Home is not a Place

26• Good People

VANESSA

Oh, I've never felt so sad and so angry at the same time. It's like my emotions are playing tug of war, one side of me wanting to cry and the other side of me wanting to throw something at the bathroom door.

I really don't know what I was expecting.

He probably thinks I am a desperate whore now, even though I'm neither of those things. Honestly, I guess I was expecting him to wake up and realize what kind of life he has been living. One without love. One without fun. One without happiness or vulnerability or trust.

I should just back off and stay away because he is right about a few things, like the fact that I don't know him. It's true. I don't know him that well. But, it wasn't like I was confessing my love to him and committing to him for life.

I've just grown so comfortable around him and wanted to get more comfortable. I don't see any harm in that, but E does.

So, I guess I'll back off.

Anger and sadness still roll around in my veins when I hear a knock on the hotel door, so I don't even take time to glance in the peephole. It's Drake anyways, right?

I unlock the door and swing it open. To my bewilderment, there's at least ten men standing in front of me, all two times my size. The one standing in the middle is someone I recognize, but instead of thinking too much into it, I yell out to Ethan. "Hey, babe, did you order room service and a shit ton of testosterone?!"

Hopefully that caught his attention and Drake's, too, because I have a feeling something is about to go down. They are definitely not here at our door to sing carols to us.

I know I'm supposed to be undercover, and I am supposed to be this badass criminal, but at the moment I think it would be dumb to even try to put up a fight against these guys. Instead of firing the first shot, I decide to just ask them, "What's up, my dudes?"

The one that I recognize tilts his head. "We're here to collect the botox you bought tonight."

"Mmm..." I say as I lift a hand to my chin. Well, this might be a problem. "Let me run and get it real fast."

I quickly slam the door in the guy's face, and I lock it swiftly before sprinting in the opposite direction. I don't even make it out of the room before the door is broken down and footsteps thunder behind me.

I curse as I run straight toward the bathroom. When I arrive at the door, Ethan is stepping out. He is shirtless and looking as confused as hell. As if nothing happened between us mere minutes ago, he grasps my shoulders and peers into my eyes. "What's wrong?"

"There's a bunch of men here for the botox." I exclaim. He immediately goes into action, pulling me into the bathroom.

"Lock yourself in here." He says, shutting the door before he even finishes his sentence.

I open the door and am planning on telling him that I'm not going to leave him out there all alone, but when I peer through the door's opening, I am granted with the sight of Ethan battling it out with the men. The men fist fight with him, probably to not draw attention to people in other rooms, but I'm impressed as Ethan takes down two men at one time.

There are still a ton of men left. Some of them don't fight him, though. Instead, they are sifting through all of the rooms, wrecking everything in their paths. They're looking for the weapon, but they aren't going to find it.

I hear Drake somewhere in another room which sends a wave of relief over my body, but before I can really become overjoyed, a man suddenly surges toward the bathroom door. His eyes are on me, his hulking body making me look like I am starring in "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids."