CHAPTER EIGHT.
𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴

It was finally Friday-- the last day of Angeline's suspension.

Since the strange man turning up on Wednesday, Angeline couldn't stop thinking about how concerned Mitch had been. She didn't talk to her brother or father much, not that she ever did anyway, but just sat and analysed them.

They acted like normal-- never talking much about business at the dinner table and later disappearing to the meeting room with glasses of whiskey, not to be seen for at least another three hours.

So many theories ran through her head. Her main idea was that perhaps her dad had made a deal with the man and not followed through. If Mr Lewis felt genuinely threatened of course he was going to bring in more security, which would explain Mitch's sudden existence in the Lewis household.

That had to be it.

As soon as four o'clock came, Angeline was out of the prison called her own home and she was heading to the ice cream parlour on the beachfront with Ciara and Paige. Apparently, the Queen Bee had a lot to talk about with Angeline, and if she was being a hundred percent honest, Angeline wasn't exactly looking forward to listening to all the petty high school drama. She had bigger concerns.

The house was silent when she woke up. It was nine in the morning, so she realised Elliot and their father had already left for work. Angeline did her usual morning routine; a quick shower, little bit of skincare, and chucked on an oversized vintage tourist tee and some comfy black cycling shorts.

Angeline had already done all of her school work yesterday, so she had nothing to do today. After scrolling through her social media for an hour or two, Angeline found herself at a dead-end, boredom creeping in on her for the hundredth time that day. She groaned, flopping back onto her bed and letting go of the mobile device.

Maybe bothering Mitch again wouldn't be a bad idea. He might even take her out for a coffee again if she asked him nicely enough. Ciara had her minor addiction to weed, Paige had her obsession with popularity, and Angeline craved overpriced iced coffee. Being suspended meant she couldn't pick a cup up after or before school anymore, and a mere two days without it was driving her nuts. The iced coffee that she made at home never tasted the same.

Angeline licked her lips at the thought of her favourite beverage and climbed up from the mattress, slipping out of her bedroom. Mitch hadn't come in to check on her today yet and she hadn't heard him walking around. Her first stop was to the security's main room, but it was void of any of its members.

The shaggy-haired man wasn't downstairs or outside either, even when Angeline asked one of the gardener's if he had seen him. Apparently, nobody had seen Mitch for an hour or two, but Renolds was wandering around somewhere outside.

Angeline didn't want Renolds, she wanted Mitch... or rather Mitch to take her to go and get her coffee.

"Where are you going?" Angeline heard the older man snap from behind her.

She glanced over her shoulder, rolling her eyes at the sight of Renolds standing behind her with his arms folded across his chest. He looked like he had just busted her doing drugs or something, not about to go through the backdoor of her own home. Angeline scoffed as she looked at him-- how Paige found him attractive she would never know.

"Inside," she pointed out the obvious. "Why? Am I not allowed to do that?"

"Less with the attitude."

"Gonna chuck me in my room again?" Angeline grumbled under her breath so he couldn't hear as she finally entered her home, trying to get as far away from the head of security as possible.

It wasn't unusual for him to be home when her father was at work, but recently he had been following Mr Lewis around like some sort of loyal dog. Angeline climbed the marble staircase and headed towards the back of the house where the security's rooms all were, hoping to catch Mitch around there. She could have asked Renolds where he was, but then he would actually answer her and she hated the sound of his voice.

Angeline raised her fist to knock on Mitch's bedroom door when she heard his voice start to rise on the other side. She couldn't make out what he had said, but he sounded frustrated. Her curiosity got the best of her and Angeline leaned with her ear against the wood, trying to make out what he was talking about.

"Two months, sir. Two months." There was a long pause and Angeline realised he was on the phone-- but talking to who? Her dad most likely, based on the title. "Lewis said it's happening then."

Angeline swallowed thickly, blinking rapidly. Before she could properly comprehend Mitch's hushed words, Angeline felt a large hand wrap around her arm and tug her backwards from the door. She gasped loudly, cringing when she felt her back press against Renold's body. He held her close, his breath hot in her ear.

"I knew you were up to no good," Renolds hissed harshly, tightening his grip on her arms when she struggled against him.

"Get off me, dickhead!" Angeline swung her elbow backwards, but it was blocked rather easily and his strong arm was then wrapped around her chest, pinning her arms together. "I wasn't doing anything!"

Before Renolds could reply, Mitch's bedroom door suddenly swung open. There was no phone in his hand anymore but he looked furious, his hazel eyes snapping from Angeline's restrained figure to the man double her size keeping her hostage. Mitch marched closer to them.

"What the fuck?" Mitch snapped. "What did she do, huh? What did she do?"

"She was listening through your door, Rapp," Renolds let go of Angeline with one arm to shove the younger man backwards. "Mr Lewis instructed me to do whatever I deem necessary if she acts out of line, and I am your head, so I suggest you leave it."

Mitch seemed to hesitate once he realised that Angeline had been listening, his figure stiffening momentarily. It was so quick that only Angeline seemed to notice. She prayed that he wouldn't get too angry at her-- Mitch was the only person in this house she actually liked.

"I told her to stand outside," Mitch lied, much to both Angeline and Renolds' shock. "I told her to wait for me to finish up some stuff."

Angeline wasn't sure why Mitch was lying until she remembered the way he had acted when Renolds had roughly handled her last time. He was clearly against the way that the men of the house seemed to manhandle her, so he was probably just looking out for her. Angeline couldn't be more grateful than when those words slipped past his lips-- he had probably just saved her a whole lot of trouble from Renolds and her father.

As soon as she felt Renolds death grip on her weaken, the brunette tugged herself away from his grimy hands and closer to Mitch. She rubbed her arms which were already aching, his red fingertips glowing on her sun kissed skin. Renolds hesitated as he looked between the two of them.

"Angeline is not allowed inside security's bedrooms," he stated firmly.

"That's why he told me to wait outside, duh," Angeline retorted. "I'm not sneaking around with Mitch if you think that's what you can report back to my dad to make the hand marks on my arms look any better."

Mitch closed his eyes at Angeline's vulgar way of threatening, wishing the teenage girl had an off button or something. He wondered how she could be so popular at school when all she seemed to do was confront people and make crude remarks.

"Look, don't touch Angeline like that again and I won't mention it to Mr Lewis," Mitch tried to persuade.

"Fine," Renolds snapped before his name came from the walkie talkie strapped to his hip. "I gotta go."

They watched as he backed away, pulling the device out of the hoop and speaking into it harshly. If he was in a bad move before, he was certainly in a worse mood now. Angeline nearly grinned at his defeated figure until she remembered that Mitch had lied to get her out of trouble-- and then she just wanted answers.

"What was that?" She asked him once he was gone. "You totally just covered for me."

Suddenly, Angeline was being shoved towards Mitch's bedroom. He wasn't harsh about it, but Angeline was more worried about his silence. His hazel eyes were cold and his jaw was slightly clenched as he shut the door behind them. Angeline gaped at him, her back pressed against the wall-- she was so in shock that she didn't even look around his room to try and gather some information on who he was, which she would normally do.

"What did you hear?" Mitch demanded, moving closer to her.

Angeline's eyes were slightly wide. "Wha- what?" She stammered.

"You were listening to me through the door," Mitch elaborated. "Tell me what you heard."

"Nothing!" Angeline lied, "I didn't hear anything!"

"Don't lie to me," his voice lowered a little into a sort of rough whisper. "Look, Angeline. I'm not going to be mad at you. I'm not going to hurt you. I just need to know what you heard. For my safety, and for your safety."

His tone was so sincere that Angeline started to really worry; knowing for sure now that Mitch was not some normal security guard like Renolds and Winston were. Her hands felt behind her and she gripped the edge of a mirror, holding onto it tightly.

"I didn't hear anything," she whispered again.

"Angeline," Mitch warned.

She hesitated. Angeline didn't know if she could trust Mitch-- even if she did think he was okay, she was still weary of him. What if he was lying to her right now? What if as soon as she told him what she had heard, even though it wasn't much, he threatened her into silence or even put a bullet straight through her head?

"I heard-" Angeline's voice started in a whisper but she cleared her throat and started again to sound more confident. "I heard you say that something's going to happen in two months, b-but that's it. I swear. I won't tell anybody, I promise."

Mitch moved closer to her, so close that she could smell his cologne and feel his hot breath on her skin. The brunette wasn't exactly opposed to the proximity, but it did make her feel a little uncomfortable knowing that he was probably contemplating what to do to her right now.

"What you heard you cannot repeat, Angeline," Mitch demanded quietly. "Not to Ciara, not to anybody. Remember when I told you I wasn't the bad guy? I was telling you the truth."

Angeline forced herself to give him a small nod, if not in agreement then for him to at least think she was agreeing. Her brain was whirring, all of the wheels turning as her heart pounded in her chest. If she knew who Mitch was talking to on the phone then maybe it would be a lot easier for her to work out what his intentions really were.

Was he working with or against her father? What the hell was her father planning in two months? If he was working with her father, then her dad didn't want her to know something, but if Mitch was working against her father and he was the good guy, that would make her father the bad guy, which honestly wasn't that surprising.

For some reason, Angeline found herself relaxing. If Mitch was here to expose her father for some sort of business lie, then her dad deserved it-- when she said she hated Mr Lewis and Elliot, Angeline meant it. She'd much rather see Mitch succeed in whatever he was doing than her family.

"Okay," she found herself whispering. "I won't say anything. I don't- I don't really know what the two months thing means anyway."

"Good," Mitch released a small breath of relief as he backed away from her. "It's better if you just don't understand."

Angeline swallowed before she heard the device on Mitch's desk buzz. It was the ring of the gate, Angeline had heard security answer it many times. He moved over to it and checked through the cameras before he pressed a button and buzzed them in.

"Who is it?" Angeline asked.

"Your friends, Ciara and that blonde girl from before," Mitch told her. "Remember what I said, Angeline."

Angeline nodded a little and moved to his bedroom door, opening it. She turned back to face him, seeing the muscular man running his hand through his dark hair with his back turned to her. She realised that he was in simply some sort of vest and some gym shorts. She'd probably interrupted him on one of his few days off.

"Mitch... I... I don't know anything about you or what you're really doing here, but you can trust me," Angeline promised quietly. "A-And I mean that. When I told you I hated my dad, I meant it."

The hazel-eyed man didn't reply, watching her for a few seconds until Angeline sighed and left. She heard the front door open and her friends call her name in their sing-song tones and Angeline felt some sort of relief flood her; at least when Paige and Ciara were here she could pretend her life was semi-normal.

...

Catching up with Paige and Ciara had gone fine enough. The three teenage girls had sat around in the floats in Angeline's pool instead of going out for icecream, ignoring the gardener who was trimming hedges nearby as they spoke about things that were probably making the man extremely uncomfortable.

It turned out that Ciara was right-- Paige was on the prowl for a new addition to the small trio. According to the blonde beauty, her parents had to be either actors or millionaires, she needed a GPA above 3.5 at least, a hot body, beautiful natural features with the exceptions of perhaps a nose job or subtle lip fillers, and a good fashion sense that didn't clash with hers.

Angeline blew air past her lips when she'd heard the qualifications, but she knew that Fair Hill High was crawling with girls that fitted exactly that. Everybody already had their own cliques, however, Angeline knew it wouldn't take much for Paige to convince some poor unsuspecting girl to sit with them at lunch and then boom! just like a fly to a flytrap, you're stuck with the blonde for life.

"Afternoon, Peggy," Angeline grinned at the family's chef as she slid into the white leather stool on the other side of the island.

The woman who had to be in her fifties glanced up, sighing slightly at the teenage girl. "No, I cannot take the peas out of your rice, I cook it all together."

Angeline rolled her eyes a little. "I wasn't gonna ask that... I was gonna ask what you were making for dinner, but I guess that kind of answers it for me, huh?"

"Mongolian beef," the woman elaborated without looking up from where she was finely dicing chillies. "Your father specifically asked for it tonight."

"Why?" Angeline pestered, a small frown on her face. "What's tonight?"

"I don't know. I'm just the chef."

Angeline couldn't argue with that. She stood up from her seat and wandered upstairs to her bedroom where she had a quick shower to get rid of any chlorine from the pool. Once she was finished, she changed into a pair of small cotton shorts and another oversized vintage tee, letting it fall to just above her knees and around her elbows. Her wet hair was brushed all the way down to where it rested below her breasts and she had applied all of her lotion.

"Angeline!" She heard her father call from downstairs. "Tea is ready."

The brunette forced herself out of the comfort of her bedroom and jogged back down the marble staircase, all the way to the dining area. Angeline nearly choked on her own spit when she saw her father sat at the head of the oak table, Elliot on the other side of him. There was an empty space on Mr Lewis' other side, but occupying the other seats were Mitch, Renolds, and Winston.

She accidentally made eye contact with Mitch and cast her eyes away, shuffling into the seat next to her father. Immediately, the conversation went back to normal, Elliot and Winston talking about something related to football. Angeline thanked Peggy when the woman placed her bowl of food in front of her and started to eat.

The brunette pretended that she was simply sitting by herself, letting the men at the table all start to get rowdy over debating whether or not the new soundbar in the cinema room had been worth it. Dinners like this happened once every month or so, where Winston and Renolds would join them for food and no mentions of work would be made.

Mitch didn't look like he was particularly enjoying himself, but he seemed to add things in at the right time and gain the approval of Angeline's father. Meanwhile, the girl sat there, shovelling spoonfuls of rice and beef into her mouth as she got caught up in her own thoughts and conspiracies.

If Mitch really was working against her father, then now that she thought about it, it really made sense. He didn't even have anything in common with this family, and he didn't kiss up to Mr Lewis like the other security guards.

"So, Angeline," Mr Lewis' booming voice caught her attention. "How was your day? I feel as though I haven't seen much of you this week."

Renold's ice eyes seemed to narrow on the teenage girl, like he was silently threatening her or something. Mitch looked over with a neutral expression-- either he really trusted her or he was extremely good at hiding his emotions, perhaps both.

"It was fine," Angeline answered her father. "Just did some extra homework and stuff."

"How exciting," he said mockingly, causing Elliot to snicker from next to him and Angeline rolled her dark eyes.

He quickly moved on to ask Elliot about his day, to which Elliot had a lot to discuss. Apparently, he'd gone to Los Angeles to meet with clients and that things were looking good. Mr Lewis found that far more interesting, sending no condescending remarks Elliot's way. Angeline clenched her fists beneath the table as he spoke, glaring holes into the empty bowl in front of her.

She was not starting a fight today, she was going to keep calm and composed.

Angeline kept the silent promise to herself, avoiding all conflict with the five men sat around the table. No doubt if she started something with one of them would they all come running to attack her, minus Mitch of course, so the brunette kept her lips sealed and her eyes trained on the white table cloth.

When she raced upstairs to bed that night, Angeline locked her bedroom door behind her and climbed straight into her queen-size comfort, laying above the duvet and turning up the AC until she was cool. Angeline barely focused on the stiffling heat of her room, her mind set on what Mitch was doing in her home.

...

updates may start coming a little more sparsely now. i go back to college 1st sept and i have so much work to do before then and it's my final year so it's gonna be a lot more work.

thanks so much for reading tho! :)