She's Too Naive

Chapter 33

I bit down on my cheek hard when I saw the guy we had originally talked to now pointing his own gun at Rosen.

"You're wrong," I said, my voice shaking. "I'm not - I'm Ellie, yes, but they didn't kidnap me" I stumbled over my words.

"Don't be scared Ellie," Chez said. "I can kill them two faster than you think, and then I can take you home. You can see your family again." He gave a slight nod, and the guy behind him cocked the gun.

"No!" I yelled when I heard the clicking. I pulled hard against Chez's grip, straining to get between Rosen and the gun pointed at him. In surprise, Chez's grasp loosened and I was able to break free, sliding in front of Rosen and and the gun. Again, I found myself staring down the black barrel of the lethal weapon.

"Ellie, are you insane?" Rosen scolded angrily, grabbing me and shoving me behind him. I tripped over my feet and almost fell, but he gripped onto my arm at the last moment and steadied me.

Understanding dawned across Chez's face. "You ran away," he stated simply. The gun that had been pointing at Rosen slowly lowered, and Rosen mirrored the man's actions.

"Yes," I agreed, knowing it would be too difficult to explain what really happened. "But I'm going to go back soon."

"The Defaecatio know about her, we are keeping her safe and getting them off our trail before bringing her back home," Cole stepped in, explaining.

"I see," Chez replied. He suddenly sighed out a laugh and grinned widely. "That's good, because I didn't want to clean you both up off my floor."

Chez was definitely not like I expected him to be. By the way everyone had talked about him so far, I thought he was some old man who bought girls like a pedophile or something.

Rosen re-situated his gun in his pocket, his shoulders losing their tension. He still had a hand on my arm, but he slid it down and instead intertwined my fingers with his. I felt my own muscles automatically relax with his touch.

"Why would you have helped me?" I asked curiously.

"You have a family. Friends. People who care about you," Chez said. "I help girls like you. It's the girls who have nobody that I buy to work here. I provide them with a job and a place to stay." he smiled, and I felt my stomach spin. He seemed nice, but only because he knew I wasn't alone. Chez continued. "The only thing is they must stay here with me for ten years and follow my rules before they're free. And I don't take disobedience lightly."

"I think we've been enlightened enough with your rules," Rosen interrupted, appearing annoyed. "We'll pull the car around back to load up." Before he even finished what he was saying, he was pulling me along towards the front door with Cole behind us.

Right before I stepped inside the car, Rosen stopped me by putting a hand on my shoulder.

"Promise me you'll never jump in front of me like that again okay?" he said, swallowing hard. "I'm not worth it."

I shook my head and gave him a small smile. "I can't make that promise. And you're worth it to me." I climbed into the car.

We pulled around the gravel parking to the back of the club, and backed up to a white garage door. It opened up and Chez stood behind it, a grin on his face. We climbed out and the boys started piling big black bags into the trunk with the help of Chez.

"What's in there?" I questioned. I knew we were there for weapons, but how much did we really need.

Chez opened up one of the bags, and I took a step back at seeing the glint of metal.

"Is all of that really necessary?" I asked, eyeing all five of the bags squished into the trunk.

"When you're against the Def it is," Chez replied. He stood next to me as Rosen and Cole both rifled through the bags and each took another gun. I noticed they also tucked some knives into their boots too. "Ellie," Chez interrupted, turning to me. He lowered his voice and glanced at Rosen and Cole who were too busy loading their guns to notice. "If anything ever happens, you can come to me. You'll always have a safe place here, and I can take you home anytime you want."

"Thank you," I said honestly, smiling at him.

"The Def are dangerous, even I don't mess with them. Be careful," he insisted. I watched as Chez took out a folded sheet of paper and pressed it into the palm of my hand, closing my fingers around it. "Call this number and I'll be there, or if it's too far I'll send my men there." he smiled wide. "I may have my own little army."

"Ellie," Rosen called, his eyes on Chez and I. "We're leaving now,"

"Okay," I replied, taking a few backward steps away from Chez.

"You've made a loyal ally." Chez said softly. I gave him a small nod before turning around and swiftly walking back to the car.

When we pulled out of the lot, I finally looked down at the slip of paper. The numbers scrawled across were messy, but I held on to it tightly and slipped it into my pocket.

I looked up and found Rosen watching me in the rearview mirror, but he remained silent as we merged back onto the highway.

WOOT WOOT NEW CHAPTER! 

What do you think of Chez? Is he a trustworthy ally or is he just bad news?