Mayhem

Chapter 4

"The key to my survival?" I raise an eyebrow at him. He nods and jumps back onto the island. "There is a gun," he begins, fiddling with a button on his shirt. I nod for him to go on. "A 45 tribute pistol with sweetheart grips," he states slowly. I furrow my eyebrows. "Sweetheart grips?" I ask. 

"A photo of a loved one screwed under clear grip panels on a gun," he explains. I nod and he continues. "Anyway, Ace will kill for this gun. It is one of his most prized possessions." He chuckles and slides off the counter. "Guess who has it?" He smirks to me, amusement playing in his eyes. Of course Alex has this gun. If I could just manipulate the location out of Alex, this could be my scapegoat.

Before I have the chance to reply, James strolls into the room, expression blank. "Lets go." He passes me a duffel bag and a suitcase with my things in them and clears the path. I grab the keys of a hook and begin making  my way to the door. "Don't think for a second that you are coming with us," James spits at Alex. "If I don't, your pretty, little girlfriend over there is going to get taken again, and there is nothing you will be able to do to stop it," Alex growls back. Oh jeez, here we go. James shoves Alex back a step or two and I could already feel the testosterone radiating from the two of them. 

Alex steps forward and I am between them before a war breaks out. "He's not worth it," I state to James, giving him a comforting smile before facing Alex. "And you." I spit. "Don't act like I can't take care of myself. It isn't like you played a part in winning my freedom back last time, did you." I glare up at him. Fucking bitch. His face makes me mad. I shove Alex back as well and this time he stays there, expression cold. He doesn't say anything else so I lance back at James. "Lets go." I wait for him to pick his bags up off the floor and walk out of the kitchen before finally dealing with Alex. "C'mon, you know you need me," he snickers slowly, becoming annoyed by the second. 

"You wouldn't know that because you left me to die," I mumble, walking away. I don't give him the chance to reply as I walk out of the front door and slam it behind me. Whoa, that felt pretty good. I spot James waiting for me at the end of the hallway and I smile sadly at him. We make our way into the elevator and stand in silence. The silence continues into the parking lot, and for the first hour and a half of the drive. We had decided to stay at his parents holiday batch until everything cools down and we have a chance to create a long-term plan. "Do you want to talk about it?" I ask slowly, breaking the extremely awkward silence. 

"Not right now," he mutters under his breath. Well alrighty then. 

Finally, after an excruciatingly long road trip, we reach the batch. It was a cute little cottage next to Glasgow lake. I absolutely loved it out here. I had only been here three times with James, but I had to admit, it was my favorite place in Paris. I grab my bags out of the car and follow James to the door. I wanted to know more than anything what was going through his head right now. His eyes were blank, his face strained. 

We enter and I put my bags down on the master bedroom floor. He does the same and then walks back into the main room and plops down on the couch. "Who is he to you?" James voice was quiet. I take a seat next to him and furrow my eyebrows. "Who?" I ask, slightly confused. "Alex." 

Of all things and people to talk about, and he chose Alex? How was Alex the most fascinating part out of all of this? "Ah... He is just someone I used to know," I mumble. I didn't really know what else to say about him. I mean, James probably wanted to know if we ever dated and all of that jazz, but I didn't want to get into any of that at all. "And you guys really haven't spoken in years?" He finally looks up at me. I nod my head slowly. 

"I don't even know how he found me. He just showed up yesterday at lunch," I roll my eyes, thinking back to the unpleasant encounter. He is silent for a while before he smiles slightly. 

"Esmé... I trust you. I trust that you are telling me the truth right now and that you aren't going to get us killed." I smile brightly up at him. I can't even express how please I am to hear those words leave his mouth. "But, I want you to promise me that you won't go back to that life. That you won't run off to take over the gang or kill some guy. I want you to be completely honest with me about all of that trouble from now on, alright? Do you promise me that you won't do that?" His voice was desperate. I almost wanted to ask what would happen if I couldn't promise him. I mean, the only reason I came to France to begin with was to take away Ace's prized possession. And then I met James... And right now, he was the only secure, loving thing in my life. I didn't know exactly how I felt about completely giving up my old life, but I knew for sure that I didn't want to lose James. 

"I promise." The words were a whisper as they left my lips. His eyes brightened and a grin made its way onto his lips. He leans forward and places a small peck on my cheek. "I love you," he says happily. I smile back up at him. "I love you too." He jumps off the couch and makes his way to the kitchen. "Thirsty?" He shouts over his shoulder. "Yep," I shout back, pulling my phone out of my pocket. There was a text from an unknown number.

-A black car followed you after you left the apartment - A

A... Alex. Assuming that the black car was filled with Ace's men made me question how long they followed us for. I slept for a small portion of the drive but usually I am quite vigilant about these sorts of things. I don't even recall seeing a black car outside the apartment, let alone following us all the way to the batch. Alex was probably just making up some bullshit story to try and scare me, or maybe even to try and convince me to let him 'help me'. How did Alex even get my number? 

The sound of glass shattering in the kitchen broke me out of my thoughts. There was a shout, which I assumed came from James and I quickly rush to my feet and all but sprint into the kitchen. Inside was a man I had never seen before, but sent my PTSD through the roof. He was dressed the same as all of Ace's other men, with their fully black, leather-lad outfits and their combat boots. Not to mention the stern expression and the weapons. He had James kneeling on the floor with a gun to his head. There were another two men behind him. The back, kitchen door was wide open and swinging in the wind. 

"Yvette Munroe," the one with his gun to James' head begins. "Don't fucking touch him," I shout, taking small and slow steps towards them. "You are coming with us," he booms, pressing the gun harder into his temple. 

Ah fuck, here we go.

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