Julian
four
W hy didn’t she answer any of my phone calls?
Why didn’t she text me back? Why did she have to make me go as far as to ask my team to break the fucking rules and take out someone who wasn’t put on our fucking list. I’m going to have to pay them out of pocket for helping me with Howard, and that other fucker, as soon as he called my girl a freak I almost broke my cool composure.
Fortunately, Pea doesn’t tolerate bullying and shot him right in his leg.
Then, when he said Natalie is getting what she deserves for being a whore another shot, this time in his stomach.
Even then, after all his whimpering and crying out for Mr. Howard , the latter took his sweet ass time to come out from his office.
I hear Peacock and Bull whispering in the back, I can’t hear Natalie though.
I fucked up, I scared her and now she’s not talking to me, not talking to anyone.
I’ve seen her like that only once, just before she tried to take her own life.
She stopped talking to the people at her work, stopped talking to the shop workers whenever she went shopping.
She went silent. I made a mistake, I shouldn’t have shouted at her. Is she going to go silent again? Fuck!
“Are you sure about this?” Dante starts to question. “It’s a big fucking risk.”
I glare at him from under my mask, a low growl escaping my throat. I’m not mad at him, or Natalie. I’m more mad at myself. I fucked up bad, and I don’t think I’m coming back from this one.
“Fine.” He huffs. “I won’t say a word. But if the big boss finds out, I won’t lie to him.”
“I never asked you to lie.” I reply , cross my arms and flop back against the seat like the child I am.
A big fucking child going in and basically kidnapping my woman from her place of work all because she didn’t want to call in sick.
But then again I’m happy I did, what would have happened to her if we never went ?
None of us knew Howard fucking Shaw was hurting her again, I was just going to get her away from him because she wasn’t answering any of my damn messages.
“Now just shut up and drive.” My lips still tingle from hers on mine this morning. I can’t believe she kissed me. And now…
God, I need to figure out what to do before we get back home.
He shakes his head in disapproval and signals to turn a corner. Just another twenty minutes and I get to be alone with my treasur e .
As Howard emerged from his office fisting my woman's hair, half naked with blood covering her face and legs. I instantly wanted his fucking blood. Half fucking naked! Did he rape her again? I warned her not to be alone with him. I swear if it wasn’t for the fact my identity would have been known, I would have beaten him there and then using my fists.
Unfortunately DNA testing exists in this day and age so I’m forced to take him to the Locked Room.
I just wish he wasn’t in the same vehicle as my girl.
Luckily, two of my most trusted members of my team are back there with her.
I wish I was, but Bull didn’t trust me with Howard.
And I didn’t trust myself being around Natalie right now, especially with the state she is in.
God damn it, she should have listened to me this morning and just stayed at home.
Why does she always have to be so damn stubborn?
I ask her not to harm herself - she does it.
I ask her to not tease me and she throws herself at me.
I ask her to stay with me at home and she goes to work and gets herself fucking hurt.
Well no more, she will listen to me from now on.
I have to keep her safe, she doesn’t have a choice.
“Julian. Be gentle with her, okay.” Peacock warns me. Her voice is soft, the softest I have ever heard from her.
“What?” I question . The last thing I need is this woman going against me.
I knew Dante bringing Pea would just be trouble, I mean she did help Natalie with her wounds and maybe my girl feels more comfortable with another female around.
But she will easily shoot me right between my eyes if she even catches a glimpse of my anger toward Natalie.
“She has been through a lot, the last thing she needs is to deal with your anger issues.” She tells me through gritted teeth, the softness now gone. I force myself to calm down. I really don’t wanna piss off Peacock right now.
“Is she asking you to say this?”
“She’s asleep.”
“Is she okay?” I sigh.
“No, dude.” Bull replies, “she won’t be for a while. You haven’t seen all of her injuries.” He sighs. “I have a feeling she’s hiding some. She was wincing a lot more than she should have. So please, keep your anger in check.” He orders politely.
I respect this man, he has helped me a lot more than some of my own family ever has.
I tell him I’ll try, unable to promise holding back my emotions once they leave and I’m left alone with Natalie.
She knew what he was like and still decided to go.
What on Earth was she thinking? And why did she ignore my damn messages?
Shit, maybe she meant what she said this morning and really does want me out of her life.
I hold my head in my hands. I need to talk to her properly , tell her how I really feel, even though I’ve told her time and time again I love her, I’ve never said it to her face, only over notes.
So maybe that’s why she doesn’t think I’m being genuine with my feelings, because I’ve never told her like I should have.
Why does being in a relationship have to be so damn confusing!
As soon as we arrive at the warehouse - the place I call my home, I jump out the van and speed walk to the back door, opening it I see my woman sleeping on Peas lap.
Dried blood sticks to her legs, she must have started her period.
She is due soon according to the app I got to track her cycle .
Yes, it sounds strange for a guy to have a period app, but it’s so I can make sure she has everything she needs.
“Don’t wake her, she needs her sleep.” Pea warns me.
While Bull and Dante take Howard to the Locked Room, I carefully lift Natalie into my arms. She shivers slightly and groans in pain. Tears pool in my eyes. “ I failed to protect you again, I’m so sorry.” I whisper against her hair.
“She’ll be alright. It will take time though, so be patient with her.” Pea pats my back before exiting the van and jumping on her bike.
“Thank you, for patching her up.”
“Anytime. Look after her and yourself. But I swear, if you cause any more damage to her, whether mentally or physically, I will have no qualms about shooting you down. I don’t give a fuck if your my friend or my boss.
” She slips on her helmet and drives off after her final warning.
Yes, I’m her boss, but I can never stop Pea, or Bull from doing whatever they want to do.
And if that means killing me, then they will.
The only one who respects my position is Dante - most of the time.
There’s been times, especially when it comes to the Locked Room, that he has fought with me.
Told me I’m taking things too far. But when we are out on a job, he listens and obeys my orders.
Bull leaves soon after Pea does, leaving me on my own to deal with a very irate Dante.
He has been annoyed with me since this morning when I rang him and asked him to break the rules.
He could have refused, but didn’t. He said he didn’t want me to go into “crazy mode” without him there to calm me down.
I’ve only ever done it once, at our very first job together as a four, it was taking out a group of men and women who were breeding children for shits and giggles .
Pea took out the women first with her sniper before us men went in, what I wasn’t expecting though was Dante getting shot down as soon as we entered and I lost it.
Rather than staying calm, I snatched Bulls machetes from him and sliced every throat I could while the others took care of Dante.
I was shot twice in the arm and once in the leg while fighting, yet I never quit.
I was going to take down every one of those bastards no matter what.
I thought I was going to lose my best friend, my brother, my ride or die.
The clean up took longer that day considering two of us got injured and our DNA was all over the floor.
After a few hours of trying to clear up all the blood, Pea and Bull took it upon themselves to just burn the place down instead, after getting all the kids out first of course.
That was when we knew it was easier to just burn down the places where we did the ‘big jobs’ that include more than three people rather than clean the place up.
But now Dante doesn’t trust me, he says I’m not allowed to do any job alone, whether it comes from the big boss or not.
So when he turned up with Peacock and Bull, I knew I was in trouble.
And when he told them that they had to come because it was my ‘girlfriend’ in trouble, they jumped at the chance of meeting Natalie.
Not because they wanted to help me, but because they wanted to meet her.
Dante seems to have some sort of hatred toward my woman for some reason .
Maybe he’s jealous because he can’t stay in a committed relationship for longer than a few dates.
He did tell me about one girl though, he met her a few years ago and they were together for around four months.
Then she disappeared on him out of nowhere.
Just up and ghosted him when he told her about Nico.
I swear, if Peacock knew who she was and got ahold of her, she would have snapped her neck for breaking my best friends heart.
And I would’ve gladly paid her to do it.