by Anna L
“Now, as for you. We need to talk.” Brent went all serious. “Sam, Nate, and Loren are going to be here soon, but I just want to prepare you. William, you don’t have to stay. I promise I won’t let go of her. If I do you won’t ever see me again.”
“Okay.” William paused, as if he was contemplating on leaving me or not. “I’m just going to go inside though,” William finished, making his way to the door.
“That’s fine. Thank you.”
“No problem.” William turned around and left. Now it was just me, Brent and Evan.
“Cat, we are going to tell you some things that are probably going to tell you more about the issue with your dad. I just wanted to warn you.”
“Yeah, okay.” That’s all that I could get out at the moment.
“Cat, look at me.” I turned my head to face him. He grabbed my chin in his hand. “I am never going to let go of you. You heard what I just promised your brother. Trust me okay?”
“Okay.” I mumbled. My mind seemed really foggy all of a sudden. I could barely hear Brent. There was so much going through my mind.
“Thank you.” Then Brent pulled my towards him and gently kissed me on my lips. The kiss ended too short, but it was reminding me of last night.
“I trust you,” I whispered, snapping out of my head.
Brent smiled. “I trust you too,” He whispered back at me.
I stepped away from him and, as he promised, he never let go of me. He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me towards him. I felt very safe standing next to Brent.
I was thinking about what was going to happened next, when someone tapped my shoulder. I jumped and Brent looked my way and then narrowed his eyes. I turned around. Sam was standing right behind me. I didn’t hear him come up behind me at all. I must have been lost in my thoughts again. I seemed to be doing that I lot more lately.
“Good morning, Catherine,” Sam sounded so excited. Sam was going to be mean to me again. I liked the Sam that was sweet to me better. The Sam that was in my room with me when we kissed.
“Hi,” I mumbled the words. My stomach was in butterflies and I couldn’t concentrate.
Brent squeezed me tighter against his side.
“Hello Brent. I am sure that you are excited about this morning,” Sam sounded serious now.
“I am not excited at all. I am pretty sure that you are the only one, Sam,” Brent sounded tired as he talked.
“What would make you think that I was excited to be here?”
“Sam, you haven’t stopped smiling since Kate was in your sight.”
“Oh. Really? I guess I didn’t notice.”
“Sure you didn’t,” Brent said under his breath.
I was scared to look at Sam. Scared that if I did, Brent would catch something that he wasn’t supposed to know yet. Suddenly, I was not happy to be here.
Brent didn’t say anything else as Sam stood in front of us. Loren and Nate had showed up and were standing behind Sam. Nick was missing, but I could really care less. Now, it looked like Sam was the leader. Evan came and stood next to me, opposite Brent. It was quiet for awhile.
“How much does Catherine know, Brent,” Loren asked. Everyone was serious now.
“Not much. I’m not sure she knows anything actually,” Brent said.
“Do you want me to tell her,” Sam asked.
“No,” Brent said. He had tensed up beside me.
“I will tell her,” Loren responded. “Catherine, we have some bad news. I’m not even happy to be telling you this. You’re father isn’t actually staying in Italy because the company wants him to.” Loren paused and I looked up at Brent. He pulled me even closer to him. “He has actually been kidnapped by some man in Italy. He was assigned to kidnap him. We think that the kidnapper brought your dad to Rome.”
It was hard for me to take this. I would have probably been more concerned about my dad if he had been at home more lately. When my mom was telling us about my Dad staying in Italy longer, I immediately thought that something was wrong. Now, there is for sure something wrong, and I am pretty sure that no one in my family knows about it. I remembered that Nick’s dad was the one that wanted him dead and Nick was still missing from this meeting. I wonder where he was.
“As of right now this is the plan.” Loren paused again.
“Brent has decided that you and him go to Italy and try to find your dad.” I just nodded my head. “Now, you must be wondering why Sam, Nate and I are even here.” Loren paused and took a deep breath. “Brent proposed the idea of you and him going to Italy to Evan. Evan decided that it was too dangerous for just the two of you to go. He thinks you need someone who is more your age, strong and who is experienced in this kind of work. Evan decided to call us.” Loren stopped talking and took a step forward. He was now right next to Sam.
“You know Sam, right,” Loren asked.
“Yes,” was all I could say.
“Good. Now, Sam, why don’t you tell her the rest of the story.” Loren stepped back again.
“Yes, Loren. I love this part of the story.” Sam hadn’t stopped staring at me. He took a small step towards me and Brent stiffened.
“So, Evan called me. He knew I was strong and he knew that I had experience to do the job!” Sam sounded so excited.
I should have expected this. Why else would Sam and his friends be involved? My jaw must have dropped open because I had to shut it.
“So, I get to go to Italy with you guys!”
“Why?” I mumbled the words. I relaxed my head, letting it fall backward. It landed on Brent’s arm and he seemed to let out a laugh. I rolled me head to my left, letting it rest on Brent’s chest.
Sam and Brent both said something to each other, but I wasn’t listening. It was silent for awhile and it seemed that the meeting had ended.
Evan walked over to Loren and Nate, after saying a few words to Brent. Now, Evan walked away with Loren and Nate.
It was just me, Sam, and Brent now.
“Cat, listen. You’re not going to school today and neither are Sam and I. Would you like to go somewhere and talk about this?” Brent asked.
All I could do was nod my head. There was so much going on in my mind right now I couldn’t even speak.
School had started, so I never got to talk to William, but there was nothing really to say. I texted him quickly, telling him that I was okay and that I would see him later. Hopefully he would understand.
I climbed into Brent’s car and we left my school.
“Are you ok Cat?” Brent looked concerned.
“Yes, I’m fine. I’m sorry Brent, there is just a lot going on right now.”
“Yeah, I get that. It’s okay to feel that way.”
“Brent, Sam’s going to want me to tell you something, sometime today, but I don’t want to wait for him. Sam came into my house last night and made me kiss him. He scared the crap out of me.” I told Brent.
“Wow. Okay, I didn’t know that he was planning on breaking into your house. Why didn’t you call me?” Brent asked.
“Sam stole my phone before I came into my room.” I told him.
“Oh, I guess that makes sense then. Cat, it’s okay. You don’t need to worry about it at all. I trust you.”
I looked over at him. Brent just smiled at me.
Brent reached over with his hand and softly stroked my cheek. He let his hand slide down to my shoulder, where it rested until we got to the restaurant.
Chapter 22
We had arrived at a restaurant downtown. Sam had taken a different way so he hadn’t arrived yet. Brent and I sat in the car, silent.
“Sorry.” Brent broke the silence.
“For what,” I asked.
“Everything.”
“I thought we made a deal.” I kept my eyes forward.
“I can’t take it anymore.”
“Okay.”
“Are you okay,” Brent asked me.
“Yeah, are you?”
“Cat, I can’t explai
n to you how bad I feel.”
“It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.”
I leaned over the arm rest and kissed Brent gently on the lips. I rested my head on his shoulder and took a deep breath.
“Cat, I never want to lose you,” Brent said to me, resting a hand on my back.
“You won’t lose me. I’m not going anywhere.” I said, but Brent never responded.
My phone vibrated.
You ready to go? Or are you going to stay in the car?
Sam texted me.
“Where is he,” Brent asked. He must have been looking at who the text was from.
“I have no idea,” I replied to Brent.
“Well, we should probably get out then.”
“Probably.” I opened the car door and got out of the car. Brent followed me and we walked into the restaurant together.
Sam was already sitting at a table.
“How did you get here so fast? I thought you were behind us,” I asked.
“I sped here. I wanted to see you.” Sam smiled and then laughed.
“Stop talking.” Brent snapped. He pulled me closer to him and we sat down opposite of Sam.
We told our waiter what we wanted to drink, and then we waited patiently for her to come back. After she gave us our drinks, we began to get serious.
“So, what is our goal,” Sam asked.
“Before we do all this, I think you should fill me in on what is going on,” I said.
Brent took a deep breath. He was choosing his words again. “Cat, it’s going to take awhile. I don’t even know where to begin. Loren told you most of it. What do you want to know?” Brent sounded really concerned.
“I guess I don’t know. I just feel really lost and I want to know more about those questions I asked you the other night. I am still sort of flustered by all this, I guess.” I replied. Brent shook his head. He didn’t know what to do.
“That makes sense, Catherine, but Brent talked to me about those questions, and none of us can answer them. Only Loren and Evan can; he knows the most about the situation. And they might not be able to answer the questions.” Sam paused and looked a me. “Don’t worry about it though. We will figure all this out. We will all have fun! We are going to Italy!!” Sam was so excited. He was almost jumping up and down in his seat with excitement.
“Yeah, I’m sure it is going to be a ton of fun,” Brent said sarcastically. “So, anyways.” Sam and I just stared at Brent. “We are going to be leaving on Wednesday, tomorrow, by plane.”
“Are you sure that will be enough time,” I asked the boys.
“We have to find your dad soon. Something could happen to him if we don’t Cat.” Brent reached over and grabbed my hand.
“Yeah, I guess that makes sense,” I replied. It was silent for a moment. “How long are we out of school,” I asked.
“Until we are ready to come back,” Brent said.
“That is sweet!” Sam was even more excited.
There didn’t seem to be much to talk about. Everyone acted like there was something missing, something that everyone didn’t know about. I think that was what was bothering me. I could tell for sure that Brent was keeping something from me, but I knew for sure that he wasn’t going to tell me anytime soon.
“Are we done talking? I have no other questions.” I was really bored, and it seemed that there were no answers to any of my questions.
“Yeah, I think so.” Brent sounded bored too.
“Cat, can I talk to you for a moment.” Sam was serious. “Privately?” Sam looked toward Brent.
I looked at Brent, who nodded back at me. He got up and left, leaving Sam and me sitting in the booth.
“I wouldn’t try anything. He is probably watching you,” I told Sam, as soon as Brent was out of the restaurant.
“I wasn’t going to try anything. Trust me,” Sam replied. He stood up and grabbed my hand. He pulled me out of my seat before I answered.
“Why would I want to trust you?”
“You should trust someone you will be working with for the next week at least.”
I moaned. “I don’t want anything to do with you.” I took a step away from Sam, taking my hand from his.
“I don’t believe that. I know that you loved kissing me more that you loved kissing Brent. I could tell by your reactions.” I looked away from Sam’s stare. “Have you told him that you kissed me?”
“Yes.”
“I told you not to tell him unless I was around!” Sam’s voice was almost whiney.
“I am not listening to you.”
“Why not?”
“Why should I?”
“Cat, you are going to have to like me at some point. Like I said, we are going to be working together for a long time.”
“Don’t call me Cat! You don’t deserve it!” I was making my way towards the door.
Sam grabbed my hand and pulled me towards him. The restaurant was almost empty. Thank God. He wrapped his arms around me and I could barely move.
“Let me go!” I struggled against him.
“There is no point in trying. I thought you said that Brent would be watching.”
“He is. He’s just waiting.”
“Yeah, sure.”
“What in the world do you think you are doing!” Brent’s voice was so loud.
Sam let go of me quickly. I couldn’t even feel Sam’s presence anymore. He must have taken some steps backwards too. I walked over to Brent who had a death grip on my arm. I winced, but made no effort to make Brent let go. I still felt safe.
“Let go. You’re hurting her,” Sam said, looking at me.
“You should stop talking. You don’t have to go on this trip with us if we don’t want you to.” Brent let go of my arm and I began to rub it.
“I am coming with you,” Sam said.
“Only if we want you to.” I said.
“Catherine, you know you want me to go.” Sam looked right into my eyes. I twisted under his stare and looked away.
“Stop it! We are going home right now and we will see you at the airport on Wednesday morning. If you have any questions call me. Don’t text Cat.” Brent’s voice was stern.
“Yeah, I got it.” Sam laughed and we walked out of the restaurant, leaving Sam to himself.
What Sam had said about me wanting him to go really hit me. I realized that part of me did want him to go. I wanted him to be there with me. Even if that meant danger for me. I liked Sam, but I loved Brent. I just wish that Brent would have waited a bit longer before he kissed me. That night seemed to rushed, and I wasn’t sure of what I was getting myself into. Sam has taken the time to get to know me, a little bit. Now, whether it was in a good way or a bad way, I have still gotten to know Sam pretty well.
Sam was also right about the kiss. I did enjoy it. I enjoyed it more than Brent’s kiss. Was it because Sam’s kiss was forced?
I couldn’t organize my thoughts at all. They were all over the place. Between Brent, Sam, and my dad, I was about to explode. The worst thing is that I can’t do anything to help my dad without Brent and Sam.
I took a deep breath and tried to control my mind. I had gotten into Brent’s car and we were on our way home. I couldn’t let Brent see my confusion over everything. He would start to question my relationship between Sam and me, and I couldn’t let that happen.
Chapter 23
Brent must have been very mad at Sam, because he said nothing to me about it until we were almost home.
“What was going on back there,” Brent asked me as we pulled into my driveway.
“I don’t know,” I responded.
“What was he talking to you about?” Brent unlocked the car, and we both got out.
“Trust,” I said, once I was out of the car.
“What about it?”
“How I need to have some in him.” We were making our way to my front door.
“Why would you have trust in him? After everything he has put you through?”
“That’
s what I told him and he blew up.”
“He makes me so angry.”
“I know!”.
“I’m sorry.” Brent said before we opened the front door.
“For what,” I asked, with a sigh.
“Sam. I wish there was some other way that we could save your dad without having to drag Sam along. He is very smart and he is perfect for the situation, but he’s not right for you.”
“Don’t worry about it. I have you, right?”
Brent took another one of his deep breaths. “You will always have me,” Brent said as he tried to open the front door. The door was locked, but we had a spare key under the mat. I grabbed the extra key and opened the door, leading into my huge kitchen. Margaret was either out of the house or sleeping, so we kept sort of quiet. Everyone else was at school, and my mom had some meetings today. So, she was out of the house too.
“What do you want to do,” Brent asked me after we had settled in.
“I don’t care.”
“There has got to be something.”
“Okay. Do you want to watch T.V. or something?”
“Sure! That works for me. I never get time to watch T.V. anymore.”
We went over to the couch that always sat in our living room. I turned the T.V. on and sat down next to Brent. He wrapped his arms around me and I leaned against him. I was really tired and didn’t really feel like watching T.V. I closed my eyes and fell asleep.
About a half an hour later I was jerked awake.
“What’s going on,” I asked Brent suddenly.
“I’m not sure yet. Someone just knocked on your front door and then on your back door. It sounded like they were hitting the door with something metal too.”
“What?”
“Just stay here, okay?”
I didn’t say a word. I sat up a little bit and watched as Brent slowly walked over to the window. The banging had stopped for the moment. Brent opened the curtain to the window that the last knock had been at. When the curtain was pulled back all the way there was nothing outside. Brent looked around but found nothing.
Then, there was another knock at the front door. Brent hurried over to it and opened it. It was Sam.