14
Everything Starts & Ends with You
Jake
Amanda is quiet the rest of the day. The brief question of a lawyer dampened her quickly. Her witty comments are gone as if they never existed. She’s too stuck in her own head to pay attention now, no matter what antics they try.
It frustrates Gabe and Cade to no end.
What’s going through that complex mind now?
Seeing her in the class setting did not prepare me for the reality of her. I don’t believe that her unconsciously timid act at the gym was fake. She simply wasn’t angry enough to bite back at the taunts. She’s hiding in plain sight with no one aware of what a force she can be.
I think back to the quick glares she gave me before she turned away. A subtle sign of the anger hidden underneath.
Is she more comfortable because there isn’t another woman here to compare her to? Based on the women in the class and their vile comments, it seems likely. Somewhere inside her, she knows she’s different and that strangeness makes her unwanted in their circles.
I think she’s been phoning it in her entire marriage.
Here, she’s free to be herself.
But her reactions to things are digging her into a hole she hasn’t noticed.
Why hasn’t she contacted a lawyer yet? Ace said she was very insistent on the divorce, and she’s not making it happen with the vast resources she has available. A simple no without explanation in reply.
A red flag.
Gabe and Cade will watch her relentlessly. If not for her highlighting, then for proof that she’s a gold-digger. The majority of interactions each of them has had with women haven’t been good. They both have too much money with a lot of media coverage on it. Something they planned to show their unified front for business matters outside the Matthias homegrown business of vigilante justice.
Gabe is familiar with two types. The money-hungry sex kittens that play to his tune and the step-mothers-to-be that think they can control him with no idea that his money is his own, not his father’s.
Cade, on the other hand, has experience in black widows. He got to see it from the inside as an unwitting observer until it was far too late. His guilt lies in the fact he didn’t see the signs soon enough to save his father. And that he cold-bloodedly seduced the woman with his inheritance and promises of his body to keep her close before he killed her. He’s excellent at acting. Playing the game.
But his heart isn’t in it. He had one person he wanted to be punished, and he got it done relatively quickly due to disgust. I think he joined Matthias to simply not be alone. Once his purpose was handled, he felt he had nothing left to gain or lose. Just green paper that got his father killed.
Cade’s life is overflowing with mistakes and no one punishes him for it more than himself.
Amanda could get him out of it. It’s already started. His acting is suffering under her unusual reactions to things. He’s expecting sweet responses and apologies. He’s receiving sneering glares and middle fingers.
The sexual tension between her and Gabe is thick enough to choke on. Every time she shuts Cade out, he gets more interested. Ace has already claimed her. Mikael is watching her and trying not to be obvious about it.
I like how the dynamic is going. She’s shaken us all up and let us drop to try and find our feet again. We aren’t her problem. She doesn’t have to hold our hands through anything.
No one is holding hers.
I think it’s time to give in to my curiosity. I have a few plans ready, but I was waiting for a more visible sign of approval to enact them. That time has come.
A discreet alarm goes off on her phone at five o’clock. She doesn’t hesitate to pack her things up and leave with an absent farewell.
It gets everyone riled up.
Cade is all over the paperwork she was working on to verify that she’s doing anything. Gabe’s expression goes cold again as his self-isolation kicks back in.
I get up to follow her.
“Hey,” Ace calls to me with a scowl.
I turn back and raise a brow at him.
“The fuck you doin’?”
“Following Amanda,” I give him an innocent grin I don’t feel. He’s delaying me. Yes, I know where she lives now. I have her number saved in my phone. But something is off with her.
She fell back into her quiet, thoughtful side, and I don’t think that’s a good thing. I want to know why.
“No,” Ace says in a low tone of rage.
I widen my eyes as if I’m surprised at his stance on it.
“Isn’t her ex trying to get back with her? I thought you said he seemed violent?”
He can’t argue with his own logic, but that doesn’t mean he has to like it.
His eyes narrow on me. He knows I’m up to something. He just isn’t sure what it is. Ace has a great sense of when I misbehave. Better than Cade’s by miles.
“Don’t kill the fucker,” he mutters and looks away in clear dismissal.
“Ok,” I nod eagerly and walk away.
“And don’t fuckin’ touch her!” He adds. I wave a hand over my shoulder in acknowledgment.
Vanessa sees me coming and tries to chat.
“I’m sorry, I have a meeting to get to,” I lie with a subtle wince. “Let’s catch up later.”
“Sure,” her eager smile sends me off to the elevator.
Vanessa isn’t money-hungry. She simply wants affection. An ear to listen to her woes. A boyfriend in a real sense. She won’t find that with any of us, but I don’t have to be rude about it. There’s no point in stirring up that level of drama. She seems the quietly vindictive type as well. She’s very good at keeping vultures, like Sarah, the lying banshee, away.
I casually make my way outside with everyone else. Amanda is easy to spot, with her bright hair shining copper in the sunlight. It’s easy to maintain a decent distance. She doesn’t act as if she has any idea she’s being followed.
Her first stop is a second-hand clothing store. I watch her look for the most bizarre mishmash of bright colors and camouflage. As she leaves, she seems pleased with her purchase, holding a giant sun hat.
I’m not sure what to make of it.
I walk her to her building and wait for her light to come on, signaling that she’s at home safe. The light doesn’t come on. She returns without the sack of items and turns East.
My brows furrow as I keep pace behind her.
She may not notice me, but there are plenty of people that do. I make sure they do. Any thug eyeing her for a robbery. Any interested glance. I meet all of their gazes without expression. A warning and a promise at the same time.
My little imp is off-limits. She has been since I first saw her.
When she hops the steps to a local library, I pause to appreciate the bounce of her ass and then follow.
I ask the librarian a few questions, keeping my good boy facade intact so I’m not as obvious about my obsession. A few twists and turns of the aisles later, I find her in a section marked as law books.
Is she hoping to represent herself? I’m not sure that’s wise with her temper.
She spends several hours looking up fact after fact. Each time she pulls a book, there’s hope. Each time she finds the passage she’s looking for, defeat slumps her shoulders. By the end of it, her face is covered with both hands as if she’s struggling to contain herself.
She straightens with her jaw clenched and puts everything away as she found it. That sheer determination guides her out the doors with angry steps.
Before I leave the library, I stop by the front desk.
“Excuse me,” I interrupt her stamping with a grin. When the older woman looks up at first, she’s irate. That ends the longer I hold my casual smile.
“How may I help you?” The question is tired but meant well.
“I’m wondering what that woman was looking for?” I point at Amanda’s retreating back. “She seemed really upset. I’m a little concerned.”
Her eyes dart to Amanda and back to me, a surge of pity in her eyes and anger in her tightening lips.
“She’s trying to find a lawyer for a divorce. She keeps getting denied due to some law she doesn’t understand. She couldn’t explain it to me well. I think she’s looking for a loophole to get around it.”
“Hmm,” my brows furrow thoughtfully.
She was very clear that she hadn’t gotten a lawyer. It was assumed she had faked her urgency. This proves otherwise.
She could have easily looked this up on her phone. Was the library a show for me? Has she been aware of me this entire time?
“I don’t think I know enough about laws to help her then,” I sigh in defeat and then thank her for her help.
“Better luck next time,” she offers begrudgingly.
“Thanks,” I give her a wry grin and then catch up to monitor Amanda again.