His Bella

SIXTEEN

I stood and walked towards him, "where did you go to?"

He walked past me and placed the bags on the coffee table before sitting on the couch across from where I stood, staring intently.

"I asked a question", I said on realizing he wasn't planning on replying.

He shrugged, "I had to see a doctor, your first aid didn't seem all that reliable"

Ungrateful bastard.

"You went to a hospital?", my voice was loud so I lowered it, "no doctor would treat a gunshot wound without asking questions first"

He rolled his eyes, "who said anything about a hospital Bella?"

"W-what?"

He sighed, "thank you for last night by the way", he said, "I'm lucky you came by quickly"

"Why did you come here?", I asked, "why didn't you just go to someone who could help?"

I sat on the couch across from him. He stared thoughtfully and then shrugged, "I was dying", he said, "you were the last person I wanted to see before I die"

I grimaced. The thought of Wade dying didn't sit well with me.

"Who shot you?", I asked, bringing my legs up and crossing them in front of me on the couch.

"I don't know"

"You don't know?", I asked, "was it a stray bullet or something?", I added, "What do you mean by you don't know?"

He grabbed the bags off the table before standing, walking towards the kitchen and ignoring me. I shook my head. He was annoying and he made my blood boil. I stood from the couch and followed.

"You're just going to ignore me?", I asked as I entered the kitchen.

"Some things shouldn't be talked about Bella and I would appreciate you not pushing it", he said as he placed the bags on the dining table in the center of the kitchen, "it's for your own good", he added staring at me.

"So first you tell me that you're responsible for Danny's death", I said, "then you've got all these men around watching you like hawks", I added, "and then you break into my apartment which is also suspicious because how the hell do you even know where I live?", I said again, "you come in with a bullet in you, I save your life and you're still going to keep secrets from me?"

He watched me with a blank stare on his face.

I sighed, "I could have gone to the police but I didn't", I said, "because I knew you would get into trouble. The thing is I'm not even sure what kind of trouble"

He smirked playfully, "You've always been such a curious cat"

"I'm only curious about the things I feel I should know about", I frowned, "or at least deserve to"

"You might not like what you hear", he said softly.

"Why don't I decide that?", I asked and he sighed, "I don't think I like what I've heard so far but still"

"If you insist", he said as he opened one of the bags, "breakfast?", he asked as he took out a jar of milk and turned his back to open the fridge.

"Wow Bella, what exactly do you eat?", he asked as he placed the jar in the almost empty fridge.

"Stacy and I don't really cook much", I shrugged.

He closed the fridge and glanced at me, "Hmm", his eyes scanned my body, "no wonder you looked like you lost weight"

I cocked my head, "excuse me?"

"Why do you think I had all that food made for you?", he asked, "you look like you've been living on pizza, sushi and Chinese food"

I crossed my arms, "that's what we eat on most nights"

"Obviously", he said, "so why don't we talk over breakfast?"

I raised an eyebrow and smiled, "you cook?"

***
Lasagna wasn't my favorite breakfast meal but Wade insisted on me having actual food for breakfast instead of ordered takeout or a 'mere cup of coffee'.

He placed his elbows on the counter and rested his jaw on the back on his fingers as he watched me chew slowly, "It's actually nice", I said after I swallowed.

"You underestimated my cooking skills", he said amusingly.

"Where did you learn?"

"My mom taught me. I just didn't need to actually cook until I left Michigan", he said softly.

Wade's mother had always been a sensitive topic for him and the look in his eyes told me that hadn't changed. I nodded, deciding not to say anything else.

"So, want to tell me what's been going on for the past ten years?", I tried to change the topic.

He adjusted himself on the seat and frowned at me.

"You said you'd tell me", I said hoping he didn't change his mind.

He sighed, "My mom died and Axel and I had to go live with my Dad"

"I remember that happening"

I remembered the day he was told he had to go live with his father- how sad he was. I also remembered the night before he left Michigan, how I had cried until dawn before eventually falling asleep.

Wade studied my face for a while before speaking again, "well, we lived in California, didn't see him a lot, just a couple of times during breakfast and sometimes during dinner-

-we went to school too so it's not like we really noticed"

"Was he a good dad at least?", i asked, "I mean, your mom never really said good things about him"

He scoffed, "and she was right", he said, "he wasn't a dad, just the man who owned the house we lived in"

I watched as Wade's eyes flickered with an unknown emotion and his jaw clenched. He shook his head as he stared at the counter thoughtfully.

"We had a big house, lots of money. As long as we did what we were told-", he paused, "-we got whatever it was that we wanted", he snorted, "for a while, I actually wondered what was so bad about him that my mom had to spend her life far away from him, not bothering to show us pictures of him and constantly saying he was a bad person"

He looked up at me, "one day, Axel and I got home from school and his assistant Kelly told us we had to move"

I frowned, "move?"

He nodded, "yeah, she said to pack whatever we could. We left the house, there was a plane at the airport and we left California to a new house and a new life"

"Where did you move to?"

"North Carolina", he said, "but we only stayed there for a while before going back to California"

"Why did you move?", I asked.

"We found out a couple of weeks later that it was because he had been killed in a shootout and the people who killed him wanted to kill us"

Wade forced a smile at me. People had wanted to kill him and Axel at such a young age? Because they hated his father?

"A shootout?", I asked confusingly, "what's that?"

His dark eyebrows furrowed and the look on his face was serious, "a shootout is a gun fight between armed groups", he grinned, "kind of like the one I was in last night actually"

"You were in a- ", I paused, "-you could have died", I said, "just like your dad"

"Yes Bella. I followed in my dear old dad's footsteps", he said, "my father was Michael Grace", he added, "the former head of a group known as The Raiders"