Chapter 20: Scared (Leo's POV)

I got in the car and sped off immediately after getting showered and dressed. I had to do this. It's for her sake. After about a twenty-minute drive, I finally got there. I was doing possibly the most stupid thing I've ever done and I was doing it for her. 

This is the one place my dad told me never to come to, and here I am. I walked in and saw a girl, not too much older than me, sitting at the front desk. 

"Hello," she smirked, her chest on pretty much full display. 

"I'm looking for Seth Cavanaugh." 

Her smile fell and she sobered up. "Mr. Cavanaugh? A-are you sure?" You could hear the fear in her voice. 

"Yes." 

"Your name?" Is she really going to do the whole 'call and check before I send you in' thing? 

"Leo Jackson." She paled even more. I'm not that scared of him, just of the number of people working under him. It's a good thing the people working for him are scared of me then. 

"The last door to the right," she instructed. I let out a breath before opening the door. 

He looked up, dispersing the man that was there, making a deal with him. "Leo Jackson," he said with a sinister smile. "Have a seat." 

I sat down and looked straight at him. "I have an offer for you." 

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. He laughed, "After everything I did? After all the lessons your dad taught you? I'm the person you want to make a deal with?" 

"I'm not here to gamble." 

"I'm intrigued." 

I rolled my eyes. "Jack Brookes owes you." 

He nodded, "Five hundred thousand dollars, yes." 

Jesus fuck, that's a lot of money. 

"I want you to spare his debt. The debt that's wrongfully his." 

"Wrongfully? There's nothing wrong about this," he scoffed. 

"You gave that money to another man. That man should be the one paying you. Brookes already paid the man he got the money from. It was that man's job to pay his debt to you." 

"I don't care what he did with the money, I care about whether it's coming back. And if it's not... you already know what happens." 

I clenched and unclenched my fist. "I want you to spare his debt," I repeated. He laughed humorlessly. "Spare it," I said through gritted teeth, "And I'll pay for it." 

His eyes lit up and he grimaced. "You will owe me?" he asked. 

"If you spare his debt." 

He eyed me warily for a long time. "Why?" he questioned. 

"Because he has Claire." 

I rolled my eyes. Of course, he's here. Following his little uncle around. "Does this little fuck face really have to be here?" I asked, glancing at Theo. 

He glared at me while Seth spoke directly to me. "Is that where she's been hiding? With you?" 

I scoffed, "You think I'm here because of a girl?" 

He's damn right. 

"I don't know where she is. But my father owes Brookes a lot. Jack helped him and now he's not doing anything. So I am. As for his daughter," I paused. 

Think, think, think. 

"She is hiding. Just not with me. If she was, you would have no idea she even existed." He already knew her. Theo told him. Just like I thought he would. "She's hiding with someone," I paused and looked at Theo, "Who's closer to you than you think." 

Anger morphed onto his face while he glared at Theo. "Are you hiding her?!" he yelled. 

"No, I'm not!" Theo defended himself. He wasn't lying. I was. I just knew how to do it. 

"If I spare his debt, it goes to you, Leo." 

"I know that. That's the offer I came here to make. Take it or leave it," I sighed, leaning back and getting comfortable, "I'll give you one minute. By the clock." 

He fell into thought and I kept my eyes trained on the clock above his dead. As soon as one minute was over I cleared my throat, "Time's up." 

"How do I know you aren't hiding her?" he questioned. 

"You don't," I shrugged, "You just have to take my word for it. And what do you care, huh? You'll still get your money." 

He shook his head, "I don't just want the money anymore. I want the girl." 

I lifted a brow at him. "Why?" I asked. 

"Actually," Theo spoke up, "I want the girl." 

"Then you shouldn't have dumped her. Or cheated on her." His eyes widened for a fraction. "I bet you didn't know she's his ex. Well, now you do." I stood up. "Deal's off the table." 

"Wait-" 

I clicked my tongue, "Too late, Seth," I shrugged, "Offer's gone. Good luck finding her by the way. With him," I scoffed at Theo. I would have done the deal if Seth agreed to it, but he thought I was lying, which I was but that's not the point. Now I know that he knows who Claire is. 

So far, we weren't even sure if he knew about her, but I can confirm he does. So now, the plan changes. We can't just protect her. We have to hide her. We've been doing that already, but now we have to be more careful. Especially with Aesha coming over. 

"I know you're hiding her," Theo spat. 

"Find her if you can," I smirked. It's always fun to poke the bear. 

He walked over to me, "I know what you're doing," he whispered. 

I glanced at Seth, making sure he wasn't listening and when his phone rang, I took my shot. "You don't deserve her," I whispered. He took a shot at me and swung full force. I blew out a breath and touched the corner of my lip which was now bleeding. 

"That's not very nice." 

✯¸.•'*¨'*•✿ ✿•*'¨*'•.¸✯

I got into the car and immediately sped towards my house. As soon as I got out of the neighborhood, I pulled over the car and leaned the seat back, wincing. "Asshole," I cursed. I looked at myself in the rearview mirror. 

I had a gash on my eyebrow that was dripping blood, a bruise on my cheekbone, and a small cut on the corner of my lip. I stayed there in the car for such a long time, trying to get the pain to fade away but it just wouldn't. I didn't have much of a choice, I had to go back home. 

So hesitantly and begrudgingly, I did. I should have told Flynn what I was going to do. I should have taken someone with me. But Theo is a fucking asshole and of course, Seth didn't do anything to stop him. Theo took most of the hits, I got him better than he got me, but he got me pretty good. 

She's going to kill me. She seriously is. 

I entered the code and opened the door, locking it behind me. There's no chance she's already asleep, right? Yeah, no. 

"Bye!" I heard Flynn and Aesha laughing before they went upstairs. Flynn noticed me and his eyes widened. He began running back down but I shook my head at him and put a finger to my lips. He nodded slowly before going back upstairs. 

I looked at my right elbow which was also bleeding, probably from when we hit the ground in the tackling. I groaned, looking at it and when I looked back up, Claire was standing there, looking terrified and confused. 

"What the hell happened to you?!" she yelled. 

"Shit," I whispered under my breath, walking up to her. "Nothing," I shook my head before walking past her, going up the stairs as quickly as I could. She stayed behind me and followed me. 

"Leo, are you-" She grabbed my arm but I pushed her off. 

I did not have the patience to be nice and work the way she liked it. I know she says she liked me both ways, but no one ever means it when they say that. I marched into my room with her behind me. I would have slammed the door shut but she put her hands on it before I could. 

"Don't you dare slam that door on me." 

I groaned and walked over to the bathroom, grabbing the first aid kit from under the sink. She snatched the first aid and pulled me to face her. "What is wrong with you?" She clicked her tongue in frustration, assessing all my wounds. 

I stared down at her before pushing her hand away and going out to the room to grab a fresh set of clothes. She snatched the clothes as well and tossed them on my bed. 

"I'm talking to you!" she snapped. I huffed and sat down on the foot of the bed. She clicked her tongue one more time in frustration before kneeling in front of me. 

"What are you doing?" I asked, pulling her back up. 

"Just shut up. For two minutes," she huffed while opening the first aid kit. She looked scared. And I hated it. 

"Claire, I-" 

"Just let me do this for two minutes. I will tape your mouth shut," she grumbled. She looked up at my face, analyzing every bruise, wound, and cut. "What the hell were you doing, Leo?" she sighed, grabbing cotton and some antiseptic. 

"Fighting," I huffed. 

"No shit, where?" 

Oh boy.

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Chapter twenty

That was kind of a rushed panic but yeah it happened.

next chapter: never