Chapter Four #3
A tear rolls down my face; he needs to realise his weakness hasn’t caused me pain, it’s mine causing him pain.
His eyes open as he sings the last lyrics.
His eyes are glassy and when they connect with mine, and he sees my tears, he stands.
The teacher erupts with excitement and says something that I don’t hear, I’m too busy watching Slate.
The way his body moves towards me as he stops just before his body collides with mine.
I take a step forward, making the first move.
“I love you,” I whisper for only him to hear.
His gaze turns feral and I almost think I’ve said the wrong thing, but he throws me over his shoulder with an oomph from me.
The teacher calls out to him, but he waves her off and stalks out the door and down the hall until he reaches a door that’s slightly ajar, kicking it open.
“Out!” Slate demands. I lift my head to see a kid put down his headphones and leave the room, petrified.
Slate finally puts me down to look around the room. A small recording studio is set up. The door clicks shut and he steps up behind me.
“I can smell him on you.”
“Who?”
“Sawyer. It should make me insanely jealous but it doesn’t. It makes me want to leave my mark on you as well.”
“Then what’s stopping you?”
“I’m pissed off. You weren’t there when I needed you.”
I turn to face him, taking his face in my hands.
He isn’t a badass Knox, heir to a secret society, right now he’s just a boy standing in front of me baring his soul. He doesn’t let many people in, but somehow I managed to get him and he’s mine to cherish.
“I promise it will never happen again. You’re mine and I never plan to let you go. I thought I was being selfish, wanting all of you, but I don’t care anymore. Almost losing Onyx made me realise life is too short to not take what you want.”
His eyes never leave mine while I tell him how much he means to me.
My waist starts to vibrate and Slate smirks. “As much as I want to use that to my advantage, I think you should answer it.”
Elsie took all of my uniforms and stitched a pocket in the front so I could keep my phone close. She didn’t ask questions, she just told me she could get it done. As much as I love Susan, it’s probably not a good idea to take Order calls on her.
I don’t recognise the caller when I answer, so I flick it on to speaker phone.
“I’ve decided to take your offer,” a voice announces as soon as the call connects.
“Hello to you too, Adrianne. I’m glad you’ve decided to come and work for me. You won’t regret it.”
“I already know I will.” She sighs. “I need to leave now.” There’s slight panic in her voice.
“I’ll send a driver to come and get you.”
Her voice lowers and her tone changes. “Can you send someone you trust with your life? I need my brother to be safe.”
“Will you tell me what’s going on?” The line goes silent. I wait for her to answer. Slate stands silently beside me, trailing his fingers along my skin, leaving goosebumps in his wake.
“I…I don’t want to put you in any danger because of my fuck up. I just need Falon safe. I’ll do anything.”
“I’ll send one of my best men now. Be ready to leave, just pack anything with sentimental value and leave the rest to me.”
She thanks me, and I hang up. Payback to Baxter number one.
When Slate notices the name on my screen pop up he laughs. Baxter should be in class but let’s put my power to the test.
“This better be life or death,” he snaps.
“I need you to do a job.”
“Who do I need to kill?” he asks, deadly serious.
“I need you to pick up my new personal assistant and her brother and take them to a motel close by.”
“Do you know who I am? What I do? I’m not a chauffeur.”
Slate snatches my phone from my hand, every brother goes damn cave man when it comes to Baxter.
“Do you know who she is? None of us get a damn choice when she gives a direct order. If she orders you to get a damn Spider-Man tattoo on your ass, you will do it.”
“Batman,” Baxter corrects and I snort.
“I give up, I don’t get you two. I’m going back to class.” He shakes his head, handing me back my phone and muting it.
“This isn’t over, I’ll see you tonight.” He winks and leaves the room. I unmute Baxter.
“Is he gone?” he asks.
“This better be important.”
“It is, Batman, I promise. When someone asks me to send someone I trust, it will always be you.”
“Why not your band of merry men?”
I laugh at his comment. No one gets to see this side of Baxter, and it’s a shame really because he may be a super stabby killer, but he is also loyal and funny.
“I trust them with my life, but I trust you to keep the kid safe, and this girl has a Knox issue…or more specifically, a Kalen issue.”
“I think I may have found a new BFF.”
“I wouldn’t dare if I were you. I’ll pair you up with Kalen for every job you do for the rest of your life.”
He barks out a laugh. “I really can’t do it. I’m sorry. I’m indisposed otherwise you know I would. Send Frost or Jasper. They can be trusted.”
“It’s that girl isn’t it?”
“Are you jealous?”
He’s deflecting and that means he’s hiding something. “You know I’m going to find out everything I can about her.”
“Don’t bother, I’ll send you everything I have. It’s an interesting read.”
“You're not going to tell me what’s going on with you are you?”
“No, not unless it’s a direct order, boss lady.”
“I wouldn’t ask that of you.”
We end our call and I dial Frost next since I know Jasper is here today. I’m sure he’s lurking out in the hall somewhere.
“Is everything okay?” he asks in a panic.
I assure him that I’m fine and explain the situation. He agrees to go and get Adrianne and her brother.
Lunch rolls around quickly, and I’m happy to see Elsie is at our usual table.
Her face lights up when she spots me coming her way.
Jasper lines up to get my food, making a quietly snarky comment about me finally getting an assistant so they can get me lunch.
I would do it myself but it’s funnier making him do it.
Watching the girls flirt with him while he waits in line and tries to get away as quickly as possible always makes my day better.
I join Elsie at our table. Onyx, Slate and Kalen still sit at their table, and we do join them occasionally, but when Elsie picks our table that means she wants to talk. A commotion from their table erupts. Kalen has clearly annoyed Onyx lately.
“Get that shit away from me!” Onyx barks and Kalen laughs, holding his brother in a headlock. I love that his hair has started to grow out and falls across his face.
“Just try it, it’s so good… Amelie! Tell him!” They all look at me and I shake my head at them.
“It’s fairy bread, just take a bite you stubborn asshole.”
I turn my attention back to Elsie who is staring across the room. She’s looking at Marcia.
“We hooked up!” she blurts out.
“What? When? What about Jasper?”
“Over the break. You were gone and one thing led to another… And Jasper, he has secrets…how do you have a relationship with someone like that?”
“As opposed to having a relationship with someone who treated you like shit?”
“Pot calling the kettle black, don’t you think?”
“It’s not the same. Jasper’s secrets are not his to tell. He signed an NDA.”
“I know, he told me that, but everyone has secrets…even you.”
“I know and I’m working on a way to share them all with you. You already know a lot. Just trust me and trust Jasper, he’s a good guy.”
A tray slams down on the table echoing through the room. Jasper leans over the table. “I don’t need you to talk me up, if she doesn’t trust me then she can go to hell.” His tone is not one I’m used to from him.
Movement catches my eye, then Onyx grabs Jasper by the throat.
Slate is right at his side trying to calm him down.
Kalen takes a seat next to me like nothing is happening and offers me a bite of his fairy bread.
I take a bite because he looks so adorable and I’m trying to watch to make sure Onyx doesn’t kill my bodyguard.
“Don’t you ever make her flinch. You’re her bodyguard and you better remember your damn place!”
Deciding Jasper has had enough from his outburst, I stand from my chair. “Let him go.”
Onyx ignores me and Slate tries to pull his brother's hand from Jasper’s throat.
“That’s an order.” I didn’t want to have to use my authority over him but he’s left me no choice. He’s making this Order business when it really didn’t have to be.
Onyx releases Jasper's throat and turns his deadly stare to me.
“He scared you and raised his voice. I don’t care who you are, because you’re ours and no one ever scares you or snaps like that.” He looks around the room, every eye in the place is watching. “Do I make myself clear?” Some people answer and others nod.
“Calm down, caveman, you’ve made your point.”
Kalen sits up straight, removing his arm from around the back of my chair. “Jasper, take the rest of the day off. I’ll follow Amelie around until Frost gets here.”
Jasper goes to protest but Kalen cuts him off. “Go and put your big girl knickers on.”
I snicker at his comment because it’s something Aadi must have said to him while we were in Australia.
“So what if the vagitarian hooked up with someone else? That seems like a challenge if you ask me. Go and brush up on your cunnilingus techniques. It’s not all about the D, and that’s coming from me… my D is super impressive.”
“I think you should call it MC,” I whisper to him. “Monster cock.”
Kalen laughs uproariously, and Jasper death glares us both. I watch Elsie, who is beetroot red, looks up at Jasper and mouths ‘I’m sorry’. He just shakes his head at her and walks away.
“Looks like you girls are stuck with me for a few hours. Oh, how fun this will be! Did Amelie tell you stories about our trip? The bounce house was my favourite.”
“Are you sure it wasn’t being chased out of the bathroom by a clown? You know, when you were so scared you were crying?”
That makes Elsie laugh, and I spend the rest of lunch telling her about our Easter break. Kalen wasn’t impressed by the retelling of the clown incident and made sure to give descriptive details of his time with Aadi and Smalls, which I definitely could have lived without hearing.
I used to get a pang of hurt in my heart every time I thought about Smalls. Yet now it’s already eased off.