by Lannah Smith
So when Edmund walked in casually into our home like he owned the place, my first reaction was a flare of anger shooting right through me.
But when he laid his cold eyes on me, the anger was quickly replaced by a tremor of fear.
Because I was also aware of the fact that Edmund Lawrence was like a cat and cats liked to play with their prey.
Jaehyun tried to block his path. "Sir, you cannot—."
And was struck in the gut by one of the men who had followed Edmund in.
I half-rose from my seat, the book on my lap falling to the floor. Jaehyun was bent down on the floor, coughing and Edmund stopped to stare at him in distaste.
"Who the fuck are you to tell your employer what he cannot do?" another of his men muttered, kicking Jaehyun’s face. "Learn your fucking place, Asian."
"Stop!" I shouted, moving towards them when they lifted their fists to strike him again. Jaehyun had become unconscious after the hit on his jaw and was now limp on the floor. My heart pounded wildly in my chest. "Stop it!"
Edmund's eyes went to me and my body swayed back. He was smiling. The asshole was enjoying this.
"Take him away," he instructed his men. "Make sure he's unable to communicate with my grandson."
"Can we play with him?"
I understood immediately what the bastard who’d struck first was insinuating and I took a step forward, my mind seized with complete terror that I almost didn't see Edmund shaking his head in negative.
"He is still my grandson’s friend, Ralph. I can't protect you from Christopher if you play with him. Just make sure to secure him."
The man called Ralph looked disappointed. "Yes, sir."
Finally, able to breathe, I watched them pull Jaehyun up by his collar and drag him into the guestroom. Then I watch Edmund come up to me until he was just a foot away.
He stopped.
And said, "Hello, April Locke."
I stopped breathing again.
"You look..." he raked his ice-cold eyes down my body. "Well."
I took a deep breath.
And sent him a glower that could send anyone into deep-freeze.
"Why are you here?"
"Why are you here?" he returned, frustratingly unperturbed. "You did a good job staying away. What happened to that?"
"Your grandson—."
"I heard about your little bet," he clipped, leaning slightly towards me and I saw a muscle in his cheek twitch. I stiffened. "If you only held out for much longer, Christopher would have set you free."
My only response to that was to lift my chin, to keep my shoulders straight, and stand tall. I couldn’t let him show how much he terrified me. And he wasn't done talking.
"I refuse to let this relationship continue.” His eyes took on a devious look that gave me a much more horrible feeling. “You're going to ruin everything I worked hard to build and I cannot let that happen. You need to disappear."
"Are you going to kill me?" Thankfully, my voice didn't shake.
He straightened and answered, "No. Regretfully, I can't."
I felt no relief.
"You need to disappear on your own."
"Regretfully, I can't," I responded and he didn't like me throwing his words back to him. "That's a mistake I will never do again."
"Your father killed my son."
I pulled in a sharp breath and took a step back when he took a step forward. His face was filled with murderous hatred and another terrified shiver raced up my spine.
"Your father killed my only son."
He didn't stop moving and I kept backing away from him until I hit the wall.
"What makes you think I'll let trash like you enter this family when your father destroyed this family?"
"You did a good job doing that on your own," I returned angrily.
He stopped, his brows lifted. "You've been talking to my grandson."
"I know everything there is to know about your grandson. And I won't let you take him away from me. I won't let anyone take us away from each other anymore."
Edmund Lawrence stared at me in angry shock.
I carried on, "I know I can never be truly forgiven for the blood that runs in my veins but I can make amends for that. I’ll dedicate my whole life making amends for that. But I’m not my father. I’m my own person. Many people,” I stopped, choking on the words that clogged my throat, before I could continue, “many people helped me see that. Many people sacrificed their lives for me to see that. I can’t let them down.” I straightened my shoulders and glared at him through wet eyes. “I’m finally living a life without people dictating me what to do. Without living in fear. And I won’t let you take that away from me too.”
"You can't be serious," Edmund whispered, his brown eyes flashing dangerously at me.
"I am serious!" I snapped back.
Suddenly, Edmund's eyes narrowed and he asked, "But what if I tell you that several assassins have just been dispatched at this very hour to kill Christopher?"
My head jerked back as the impact of his words hit me and I felt my face drain of blood.
"Even if my men can protect him, what if I tell you that assassins have been sent to your friends too?"
My breathing started escaping in sharp bursts.
"What if I tell you that even the Gage child has a death sentence?"
"You—."
"Not me, Miss Locke, no." His furious eyes seared through me. "Your father."
God, God, why did this have to happen right now?
"Christopher promised me they were all safe—."
"My grandson lied to you. The war has already started days ago and he can't stop these cold-blooded murderers. He’ll die trying. Because of you."
I closed my eyes. A hot knot was burning in my chest and I was trembling, deep body shakes. My hands went to my scalp, rubbing, pressing, because this couldn’t be happening.
I couldn’t lose Sophia and her kindness. Couldn’t lose Terry and her protective nature, and Hannah and her friendship. Not Emilia and her charming wit. Not even Leon, John and Rohan who had shown me so much forgiveness and generosity.
Hannah had told me to make new memories with them. fucking great memories that would make us forget past hostilities. She promised that I wouldn’t regret coming back and joining their family. She promised me that she’d show me what it was like to be free, to have genuine friends and to have a family. She even already scheduled a trip for us women to Bali to bond.
And Christopher.
I couldn’t lose him.
"You need to leave, April,” Edmund Lawrence spoke and my eyes flew open and went to him. “I can help you."
He was still stiff towards me. But a glimmer of pity flashed through his eyes as he stared at me.
"You don't have to return to your father. As long as you're out of the picture, he'll stop coming after my grandson and all the people you love. I can hide you."
Hide again.
Was that all I could do?
Even if this wasn’t true, even if he was saying this to get me to leave, I still couldn’t risk all their lives. I gulped down a sob but it tore through and tears flowed down my face. Even if this was Edmund Lawrence’s way of manipulating me to disappear from his only grandson’s life, I couldn’t risk Christopher’s life.
He’d already escaped death thrice.
He may not make it the second time.
Edmund must have read the decision on my face because he said, "We don't have much time," he glanced at his watch. "Christopher will find out any second from now that I am here. We need to leave. Now."
Listen to him and leave everything behind?
Or stay and lose everything I love?
I let out a shaky sigh, my decision made. "Just give me a moment," I mumbled.
His face hardened. "April—."
"I just want to write him a note," I whispered. "To tell him goodbye and not to look for me."
His face softened. "You have three minutes."
Whirling ar
ound, I went up the stairs and grabbed a pen and note from the table in our bedroom. Shaking, trying to quit crying, I quickly jotted down the words. When I was done, I picked up my pot of daisies and put the folded, damp note between the petals.
When I went downstairs, emptyhanded, Edmund asked me, "You can bring anything you want with you."
I shook my head. "Just give me money to start over."
He gave me a long stare before he nodded and turned. His men circled around us, giving Edmund my coat that I had missed to take and Edmund gently covered my still trembling shoulders with it. I gave him no gratitude. I hated him. But if this was truly to save everyone, I would forever be in his debt.
The elevator opened and we stepped in. I turned to give the penthouse one more look. I had just finished redecorating it, just started calling it home.
Now I once again had no home.
And no Christopher.
Chapter 72
Christopher knew before Klay could open his mouth to speak that something was wrong. He'd seen him talk to Jac and to Chet, who kept pushing his glasses up his nose agitatedly, through the glass of the conference room where Christopher was holding a meeting with his managers. Chet wasn’t supposed to be out at this time yet. He should be in the surveillance room of the building. Not out.
A feeling of foreboding stole over Christopher.
All afternoon, while he worked in his office, there was a weight he’d been carrying in his gut and a feeling he couldn’t just shake off. So he had Alec amp up security in his penthouse building, called April to check if she was fine and added more men to his friends. Still, he couldn’t shake it all off.
Christopher watched Klay enter the room, disrupting the presentation with his sudden presence, his face not biding good tidings.
Bending down to Christopher's ear, he whispered, "Miss Locke's gone, sir."
Christopher’s mind blanked and a blind panic filled him.
Klay wasn't done.
"Your grandfather was in the house."
"What?" he roared, knifing up his chair so suddenly it fell back on the floor in a loud crash, causing everyone in the room to jump.
Christopher had to focus on Klay. If he didn't focus on him, he would do something, show everyone something he would regret. Just to remove these gut-twisting, soul-destroying feelings out of his head and chest.
Everyone in the room was herded out by Jac until the four of them were alone. Chet explained in stutters what had happened, how their men were removed from the building of his penthouse by his grandfather’s men, how Chet himself had a gun pointed to his head in the surveillance room so he wouldn't be able to contact them, and how he was struck by the butt of the gun and fainted when they saw on the monitors that Christopher's grandfather and April was leaving the penthouse together.
Christopher's blank mind saturated as he listened.
They could be everywhere. fucking everywhere. His grandfather was smart. He wouldn't leave a trace or let himself be easily tracked. They wouldn't be able to find April easily. He might not even have enough time to find her but he knew, he just knew he’d never forgive his grandfather if something bad happened to her.
He might even kill him.
"Sir?" Chet nervously prompted.
Christopher told himself, no, told the monster inside of him to calm. If he let the monster out, Alec would have to lock him down with any means necessary. He needed to find April first. He needed to find her fast. He needed to pull himself together. He needed to fucking focus.
He looked at Chet when he managed to composed himself and asked, "Where's Alec?"
"In your office, sir."
There was dried blood at the side of Chet's neck and it took everything in him not to bellow in rage. "Are you alright, Chet?"
Chet's throat bobbed up and down when he tried not to tear up. "I blame myself," he whispered torturously. "I didn't see the man sneak behind me. If I had, Jaehyun wouldn't have been hurt and Miss Locke—."
"But as soon as you woke up, you immediately called for help," Klay muttered angrily at him. "No one wanted this to happen, Chet."
"But, I—."
"Your brother is right." Christopher patted Chet's shoulder and watched the younger man who had only turned twenty-two tear up fast. "You’re not at fault. I need you to focus, Chet. I need you to help me find April."
And find the men who betrayed them so he could kill them with his bare hands.
Alec was already giving their men instructions when Christopher pushed the door to his office open with a loud bang. They all turned, their faces hard and furious. One of them was missing. Two of them were found hurt.
Many would pay for those atrocities.
Including his grandfather.
"We already found the man who snuck onto Chet," Alec informed him, his eyes scanning him to see if he was cool. He was. For the moment. "He's in the holding room."
"Can you give me five minutes with him?" Klay requested, his tights fists shaking.
Christopher inclined his head. "Go. And find out what he knows before you kill him. You two," he pointed at two of his men, "get Chet to the hospital." When Chet started to protest, he silenced him with a look. "Get your head looked after and come back immediately when the doctor says you're fine."
"Jaehyun is returning from the hospital, sir," Cash muttered to him low. "He says he wants you to use him even if it kills him."
Like Chet, Jaehyun was clearly blaming himself. And this didn't sit well with the others.
"Sir?" His secretary peered into the room, looking terrified around the room filled with angry men. "A phone call from Leon Gage."
Christopher and Alec exchanged glances. Then Christopher nodded at his secretary and went to his desk to pick up the phone.
"assassins, Skull."
His blood turned to ice.
"We have assassins targeting all of us."
fuck, fuck, fuck.
This couldn’t be happening right fucking now.
"Are you all alright?" Christopher gritted out.
"I heard what happened to April. Do not worry about us and focus on her," Leon ordered. "Locke has fucking messed with the wrong people. Haru is fucking ticked that he dared put a hit on his sister. And he told me to inform you that he'll take care of them himself."
Christopher didn't doubt he would. Haru Evans had connections to the Japanese yakuza himself.
"Tell him to coordinate with Cash about the assassins," Christopher glanced at said man, who used to be an assassin himself. Cash's eyes flashed when he heard the word and everyone in the room tensed. "And I'm going to notify all of my men to—."
"No," Leon cut him off. "Focus on finding April. We can take care of this. Rohan is working on pinning all of them. John is working with Haru."
"Jesus Christ, Leon, they're fucking assassins."
"And I tell you to trust me."
His fist came down on his desk, loud and hard. "You need to fucking listen to me—!"
"Sir."
His eyes cut to Alec who was holding out a cell phone.
With barely controlled rage, Alec said, "It's Edward Locke."
Leon inhaled sharply on the line. "Tell him to go fuck himself, Skull. Hand me Alec."
Christopher promptly gave the phone to Alec and took the cell phone.
"You mother fucker—."
"I told you this would happen if you don't give me my daughter back."
Edward Locke sounded horribly smug. Christopher imagined ripping his tongue out from his throat and gouging his eyes out with his fingers. The images soothed the beast for the meantime.
"You don't want your daughter back, you fucking bastard. You want my business."
"Which would have been a perfect exchange if you had only agreed."
He didn't say anything to that and Edward didn't wait for him to respond.
"You ruined me, Christopher. Made my life fucking difficult. Made me hide like a common criminal. Now I want both. My daughter and your stable
s. And you have twelve hours to give me both."
