"This will be your room." Ash opens the door of the guest room right in front of his room.
He puts his hand on my back and pulls me inside the room. It is as simple as a guest room can get. A single bed, a small closet, a small window and a full length mirror in the corner. I walk inside and sit on the bed feeling exhausted.
He carries my bags inside and keeps them near the window."We gotta share the bathroom. It's down the hall. If you need anything just call me, alright? You must feel tired, maybe just take a nap. I'll wake you up for dinner."
I nod at him with a smile and he gives me a forehead kiss. After he walks out of the room I lay down on the soft mattress. Eventhough I have trouble sleeping in new places I fall asleep within seconds on the unfamiliar pillow.
I wake up after some time and Ash calls me down for dinner. I sit with him, Jess and Eli on the dining table. Jess notices my bruises but doesn't ask me about them. But I can see the worry in her eyes. We eat quietly and finish up soon. I thank Eli for dinner and Jess for letting me stay here.
Ash and I, after saying our goodnights head upstairs. We both enter the guest room, or rather my temporary room. I sit on the bed and pull my legs up. He leans on the door frame and looks at me.
"I should unpack." I look at my bags and then back at him.
"You can do it tommorow," he says standing straight.
I tuck my hair behind my ear,"I just took a nap, I don't think I would be able to fall asleep this early."
He nods at me and comes inside,"Alright I'll accompany you."
I get up from the bed and move towards my bags. There are mostly clothes in here and some other things. I start arranging them in the closet one by one. Ash sits on the bed tells me that all of our friends have been asking about my health. And that makes me feel better a little bit. I look back one year and I was yearning for love, for care. Right now, I have all that in immense amount.
I unzip the side of my bag and am surprised to find something familiar in there. I gaze at it for a few moments and remove it from the bag.
"What is it babe?" Ash asks from behind me.
I raise up from my position and turn to him. I walk to the bed and sit beside him,"Look what Lina put in my bag."
He looks at the old, worned out picture,"Are they your....?"
"My parents," I whisper and smile at the picture. This is the first time I've smiled at it with happiness rather than sadness.
He leans back on his hands and stares at it,"You have your mother's eyes."
I turn to him and whisper,"Really?" He nods with a smile on his lips,"I definitely have my dad's nose."
He chuckles,"Yeah. You have his hair colour too." I grin at him,"And you smile just like your mother. One corner of your lip tilted up more than the other."
"Oh, I do that?" I chuckle and look at my mom's smile,"Yeah I do that."
I run my fingers on the picture and my eyes start to water."You know when I woke up in that place, I was angry. Very angry. Of course I was angry at them for leaving me but mostly I was angry that they lied to my face. They lied about everything."
A tear rolls down my cheek and I quickly brush it off. I look up at him and say,"The last time I like to them, they told me they loved me, dad told me I'm beautiful. I have always believed that was a lie until now. They said what they meant. I wish I would've trusted them more. I wish I believed in their love. I wish-"
A sob breaks out of me and I hold the picture close to my heart.
Ash sighs and makes me look up at him, holding my chin."Lee you were ten. You cannot blame yourself for feeling what you felt. You were told that your parents sold you. You felt exactly what a ten year old would feel. I'm not letting you sit here and blame her and say that what she felt was a mistake. Please don't let your brave, strong past self down. Your parents would not want you to blame yourself, you know that."
I breathe in slowly and swallow the lump in my throat. I wipe all my tears and nod at him,"You are right. What I need to think about is the future. I can't let Declan take something died for. I won't let him. I cannot I-I."
"Babe we need to think this through, we need to think about what would be the consequences."
I shake my head at him,"No Ash. My parents gave their life for that. And it's not- it's not money, it's their sacrifice, their dignity, their legacy, their goodness. I can't let that fall into such dirty, filthy hands."
He nods at me and holds my hand,"I know. I understand. But we should know that if we do this, we have to take the whole thing down. And we need-".
"Percy", I whisper. He narrows his eyes at me and scoffs."As absurd as that sounds. We need him Ash. He is the only person who knows the truth and is on our side."
He chuckles humourlessly,"Is he?"
I rub his knuckles and try to catch his eyes,"I saw it in him. He regrets what he did. He is our only insight on that."
He stands up and starts pacing,"Are you fucking shitting me? You want the person who did this to you, stand next to you and take down someone who he was with before. I know he was lied to too, I know his past is fucked up too but that doesn't mean he had a free pass to hurt you!"
"And you think I don't know that!" I get up from my position and stand in front of him,"You think I forgive him for that. I could never forgive him never. I know what he feels, I know what he's been through beacuse I have been through that too. He hurt me, their wasn't anyone to tell him he did wrong. No one to guide him. And I'm justifying his actions beacuse it could never be justified only understood. When he realised the wrong he had the choice to turn back but he decided not to. That's his biggest mistake and I know that, he knows that too."
I walk closer to him and hold his cheeks,"I know what he is feeling. He needs a chance to do something right, inspite of knowing that won't undo his wrong. He needs it, and he should be given that. Just like I got mine. Please."
He stares at me and then closes his eyes. He takes a few breaths and open them again. He puts his arms around my waist and pulls me against his chest. We stand there just breathing in the silence and embracing the truth.
He pulls back and rests his forehead against me."I just don't want to see you hurt. I've seen enough. I'll ask him to come tommorow and go from there?"
I smile and give him a kiss,"Yeah. I love you."
He picks me up making me squeal and lays me down on the bed. He pulls the comforter on me and bends down to kiss my forehead.
"Well now you need to rest. If you need anything, at any time just knock on my door. And if I don't wake up, do not hesitate to bang as loud as you can".
I grin at him and whisper,"Yeah I'll keep that in mind. Good night."
********
"Are you sure we should do this?" Ash asks with a unsure face.
"We are already doing it Ash." I take his hand and smile. "Everything would be fine."
He sighs and picks up the bottle of water from the nightstand. He takes a few sips and sits on the bed. I know he is anxious, I'm anxious too. Very. He took Percy's number from Lina and called him in the morning. He asked him to meet us here in his house. I insisted on finding some other place but Ash wasn't having it. He said this is the safest place for us to talk.
It's 2 pm and we are waiting for Percy to arrive. We are in the guest room that I live in. I hear the sound of a car pulling up in the driveway. I look out of the window and see Percy getting out of the car.
"I'll fetch him." Ash says from behind me and goes out of the room in a flash.
I gulp and sit on the end of the bed in anticipation. A few agonizing seconds later Ash and Percy enter the room, both of their faces stoic. Ash closes the door behind him and leans against it.
"You can- uh sit there." I point towards the chair I asked Ash to bring in earlier.
Percy nods and sits down."Lee, I really apologise-"
"Can we talk about what we are here for?" I ask with a tone harsher than intended.
He looks down and nods,"Where do we start?"
"Let's start with you telling us everything you know about those papers Lee is supposed to sign?" Ash asks crossing his arms.
He sighs and looks at us,"I don't know much. I just know that there are two papers. One where she claims the money and the second one where she hands Declan the money. He has the original copy of the papers. If she wants to inherit the money, she has to sign the papers."
"What if I- I just go to the cops?" I ask hesitantly.
He smiles sadly,"What proof do you have? And you know if he isn't arrested what would happen to you and the people around you."
I rub my temples and sigh loudly. Ash speaks next,"So, the first thing we gotta do is get those papers. And then somehow get Declan arrested. For now, do you know where the papers are?"
He shakes his head regretfully,"No, they could be anywhere. His office, or somewhere else."
"Why don't we try the office?" Ash suggests.
"We cannot try here Asher. If we get caught, they are shooting us right in our heads." Percy states sternly. "If we are taking the risk, we need to be sure where the papers are."
"How are we gonna do that?" I shake my head,"Even if we make sure, how are we stealing them right under his nose?"
"We will need a distraction. A big one." Ash says biting his lip.
"There might be one." We both look at Percy,"Declan has this big deal with the mafia on saturday. On that day that deal is the most important thing for him. We can easily get those papers but we have to know exactly where they are."
I fiddle with my fingers,"And about after? When he realised we stole them? How are we gonna keep him away?"
Ash stands straight and says,"We have to need some proof agaisnt him to get him arrested."
Percy looks between us and states,"If he gets caught with his supplies on saturday, there is no lawyer who can save him."
All three of us share looks and Ash is the one who speaks,"So we steal the papers and then snitch."
Percy nods at him,"We'll still require a few more proofs. Once we get in the house and the papers, I'll find a way into his office and steal some important evidence for his illegal dealings."
"Is there anyway my dad gets exposed too?" I look at Ash with surprise at his question.
Percy shrugs,"Yeah, there are so many contract papers with your dad's company."
Ash nods and crosses his arms,"Okay, we get inside the house steal the papers and call the cops."
"Before the mafia arrives, once we get under the mafia's rador we won't be able to save our lives." We nod at Percy understanding the danger."But we still need to think about how are we gonna make sure the papers are there?"
"I'll make sure." Both of them look at me in confusion. "I'll meet Declan on tonight and somehow convince him that I need to sign those papers the next day or else there might be a chance of Ash getting involved. I'm sure he'll call me there and get them sign beacuse they are important too."
"You can't be fucking serious about going there?" Ash asks with a scoff.
I grit my teeth and state firmly,"This is my fight Ash. And I'm doing every fucking thing to win this. You've two options either you support me or you don't, you don't have the option to stop me." He opens his mouth again,"Ash please, please trust me on this. Let me do this, for myself."
He gulps and nods to himself,"What's our final plan?"
Percy gets up from his seat,"First, Lee convinces Declan. Lee signs them at the house and I'll keep an eye on the papers and see where they go. Leave me the job of stealing them. When Lee exits the house and get the papers, Asher I'll let you in from the left of the house where there's almost no security. We'll go to Declan's office steal however much we can and find a way out. That would be last minute plan. Until then Lee would be already in the car parked in the woods, I'll find a spot. We run, get inside start driving towards the town and give the cops a call. And we gotta do this before 12 pm, before the mafia arrives. I'm sure when they get the news of the cops they won't bother coming."
I bite my lip and take a deep breath. I nod to myself and sigh loudly,"Okay, let's do this."
No matter how dangerous and uncertain this plan is, we gotta do this, I gotta do this.
********
Let's fucking do this!
So any predictions before the next chapter.
What are you thoughts on Lee's feelings toward Percy?
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-Love❤