When Bad Boys Fall II

Twenty-Nine

I didn't have anything to say to him. I simply smiled and shrugged.

"Sorry. I got distracted. This place reminds me of home. Sorry for wasting time. I'll get going now," I said and rushed past him to the living room.

I was not comfortable in this place anymore. Something was off about Matt and that picture. Could Matt be related to them in some way? The more this kept unfolding, the more I had to tell Lucas about this.

"Are you guys ready?" Matt asked as he walked into the living room.

I avoided his eyes and stared at the coffee table. My heart was pounding because I didn't want him to be suspicious of me. I needed to get to the bottom of who this man was. My hunch kept telling me to dig further and at the same time, I wanted to question him so bad but I felt it would not end well or it was just my experience with people that made me not trust anyone. 

"Where's Victor?" Bria asked from her spot across me.

"Are you feeling okay, Jackie?" Matt asked me as he sat down beside me on the couch. "You seem...uncomfortable."

"Do you want me to call Lucas for you?" Bria asked.

"Call your boyfriend?"

Bria nodded. "Yeah. Her boyfriend exchanged numbers with me and Victor to keep an eye on her. He's so sweet."

Matt hummed. "I see. You two have such a perfect relationship, huh? It's nice."

His tone was off and when I shifted my eyes to his face, his eyes were distant, almost as if he was trying to remember something. Matt had hidden secrets and I needed someone else to know about this before I end up being delusional.

| | |

After doing parts of our projects, I left with Bria and Victor with the bus. I didn't go home straight and went over to Axel's place. I figured Axel could help me with this as I didn't want to bother Lucas with this until I got answers. 

I knocked on his front door upon getting there and the door was opened some seconds later. I smiled at Axel who smiled back before stepping aside for me to walk in. I strolled into the apartment and made my way to the couch. I sat on it and let out a big sigh while he approached the couch.

"Your text sounded urgent. Is everything okay?" He asked while dropping beside me on the couch. He took my legs and put them on his thighs.

"Where do I even begin?" I asked and hummed as he rubbed my calves, relieving the tension there.

"Start wherever you want.'

I nodded and opened my mouth. I started telling him everything about Matt; how I met him, his nonstop disturbances, how I saw a picture of one of their fathers in his wallet, the pictures in his houses. Everything.

"Are you serious?"

"I am. I am so confused up until this moment. Surely, none of this is a coincidence. Matt has to have something to do with your family."

Axel sighed. "As far as I know, my dad never had another family anywhere and Lucas' dad died too early to have another kid, especially seeing that he was in love with...Nah, something isn't right."

"I don't like things like this. First, Cindy and her shady behavior, now Matt. Also, when he me Lucas, there was something strange about his tone of voice. Maybe I'm being delusional."

"No. After what happened with Maddy, we cannot push aside the slightest hint of suspicion," Axel said and took out his phone. "I'll call Barry and have them look into who Matt Jefferson is."

I watched as he got up and walked to the kitchen. As he tried to reach Barry, my phone notified me of a text. I quickly took my phone out of my bag. I unlocked the device and felt elevated when I saw it was a text from the hospital. I furrowed my eyebrows as I thought back to when I had visited the hospital over Cindy's case. I needed to make sure that Cindy was telling the truth or not. 

"Barry isn't picking," Axel said as he returned to the living room. "By the way, I called Josh Edgewood, Cindy's cousin and told him about Cindy. He says Cindy never said anything about her being pregnant. I can't tell if he meant that he doesn't know or Cindy didn't say anything to them in general."

I got up and closed in on him with a frown on my face. "Whatever it is, I want that girl out of my house. I have a few months before I go into labor and having her around is too toxic for my liking."

Axel cupped my cheek and smiled softly. "I hope nothing ruins your relationship with my brother. Maddy will be happy in hell and even probably rooting for Cindy. You two love each other and I don't want you, in particular to get hurt."

I chuckled. "I am just realizing that I may continuously fight over Lucas with some girl from his past because he used to be a playboy."

Axel laughed. "You're right about that. Anyway, you should start heading back to Evangeline's place. You need to rest.'

I nodded in agreement and went back to the couch where I picked my bag. I heard keys rustling behind me and turned around. Axel was putting on his jacket then proceeded to put on his shoes.

"I'll drop you off at once. I need to get something around your neighborhood. Head downstairs, I'll meet you there."

I nodded and left the house. My attention went straight to Jared's apartment door, prompting me to remember how he had been looking at Axel. I shrugged and made my way awat from Axel's front door. I needed to ask Axel and Barry, on separate days what they thought of Jared, in a way that didn't hint friendship. As far as I knew, Jared was very vocal about the fact that he was attracted to women but he could also be attracted to men?

| | |

I silently made my way toward the row of cars, humming a song. As I neared Axel's car, I overhead a commotion as well as grunts and sounds of punches. I got scared and looked around, wondering where it was coming from. I squinted my eyes when I spotted two men on the other side of the car close to me. I went around it only to gasp when I saw it was Barry and Jared, fighting.

"What are you guys doing?!" I yelled and they moved away from one another.

Barry had a swollen eye, bleeding nose and torn shirt while Jared only had a bruised lip and rumpled shirt. 

"Why are you fighting? What's going on here?" I was feeling restless and scared.

Jared sighed. "This trash is going to die tonight for cheating on Axel!"

I was too stunned to speak.

"What?!"

I froze at the sound of Axel's voice behind me. This isn't going to end well.

A/N: Hey, guys. I was on a hiatus but I am back now to complete this book.