V - part two

I spat out the lock of hair that blew into my mouth as I stepped out of the car, pulling the coat Pénélope had loaned me closer to my frame. The driver Ian had send for me had already slammed the door shut again. He got back behind the wheel so quickly I didn’t have time to thank him before he sped off into the dark.

The warehouse Ian had told me about loomed in front of me, its size made all the more impressive by the dim light of the streetlamps. The ‘Picard Cruises Inc.’ logo was painted in big, fat letters on the front.

The good news was there was no doubt as to whether I was at the right location.

The bad news was I seemed to be the only one here.

'Robert dropped me off.' I typed away on my phone as I moved further onto the sidewalk, trying to keep an eye on my surroundings at the same time. I’d never liked this place. 'Where are you???'

I contemplated adding the ‘rolling eyes’-emoji, but I removed it again before pressing send, not wanting to restart a fight we’d only just stopped having.

At least not until I knew the full story of what Ian was hiding from me. His explosion in the car should’ve been my first sign. The second sign – and the one I’d finally managed to pick up on – was how he had reacted to my little ‘confession’ after.

Getting angry at me for trying to talk him out of grave robbery was ridiculous. Getting angry at me for lying to him, however…

I would’ve understood if he’d been just a tad bit annoyed about that.

What I hadn’t expected was for him to react the exact opposite way. I’d never seen him as pale as he’d looked when he’d watched me pull out that necklace. He’d all but smacked the thing out of my hands, but then he’d turned the full 360, bringing me tea and asking me if I needed a nap and everything. Gomez Addams could’ve learned a thing or two from Ian in his ‘doting fiancé mode’. If anything, he was the one that could’ve done with a nap after that.

Nope, I was nowhere near getting the full story, and if it involved this much guilt, it had to be a good one. Either that, or it was very bad.

I stared at a car that passed by, mentally counting down the seconds until it was out of view. Ian hadn’t responded to my text yet, but Cal’s name popped up in the top of my screen, the bubble indicating she was still typing. She’d responded to my mention that I was at Ian’s parents with a single ‘thumbs up’.

Cal: By the way, Dan and I used your spare key to clean Annetta’s kitchen and living room. You’re welcome <3. And do you know a guy name Atlas or something?

I raised my eyebrows at the screen, needing a few seconds to put two and two together. My heart made a small leap.

Fin: You mean Aides? It’s a long story, but he’s an acquaintance of Ian’s. Why?

Cal: He stopped by to apologize or something. Idk, I think he wanted to talk to you, but I told him you went fishing with hon hon baguette at the harbor. Is he single???

I rolled my eyes at the screen – both at the nickname and at the question.

I still didn’t buy into Ian’s explanation that the guy had been ‘snooping’, but that didn’t mean he seemed like the right type of guy for Cal. He was right up her alley, which was usually not a great thing when it came to men. The vibe I’d gotten from him was ‘positively murderous’ . Undeniably handsome to the point that it would take me a while to forget those eyes, yes, but with a scowl that could whither entire gardens, and with enough anger in him that I didn’t think any woman should be happy to deal with that.

An ’I can fix him’-situation was not what she needed in her life right now. And it wasn’t what I needed either.

Fin: I wouldn’t know, I didn’t get a chance to ask before I kic—

I stopped typing when I noticed Cal wasn’t done yet, her text bubble appearing and disappearing a few times. 'I mean, if he’s friend or family to Ian or anything, thanks but no thanks, no offense, but ngl, I’d climb that man like a tree. I’m gonna dream about those forearms tonight'

My brain almost went ‘you and me both sis’, but I plucked it out of the gutter before it could go for a swim, the mental image of a man like Aides wrapped around me not nearly as unappealing as it should be.

Maybe I just needed to get a new vibrator.

'I don’t know if he’s single, I kicked him out'. I typed both to shut her down and to reminded myself.

Cal: Girl what for??

Fin: Give me a sec. I’ll explain

I pushed the button to start a voice message, but before I could get into a play-by-play of the afternoon, a cough from behind me startled me. A hand circled around my waist.

“Ian, what the—"

“I’m sorry I kept you waiting”, he interrupted me with a kiss against the side of my head. “And I’m sorry I couldn’t come pick you up myself. I needed to prepare some things for tonight. Let’s go.”

He steered me towards the side of the building, and I shot Cal a quick ‘tomorrow’, feeling half sorry for myself that I wouldn’t get to vent until later. We had plenty of material to go over during our next girls’ night.

“What things? Why are we here, anyway?” I put away my phone as we headed for the solid gate. While we walked I looked up at Ian, examining the set of his jaw as if that would tell me more about what we were doing.

He looked a lot calmer than he had this afternoon, which was something, but the stress was definitely still there, and if you looked well enough, you could see the cracks in his focus. He was nervous, and that in turn made me nervous.

“The warehouse is private”, Ian said as if that explained things, not-so-craftily ignoring the first part of my question. He swept his keycard, and the terrain behind the gates began to reveal itself.

“So is your parents’ house”, I shot back. “What things, Ian?”

“You’ll see.”

That was all the response I got before he led me inside the storage facility, past rows and rows of cruise ship supplies. The place was a lot bigger than I’d ever imagined in the few times I’d come here some to pick some stuff up for work. Part of me was happy to be inside and away from the dark streets, but another part felt that perhaps this place wasn’t much better.

I trusted Ian wouldn’t bring me anywhere he didn’t think I was safe. I just didn’t trust that his definition of ‘safe’ was the same as mine, lately.

“One more thing before we go in, sugar”, He stopped me with a tug of his hand, nudging towards the backroom with the drawn blinds. Light crept through the shutters. “Actually, two things. One, whatever my father asks of you, you need to do it. Doesn’t matter if it sounds stupid or weird. It will all become clear as long as you listen to him. And two, I need you to keep an open mind.”

I nodded slowly, both requests only partially registering in my brain. Hushed voices sounded from the other side of that door, and there were two in particular that I hadn’t heard in a long time – hadn’t heard, and didn’t particularly wish to without a lawyer present.

“Is that—” I tried to pull myself loose to storm inside, but he kept holding onto me, a regretful expression dragging the corners of his lips down. His eyes bore into mine with an unexpected intensity.

“I love you Fin. I need you to know that.”