Crimson Revenge

Chapter 14

I laid my head on Gio's lap as he softly ran his fingers through my hair. I think this was his way of trying to calm me down and it seemed to be working because I started to feel sleepy. And trust me, with the day that I've had that is all I was wanting to do but, I needed to focus and make sure we were going the right way.

"Gio, if you keep doing that I'm going to fall asleep." I half whined even though it felt so good.

"Isn't that the point? Why don't you just rest," he says simply as he looks down at me with his eyes gleaming.

I huffed a response. "I can't I'm the navigator remember?"

He let out a sigh of defeat. "Fair enough."

I slowly lifted my head and looked at the road. "Mason take this exit right here coming up," I say with hooded eyes as I let out a big yawn.

"Yes ma'm" he says before proceeding down the exit.

I then look back at Gio and could instantly see how tired he is. I can imagine he was worrying himself to death about finding me and probably hasn't had a barley any sleep. I place my palm on his cheep and slowly stroked it as his gaze flickered to me.

"It's okay. I'm here now," I whispered softy with reassurance.

He lets out a low breath as he places his warm hand over mine. "I thought I was going to lose you again...I promised I would never let this happen again and-"

"No. None of this was your fault Gio. You need to stop blaming yourself for things that are out of your control." I interrupt him not wanting to hear more.

He lets out another sigh not wanting to argue on the subject any longer.

I took another good look at him and could see the dark circles under his eyes. His hair was all disheveled and his eyes were blood shot red. He was running on fumes at this moment.

I gently cupped his head and moved it slowly until he was laying on my lap. I then proceeded to stroke my fingers through his dark locks.

"What are you doing?" He mumbled incoherently.

"Shhh. Just go to sleep. I'm right here," I whispered softly.

Next thing I new I was hearing soft snores coming from his mouth as he fell asleep almost instantly.

There was a moment of silence in the car afterwards. It felt almost awkward. The last time I talked to Mason it was when he confessed that he was interested in me in a romantic way.

"I'm sorry," he says breaking the silence.

I furrowed my eyebrows.

"What for?"

He sighed and rubbed his face for a moment before placing his hand back on the wheel. "If I hadn't  caused this whole conflict between you two...you would have never left the office that day and you wouldn't have been taken." He says as he looks at me through the rear view mirror. I could see the guilt swarming through his eyes.

I shake my head. "No Mason, they would have found me eventually...whether it be that day or another...it was going to happen."

"Still I planned that out for you two to fight...I just. I was trying to protect you. I didn't want the same thing to happen to you that happened to Lil-" he cut himself off before he could finish but, I knew what he was about to say.

"You don't want me to end up like Lilly. Is that what you we're about to say?"

I watched as his expression changed and he furrowed his eyebrows. "How did you-"

"Gio told me. He told me what happened.."

His eyes opened wide in surprise. "Wow...I never thought he would be this open with anyone...especially about her." His eyes showed a feeling of longing and...pain.

Then it hit me.

"You were in love with Lilly," I whispered.

His eyes opened wide and I could see a slight tint of pink hit his cheeks.

"That's not-"

"Don't lie." I said with a straight face.

He let out a huge sigh. "Yes...I loved her. But she was in love with Gio. So I had to sit on the sidelines as their love bloomed. It was hard but I knew she was happy...then." He paused for a moment as his knuckles became white on the steering wheel.

"Then that day happened and she was gone. I didn't want to blame Gio for everything that happened to her. I know he can't help it. But because of his life style...death seems to follow him everywhere he goes. You were innocent. So when I saw you were getting an interest in him and him in you...I thought the whole Lilly thing would happen again." He closed his eyes for a second before opening again.

"And i couldn't bear the thought of that happening to someone else let alone you. So.." he paused before saying his next words. "I lied when I said I was interested in you romantically...I feel like shit messing with your feelings like that. Don't get me wrong you are very beautiful and I do like you...but only as a friend...my heart will and always will belong to Lilly."

The car was quiet for a few moments. I'm guessing he thought I would be yelling at him because the next words that left my mouth surprised him.

"Did you ever tell her how you feel?" I asked curiously.

"Wait you are not mad at me? I just told you that I lied about having feelings for you." He asked confused.

I shrugged my shoulders. "You are right. That was pretty shitty of you to do...but for some reason I'm not mad."

He let's our a chuckle. "You are a strange girl."

"Hey let's not change the subject. You never answered my question." I say

He was quiet for a few moments. All I could hear was the sound of the car moving on the road.

"No." He said just above a whisper. "She never knew how I felt."

He was looking away so I couldn't see his face. But I could still hear the pain in his voice. My heart goes out to him. Especially since...she will never know how he truly felt.

"Mason-"

"Hey isn't this the the place coming up?" He asked.

As I looked ahead I completely forgot about what I was about to say as a flood of memories entered my mind.

Author note: here it is! Chapter 14 is now out. Thank you all for your patience and thank you all for 2 K reads! Stay tuned for more chapters coming! Don't forget to vote, comment, and follow for more updates ! 😊

Chapter uploaded 03/07/2021