AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Okay, Jake, I’m going. So put the gun away, hey.” I hold my hands up, letting him know I’m not a threat. I think he knows that, but whatever is going on has him acting irrationally. My back hits the doors, and I put a hand down slowly, searching blindly behind me for the door handle. Once I get a good grip, I pull it open, making sure to keep my movements nice and steady.
“I’m sorry, Jess. I didn’t want to get you involved, but it was the only way they would give me what I want. Please don’t think badly of me. I’m sorry.”
“Hey, it’s okay. Whatever is happening, I’m sure we can sort it out. But for now, I’m just going to leave, and when you’re ready you can come and talk to me, yeah?”
Jake gives a nod of his head, checking his watch again. I slip through the door, and Jake keeps the gun trained on me right until the door closes.
Once I’m in the stairwell, I jog down the stairs, pulling my phone from my bag. It’s only as I get outside that I realise my phone is dead.
“You!” I spin around at the voice, and Jake’s boyfriend reference becomes clear. “You. You’re JJ.”
Christian’s nickname for me coming from Rick feels like a knife straight to my heart. Panic, anger, pain and sorrow all slam into me at once. My throat closes, stopping any words I want to say from spilling from my lips. And there are plenty, but I can’t see past the image of Rick and my brother together, suffering, of Rick leaving him there to die. Leaving him behind.
All thoughts of Jake leave me, and my only focus is the man in front of me.
“Don’t you dare use that fucking name. You have no fucking right. That was his name for me.” My words are so sharp, they cut my throat on the way out. I take a step towards my car, and Rick matches it with one of his own toward me.
He steps forward again, only this time I can’t move away. His eyes hold me captive, and despite their beauty, it’s not enough to calm my anger.
“How long have you known,Sully?” I spit the name at him. “Did you know when you fucked me that first time that I was the little sister of the man you called a friend, a brother? Did you get some kind of perverse kick out of it?”
“Of course I didn’t fucking know. How could I, and Kuffs…” He pauses, as pain flashes over his face and behind his eyes. “He talked about you all the time.” The last part comes out strangled, and some of the heat and rage inside me dims. “Is this why you ran last night?”
I don’t answer. I can’t. Yes, it’s why I ran, but admitting it to him seems wrong. My emotions and feelings around this man are chaotic and confused. I watch as Rick looks down the street over my shoulder, and I can see this is hurting him as much as it is me. But I don’t understand it. The version of events I know and learned from my father, which obviously don’t mean much when it comes to the truth, don’t marry with what I know about the man in front of me.
A frown creases his brow, and as I turn to look at what has got his attention, a pop pierces the air. The shattering of glass follows, and I duck as people in the street flee amid a cacophony of shouts and screams.
When no more gunshots can be heard, I peer over the bonnet of my car. My eyes scour the street before moving to the buildings opposite us.
I turn to Rick to ask if he sees anything, but his focus is on the ground.
“We need to get the fuck out of here now! Run, Jess. Fucking run!” he shoves me to get me moving as I follow his line of sight to the ground and see a flash of red in the puddle beneath my car. Awareness blooms in my mind, and I run.
I run like my life depends on it.
Twenty-Four
Rick
Jessica Fisher is Jess Collins. She’s JJ, Kuff’s little sister. How the fuck did I not see this. When we first met, I knew there was something about her, something familiar. I never imagined this though.
I don’t even know where to begin with how fucked up this is.
My feelings for her are already a vortex of confusion layered with guilt over losing my wife and my men. Especially Kuffs. We were close, and I had plans to ask him to join Triple R when we finished one final mission.
I’m still looking at the picture from the article when Jess bursts out the door of the building right next to me and her car.
“You,” slips through my lips like a knife through butter. “You. You’re JJ.” Her face pinches at my words, and a dozen emotions pass through her eyes.
“Don’t you dare use that fucking name. You have no fucking right. That was his name for me.” Her words lash at me like the claws of the cat o nine tails, and I feel her pain fuelled rage through my whole body.
I follow her as she steps back, spitting more words at me.
I choke saying his name, unable to hide the hurt and the pain his loss caused me. I know she sees it too. This woman knows too much, sees too much and feels too much, just like me. We are the same, only she’s not afraid to show the world who she is. I am.
“Is that why you ran?”
No longer able to hold her gaze when she doesn’t answer me, I look over her shoulder. A man over the road is watching us. He may not be wearing his uniform anymore, but I know who he is. I recognise him as the waiter from the hotel last night.
