LUKE
I wonder if this one day is worth it. Jessica has pulled away from me. I enter a room and she leaves it. It’s like she has created a huge distance between us. This isn’t what I wanted when I wanted to help her. I wanted her to see that I wasn’t like him. That she could trust me and I would protect her. Now it looks like she wants nothing to do with me. I know this is the right choice, but that doesn’t make me feel any better about her avoiding me.
Still I got in William’s truck this morning with the tag in hand. William can already tell that something is wrong and it doesn’t take him long to voice his opinion on it. “What did you do this time?”
I shrug. “Jessica didn’t want me to do this with you. Now she is avoiding me. She said it was too dangerous.”
“If I recall, I said the exact same thing to you. You don’t care that I said it.”
I shake my head. “You aren’t avoiding me.”
William sighs. “Give her time. She has been scared out of her mind for months running from this guy. She accepts that I will take the risk because it’s my job, but it isn’t yours. She doesn’t want you to risk your life. She will move past it when this is all done. You’ll see, it will be fine.”
“That’s just it, once this guy is dealt with she may leave. Then I could never see her again. If she is avoiding me now, how do you think it will be if she doesn’t need me?”
William shakes his head. “Do you think Mia wanted me to go out this morning? She knows it’s my job. She accepts that, but when I am on a big case like this, she worries to no end. Hardly even talking to me. Lost in her own thoughts. When I come home she lets out this huge breath, like she had been holding it the entire time I was at work. Jessica is dealing with it in her own way. Let her. I am sure things will change later. Just let her be.”
“I don’t even know if Jess is interested. I could be stressing over nothing.”
William laughs. “The girl is interested. Don’t worry about that. You just need to let her have her emotions right now. Mia has taught me that women need to be able to express their feelings in a way that works for them. Everything will work out.”
We are quiet for a minute while I think about what William just said. He makes a good point. I know I am being impatient. Jessica is the first woman to turn my head in a long time. I kind of want to keep that feeling. But what if she doesn’t?
I have to get out of my head. “How are things with the kid?”
He chuckles. “He is dating now, which is kind of scary. I mean I feel like a parent and I am not all that much older than him. I know he is my brother-in-law, but Mia and I are raising him, that makes him a little different than you or Jasmine. We could screw him up. Not that I think we will. I actually heard him tell someone off the other day. He told them if they didn’t stop trying to push their shit at school that he was going to report them to his brother.”
“Well, the kid has got a backbone, that’s for sure.”
“He gets that from Mia. She doesn’t bend for anything short of a gun to her head. Feisty women are fun, but they can get scary sometimes. That woman keeps me on my toes. Joe is doing good though. I don’t have to worry nearly as much as I do.”
“When are you and Mia going to start your own brood?”
“After we get married. I want to do things right by Mia. She has been screwed over too many times in her life.”
Spending this extra time with William is really an eye opener. I always thought that he just did what he did as a form of rebellion. He wanted something that was not in the ballpark of the company, but still with a good cause in it. But this is really what he wants to do. He enjoys his job.
While I am lost in thought my entire world seems to shift on its axis. William’s truck is hit towards the rear, then as it is spinning it is hit again from the other direction. My head hits the side window and my body is rocked back and forth. I feel like I am in some really screwed up bumper car ride. Only it isn’t feeling too good on my body. Everything seems to be spinning, even though I am pretty sure we have stopped spinning. I can’t seem to focus on anything. My ears are ringing.
I can barely hear the voice of the asshole that opens my door. “Get them both. Boss won’t be happy unless we have the right one.” On top of everything else that I feel today, I feel a sharp pinch in my neck. The world starts to fade even more until there is nothing.