"I didn't do it to hurt you," Justin assured her as the elevator door closed behind him with a soft click. Suddenly, they were all alone in a quiet hallway. He slowly approached her, bringing his face close to hers. "It's just who I was before you met me. It's where my life just happened to take me. And you know what?"
"What?" she breathed.
"I don't think I would change anything."
She almost pulled away from him, but he was fast, and before she could move an inch, he had his arms wrapped tightly around her.
"I wouldn't change anything," he continued. "Because if I wouldn't have met Cobly, I would have never moved into this apartment, and I would have never met you."
Adelyn let Justin kiss her softly, and slowly, they made their way to her door. Distracted by his warm lips on her neck, she fumbled with her keys. Finally, the door opened and they shut it behind themselves.
"You've gotta promise me you won't ever do something like this again," she said as the tip of his nose brushed against hers. "I need you to be completely up front with me... about everything."
"I promise," he whispered. "Now that this is all behind me, all I need is you."
With her uninjured hand, she gently pushed him away. "That's just it though, Justin. This isn't behind you. I wanted to talk to you about what exactly you got yourself into when you signed the bottom of that agreement today."
"I know I have to aid in the Colby's capture," he said, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion. "How hard could that possibly be?"
"This guy has to be dangerous. You should know that more than anyone... and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared."
Justin pulled her back into his embrace. "We'll get through it. I promise."
"You also promised you'd get rid of that gun," she reminded him.
"I tried, Adelyn, I tried. Isn't that what should count?"
She looked up at him and gently pressed her lips to his. "Yeah," she sighed.
Justin was about to kiss her again, when he felt something wet on his face and he realized it was Adelyn's tears. "What's wrong?" he said, brushing them away from her cheek. "Why are you crying?"
"I'm afraid," she whispered.
"Don't be afraid of Colby. I won't let him do anything to you," Justin assured her.
She slowly shook her head. "I'm not afraid of Colby. I deal with creeps like him all the time."
He looked confused. "But before, you said-"
"I'm not afraid for me, I'm afraid for you."
"For me?" he said, a hint of surprise in his voice. "Adelyn, I won't let Colby get to me. Don't worry."
"I know guys like him," she said. "They won't give up for anything."
Justin nodded. He used to be one of those guys. "I know," he said softly.
"But that's not all I'm afraid of," she went on.
"What is it?" he wanted to know.
"You," she said quietly as she looked away from his gaze.
He relaxed his grip on her, and watched as she slipped out of his arms and turned away from him. "What do you mean, you're afraid of me?" he wanted to know, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Have I ever done anything to hurt you?"
"You lied to me," he heard her say. "And who's to say you won't do that again?"
"I say," he pointed out as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her body close to his. "I had to lie, Adelyn, but I didn't want to. You've gotta understand that I couldn't tell you then. I mean, what would you have done if I told you?"
Adelyn shook her head as she remembered pulling off that mask off of his head a few nights back. "Do you have any idea what it felt like?" she asked him. "To know that all this time it was you who had been eluding me?"
"Do you think I enjoyed it? Because I didn't. I didn't realize how much I loved you until this one night... when I got away. I was sitting under a desk listening to you and your partner search the room, and I wanted to come out and tell you, but I thought you'd hate me... so I stayed where I was."
She didn't say anything, so he raised his hand to her cheek and brushed away another tear.
"I'm sorry, Miss Adelyn," he said sadly, lowering his forehead to hers. "I'm sorry for everything, and if I could change things... I would. I want you take all the time you need to think things through. We can talk whenever you're ready. I just want you to know that I want you more than anything else in this world, and I'll do whatever I can to make things up to you." He paused. "Okay?"
She gave him a small kiss. "Justin, I'd love to take time to think, but you know that's not possible. Tomorrow morning there's a meeting about capturing Colby and both of us need to be there."
At that, Justin pulled away from her. "What do you mean, both of us? I thought it was me who was going to be doing this."
"I am a police officer," she told him. "And this is my job."
"I love you," he replied. "And I don't want you to get hurt, Adelyn."
She pulled him back against herself. "It's just a meeting," she said, giving him a few more kisses. "No one's going to get hurt at a meeting, I promise."
That night, Justin opened the door to his apartment, and locked himself inside. It felt weird being back. Inside the kitchen, he glanced at his answering machine and saw that there were two messages waiting for him. The first one was from his mom. She seemed frantic and angry at the same time and Justin cringed as he listened to her voice. When she was done being disappointed in him, he erased the message and went onto the next one.
"Justin, this is Tom from the Tribune. I realize you're... occupied right now, but I just wanted to leave you a message saying that we're going to have to let you go. Sorry to do this, but we've got our reputation, you know." Tom paused for a moment. "Sorry."
Justin sighed as he deleted that message as well. It wasn't like he didn't expect to be fired, because he did... it was just that the feeling of complete loss that came over him made him feel so empty.
He turned off the kitchen light, walked into his bedroom and then flicked the light switch on. On his knees, reached under his bed and pulled out the small safe. With a sniff, he turned the combination and opened it to reveal bundles of money. He hoped it was enough to pay the fine.
With a thump, Justin closed the lid on the safe. So much for paying rent.
Chapter 21
Paying the Consequences
Justin {Fiction}
My Fiction
I'll Never Stop {Fiction}
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