"Pain and pleasure, like light and darkness, succeed each other." Sterne
Tom watched as the conference room filled with his men. He watched them talk and sit down on the same chair they usually did. Most of them looked pissed about having to come in during the middle of the night, but Tom couldn't care less. It was their job, they had to deal with it. Tom stood at the end of the table, Harrison sitting besides him like always. He had his arms crossed against his chest, ready to lead the meeting. The man waited a few seconds before opening his mouth to speak, shutting everyone up instantly.
"John Sinclair nicely introduced himself this evening. He said he wanted his daughter back because she's worth too much and I want to know why. I want every single one of you to look for answers. I don't care who you have to torture and how you're going to get them, but I want answers." Tom barked, his fists keeping him steady against the table as he leaned over it. "I want to know why he suddenly wants her back, I want to know why he said that she's worth to much, everything. As soon as you find something, I want you in my office telling me everything you found. Is that clear?" He ordered and looked every single men in the eye, watching each of them nod in his direction.
"Good. You're all dismissed, except Josh. You stay." Harrison continued and Tom turned to him with a frown on his face. What the hell did he want with Josh? Tom reminded himself of what happened before the event, but he had more important things in mind than dealing with this good for nothing-dick-for-brain guy. Alexina was safe in her room, he couldn't do shit to her.
"Yes, boss?" Josh asked confidently, standing up from his chair and approaching Harrison. Harrison got up from his chair as well and stood right in front of Josh, towering over him. Harrison was taller than most men in the mob, yet he was the sweetest of them all - Tom had rarely seen him act so intimidating.
"If I so much hear about you wanting or thinking about getting closer to Alexie, you're a dead man. I'll hand you over to the rats with no regrets. Am I clear?" Harrison spoke, his voice toneless yet Tom could clearly tell he was angry. He instantly worried, what had he heard? Was there something more to it than Tom knew? Hand over to the rats was an expression they used to threaten one of their men about torturing them and leaving them to rot.
"Yes, boss." Harrison nodded and dismissed him, following his every move until he was out of the room.
"What the fuck was that all about?" Tom asked, confused about his best friend's behaviour. Harrison turned to face him and ran his fingers through his hair as he sighed loudly.
"Fucking dick went ahead to knock on Alexie's door to apologize ," Harrison air quoted, "Pen said he hugged her and touched her ass, like he was seducing her or some shit." Tom felt the anger rising from the pit of his stomach to his head, he clenched his fists tightly and screwed his jaw shut.
"What'd she do?" He meant Alexina, but Harrison thought he meant Penelope. So he frowned and explained everything he knew.
"Well she helped Alexie push him away because apparently he was holding her tightly, but she noticed that when her hand grazed Alexie's shoulder, she flinched hard. Penelope didn't question her but it worried her enough to actually tell me. There's something we're missing." Harrison told Tom, who sighed and pinched his nose, exhausted from everything that was happening.
"I swear this girl is going to be the death of me." He meant because she brought nothing but trouble, but also because of everything she made him feel and Harrison knew that very well. "I've never seen her flinching, I noticed she get scared easily- but that could be anything." Tom shrugged, specifically thinking back to the time he held her against the wall by her throat- that was enough touch to make someone flinch, wasn't it?
Both men stood in place, trying to come up with reasons why she would be so scared of someone touching her or what else could make her flinch. Something was up, Harrison was right. But they had to find out what.
"Well, we know Ryan gave her a hard time. Maybe that's where it's coming from?" Tom suggested, it was the only reasonable reason.
"But she's never flinched around us, not even when we grabbed her to fucking kidnap her. Ryan was abusing her then, you remember the bruises?" Harrison fought back, Tom's explanation wasn't enough for him. There must have been something else. But of course Tom remembered the bruises, he remembered each one of them and he remembered what they made him feel - anger, pain, guilt, pity. The girl clearly deserved more than the life she had been given and that was enough for anyone to feel guilty. At least for anyone that has a heart.
"D'you think Josh somehow got to her whilst we weren't watching? Maybe he said something to her before Pen intervened." Tom suggested and Harrison nodded, actually liking this suggestion. It was almost midnight and Tom decided that it couldn't wait, if her safety was compromised he needed to know. So both men headed to her room, where Penelope still was.
Harrison gestured for her to come out and she got up, saying good night to her new friend. She walked up to Tom and rested a hand on his shoulder as she kissed his cheek, "Be kind." She whispered in his ear and smiled at him like she had just told him good night before she joined Harrison's side. They walked out and went to their room, shutting the door behind them. Tom stayed leaning against the door frame, waiting for her to invite him in. After a few seconds of staring, she got up and walked up to him. Her soft hand grabbed one of his arm that was crossed against his chest and pulled him inside the room. She shut the door behind him and went back to her bed.
Tom observed her, she had her hair tied in a high messy bun and was now wearing a pair of shorts as well as a large t-shirt that hid all of her shorts. He wouldn't even have noticed them if the shirt wouldn't have ran up her thighs when she sat on her bed. She fiddled with the hem of her shirt, showing signs of nervousness.
"What happened earlier with Josh?" Tom questioned, his concerned voice made her want to give him the answer to any question he may have, even if she didn't know it herself. He was still dressed up, only his shirt was starting to wrinkle a little and his hair was much messier - like he had ran his ringers through it multiple times. She bit her lip, sighing to herself as she looked down at her hands. Tom stepped towards her until he stood besides her. He gently put his finger under her chin, wanting to lift her head up but she flinched and pulled herself away from him. Tom frowned, wondering what the hell had happened to her. He tried to think about a time where he had left her alone today - because she was fine the day before.
"I'm sorry." She whispered and Tom almost melted right there and then. He was itching to wrap his arm around her and hold her tight against his chest, but she had just flinched away from his fingers - imagine how it would be if his whole body was against hers. "I- uh, I flinch away from other people's touch when I'm nervous. Unhealthy defence mechanism I suppose." She half-heartedly laughed, moving her body to the other side of the bed. She pat the space besides her and Tom stayed quiet as he sat down on the bed, careful not to move too quickly.
"What are you nervous about?" Tom asked, it was very unlike him to care so much about someone. All he wanted was to push her away and stop caring about her, but he just couldn't. No matter how much she tried to anger him, the sudden attraction he felt towards her took over any other feeling. It was impossible for him to get mad like he would with anyone else, at least that's what he thought.
"I know my father threatened you to get me back, Tom." Her voice was small and weak, like she was tired of it all. She had every right to, her life wasn't normal and nor was it happy. "You should just hand me over, get this over with. You'll get your money back and I'll-"
Tom cut her off instantly, "Die? No, thanks." He scoffed, looking away from her. She shut her eyes and rubbed her face before pushing her hands down on her thighs.
"It's a win-win." She whispered, sighing out as her eyes filled up with tears just threatening to fall down her cheeks. She held them back best as she could, waiting to see if Tom had heard her.
And he did. His heart dropped to his stomach as he actually heard what she said. Was she really thinking about that- about dying? Or did she just say it like that? He truly hoped she didn't mean it, it was a cruel thing to say if you didn't mean it - but he preferred that option. Tom glanced at her and as soon as he saw her tears filled eyes - he knew she wasn't just saying it.
"That's not a win-win." Tom objected, still looking at her. Her bottom lip quivered as she stared into space. She avoided looking at him, ashamed of what she had just admitted. She wasn't a fool, she knew Tom somehow cared for her - but she didn't know how much her words had an impact on him. The lump in her throat became to heavy for her to hold back, a sob escaped her lips as she covered her face with her hands. "Alex..." The nickname escaped his lips and he assumed it was okay when the woman next to him didn't react to it. "Come here, please." He extended his arm out for her and she slowly looked up at him. She breathed in and out slowly and deeply, seemingly calming herself down before she scooted over to him. She rested her body against his side and laid her head on his shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her.
"Please, darling. Don't say that, you'll be okay. I'll make sure of it." He promised, knowing he might not be able to keep his promise- but she didn't need to know that. Right now, she needed hope and to be told that she'd be alright. She cried in his arms, her hands still covering her face. His heart broke every single time a sob escaped her lips. People crying had always been his weakness.
"Yeah, because I'm great leverage, right?" Alexina spoke in between sobs, her voice thick. She cleared her throat and pulled away from Tom slightly so she could look at him. He was avoiding looking at her and his shoulders were slumped, making her believe that he felt guilt. "That's what I thought." She lightly pushed him away until he had to get up from the bed before he fell, "You can go now, H." Alexina coldly spoke, getting back into her position and looked at the other side of the room so she wouldn't look at him.
Tom licked his lips as he shook his head at himself, greatly disappointed in himself. He clenched his fists by his side, hesitating about his next move. He decided it might be best for him to leave her alone, like she asked him to. Tom slowly walked out of the room and went to his own, hoping leaving her alone wasn't a mistake.
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There ya go another part!
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