Lucky's (Mis)Fortune: CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

This house is normal.

It is the complete opposite of what their first house is like. This house is small, one story, and has a simple garden on the front lawn. If anything, at first glance, I envision a young couple with one child living in it or maybe an elderly couple who has spent their whole life here. There is nothing luxurious here like at the mansion whose front lawn is feet long with a big, glorious fountain in the middle surrounded by many different types of flowers.

This house makes me feel right at home, not out of place like the mansion did the first time I stepped inside.

Mr. Sawyer turns off the car and for the first time in three hours, I can stretch out my legs when I get out of the car, letting relief rush through me.  I let out a yawn and stretch my arms over my head before heading to the trunk of the car.

"Someone will get our bags. Come inside," Aiden says from the front steps of the house, waving me over.

I walk over to him, the other two having already stepped inside the house.

The interior of the house gave the impression that an elderly person lived inside. Flowered wallpaper, the couch covered in plaid fabric, a rocking chair with a crotched blanket sitting on top, and an old-fashioned lamp on the table by the sofa. Besides that, the only personal touch that the house had was a picture of the three next to the lamp. In the picture, it seems to be someone's birthday and they look slightly younger with wide smiles on their faces. I tilt my head, wondering whose birthday it was and how many years it has been since that day.

Exhaustion hits me as I sit on the couch. My eyes close for a second but I open them not allowing myself to sleep. I should at least wait for them to tell me where to sleep before anything. Truth is, the events of today where emotionally draining plus the three hour road trip together, it wasn't doing me any favors.

"Tired?" Eliott sits beside me, letting out a sigh and closing his eyes, his head leaned back.

I let out a breath. "Very much," I mumble back.

It's quiet for a minute or two with just distant chatter from Aiden, Mr. Sawyer, and some other people from their group who had walked in, talking in the kitchen. Suddenly, Eliott stands up and takes my hand.

"Come on, you should take a nap."

I don't protest, relieved that I would get to lay on a bed. My feet drag along, a yawn leaving my mouth as he takes me down a hall to the very last room.

Considering the size of the house, this room is very big. It was a couple feet bigger than what I remembered what my parent's master bedroom looked like in my childhood home. However, the huge bed in the center made the room a little smaller than it actually was.

Indistinctly, I look around in a sense between groggy and awake.

I was laying on the bed before I could realize, burying my head against a soft pillow.

"Whose room is this?" I murmur, wondering if I should really care about that or sleep more.

"Ours."

My eyes widen and I sit up. "What?!"

Eliott raises an eyebrow. "What's wrong with that? There aren't many options in this house, only three rooms. One belongs to us, one to Leo, and the other one is shared between four members of the Golden Mane Syndicate that stay with us in case we need backup."

"I could stay with Leo!" I argue.

He lets out an airy laugh, his smile looking more like a smirk. "Do you know Leo?"

I stay silent for a second, internally agreeing with the statement. Leo would never want to agree to share anything with anyone. "Then, I'll sleep on the floor." I try to scurry off the bed but he grabs my wrist and pushes me on the bed before I can get far.

He sighs, shaking his head. "We can talk about this later but for now, just take a nap. I know that today has taken a huge toll on you, we all know that."

For a few seconds, I wonder if they just wanted me out of the way. After all, they had important things to discuss after the attack and maybe I wasn't ready to hear anything yet. Maybe they didn't trust me enough or felt like it was too soon for me to know insider information.

I sigh and stop refusing. "Fine," I say, turning to my side and closing my eyes. "Eliott!" I exclaim, opening my eyes after he put his arm tightly around my waist from behind. "Hey! Stop!" I whisper shout as I try to get his arm off of me but to no avail, his hold too strong. "Seriously! Eliott!"

"Shh," he says quietly into my ear, completely unfazed by my squirming. "I'm tired too, you know," he mumbles.

The closeness makes me shiver, finally getting me to stop. I groan and give in, willing myself to forget that he was even here and just wanting to get some sleep. In the back of my mind, for a second, I just hoped that no one would come in.

I fear no one, not even myself would understand what was going on.

KHAEL SAWYER

It would be a lie to say that we weren't shocked by the attack. It happened too soon and too fast and I just keep wondering and wondering who was stupid enough to let them in. How did they get in through the security of our gates? How did they go undetected?

It doesn't make sense.

It didn't unless someone had betrayed us.

"Look into all the members of the Golden Mane Syndicate first. I have a gut feeling that one, or perhaps more of them, have betrayed us," I tell Carmela who got here a few minutes ago. "The security team first, talk to them and if anyone shows even a small sign of anxiety then you know what to do."

She nods. "We get our answers no matter what way."

"And help us find out who did this. It wasn't any big group, that's for sure. They were complete amateurs trying to get a hit on us. It was as if it wasn't even premeditated, they didn't plan anything and just decided to hit. Why would someone do that?"

She nods again, agreeing, deep in her thoughts. She was probably wondering the same things that I was. "Who will stay here with you?"

"Send me whoever is the strongest right now, four of them. It would be more helpful if they are also skilled with weapons, we don't want to take any chances."

Things were silent. Aiden looked too deep into thought and everyone else with us, two other of our trusted people seemed too scared to speak. "You three can leave. Let me know when the group you send is on their way. I will be locking everything up and only until you tell me that they're here will I let them in, no other way."

The three nod and leave, knowing that I don't exactly care about extra words.

"What are you thinking?" I finally get to ask Aiden after hearing the door close. I take out my phone and text Leo, asking when he will get here before focusing on him again.

"Things are way too intense. Don't you think that there is something else going on? Is it only me?"

I shake my head. "I agree. But frankly, I want to stop thinking about it."

I put my arms around his waist and rest my head inside his neck, finally getting some peace after the last hours of chaos. "It's quiet and peaceful here. Why don't we come more often?"

"Why is it so quiet? Where are Jordan and Eliott?"

I raise my head up at the question, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. The last time I saw them, they were in the living room but as I peek my head in, I realize that they are no longer there. "Well, this house is not big and Eliott is not stupid, he wouldn't dare to go outside no matter what."

I take Aiden's hand and go down the hallway, peeking inside the rooms and the bathroom there. My heart quickens as we arrive at our room, imaging the sight of both of them there or not there, I knew that both scenarios could end up causing me a heart attack.

The sight that reveals itself when I open the door is quick to melt my heart and makes me forget all of my worries. Eliott hugging Jordan tightly, his head buried on his neck and Jordan holding his hand, pressing himself against Eliott's chest.

I was glad that someone stayed by his side. I knew he needed that more than anyone could realize.

"Would we scare him off if we lie in bed with them?" I wonder, turning my gaze towards Aiden.

"Probably... But what if I say that I want to be a little selfish today?"

"I think that as long as we get up before he does we should be okay, don't you think?"

The two of us are laying on the bed before we can stop ourselves. I close my eyes, my arms around Jordan for the first time and I can't help but feel complete. Like we're finally where we all belong.