The atmosphere in the living room was tense and almost suffocating as the silence settled heavily in the room. The graveness of the current situation was evident and eminently palpable as the sullen expressions on the faces of the two men in the room, failed to be lifted.
Jordan and Leonardo were absolutely quiet as each of them occupied the couches in the living room. With unequivocal tenseness presently dwelling within his body, Jordan sat on one of the couches, both of his elbows resting on his thighs with his hands shoved deep into his raven black hair, tugging the tousled locks while simultaneously supporting his head.
His frame appeared hunched over as he dwelled on the thoughts running desultorily in his head. Different thoughts ran a marathon in his head, causing a state of turmoil in his emotions as well. Jordan, unable to sit still anymore, sprung to his feet to begin pacing back and forth in the living room.
On the other hand, Leonardo, who had also been sitting on a couch opposite Jordan as silent as a graveyard himself, was mildly jolted out of his own thoughts when Jordan jumped to his feet. Leonardo’s eyes followed the profile of the man, who began pacing restlessly before him.
He could sense the anger, uneasiness, as well as the other negative emotions radiating off of Jordan and although both men had their oceanic differences and often clashed at times, Leonardo couldn’t help but be empathetic towards his brother-in-law and for the first time ever, the man felt compelled to utter some words of comfort.
Tentatively, he softly cleared his throat before opening his mouth to speak. “Everything will be alright.”
On hearing Leonardo speak, Jordan’s pacing came to a halt and his hard gaze shifted to the man who sat stiffly on the couch. Jordan, for a moment, couldn’t help but stare at him.
Considering their differences and countless clashes, Jordan would’ve never expected to hear such comforting words from Leonardo and a tinge of appreciation spread through his chest, but what the harsh expression on his face conveyed to Leonardo wasn’t one of gratitude.
Seeing as Jordan’s harsh glare refused to ease up, Leonardo stymied a squirm underneath his brother-in-law’s gaze, his sitting stance one of discomfort, but regardless of having no idea what to say in order to pacify the man standing above him, Leonardo parted his lips to speak when Jordan finally decided to talk.
“Thank you.”
His words were curt and emotionless as always, but the usual hardness and evidently stifled ravenous hatred etched in his tone, were nowhere to be found and in response, Leonardo’s tensed form finally slackened, signaling relief, before he replied with a single nod in Jordan’s direction.
Just as the previously suffocating air in the room toned down and dissipated, light footsteps resonated round the house, indicating that someone was walking down the stairs and heading towards the living room. Leonardo rose to his feet and Jordan swiveled around to face the doorway just as Carol walked into the living area, a grim expression on her face directed at her brother.
With tauten eyebrows, Jordan approached his sister, stopping directly in front of her. “What’s wrong?” he questioned, noticing her countenance.
Carol looked away for a second, heaving a sigh, before turning back to look at him. “You knew beforehand, didn’t you?” Her words were straight to the point without beating about the bush.
She took in the quick change in expressions on his face-from one of slight confusion to sudden realisation and then back to his signature blank look-as she awaited his response, something that never came.
“And you kept it from her?” she questioned further, watching the subtle tick in Jordan’s jaw, the only change in demeanor he let slip.
Carol sighed again at his unresponsiveness. “Go, talk to her, J. The least she deserves is some explanation. It is about her father, isn’t it?” She took a step closer to him, taking his forearm into her palms. “Even though you did it for her safety, she still deserves to know everything.”
She advised, pulling away but not before giving his forearm a gentle squeeze. Turning around and heading towards the doorway of the living room, she halted momentarily, just enough to crane her neck and announce their departure.
“Nardo and I are going to join Keel with the others at the hospital,” she paused, twisting her body so she could meet his eyes properly. “Please, try to fix things, J. You’re the one she needs the most at this time.”
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Treading lightly down the hallway leading from the stairs of the house to the other rooms on the first floor, Jordan’s footsteps were soft, yet determined as he made his way down the barely illuminated space, coming to a halt in front of Emerald’s childhood room, which had now become their room in her parents’ home.
Exhibiting no action of hesitance, he pulled open the door before walking into the room. His every actions were done gently in order to not startle her as he came to take in her form sitting on the edge of the bed with her feet planted on the ground and the god-damned bloody sheet of paper still in her hold.
Jordan approached her slowly, his chest tightening with unease when she continued to stare into space, making no move to look at him. Finally reaching the edge of the bed, some inches away from her, he opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Emerald.
“You knew.”
Her voice was quiet and distant when she spoke, still staring aimlessly into nothingness. Not knowing what to respond to her, Jordan let out a soft sigh, his eyes downcast as he contemplated a response.
When no reply came from Jordan, Emerald finally blinked and slowly turned her head to look at the man who was now staring at her. “You did, didn’t you?” she stated and the expression on his face spoke louder than his words could.
“I did.” He confessed.
Turning her face away again, Emerald squeezed her eyes shut, a quivering breath escaping her lips as she released the letter in her grasp, not minding it falling to the ground. “Why?” she choked out, evidently holding back a sob and that was Jordan’s queue to move closer to her. He knelt by her side, tentatively placing a hand on her exposed knee.
“I’m really sorry I kept it from you for so long, but I don’t regret it, Gem.” He voiced softly, relief flooding his being when Emerald made no move away from his touch; he began to draw comforting circles on her knees and lower thighs.
Opening her eyes, Emerald looked down at him with dull green orbs shimmering with held back tears. “Since w-when?” she asked, her eyes boring into his.
Jordan looked away for a second before facing her again. “Since he was spotted in the States about two weeks or so ago.” A lone tear escaped Emerald’s eyes, but Jordan wasn’t done. He had kept quite a few things from her and he didn’t want to hide them anymore, so he continued.
“Since you mentioned his name, I had gotten my men to carry out some findings about him and it came to my notice that he had been released from prison in Australia two days prior to when I got the information.
Within those two days, he had somehow managed to cross the borders of America and it made me wonder how he managed to do it in such a short time. I had my guesses that perhaps he had help from someone or something, but I made no move on him because he wasn’t anywhere near Manhattan or Boston.”
Pausing, Jordan shifted to take a seat on the floor instead of kneeling, but he kept up with his massage on her thighs. “I told my men to keep an eye on him and so far, he had made no threats to you and your family, until late last night when Owen informed me of Johansson purchasing a single white rose from a flower shop in Back Bay.”
Jordan tilted to his side, resting his weight on his left butt cheek so he could pull out his phone from his right pocket. He unlocked it, opened the message app and showed Emerald his last conversation with Owen Skull.
Her eyes scanned the text for a moment before she looked away, trailing her eyes to where Jordan’s hands traced patterns on her thighs. “‘He knew he was being watched’. What did he mean by that?” she asked.
Jordan hummed. “During the time we were monitoring his movements, he had been making appearances in strange places while simultaneously making stops in normal places, as though he were dropping hints, but also trying to appear harmless.
One time, he went into a club; a club that I knew was only exclusive to their gang members. He entered freely and only left in the wee hours of the morning. The next day, he went grocery shopping and purchased items any normal person would.
He kept this up until three days ago, before he, then, gave us something he must have thought to be a very clear warning.” Jordan paused, immediately gaining Emerald’s attention when she finally turned her head to meet his gaze. Her gaze was inquisitive as she waited for him to continue.
“There was a tattoo on his neck, one he had had every intention of showing off to us. It was a triangle with an open mouthed spitting Cobra head in the middle. A gang symbol,” he explained. “Since then, he had been frequenting the club, visiting casinos, hanging out with other gang members openly and even going as far as flashing his gun holsters.
He knew we were on to him, but I did nothing because he still hadn’t made a move against you and that was my greatest mistake, Gem.” He grabbed her hands, running the pads of his thumbs over her knuckles.
“I’m really sorry, Mera, but I did it to protect your happiness. These last few weeks, you’ve been over the moon and I loved seeing you happy, seeing you smile. I was selfish about your happiness and I hid things from you. I really am sorry, Gem.”
Emerald sighed. “You chose my happiness over everyone’s safety, Cal. You didn’t think that perhaps if you had told me and we had focused on finding a way to eradicate him first, then I could finally be happy. We all could finally be happy. You didn’t think that.”
Jordan remained silent, his head hanging with eyes downcast. “I’m sorry,” he muttered sincerely, raising his head to meet her gaze.
Emerald sighed again, her eyes glistening with tears once again. “I’m not angry at you, Cal. I’m just really worried about Armi,” her voice wobbled and she released a shaky breath.
“I’m worried about what he might be doing to her right now. I have no idea why he’s involving my family when I’m the one he’s after. And here I am, crying and being the useless mess I always am.”
“Gem,” Jordan sighed, standing up from the floor so he could sit beside her on the bed. He wrapped his arms around her, bringing her face to rest between the crook of his neck. “He’s doing it to hurt you again. He knows that you’re healing and that you’ve regained your happiness and he’s trying to break you again.
He’s trying to ruin you again by hurting the ones dear to you, but I know you, Gem. You’re strong, you’re undefeatable, you’re you. And I love you for who you are, not for what Carl tries to make you to be.
I will always be here for you, my love. Always. Never forget that.”
Jordan whispered, making sure his every word came out firm and resolute. Emerald pulled slightly away from his neck, her green orbs shimmering with unshed tears, but the gratitude and love she felt for the man holding her, was insurmountable and intense as it shone through her teary gaze.
She knew that Jordan had only hidden Carl’s release from her for her own sake and she was aware that her father must know how much Jordan meant to her, that was why he had tried to cause a rift between them by taunting her in the letter for not knowing about his release when her dear ‘boy toy’ – as he had written – knew about it.
But what Carl didn’t know was that what was between her and Jordan wasn’t mere lust or admiration. It was something stronger, something much more intense, something that had stood the test of time and difficulties.
It was love. . . and love conquered all.
“I love you, Cal. So very much,” she whispered, her eyes dancing between both of his.
Placing a gentle hold on the back of her neck, Jordan guided her face to his, their lips meeting for a surely overdue visit.
“I love you too, Gem. So fucking much.”
Minutes later, the couple were tangled among the sheets, cuddling up with each other. Emerald, who hadn’t been able to catch some sleep since the hospital, was in the middle of dwindling between succumbing to sleep and staying awake.
No matter how worried she was for Armani and how much she willed herself to stay awake, the vines of sleep entrapping her mind was too powerful to fight against. But when she finally succumbed and her eyelids fluttered shut, a ping was quick to awaken her again.
She felt Jordan pull away slightly to reach for something on the nightstand. He turned back to her with his phone in hand and his expression etched in grim seriousness.
On meeting Emerald’s concerned eyes, he explained. “It’s a text from Owen.”
Her eyes widened considerably at his words and just then, Jordan showed her the simple text.
“He has made contact once again.”