Colby's POV
"How did that go?" Jeremy asked as I walked the hall and towards the conference room where everyone was waiting.
"He wants to apologize to Julia." I mumbled. "Are you gonna let him?" He asked as I clenched my jaw.
"He's not going anywhere near her." I said then opened the door, revealing the whole gang.
"Brock, you can't keep us down here. My wife is going to worry." Jeff said as I nodded. "Your wife should know that it can happen." I said blandly.
"Unfortunately for all of you, there are some snakes among us." I said and look at all of them with an unbothered look on my face.
"Until those people are caught and dealt with, you all will be staying down here." I said as they all argued.
"ENOUGH." I yelled angrily. "Remember what I told you. Mess with me or mine and you'll be killed. Nobody is getting away with this." I said and glared at all of them.
"If the ones who aren't snakes want to interrogate or kill anyone suspicious, be my guest. It'll make this whole process easier." I said then looked around.
"Any questions?" I asked and raised my brows. "Where's Will?" Steve asked. "He's dead. Any other questions?" I asked blandly.
I didn't want to tell them that he was alive because he wouldn't be for long. I didn't need the snakes setting him free before I could take care of him.
We stood in silence for a minute before I nodded.
"Great." I said then turned around. The second I did this, I heard a gun click off of the safety and felt something pressed against my back.
I rolled my eyes then sighed, quickly turning and grabbing the gun, swiftly flipping it to point at the idiot that thought that would be a good idea.
"That was fun." I said with a laugh then shot and killed the guy.
"I was very serious about what I said, I hope this proves that." I said then tossed the gun onto the dead body before leaving the room.
Was it probably a little harsh to do that? Yeah. I didn't care though.
I promised Julia I would come home tonight, so I had to do anything to protect myself.
Since the whole gang was angry, I decided to call it a day and go home. I probably could have done a little more work but I wasn't going to put myself in danger to do meaningless work.
"Send me that email draft you have, and make sure it mentions something about needing to meet with him." I said to Jeremy as I put my jacket on.
"Sure thing, boss." He said as I nodded. "Sorry that you have to stay trapped down here." I said as he shrugged.
"It's all good. Tell Jules I said hi." Jeremy said and waved. "Will do." I said then turned and went to leave.
I decided on the way home to pick some stuff up for Julia.
I stopped and got her Chinese food from her favorite place, then got some flowers and a pint of ice cream from the pharmacy.
I knew there was a small chance of her eating this stuff but I really was trying my best to make her feel more comfortable.
When I got back to the apartment, Sam was sitting on the couch alone.
I scrunched my brow and put the stuff I got on the counter.
"Where's Julia?" I asked as he sighed and looked up.
"Bedroom." He said as I nodded and made my way over to the bedroom.
When I walked in the room was empty, causing me to sigh.
I frowned and walked over to the dresser to see her huddled behind it.
"Jules, what's going on?" I asked with a frown. It had been a couple days since she's hidden like this so I assumed something triggered her pretty badly.
She looked up at me with dewey eyes before she crawled over and wrapped her arms tightly around me.
"Oh." I whispered and hugged her back, holding her tightly. "I'm here now. I'm here." I hummed, resting my chin on her head.
Julia cried into my chest, tightening her arms to get even closer to me.
"Shhh, you're okay." I cooed and scratched her back. She cried for a little while before she exhausted herself, collapsing into me slightly.
"I got you some things." I said and pulled away, wiping her tears with my thumbs.
"Do you want them now?" I asked as she nodded. "Okay, come on." I said then stood up and held my hands out to her.
She frowned then took my hands, letting me help her up. "I'm sorry." She whispered.
"Don't apologize, sweetheart." I said then kept one of her hands in mine so I could lead the way.
"Colby?" Julia asked, catching me off guard. "What's up?" I asked and turned towards her. "Are you gonna leave me again?" She asked quietly, causing my heart to sink.
"I'm not going anywhere." I said and took her face in my hands, looking into her eyes.
There was a hollowness behind her eyes. The beautiful blue orbs were usually swimming with passion and shine, but they were dull now.
The trauma had fully gotten to her.
"Did you paint anything?" I asked then took her hand again, walking to the living room.
Julia nodded then pointed to the canvas on the coffee table.
"Isn't it good?" Sam asked and held it up so I could see it.
On the canvas was a silhouette of a couple dancing in the rain. The man was holding the umbrella but it wasn't over them, instead they were getting wet by the raindrops cascading from the sky.
"It's beautiful." I said then kissed Julia's head.
I expected her to paint something darker or more traumatic, so I was pleasantly surprised to see she went the romantic route instead.
"I got you these." I said and grabbed the flowers from the counter and held them out to her.
I felt my heart shift as she flinched away from my sudden movement.
"I'm sorry." I said as she shook her head and took the flowers, bringing them to her nose.
I was hoping to get a smile out of her, but unfortunately it didn't happen.
I couldn't blame her, because of everything going on.
I just had to be patient.
"What time are we leaving tomorrow?" Sam asked as Julia looked down at the flowers I had gotten her.
"Uh..pretty early. Probably around six." I said then looked up at Sam.
"If you don't need me tonight, I might leave now. Kat's really been missing me." Sam said as I nodded.
"Yeah, that should be fine. Thanks for your help." I said then started unpacking the food I had ordered.
"Are you staying at the house?" Sam asked as I shook my head.
"No, somewhere else." I said then looked at Julia. She was looking at me with wide eyes, her fingers anxiously picking at the flowers.
"What's wrong?" I asked with a frown. She didn't respond but instead just looked down, shaking her head.
I sighed then looked at Sam. "I'll see you tomorrow. Drive safe." I said as he nodded.
"See you tomorrow. Bye, Jules." He said then patted her back gently before leaving the apartment.
"What's going on, Jules? You can talk to me." I said gently, putting my hands on her shoulders.
"We aren't staying with them?" She asked quietly.
"No. I don't want you to stay in such a public place. A lot of people go in and out of there, and I want you to feel as comfortable as possible." I explained, causing her to let out a sigh of relief.
"I know you're nervous, but it's gonna be a quick trip. Then we'll be back here." I said as her eyes watered.
"Hey.." I whispered as a tear trickled down her cheek. "What is it?" I asked as she looked up at me.
"I wanna go home." She whispered, her lip quivering.
It broke my heart that she hasn't been in the comfort of her own house in so long.
I didn't know how safe it would be to go there since these people have been in her house multiple times.
I knew this was hard on her, but I couldn't imagine being taken from your safe space to be pulled back into the crime world.
This situation was bad enough before she was taken by her fathers gang.
Now it felt almost impossible to reverse.
She would be scared and untrusting for a long time. Her interactions with people would be few and far between until she started to feel more comfortable with freedom.
It was going to be a long time before she was able to be independent in her own home but I was going to vow to myself to get her there eventually.
It was the least I could do for roping her into this shit.