Clara? He had the gall to bring her up into a topic.
Cristelle glared at him, “I think she’s in love with you, isn’t she?”
Linford was honest, shrugging his shoulders, “I think so.”
“You’re quite popular among girls, Linford Bradley,” Cristelle smirked.
Linford thought for a while and shook his head, “It’s just how I look. I can’t help it.”
Cristelle rolled her eyes, “Can you stop saying anything? I’m gonna throw up.”
And then, she was about to leave. But Linford pulled her back timely. Cristelle’s body collided with Linford’s, causing her to look up angrily.
“Are you being jealous right now, Cristelle?” The handsome man smiled at her.
Jealous? Was she jealous?
Cristelle’s mouth fell open, and her face went bloody red, “Jealous? What?! Are you delusional? I was simply disgusted. It was just so disgusting. How could she…never mind!”
Her lips looked soft and tempting from this angle. Linford dipped his head and pressed his lips against hers, teasing and kissing until Cristelle became less resistant.
The heady kiss brought a weak moan out of Cristelle’s mouth as Linford grabbed her waist to stop her from falling to the ground.
Linford’s voice was thick and husky as he whispered in her ear, “You are the only one I care about, Cristelle. Nothing happened between that woman and me. I don’t even like her.”
Cristelle breathed, hands pressing limply against his hard chest, “Why should I care? I don’t care if you like her or not.”
Linford chuckled.
Before he could say anything, however, Drew’s voice suddenly sounded at the parlor, “Linford! Linford!”
Cristelle instantly pushed Linford away, blushing furiously. Linford was so freaking pissed off. Was Drew Weston’s single purpose in his life to destroy his intimate moment? This man needs some beating!
“Linford! Bad news! Cody… Cody!”
Bad news?!
Cody?!
Cristelle went pale instantly, “What happened to Cody?!”
Drew stopped at the door, “Oh… Wow… You’re still awake this late, Cristelle?”
Linford was standing behind Cristelle, and he looked like he was gonna kill him.
“What happened to Cody, Drew?!” Cristelle asked nervously, “Please! I need to know!”
Drew looked at Linford nervously. Should he say everything and make Cristelle worried? Would Linford kill him for this?
Linford closed his eyes a bit and sighed, “Say it, Drew.”
Drew cleared his throat, “Cody was about to come back with Enzo… But… some unknown ships appeared at the port, and they seemed to be kidnapped.”
“What?!” Cristelle stumbled back. She couldn’t even breathe for a short minute.
Linford went forward, trying to steady her up, “It’s okay, Cristelle! Hey, listen, it’s okay. Enzo is a trained soldier. He will keep Cody safe, okay?”
Cristelle was completely pale, and her lips were trembling, “But Cody said he was about to come back in days. How did that happen?”
Linford held her in his arms as he kissed her hair, “Don’t worry. It’s okay… I promise everything will be alright. Okay?”
“We don’t know what happened exactly. I only heard this from someone else. They can’t organize any rescue right now because they haven’t found any clue yet,” Drew paced in front of them.
Linford thought for a short while as he put Cristelle gently on the couch, “Drew, you stay here and take care of Cristelle and Candace. I’ll go to find Cody.”
“No! I’m going with you,” Drew protested, “It’s too dangerous for you to be alone.”
“Someone’s gonna need to stay to take care of my grandpa, Cristelle, and Candace. And… Don’t tell Pop anything about this bad news,” Linford patted Drew’s shoulder.
Drew thought for a while and nodded, knowing this was what Linford needed at the moment, “Okay… I’ll stay. I’ll take care of them for you.”
“Thanks, man,” Linford gave him a huge.
“Linford…” Cristelle called his name feebly.
Linford walked over and grabbed her hand, leaving a kiss on her lips, “I will get Cody back for you, okay?”
Cristelle looked at him with tearful eyes, “Be safe.”
“Okay,” Linford grabbed her hand and kissed her slim fingers.
Cristelle blankly watched as Linford walked out of the room. In a moment like this, she felt extremely useless.
She couldn’t even go save her son.
Drew frowned as he noticed how pale Cristelle was. He went to the minibar and poured Cristelle a cup of wine.
The doctor put a cold hand on Cristelle’s forehead as he handed her the cup of wine, “It’s okay, Cristelle. You need to trust Linford. Linford was trained before. He’s probably the sharpest snipper I’ve ever seen. Cody will be okay. Besides, Cody is not an ordinary kid. That boy is a genius. He knows how to keep himself safe.”
Cristelle couldn’t even speak loudly at this, “You don’t know, Drew. You don’t have kids. You don’t know how it feels. Could you please leave me alone for a while? I really need to be alone.”
Drew knew Cristelle was right. This poor woman had been experiencing the most terrible nightmare a mother could ever imagine. Normal women would have broken down if they were in her position.
Drew shook his head and walked out of the room.
****
When Franco visited Linford’s place in the morning, Candace and her Mom enjoyed their breakfast.
Surprisingly, Drew was also there.
“Good morning, Pop,” Drew smiled and greeted the old man.
“Good morning, son,” Pop smiled back. “Pop, join,” Candace handed the old man a glass of orange juice.
Pop usually didn’t have much appetite this early. But seeing Candace just made him happy, he sat on the chair and started to eat.
Cristelle was sitting beside the girl. She was taking care of Candace. And she seemed weirdly pale. She didn’t even eat that much.
“Where’s Linford? Did he leave for the company so early?” The old man suddenly observed the unusual atmosphere. Linford would usually eat breakfast with his wife and daughter. Today was quite different.
“Yeah…” Drew put down his fork nervously, “He left for the company quite early today.”
“Any emergency?” Pop frowned, throwing a suspicious look at Drew.
“I think so… It’s about a rival of his business or something,” Drew looked away, “But it’s not a big problem. You don’t need to worry about it, Pop.”
Franco’s eyes fell on Cristelle again, “What’s wrong, dear? Why don’t you eat anything?”
Cristelle forced out a weak smile, “I’m okay, Pop. I’m not that hungry, actually.”
Franco could tell something must have gone wrong, but he couldn’t figure it out.