The Start of an Era

Chapter 18

After Christian got ready and everything for Jackson was packed, we were on our way to Estelle. To say I am nervous is an understatement. I was freaking out because anything could happen. My leg was bouncing and I was staring out of the window when I felt someone take my hand. It was Chase as he was with us in the car because he was Christian's second in command. “It will be fine. I am here. There is nothing to worry about.” He said and I gave him a small smile, then went back to staring out of the window. He did not let go of my hand and it might seem weird, but I was grateful for that because it was quite comforting. We reached a huge building which I guess is where Estelle works or one of the places. I got out of the car with Jackson in my arms playing with my hair. A lot of our security people were with us for safety. I guess Christian also does not trust Estelle. “Stay with Chase and always have two guards with you,” Christian said, looking extremely professional. “Yes sir.” I said and he smiled a bit. Even though I was joking with him, he knows I will listen to him.

We walked into the building and went to the top floor. I really wanted to see Jay and know what happened to Percy. When we reached the top, some people took us to a private room with a huge table with around 20 chairs. The meeting room. I sat down on a chair and Chase sat on my left with Christian on my right. “I guess we are just waiting for the big entrance." Just as the words left my mouth, the door opened and in walked the one and only Estelle with two huge guys behind her. Great! She has that I don’t care about anything but where is my money look. Behind them I saw a very unrecognizable Jay. He looks as if he has not slept in a long time and it almost looks as if he has lost some weight. I handed Jackson to Chase and ran into Jay’s arms. I am so glad that he is safe. “Oh my gosh. Skylar, I am so-“I cut him off before he could continue. “If you say that you are sorry, I will kick your ass right here.” I smiled at him and he smiled back before we got interrupted by Estelle. “Oh, look if it, isn’t the little runaway CA.” she said giving me a disgusted look. And wait did she just give away my job as her Charted Accountant. I looked at Christian, who gave me a confused look and Estelle seemed to notice because she scoffed and turned towards him. “In any way, I believe we have some business to attempt to.” She sat down at the head of the table. I turned back to Jay and saw him already staring at me like he cannot believe that I am really here. “What happened with Percy?” he gave me a smile and then took my hand, leading me out of the office. I looked back to see Jackson sleeping in the seat next to Chase and then I saw Christian staring at me. Well, not my eyes but rather my hand, which is in Jay’s. I smile at him when his eyes meet mine and he just looks away. He must be angry. What else is new? I walked after Jay and he led me to what seemed to be a living room. Sitting in front of the TV was a really shitty looking Percy. He did not notice us as we walked into the room. I went and sat beside him, “So what are we watching?” I asked and he snapped his head towards me. For a total of one whole minute he sat there in total shock. Then I was tackled in a bone-crushing hug. I could not help but smile at him. “Thank goodness you are safe.” He said, giving me another hug. “Alive, yes... safe, oh hell nah.” Jay said from in front of us. Percy pulled back and furrowed his brows in confusion. “What do you mean?” he asked, looking at Jay. “You will never guess who she came with.” Percy turned towards me expecting an answer. “Oh gosh guys it is not the end of the world.” I said and Percy looked even more confused. “Who did you come with?” he asked urgently. I sighed and then answered him. “Christian Gonzalez.” I whispered. “WHAT!!” Percy shouted angrily. “What the hell are you doing with him?!” he asked impatiently. “He was at the hospital...you know the reason why you left? He took me back to the cells and now I am out of the cells.” I said but instantly regretted it when I saw both Percy and Jay’s sad faces. “I am so sorry that I left.” He looked as if he was on the verge of tears. “Nah... I would have killed you myself if you had not left. Besides, you guys have only known me for like less than a week. I am not expecting you guys to actually care about me.” I said, feeling a little sad, but I have been alone for my whole life. It is nothing new to me. “Well, tough luck because we do care,” Jay said, giving me a reassuring smile. “Thank you guys... for everything.” I said, smiling at both of them. “You kidding me? We should be thanking you.... you freaking saved our lives. You saved the whole damn Black Delta mafia, because without you the boss would be dead.” I could not help but smile at his words. I know that he is right. I mean, yes, I do give myself all the credit because all three of them walked away without a scratch and I barely made it to my next birthday. I deserve the credit. “Great family time is over. Come Skylar, we are leaving.” I looked up surprised at Christian standing in the hall. Jay was about to protest but I stopped him. “I will see you guys again and don’t you dare forget about me.” I said, giving them a playful smile. “We could never forget you. You do not have to go with him. We can protect you.” Jay whispered in my ear as he gave me a long hug. If only he knew that I was doing this to protect them. “Nah, I am fine. I wanna see how this works out.” I smiled at him. I turned to Percy to find him glaring at Christian, who paid him no attention. “That asshole should be working for you. He could have been dead!” Percy says through gritted teeth. I pulled him into a hug and he put his arms tightly around me. “I know you are only doing this because you think you must protect us. You are one hella brave girl. I wish I had the guts that you have. Just please remember that I love you no matter what.” At this point, tears were running down my cheeks, probably messing up my mascara and eyeliner. Right now I do not care. He let me go and wiped my tears and gave me a kiss on the forehead. I walked away from them with my heart extremely sad. I walked towards Christian and this time I did not hide my emotions. I walked to Chase and took Jackson from him. I was about to walk out of the building when someone grabbed my shoulder, adding pressure. I groan in pain as I feel the bullet wound starting to reopen.

As soon as the pain starts, it ends again and I turn around to see Christian holding a tight grip on Estelle’s wrist. “Oh, has the big bad Alpha fallen for the pathetic little bookkeeper?” Oh snap! “What are you talking about?” Christian snapped at her. “Oh, she did not tell you? Well, your little friend here does my books every month and she has been gone for a little while, yet I still received my finalized numbers yesterday.” Damn, there goes my whole freaking plan. Christian looked at me and then signaled for Chase to take Jackson. He was ripped from my arms and started crying. I could not react because next thing I knew, I was being dragged out of the building by my hair. I whimpered in pain. I saw Percy and Jay trying to help me but they were held back by four men. When we were outside, I was thrown into the trunk by Christian himself. As soon as he closed it, there was darkness everywhere. I did not even put up a fight because I knew that it was no use.

After about half an hour, my body became sore from being kept in such a small place, but luckily for me, the trunk was opened and I was harshly pulled out. “What a gentleman.” I said. It is probably not the best time to make jokes. I just cannot help it, whenever I feel like I am in trouble, I put on my sarcasm and just go with the flow. “Shut up!” Christian shouts at me. “Wow harsh.” I said, putting my hand over my heart faking being hurt. I should really stop now. I felt a hand on my cheek and then an intense burning which means he slapped me! “I said shut up!” Just because I did not tell him about my job he is a woman hitter. How original!! I could feel my cheek starting to bruise as I was pulled roughly into the house and just as I thought we were going up the stairs he led me to what seemed to be the basement. Okay so now I am starting to panic. I started to try and pull away. “Can we talk about it please?” I begged but it all fell onto deaf ears. He opened a door and then the smell of blood hit my nose. Now my panic level was way above Mount Everest. I began struggling even more when I saw that it was a replica of the room where I was r***d. The lonely chair in the middle of the room screamed pain. I tried to be brave because surely he would not torture me... would he? “You know this would have been a lot easier if you had just told the truth about what you do.” He had this emotionless look on his face. “When was I supposed to tell you? The first time we met you almost chocked me to death and I have the scar to prove it BTW. Then we were attacked and I almost died saving your ass and then I was put on babysitting duty and you know the funny thing is that all happened in less than a week. So tell me when was I supposed to tell you?” Is this guy delusional or something? “It does not matter now.” He said coldly. What the hell does that mean? He put me in the chair and tied me up with a lot of struggle from my side. When he was sure there was no way I would escape he stood straight looking at me almost as if he was rethinking his decision to tie me up. “Don’t do this please.” I said but he just turned around walking to a cabinet. He took out a metal rod and walked back to me. “So we will start with the easy questions. Have you told anything about the Black Deltas to anyone?” he was so cold. “No” I answered truthfully, but the look on his face was pure disappointment. He raised the rod and brought it down on my side. I groaned in pain and tears were starting to form in my eyes, but I would not let them fall. “Now... who are you working for?” he bent down so he was looking into my eyes. “I work for a lot of people. You have to be more specific.” I said, not trying to sound arrogant, but I clearly failed when he brought the rod down on my other side harder than the first time. “Who’s books do you do?” he asked and I was trying to catch my breath as it was knocked out but apparently I took too long to answer when I felt the rod on my back. I gave a small scream. “45 mafias including Estelle’s”, I quickly said, not daring to look him in the eye because the pain was extreme but still bearable. I will let him think that he has broken me, but I will not let him witness him actually breaking me. “That is impossible. You want to tell me that every month you do more than one mafia book and still hand them in on time?” he asked, and I could hear the disbelief in his voice. “Yes.” I said, giving him a short and sweet answer. “Name them.” He says. “You know I cannot do that.” I said. He might only be torturing me, but once I told him the names of the mafias that I work for, I would be killed. “Well, I guess we have gotten to the hard questions.” He said and I caught a glimpse of a tazer. “Oh just do it!” I yelled and he glared back at me. “You know what why don’t we skip to the end and you can just kill me because you obviously want to.” I said. Well, my life is a living hell. Everything I ever had has been taken from me and my only hope right now is to die. I let my head down and closed my eyes. I did not hear anything for a moment and then I heard him going back towards the cabinet. I guess he took my advice. Well, I loved your music, Beyonce, and I love your shows, Dylan O’brien. I just have to tell them before I die. I embraced for the gunshot or knife or any way he wanted to kill me, but it never came. Instead, I felt him untying me. I looked up in surprise and met his face. I could not read his emotions. Maybe he regretted his actions or maybe this is his sick game. Free me and give me a running start. I did not know what to expect, so once I was free, I stood ...or tried to stand in front of him. My back and sides let me down. “So what now, you gonna kill me or what?” I asked him but he did not answer. Instead, he put one arm around me, helping me to stand, but I quickly got out of his hold and held on to the chair. I stared at him and waited for some kind of reaction and when he looked at my fragile state he had regret written all over his face. Is this guy bipolar or something? He seemed more than fine to torture me and now he feels guilty? “Can I please just go? I am kind of exhausted and would love some ice for the wounds you inflicted on me.” I scowled at him and that seemed to make him feel even more guilty. Whatever, I do not give a damn anymore. He just nodded and I slowly made my way to the door holding myself up with the walls.