Getting Close To The Gangleader

Chapter 12

We get home from the mall and Aaron helps me unload my bags and take them upstairs. I thank him and he goes off to do something while I lay down on my bed. I hear a knock on the door and I groan as I sit up.

"Come in."

Zander comes in and I tap the spot next to me. He sits down and lays his head on my lap. I run my fingers through his hair as he smiles up at me. I lean down and kiss him lightly on the lips. I smile into the kiss and he cups my cheek. I sit up again and resume running my fingers through his hair.

"So what did you do while I was gone?"

"Well...I was mostly moping around the house and I spent a lot of time in your room. It smells like you so sometimes I would just lay in your bed until I fell asleep. I realize that what I said was wrong and I really do apologize for the way I spoke to you that day. You're right, I don't know what happened before I got here or what you've had to do to keep Gabriel safe and it's really not my place. I-"

"Zander. What I meant was what did you do while I went to the mall with Aaron. It's good to know you've taken responsibility though."

I watch as his cheeks turn into a crimson color and he sits up. I wrap my arms around his waist and rest my cheek on his back. I can feel his heart beating quickly and that makes me smile.

"I also want to apologize for what happened at the beach. I got jealous when I saw you with that girl and I wanted to get back at you. I didn't mean to hurt you. I did miss you the whole two weeks we were away though."

 He turns around so that I'm straddling him and I bury my face in his neck. I start kissing his neck and he starts breathing heavy so I start sucking on his neck. I start making my way down and as I'm about to unbutton his pants my phone dings. I roll my eyes and grab my phone to see a message from a new number on it. I open it and see a picture of the guy from the beach and a message that says 'hey love'. I roll my eyes and close my phone before throwing it to the side and getting back in bed with Zander.

"Who was it?"

"No one."

"Let me see your phone."

"Why do you want it?"

"Are you hiding something?"

"No."

"Then if you have nothing to hide you'll give me your phone. Unless you do have something to hide..."

"Fine. Here."

I grab my phone and unlock it but before I can delete the message he takes my phone.  He goes into my messages and clicks the first message all the way on the top. Once he sees who it's from he gets up from the bed and points the phone at me.

"Why does he have your number?"

"I don't know." 

I think back and my eyes widen when I realize.

"I never gave him my number. He put his number in my phone when we went to the mall but I never gave him my number so there's no reason why he should have it." 

I get up from the bed and go looking for Aaron. I find him in his room and show him the phone. 

"It's the guy from the beach. This may be a far reach but what if he's connected to my parent's death somehow. He's coincidentally been there every time we've gone to the beach, he was there at the mall yesterday, and he made the mistake of texting me when I never gave him my number."

"Hmm, no, you may be onto something. We'll look into him and see what we can find out. Did he give you a name by any chance?"

"He just said his name was Chris."

"Alright we'll let you known if anything turns up."

Aaron goes off barking orders at the other guys and I stand there with Zander in Aaron's room. I look up at him and smirk.

"What do you say we have that one on one fight I mentioned a while back? It'll be a good distraction."

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We meet back up in the training room and are standing opposite each other. I have my hair up in a ponytail and have some leggings and a sports bra on. He has a plain t-shirt and some sweats  on. I put my hands up in a fighting stance and he does the same. I playfully run up to him and playfully start punching his face and his ribs. He drops to the floor and clutches his stomach. I chuckle and stretch my hand out for him to grab. 

"Alright no more games. We're fighting for real this time and don't hold back."

"Don't worry I won't."

"Good because I definitely won't."

I get serious and get in a fighting stance. I swiftly run up and start throwing punches. He tries to dodge and cover  himself with his arms but isn't able to block all of my hits. I back off for a bit and that's when he decides to swiftly come up and throw a couple punches to my body and a couple to my face. I push up on him and throw some punches before sliding my leg over his feet to topple him over. He falls to the floor and I get him in a chokehold with my legs. He struggles for a bit and I wait for him to tap out but he doesn't so I stop and let him go. We both lay on the ground just catching our breath.

"I...thought you said you weren't going to hold back."

"I wasn't...but I didn't want to hut you."

He gets up and stretches his hand out to me. I smile up at him and take his hand. He helps me up and we walk out the training room together. We go to our rooms to take showers and freshen up to get ready for dinner.

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It's time for dinner and we all gather in the dining room. I stop by Gabriel's room to get him and see him in there with Lizabelle. I sit on his bed and just watch them play for a bit.

"Alright kids gather the toys and put them away. We have to go down for dinner."

I help them clean up and put them away. Each one of them holds my hand and we start making our way to the dining room. When we get there everyone is just standing around and talking to each other. I feel someone grab my shoulder and I look over to see it was Aaron. I signal him to follow me to the head of the table and look around the room trying to find Zander. I finally see him talking with some of the guys and smile when he looks up to meet my stare. I point with my finger for him to go to the head of the table and he nods. We get to the our seats and the room goes quiet. I nod and everyone goes to their seats. I watch as Gabriel pulls Lizabelle's seat out for her and then sits himself down. I smile at the cute gesture. I smile at everyone and clear my throat,

"I really appreciate all of you for being here. I know we are all very busy and we plan these dinners once a month to come together and catch up with one another so I really do appreciate it when all of you are able to make it. Every day we get closer to avenging my parent's death and hopefully this lead we've gotten gets us even closer."

I take a glass and raise it and they do the same. We all cheer and then drink the champagne. The conversations resume and the food starts getting passed around. I look around the room and feel proud of the people that surround me. I feel Zander take my hand and place a soft kiss on my knuckles. I smile and caress his hand.