Chapter 6: Bruises and Bree.

Chapter 6

~Adrian’s POV~

Lucas was lying to me.

He was actually standing there and lying to my face without hesitation. I wasn’t sure if I should be proud of his ability not to flinch under my scrutiny or pissed at his blatant disregard for honesty in our relationship, but in light of the current situation I had to go with the latter.

“Will you stop looking at me like that? I said it probably happened  when I was training one of my students, happens all the time.” He said then turned to place the now dried plate into the cupboard.

We’d finally gotten around to eating the meal he’d cooked for me last night, for breakfast. It had of course been delicious, cooking was second nature to Lucas after all but that was a subject for another time, at the moment I just stood around the counter watching him ignore me after just spending the last ten minutes lying to my face, well, twenty if you counted last night’s lies.

“I can tell when you’re lying to me Lucas and I don’t appreciate it.” I said, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

“You’re making a big deal out of nothing.” He said before placing another plate into the cupboard and my eyes narrowed onto the back of his head.

“Have you seen your neck lately?” I asked in disbelief, “It looks like someone almost succeeded in squeezing the life out of you.” I said trying to keep my tone leveled as I stared at the angry bruises that  ran across his flesh. I wasn’t even exaggerating.

“I’m not going to kill the fool who did this to you if that’s why you won’t tell me.” I said a moment later and he turned to me with a bored expression. “The most I’ll do is…have a talk with him.” I continued, putting on my best innocent expression.

“How’re you so sure it’s a him? he questioned with a raised eyebrow and my eyes widened.

“You let a girl do this to you?” I asked in disbelief and he rolled his eyes.

“No. and I didn’t let anyone do this to me, that’s just what happens when you fight with people for a living, you get hurt.” He said looking annoyed now, then, “Are you about done with your questions? My family isn’t going to wait around forever you know.” He said and moved around me to pick up his jacket.

“Fine, we’ll continue this later.” I said and Lucas groaned as we made our way to the door.

We were going to visit his immediate family for dinner, but because it was such a long drive over we had to leave from now. I’d told him it would be better if we took my chopper but he was adamant we try to appear as normal as possible with his family.

He was acting like I’d never  met them before or something. This past year I’d been to visit with them as often as he did, maybe even more so the whole ‘appear normal’ speech was pointless.

They already knew I was wealthy anyway. I was after all a reputed arms dealer, they just didn’t know about the other life I lived and a helicopter surely wasn’t going to tip them off.

………………………..

Last night I’d found out that the love of my life loved me back yet I still couldn’t help the feeling of jealousy that encompassed me at knowing that he was texting Laken. I maneuvered the car around another bend and my eyes flickered back to him when his phone vibrated yet again and his face broke out in a smile when he read his latest message.

I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought repeatedly of just grabbing the phone from his hands and chucking it out of my open window; problem eliminated; at least for the next hour and a half anyway.

But rather that start an argument neither of us really wanted to partake in, I continued to pretend I couldn’t care less who he was texting and tried to focus on the road ahead.

“Don’t you have a gift to wrap?” I asked in irritation after succeeding to keep my mouth shut for exactly five minutes.

Lucas looked up from his phone with a groan and we both knew what he was thinking. He couldn’t wrap a gift to save his life. Most of the time it all came out in a mess of ripped wrapping paper and badly cut tape, which was usually about the time I stepped in to give him assistance.

This time however, I just wanted him occupied and off the phone and Lucas wrapping a gift in a moving car would certainly keep his mind away from the young werewolf for at least the next hour.

“You didn’t have to get her a gift you know, she’s always happy just to see you.” Lucas said, referring to his baby sister Bree. She was his only sibling and she was just the most beautiful five year old you could ever come across. I loved her hence the reason I spoiled her every chance I got.

I  glanced over at him to see him turn slightly in his seat and lean over to grab the medium sized doll house and the stuffed doll I’d asked Scottie to pick out for me earlier today. Then he grabbed the wrapping paper, scissors and tape and gave me an exasperated look.

“How about I drive and you wrap?” he negotiated but I just shook my head. His punishment for texting Laken maybe? Definitely.

It was half an hour later before I finally took pity on him and pulled over. He eagerly switched seats with me, grateful to be relieved of his ‘difficult’ task and I found myself ripping apart the mess he’d made and starting afresh. I shook my head; He was a martial arts expert and notorious vigilante and he couldn’t tape a few pieces of paper together. He was hopeless.

I got the call just as I had deposited the last expertly wrapped gift onto the back seat and was crumpling the excess paper in my hands.

“This is Adrian.” I answered automatically and sat up straight when I heard the familiar voice on the other end.

“We have a job for you Corsetti. It’s a big one.” The voice said and my interest was instantly peaked.

“A hit? On who?” I questioned. The last time I’d done a hit was three months earlier, it was rare for me to get another offer so soon behind the first but it was certainly welcomed.  I was an expert sniper and I think it was the part of the job that I loved the most.

I was known for being the best and I only took high profile hits. I imagined that this time it would be a high ranking government official or a pesky king pin and I listened intently to what the voice on the other end had to say.

“This ones gonna be  tough Corsetti. He has airtight security, both on hand and-” the voice was saying but I was momentarily distracted by the looks Lucas kept shooting me.

He knew about my little ‘hobby’ and it was clear as day he wasn’t pleased. I saw his hands tighten on the steering wheel and his knuckles turned white from the strain. When he’d asked me to stop killing people for some reason it hadn’t crossed my mind that he also meant that I should stop taking hit jobs and I almost groaned out loud at the realization.

By now I was only half listening to the informant, instead more focused on my pissed off lover. And this was the reason I had never fallen in love before Lucas. Relationships required more sacrifice than I was happy to give and I turned away from him to speak quietly into the phone.

“Give the job to Coroni, I’m out.” I told the informant and there was a pregnant pause on the other end and I imagined the balding man’s eyes widening as he wondered if he had heard me right. It was the first time I was turning down a hit especially one that would do nothing but heighten my reputation even more.

“Corsetti, this is a big one, it’s right up your alley, think of all the-” he began trying desperately to convince me to reconsider because if they handed off a job like this to someone else who would obviously be second rate to my work and he or she fucked up, that was it, it would be next to impossible for them to get another chance to nail the hit.

We both knew it but I was adamant. It wouldn’t kill me not to take the job, maybe it was time I started giving Lucas what he wanted. At least when he was present anyway.

“Okay, give us Marcus then, he’s almost as good, he’s the next best to pull off something like this.” He said and I shook my head even though I knew he couldn’t see the action.

“Marcus has other things on his plate right now, get someone else.” I said with a finality that had the guy shutting up. A moment later the line went dead and I knew I had pissed him off.

Losing a hit was a small price to pay when it meant Lucas would be happy and besides, there would be many more where that came from.

When I looked over at him again there was a small satisfied smile playing about his lips and I returned it when he reached over to take my hand in his, giving it a gentle squeeze before letting it go.

A small price to pay indeed.

………………………………………….

“Uncle Adri!” Bree screamed when she spotted me and a moment later I was scooping the five year old into my arms and hugging her gently to my chest.

“Hi baby, wow you’ve gotten big since I last saw you.” I said.

“Like this big!” she shouted, opening her arms wide to illustrate her words and I laughed and kissed her plump cheek. She giggled and the cute little dimples I loved to see appeared in her cheeks. Man this one was going to be a heartbreaker. Lord help all those potential boyfriends…or if she was up for it… girlfriends.

“Don’t you want to say hi to Lucas?” I asked her when she rested her head on my shoulder so that her face was cushioned against my neck.

“No. gift please?” she said raising her head to look into my face and I laughed.

“I told you you shouldn’t spoil her so much, now she’ll expect something every time you visit.” Lucas said with a grin.

“That’s just fine, because you deserve it right princess?” I asked Lucas’s sister in a singsong voice and she placed her thumb into her mouth and somehow managed a smile all at the same time.

“Say hi to Lucas first while I go get your gift.” I said depositing her in her brother’s capable hands.

“Lulu never gives me stuff.” She said with a small pout but Lucas was unperturbed as he leaned in to kiss her cheek and walk with her further into the room. I ducked outside to get her things.

The day continued in good spirits, Bree had fallen in love with her toys the moment her mother had ripped the wrapper off them and she’d spent most of the day playing with them. She dropped off at about 4:00p.m that evening and we hadn’t heard a peep out of her since her dad had put her to bed.

After that we’d spent a few hours catching up. With Lucas’s mom complaining about how little she saw of us and his dad grilling us both about work. All in all not a bad day and when Lucas left my side much later that night to go upstairs to give Bree a kiss before we left, his mother pulled me aside, her face aglow with what I could only describe as happiness and her bright eyes filling with tears.

“You’re so good for him Adrian. He’s always so happy now, thank you.” She told me and I’ll be damned if I didn’t feel my heart flutter at her kind words.

“Thank Sophia, he makes me happy too.” I told her sincerely and she pulled me in for a hug, sniffling against my shirt.

This was the scene that Lucas walked in on and when we broke the hug. I spotted him standing in the doorway, an eyebrow raised. After quick farewells we were off again, filled with his mother’s delicious home cooked meal and fully prepared for the long journey back.

“You’re staying over at my place tonight right?” I asked as he pulled out of his parent’s driveway and into the busy street.

“Yeah I guess, but I’ll have to leave early tomorrow morning. I have a student coming in for a private lesson.” He said giving me a pointed look and I knew he threw out that warning because of my tendency to persuade him to spend the day with me whenever he spent the previous night. I gave him the most innocent look I could muster and I could tell he didn’t buy it one bit.

“Oh I didn’t get the chance to tell you, my friend at the agency sent me another file. The usual MO; armed robbery and murder so I’ll be out of town for a few days starting Thursday.” He told me, his eyes watching the road.

“Alright no problem, I’ll be busy this week anyway.” I told him, and it was the truth. This was the week I’d chosen to handle the offshore reports and even with Marcus’s help, it was going to take a great deal of time.

That’s what happened when you were the head of such a thriving business after all and it had already been quite a lot to deal with when I’d just kept it here in London, but as the years passed I’d extended much of the ‘business’ overseas to Australia and a substantial part of the US.

The US reports alone would take more than just a couple of days especially since I’d received word one day last week about werewolves attacking a few of my men. I hadn’t really given it top priority but that issue was certainly on my to-do-list. Can’t have the western packs picking off my guys after all.

It was certainly unfortunate that there wasn’t an abundance of shape shifters around the world. The werewolves seemed to dominate and I wasn’t looking forward to the day they decided they wanted to take over, because knowing those power hungry fools the thought couldn’t be far from their minds.

It was bad to the point where other than Lucas’s family, a small group of friends of mine and my brothers I didn’t really know many shape shifters and considering my level of influence that was saying something.

I looked up at Lucas my brows furrowed.

“Do you know many shape shifters?” I asked.

“On a personal level?” he questioned, glancing my way briefly.

“Not necessarily, just in general.” I replied.

“Well yeah, when Laken’s pack had that raid I had to recruit a great deal of them, most of them I found through my dad though, other than that my family and you and your brothers I’m only friends with about three.” He said, then, “Why?”

“Because I don’t know many myself and I think it’s just a bit unfortunate that there aren’t very many of us out there.” I said.

“I wouldn’t say there aren’t many, I think they’re just laying low and in any case we could pass by them by everyday and not even realize it.” He said again.

He was right of course, every stray dog we spotted on the street or every lone wolf we ran into on the trails could be shape shifters in disguise and we’d never know it unless they showed themselves.

Maybe one day I’d try my hand at recruiting them, it’s not as if I’d really tried to search them out before after all, there could be hundreds of us out there and I wouldn’t know it.

Finding them would prove to be difficult but not impossible considering the fact that the only thing shape shifters could actually shift into were dogs and wolves, so through a process of elimination my large workforce could probably do the job.

I wasn’t really even sure why it was that I was even thinking about other shape shifters after all these years, but it sort of just popped into my mind last night when I had seen the bruises on Lucas’s neck.

Lucas was an excellent fighter and the only person who would be able to get that close to him to physically do that kind of damage had to be a shape shifter. I couldn’t see him getting hurt physically by a mere human.

It had to be someone with a higher level than him too. The weakest strength level of a shape shifter was level one which all young shape shifters had up until the age of sixteen, after which they transitioned into the next level.

Shape shifters changed levels automatically with age and the highest automatic level was four. Otherwise with hard work a shape shifter could transition into level five but as far as I knew that was about the highest you could get.

Marcus was level five. I was level four simply because lacked the drive it took to get higher and Lucas was level two. That simply meant that if my hunch was correct, and it usually was, then it had to be a shape shifter higher than level two who had done this to my lover and that did not sit well with me at all.

I glanced over at him and when he sensed me looking at him he turned his head momentarily to give me a wink and then it was back to the road.

I smiled. I’d find out who did it alright, it was only a matter of time.

……………………………..

~Lucas’s POV~

He was finally asleep.

I glanced over to where he sat in the passenger seat, his head propped up in his hand and his mouth slightly ajar. He looked so different when he slept. No longer pensive, no longer looking at you as if he knew something you didn’t.

The lines on his forehead had smoothed and he looked younger than his twenty-eight years. I loved him when he slept; as cliché as it sounded, I really did. The transformation was radical to say the least.

Today hadn’t been easy. I felt like every time I’d spotted him looking my way it had been on the tip of his tongue to demand that I explain the marks on my neck and it had put me on edge.

It’s not that I was trying to protect Marcus, after all I couldn’t stand the asshole. I just believed that it was better for everyone if I kept that bit of information to myself.

What I’d learned about Adrian in the time we’d spent together was that he was possessive when it came to things he saw as being ‘his’, me included and I wasn’t comfortable starting a family war over something as trivial as a bruise.

I navigated through the dense traffic, pulling to a stop at the next red light and I allowed myself to watch him fully now. He was breathing softly and every now and then his nose would scrunch in his sleep and I felt the urge to lean over and run my finger over his smooth skin, but I knew that if I did he would wake instantly.

He was a light sleeper, so I allowed the moment to pass and I found the gas pedal on the green light.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

NOT A VERY EXCITING CHAPTER I KNOW BUT THERE YOU HAVE IT ANYWAY.

MY HEART GOES OUT TO ALL THOSE INJURED AND TO THE FAMILIES OF THOSE WHO DIED TODAY IN THE BOSTON MARATHON EXPLOSIONS. IT'S TRULY A SAD TIME BUT WE CAN'T LOSE HOPE. HANG IN THERE LOVIES!

-DoUbLe.A

-unedited.