’m not ready to see her,” I said with a shake of my head. “I… I don’t want to let her see how pathetic I’ve become. She used to tell me I was her role model.” I chuckled but it came out too sad. I sighed. “Can you believe that? Me? The infamous bitch of both East Private and North High? A role model?”
He turned quiet, studying me.
Then he said, “She sees you the way I do, April. And she loves you just as much as I do.”
I felt his words settle heavily somewhere in my gut. My hideously sad and painful history was nothing compared to theirs but it was amazing, how even when the two of them had gone through the worst pain possible, they still had it in them to share their lives with me. Me. A drug lord’s daughter and a total bitch.
“Have you figured out what you want to do now that you’re back?”
I thought about it. “Don’t you think I’m too old to go back to school?”
“No, honey. Do you want to go back to school?”
Honestly, I did. I liked learning. And it had been quite a blow to my pride, not being able to get into college and graduate.
“You can take online courses while you decide,” Christopher suggested. “Or you can go to the local university here. It’s all up to you, honey.”
“I’ll probably just take online courses,” I mumbled, picking up the dishes and making my way to the sink. “I don’t think it’s safe for me to be outdoors just yet.”
He gave me a smile. “I’ll make it safe for you.”
I shook my head. “I don’t want you putting more men on me.” Turning on the tap, I grabbed the sponge and washed the dishes. “I’d rather you keep them around you at all times, Christopher.”
“Don’t you have people to meet and places you want to go? I don’t want people to think I’m imprisoning you. You do know that you’re free to leave as you want right?”
I turned to give him a look. “You wouldn’t even let me stay out in the deck for too long.”
He turned perplexed. “I wouldn’t? Me?”
“Jaehyun said so.”
At that exact moment, Jaehyun stepped into the kitchen. He took one look at the expression on my face then retreated, murmuring something about leaving if we didn’t need him anymore. Christopher gestured that it was alright and Jaehyun didn’t waste any time disappearing. I watched him go with a scowl.
“Honey…”
I looked at Christopher. He was trying not to laugh.
“What?” I asked, narrowing my gaze. I had a feeling I wouldn’t like what he was going to say.
“My men think you’re loopy.”
I blinked twice. “You’re the one with loose screws in the head, Christopher.”
“They also think you’re a bit of a shrew.”
“Excuse me?”
His shoulders shook with laughter. “They always hear you scream at me all the time. From the basement.”
“But that’s because you’re a jerk,” I sputtered. “I can’t believe…” my shoulders slumped. “I can’t believe they all think I’m a crazy shrew.” I even given them a bag of cookies each that I baked with Rita as my Christmas presents for them!
“Jaehyun thinks you’re unpredictable,” Christopher teased.
I threw the sponge into the sink and dried my hands with a towel. “Has he left? I’ll show him unpredictable,” I grumbled but Christopher reached over to capture my wrist when I tried to pass him.
“He’s not taking any chances, honey. If anything happens to you, he knows I’ll have his hea
d on a platter.”
I stopped struggling. “You can’t be blaming your men if something happens to me.”
“It’s their job to protect you.”
I couldn’t refute that. “There goes my plan to go shopping.”
He threw his head back and laughed. “You’re insulting my men. They’re capable of protecting you.”
I jerked my hand away from his hold. “Yeah, but is it okay for them to insult me?”
