by Lannah Smith
“Business can’t wait?” I deadpanned.
He looked at me, his lips twitching. “Apparently.”
I didn’t like hearing this. Of course, Alec had been so impatient for us to leave the cliff house that even before dawn broke, he hauled us into the truck and sent us on our way to the airport.
“Can you tell me what your plans are for the day?” I put a hand on Christopher’s chest. “Or are you going to keep me in the dark?”
“I’m going to the offices today, honey,” he told me.
That explained the suit he changed into when the plane was about to land. He even wore a tie.
My brows drew together. “And after?”
“Sir…” I heard Alec say in warning but Christopher ignored him.
“Leon, John and Rohan wanted to speak to me as soon as I came back. I have to meet them after if I don’t want them barging in later tonight.”
The tension in my shoulders eased. I didn’t have reason to doubt him. He’d promised me in the plane that he’d always tell me the truth, no matter if I’d like the answers or not.
Sliding my hands up to his shoulders, I asked him, “Do you want me to wait up for you?”
He cocked his head to the side. “I’m probably going to be late but I’ll try my best to come home before midnight. Jaehyun will stay here with you while I’m gone. If you need anything, you can tell him, alright?”
“Alright,” I said with a sigh. I didn’t want to think about it but I didn’t like not having him in my sights. It was the only way I could be sure he was okay. That he was still breathing.
But I needed to trust him. It was the only way this could work.
“Don’t hesitate to call,” Christopher went on to say. “Even if I’m in a meeting, I’ll have Alec or my secretary bring my phone to me.”
My lips twitched but I didn’t smile. “Right.”
“Since Rita has gone to visit her family, you might feel bored. There are a lot of books in the study and there’s Netflix. Or you can use the internet. The Wi-Fi password’s skullxaprilforever in small caps.”
“Are you ever going to leave?” I asked irately.
“You have a meeting with the managers in an hour, sir,” Alec spoke up in the same irritated fashion.
“But I don’t want to leave her,” Christopher told him with a frown, pulling me closer and squeezing me.
I pushed him away. “Just go. I’ll be fine.”
From the expression on his face, he didn’t want to leave me too. He lowered his head and pressed his lips against mine. He wasn’t in a hurry, he kissed me until Alec had to clear his throat to gain his attention. He pulled away.
“I have half a mind to cancel this meeting,” he grumbled, rubbing his thumb over my lips. “I can hardly concentrate on business right now with you in my arms.”
“Alec might push you off the deck so I suggest you get going.”
He glanced at his watch. “I do need to go now.”
“Nobody is stopping you.”
He gave me an adorable grin that stopped my heart for a moment. “Fine. Take your time and look around. Our bedroom is the first door upstairs. I’ll be back soon. I promise.”
With that, he gave me another kiss before he headed for the elevator. Everyone left with him. Except for Jaehyun who was still standing next to my bags.
“Do you want me to carry them to your bedroom?” he asked me as he picked them up.
I stared at him for a brief moment.
“Please,” I murmured.
That gave him such a start his grip loosened and the bags came thudding down the floor. I didn’t mind him, I was already on my way up the stairs.
Christopher’s two-story penthouse was in the tallest building in the city. Upon touring, aside from what I had already seen, I saw that it had four bedrooms, each outfitted with a double-pillow top mattress, down & feather pillows and duvet, and Egyptian cotton sheets, with full marble bathrooms, and a fully equipped kitchen with granite counters and stainless-steel appliances. It also had a wrap-around deck looking over the downtown.
As I stared at the view down below, letting the afternoon sun shine down on me, listening to the distant honking that carried up from the streets, I told myself to be patient. I told myself to be brave.
I’d already received the answers I need from Christopher. Rita was also coming to support me after her visit to her family. She’d been with us all along.
I’d been set to blame Christopher for hiding her.
But she explained she just didn’t reveal herself to me because she thought I needed space to deal and she didn’t want to remind me with her presence about my shitty life. And since it was Christmas, I pushed all the bad thoughts aside and tried to concentrate on happy. Because that was what Christopher liked to see from me and I had already decided I wanted him happy.
I had yet to know what purpose I had left aside from loving him and I didn’t know what to do and how to start my life again. I had no idea if I was upset or just fed up. I didn’t even know if everything really happened or not. This felt like someone else's life. Because this most certainly didn’t feel like mine.
“You’re not thinking about jumping, are you?” Jaehyun spoke behind me and I turned to see if he was serious.
He wasn’t. I frowned at him.
“If not, what were you thinking so deeply?” he asked curiously. Everyone of Christopher’s men were curious and had no qualms seeking the answer immediately.
“Matters of the heart,” I mumbled.
"You're an adult. You know."
I shook my head. "Being an adult doesn't mean one doesn't get puzzled over love."
Jaehyun gave me a blank look.
Then he said, “I need you to step away from the deck in a minute, Miss Locke. The boss’s orders.”
“Is he afraid I’d get assassinated?” I asked, perplexed.
He shrugged. “He’s not taking any chances.”
I considered this quietly and nodded. Jaehyun closed the glass door behind me and we heard the phone ringing.
“I’ll be upstairs,” I murmured as he went to pick up the phone. He nodded.
The master bedroom meant for Christopher and I was large and decorated beautifully as well. Still, it also screamed bachelor. My bags were inside the walk-in closet. I stared at it, still thinking how I was going to deal with these new changes in my life.
But first things first.
“Right,” I breathed. “I have to unpack.”
I had a new life to live.
Chapter 58
Christopher swung the metal bat down on the man’s leg. The beautiful sound of bones shattering filled the space, as well as the scream that followed.
"Did you hit my woman?" he demanded.
Not waiting for an answer, he crashed the bat down on the other leg and the screams that filled the air grew louder.
"Did you make my woman bleed?" he roared.
"fuck!" the man grunted, crying, struggling against the binds that held his hands. "fuck! Just fucking kill me already!"
"No way," Christopher grinned. "You'll need to compensate me first by losing ten liters of blood."
And he brought the bat down on the broken body again and again until the man passed out cold.
Or dead.
Letting go of the bat, Christopher took a deep breath and slicked back the hair that had fallen around his eyes. It took him a long minute to recollect himself, to reel in the monster inside of him back. Around him, his men stood motionless, staring on, giving away nothing on their faces. Except for Alec who was shaking his head in resignation.
“You told her you were going to the offices today,” he said dryly, handing Christopher a handkerchief.
Christopher wiped the blood off his hands. “Isn’t this one of my offices?” he asked innocently.
Alec made a show of looking around the dusty warehouse before giving him a blank look. Then he turned to signal the men to get rid of the unconscious body on the floor
, to keep him alive, knowing that his employer would be back to give him more torture until he was satisfied.
And Christopher wouldn’t be satisfied anytime soon.
Christopher turned his eyes on the man on his knees. His white shirt was soaked wet with sweat and discolored by blood and dust. His face was bloody and bruised, his eyes swollen and his mouth was still bleeding profusely. His hands, unlike the previous man’s, was not bound. This man hadn’t screamed for mercy when Christopher let his men play with them, nor did he utter a single groan. This man had been a friend but never did they think he’d fucking betray them.
“I think I’ve been ignoring you long enough Oscar, don’t you think?” Christopher asked him.
Oscar lifted bloodshot eyes to him. Then he shrugged, like he didn’t care what was going to happen to him.
“You betrayed us, Oscar.”
“I never betrayed you,” he rasped, the first words he uttered that day.
Alec’s eyes flashed with fire and he kicked Oscar’s face, making him tumble to the side. “Don’t lie!” Alec roared.
Christopher lifted a hand and Alec retreated. He didn’t fault Alec’s loss of temper, Alec had considered Oscar like an older brother. Squatting down, Christopher peered at Oscar’s side-turned face.
“You didn’t?”
“I didn’t,” Oscar coughed.
“Then why does April know about the initiation? Why does she know about my fucking scar?”
Oscar’s pained gaze slid up to him. “I did it because I know it would come useful.”
He lifted a brow. “Useful?”
“She belongs to you know, doesn’t she?”
“Motherfucker—,” Alec cursed and Christopher swung his hand up to silence him again.
“The information almost broke her,” Christopher whispered, anger burning through him at the reminder. “You shouldn’t have told her.”
“It was the only time she asked me of something.” Oscar closed his eyes. “She hated her father. She hated all of us. But she came to me one day and asked for information about all the groups in the city. To protect herself, she said. She was fifteen.”
Christopher clenched his jaw and didn’t answer. This was because he was concentrating on the blood roaring in his ears.
Fifteen.
It had been around the time Leon had saved April from a street gang.
“That information could have cost us,” Alec spoke behind him but his voice no longer held anger.
Oscar’s mouth twitched but he didn’t smile. “She wasn’t stupid. I told her not to tell anyone of what she knew. If her father found out that I gave away that kind of information, he’ll have me killed. She knew that too.”
Christopher’s anger lessened without him understanding why. Also, he didn’t understand why April would protect someone like Oscar when she thought every one of her father’s men, save for Grant’s father, was scum. April didn’t hesitate to get her hands dirty but he guessed she draw the line when it involved killing.
Oscar peeled an eye open. “Are you going to break my legs like you did with Rodney?”
“Don’t tempt me,” Christopher grumbled, pushing off the floor. “You still betrayed us. If my grandfather finds out—.”
“Your grandfather isn’t the boss now.”
Alec pulled in a hiss of breath through his teeth. “Just shut your mouth, will you?” he snapped.
“You’re lucky I didn’t see you hurt her,” Christopher said as he turned to give the handkerchief to one of his man.
“I would never,” Oscar sounded angry and insulted. He rolled to his back, grunting, and blinked at the ceiling. “I owe her mother a lot for saving my life. I made a vow to keep her safe.”
“Then you shouldn’t have led her father to her.”
“If I acted rashly, I could have gotten killed and she’d be dead by her father’s hand. I kept him away from her as much as I could. I contacted Alec as soon as I could. You took your fucking time coming for her.”
Christopher refused to accept the blame. “Grant—.”
“Grant was a fucking moron,” Oscar hissed, sitting up. “I told him to stay quiet. I told him I’d convince Locke to keep him alive and that I’ll help him escape. He didn’t trust me.”
Studying Oscar, Christopher tilted his head to the side. He didn’t like hearing that Grant could have been saved. It would break April’s fucking heart if she knew.
He set those thoughts aside.
“You could have just told us all of this instead of keeping quiet,” he told Oscar. “Then you wouldn’t have gotten hurt.”
Oscar’s face rippled with pain
“I couldn’t protect her,” he said in a quiet voice. “I swore to her mother I would protect her. But I failed her and her daughter over and over again.” He brought his fist down viciously on the floor and the sound of his knuckles breaking filled the room. “I thought that by helping her escape, I could atone for it. I helped Dan plan, told him not to tell April. And all I asked from him was to make contact once they reached their destination so that I could give you the information but the moron didn’t keep his promise. He didn’t trust me.”
Christopher was blind to the wretchedness Oscar was feeling.
“Get the bat, Alec,” he ordered in a low voice, his hands curling into tight fists.
Alec lifted his brows. “What for?”
“He fucking knew that April was leaving.”
Alec shook his head. “I already told you. There was nothing you could do back then except get yourself killed. If Dan had kept his promise, you could have gone after April after a few years has passed. When it’s safe for the both of you.”
Christopher’s body grew tight and his voice was cold when he asked, “So we blame the dead guy?”
“I liked Dan but he wasn’t a smart kid,” Oscar muttered.
Putting his hands on his hips, Christopher stared at the dusty floor and exhaled angrily.
“We’ll not tell April about this fucking conversation,” he growled. Then his eyes alighted on Oscar. “And you’re not going anywhere.”
Oscar shrugged. He still didn’t give a damn about what was going to happen to him. “There’s one more thing. You need to find Grant’s father or else he’ll make trouble. Get him in the loop. He might ruin everything.”
God damn it.
“We’re trying to locate him,” Christopher replied, not liking this but knowing Oscar was right. They were trying to find David Grant but the guy was good at hiding and smart. He had to be if he successfully faked his own death to get away from Edward Locke.
“I suggest doing it faster.”
Alec hit the back of Oscar’s head. “I suggest you keep your mouth close and your head down if you want to keep both,” he growled but there was real no rancor in his tone. Only relief that his friend didn’t betray them. Because Alec wouldn’t think twice of disposing Oscar if he had to even though he wouldn’t want to.
Christopher still held anger just for Oscar for being an instrument to all the shit April had gone through before he got her. But he knew the older man told the truth. He saw it on the footages. Unlike Rodney who actually enjoyed hurting April with every opportunity he got.
“Do I still have time to meet Leon and the others?” Christopher asked Alec as they stepped out of the warehouse.
Alec pressed his lips together. “Not if you want to go home before midnight.”
fuck. That was unfortunate.
“Lucky for you, Leon called to reset the meeting tomorrow.” Alec opened the car door for him. “His wife too wanted him home before midnight,” he deadpanned.
Now that was fucking fortunate.
“Good,” Christopher slid inside the car and pulled his phone out, the conversation over. “You can go home too.”
◆◆◆
Christopher let the darkness simmer enough before he could be with April again. Jaehyun had been waiting for him in front of the elevator doors. Nodding at Jaehyun, he entere
d the great room and saw April immediately.
She was lying down on the sofa on her stomach and her back was to him. She was reading a book he bought for her and every once in a while, she’d bring her hand down to where the cat was, lying on the carpeted floor, to run her fingers into its fur before she flipped through a page.