Love's Cruel Redemption

by C. L. Stone

  Marie paled. She crossed her arms over her stomach. “I just need out.”

  “So do I,” Danielle said. “I can help her. I can’t do it from school.”

  She doesn’t need you, Nathan thought but didn’t dare say. He pressed his palms against his face and then rubbed. “All right. We’re going to try to get Marie out. Danielle, you’re more difficult.” He picked his phone up off the table and brought it with him. “But we need to talk about this more later. I’ve got something to do tonight, though. I’d rather you didn’t stay here while I’m not here. I have to go change...”

  Suddenly the doorbell rang. Odd. If it were one of the guys, they would have walked in. Who else could be ringing the bell?

  Nathan looked over at the others, but there wasn’t much chance to check out a camera on his phone without them noticing. The girls slipped into the living room. He went to the front door.

  Outside, Jessica was standing with a small laundry basket. She was blushing red, a contrast to her pink glasses. She was still in her private school uniform. “Don’t be mad at me,” she said.

  Nathan let a breath burst out of his lips and attempted to smile a little. “Jessica, I’m not mad at you. I just made a mistake. You had every right to tell Kota. I was being dumb.”

  Her shoulders loosened as she relaxed and offered the basket to him. “I’m to tell you that this isn’t kicking you out of the house, but my mom wasn’t sure if you’d need any of this. You know, until Kota and you make up. And you tell Sang you’re sorry.”

  Nathan held back a groan. The basket was loaded with jeans and shirts and a few other things, some his, some the other guys’ things. But also in the basket was a casserole dish, something that looked freshly baked and still warm.

  “Thank you,” Nathan said and took the basket. “You didn’t have to. And I’ll tell Sang and Kota I’m sorry again. When they’re ready to talk to me.”

  “My mom said you deserved Kota kicking your butt but also she knew this was your favorite.” She motioned to the dish.

  Nathan laughed. Erica had been his other mom for a long time. He couldn’t imagine this was easy for her, either. “Thanks. Barbecue chicken?”

  She nodded and then leaned over, looking around Nathan.

  Danielle was peeking out from the kitchen. She waved shortly to Jessica. “Hey girl, what’s up?”

  Jessica waved back. “Hi.” She didn’t seem surprised by her being there.

  Odd. Danielle usually didn’t care for Jessica much. One of the things Nathan didn’t like about Danielle over the years was how she would often ignore her completely or tell her to run off and play to get her to go away.

  Jessica continued her wave to Nathan, and an odd expression developed on her face, something happier. “Have fun.” She turned around and walked away, heading across the street to her house.

  Nathan shut the door, with the basket in one arm, and turned to Danielle.

  Danielle’s eyebrows lifted, and she kept a sly grin.

  “What?” he asked.

  “Nothing.”

  Nathan marched around her to his bedroom. “I’ve got to change clothes and leave in a minute. You all should go home soon.”

  “Sure,” Danielle said. “Soon.” She walked off toward the living room.

  Nathan looked over at his dad’s bedroom door, wondering if they’d been in there, but he was pretty sure they hadn’t. He wondered if he should use his dad as an excuse to keep them away, make up a story about him returning tonight.

  But it didn’t help the immediate problem. Getting them out of school...and getting them to tell him about Sang’s mother.

  Darker Than Black

  Sang

  That afternoon, Victor and I went to the security trailer behind Bob’s Diner.

  The security trailer was two rooms, separated by a door, with a tiny bathroom between. The smaller room in back held cots, collections of clothing, and supplies. It was more a miniature storage location for when the guys were on the go.

  A few of us thought to stay here more long term, but there was too little room for us.

  Someone had brought one of the big beanbag chairs from Kota’s house and set it in the corner. I went to it the moment we were inside, rolling around on it, stretching and yawning.

  Victor put his bag near the door, then made sure the door was locked. He unbuttoned the front of his shirt and rolled up the sleeves a bit higher on his forearm. “What a day, yeah?”

  I made a noise that wasn’t quite a grunt but close. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Always.”

  My head had been partially sideways and upside down on the bag. I picked it up, the blood rushing out and making me a bit dizzy. “How long do you think Karen might have been stealing stuff from lockers? And was she always doing it for Hendricks?”

  Victor finished fiddling with the sleeves and sat down next to me on the bag, causing me to roll into him. He put an arm around my shoulder, reclining and putting his head back. “Remember when you were in trouble because someone stole stuff out of girls’ lockers?”

  I couldn’t forget. The girls had been herded into the showers, and I was cornered by Mr. McCoy, before he went rogue. “I was wondering the same thing.”

  “If she did it,” Victor said.

  “And if Hendricks...or McCoy put her up to it?”

  “I don’t know if there’s a way to find out unless she tells us. I don’t know if she’d be willing.”

  It had bugged me since earlier today. Karen wasn’t the only one taking odd orders from Hendricks. We knew this. The problem was, I knew she wasn’t on his side. She couldn’t have been volunteering. She’d helped me out before when it came to Hendricks.

  I scratched absently at my leg, exposed a bit more with the way we were sitting. The space was a bit cold, but the seat with Victor was warming up.

  “How much time do I have?” I asked.

  Victor leaned into me to pull his cell phone out and check the time. “A couple of hours. Although I recommend eating something and taking a good nap. We don’t know how long this is going to take tonight and you might be up late.”

  I considered it, but I wasn’t really sleepy.

  With his arm around my shoulders, he leaned closer. He sniffed once. “That’s the bath bombs?”

  “Can you still smell it?” I asked. When I lifted my arm to my nose, I smelled it too. Sugar and sweet fruit flavors. I realized then I’d been smelling it all day. I hadn’t noticed because I got used to it.

  “I think I like that one. Which one did you use?”

  “Three of them? Thank you, by the way. I forgot to say that earlier.”

  He chuckled with his face close to my shoulder. He kissed it once. “Maybe next time we’ll get to enjoy it together instead of Luke and Gabriel.”

  My cheeks heated and I sighed. “I tried to get them to hold off.”

  “They weren’t going to. That’s why I bought so many. If they found a single basket or two, they would have opened them all unless they knew they were for someone else completely.”

  “What’s yours is mine, right?” I giggled. It was sort of how their group worked. I was still getting used to the concept. But then, I constantly borrowed clothing, books, blankets, beds...nearly everything. Asking ahead didn’t always work, because they could be unreachable. Knowing I could just borrow or use and it was okay made it much easier.

  He lifted his head, the fire in his eyes lighting up to a full blaze. “Absolutely,” he said, his voice huskier than before. “Everything I’ve got. Want anything?”

  I smiled at this, a bit warmer. The tone of the conversation changed. “I don’t need anything.”

  He started rubbing my shoulder, and then massaged a bit. “It’s a shame I wasn’t there last night.”

  “It was a little weird to be there without you.”

  He beamed at this, leaning over to kiss at my shoulder again gently. “Maybe...soon I won’t be so far away.”

  I swallo
wed and then turned over, shifting so I was more on my side, looking at him. He shifted around as well, letting me prop my head up on his arm, but turning so we were stomach to stomach.

  I put a hand on his side to stabilize while I was shifting around but then left it there. It was odd how with some of them, I got used to some things, touching and leaning into them. Sometimes, like now, it had been a while since I’d been around Victor like this, and I was feeling a bit shy. Not as bad as like when we were first getting to know each other, but still I was blushing and hesitating.

  “I know you want out,” I said softly.

  The fire eyes lit up. “I want to be with you,” he said.

  “If there’s a house for us...”

  “We’ll find one.”

  “But...I mean you know the others will want to go. Luke and the rest...”

  He pressed his lips together and nodded slowly. “I think it will be okay. If I want to see you, you’re down the hall. Or at least not an hour away.”

  When I thought about it like that, I liked it. “I do worry about the others, if this might push them...with how they feel.”

  I didn’t want to say what I was thinking, but my nerves lit up like his eyes when I thought of them in the same space. Would they find it harder to be around each other? Even outside of the relationship issues, their personalities were so different. Being friends and then going to their own homes was one thing. Living with each other was totally different.

  He put a palm on my side, and it slid around to the small of my back. “I think we’ll figure it out better doing it rather than trying to guess. Forget all of that for now. You need a place to stay. Where do you want to be?”

  I shook my head slow. “I don’t mind where.”

  He smiled and leaned in a bit, his face close to mine. “Downtown? A house like my parents?”

  A house like his would have ample room, but there was also the attention factor. That house was meant to be looked at and admired by people on that street. It was a statement house. That wasn’t really me. “Oh. Not...really. No offense.”

  “It’s not for me, either,” he said. His fingers caressed my spine. When his fingers got caught in the shirt I was wearing, he tugged up until his fingers could slide across bare skin.

  My heart raced, and my focus shifted from what we were talking about to what he was doing with his hands. My hand tightened at his side, lightly gripping through his shirt.

  His fingers traced around the bones of my spine. He leaned in, kissing my nose once.

  He whispered. “I’d live here with you, if that’s what we had to do.”

  “You’d give up a big house?”

  “I’d give it all up.”

  I didn’t want him to have to, but I realized we used quite a bit of his parents’ money. “We’d have to find another way...to you know...”

  “Money isn’t a problem,” he said. “But you’re right. I stopped using my parents’ cards a while ago. I didn’t need them knowing what I spent, like for you.”

  My eyes widened at this information, and I backed my head up an inch. “What? What about the...” I thought of the closet with so many clothes, the bath bombs... “How?”

  He laughed and shook his head. “I put together my own investment algorithm a couple of years ago. Mr. Blackbourne showed me how, and I put some of my savings aside. It’s not a ton of money yet, but it’s working. In the meantime, Mr. Blackbourne had me take one of his cards.”

  “You have his card?”

  “Gabriel has one, too. And maybe Kota. I’m not sure exactly.” His hand drifted to my side to pull me back into him. He leaned against me, his head lowering to my face. “Does it matter?”

  I hadn’t realized Mr. Blackbourne would issue out cards like that. It shouldn’t have surprised me. It just wasn’t expected.

  Not to mention Victor was already ahead of his exit plan, with his own investment portfolio. I wouldn’t even know where to begin. I barely had time off to work at the diner when I could.

  “Do I need an investment portfolio?” I asked.

  He chuckled, kissing at my lips close to my cheek. “If you want to learn, I’ll show you.”

  I’d no idea if I wanted to learn, but it felt important. I needed to contribute something.

  While I was thinking of where to start, Victor’s hand traced up my body until his fingers were tracing my rib bones.

  “I don’t care where we are,” he whispered. “I don’t need the portfolio. I’d work the diner with you all. If I could just be with you, like this, when we have time, that’s what I want. I don’t need the rest.”

  I smiled at what he was saying, tilting my head down. “I don’t need a big house, either...But...It’ll probably be a big house. With rooms for everyone.”

  He chuckled and nodded. He whispered close to my lips, “Whatever you want.”

  He kissed me. It was slow, holding his lips still.

  He was waiting for me.

  I responded, parting my lips.

  After a moment, he responded. He moved when I did. He did what I did. With every touch and kiss that followed, he was there, following along. His fingers traced over my ribs like keys on his piano, and his warm breath passed through his lips between kisses. First slow, and then faster the deeper the kiss became.

  There was a very slight sound across the room, the sound of a car coming into the parking lot outside, but it was louder than other sounds from outside moments ago. The air pressure changed, getting colder.

  I pulled back from Victor, finding Luke tiptoeing his way to a table up against the far wall, but his face toward us. He’d opened the door and slipped in.

  Victor backed up from me, sitting up when he realized what was going on. “Luke!” he said. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

  Luke continued to tiptoe but chuckled. “Don’t mind me,” he said in a loud stage whisper. “I just came in to get the tablet thingy.”

  Victor groaned and picked up his cell phone that fell below him. “Are you supposed to be here?”

  Luke made it to the table, picked up the tablet and stopped his tiptoeing and whispering. “I have to wait for Nathan. I wanted a bigger screen to watch a movie.” He grinned and then looked at us. “But if you two don’t mind...”

  Victor sighed and rolled his head back. “You want to stay?”

  “If you insist.” Luke hurried over, wedged himself between the two of us, nearly knocking me off of the beanbag chair. He faced Victor, put his arm around him holding the tablet. “Is it my turn now?” He puckered his lips, hovering over his face.

  “Ugh,” Victor said, shoving his hand at Luke’s mouth and pushing him away.

  “Vic, you never give me kisses!” He laughed and then shifted to put me in the center and himself on the edge. With me in the middle on my side, and Victor on his, we three barely had enough room.

  It surprised me Victor was going along with it. It had me giggling.

  Victor pressed to my stomach, Luke at my back, but it was a mess of legs, and I couldn’t fully relax.

  Luke hugged the both of us with one arm thrown over me and holding to Victor’s shoulder and then chuckled. “Do we have to get separate bedrooms? A few of us fit in a bed just fine.”

  Victor chuckled but then sat up. “How long were you standing there?”

  “Inside? Only for a minute. Sang noticed.” His goofy smile told me he’d been listening at the door for a while.

  Victor combed his hair with his fingers and then sat up. “I may as well start my hook up. I’ve got a few feeds to split.” I think he meant some computer stuff, but I could only guess at what specifically.

  “Wait, don’t go,” Luke said. “Let’s play cuddle.”

  Victor rolled his eyes and shook his head, but he did laugh. He went to the table that was set up with some gear, laptops and tablets across the top. It was pressed to the far side, facing windows that were closed with blinds.

  “He’s no fun, is he?” Luke asked me and winked.
He scooped me a bit until he could move me over and then gave himself more room. “Want to watch a movie? We’ve got time to kill.”

  I didn’t have anything to do other than wait until that night. We spent some time watching a movie. Victor listened and, every once in a while, would comment on something. Luke brought dinner from the diner after.

  Before I knew it, it was nightfall. Luke had gone. I was playing a game on my phone to distract myself when North walked in shortly after ten.

  I looked up, finding North in all black again, wearing a turtleneck and a black cotton hat. The sight of him with the hat preoccupied me.

  He scoped me out still in the school uniform. “Why aren’t you ready?”

  “I am ready,” I said. I climbed out of the beanbag and stood up. The backs of my legs had red marks from where I’d been sitting for so long. “I’ve been waiting.”

  Victor looked over his shoulder at North and then at me. “Oh, I forgot. Sorry. Sang, I was supposed to tell you to change into dark clothing.”

  He forgot? That wasn’t like him. And we’d been here all afternoon.

  North groaned and then went over to the desk. “What the hell are you doing you couldn’t break from to tell her?”

  “Nothing!” Victor said and closed his laptop, but his eyes lit up and he looked at me. “There are clothes in the next room. Your bag is marked.”

  “I won’t be long,” I said, dashing off before North had more reason to get after Victor. Whatever he was up to, I imagined he had good reason for being so distracted.

  I left the door partially opened. North teetered in the hallway, hovering between me and Victor.

  I found a pink duffle bag I imagined was for me. I opened it, finding options in dark clothing. I slipped dark pants on under the skirt before removing the skirt and putting it aside. The shirt was more difficult, but I simply turned a bit from North, took it off, set it aside, and put on the dark turtleneck. They were both very snug. I also put on dark boots, not heavy, but enough to be protective.

  Spy clothes, or so it felt.

  North gazed in at me through the doorway, his lips twisted.

  “What?” I asked.