3 C.R.I.M.E.S

Chapter 6

Joseph POV

I sat in one of my offices, looking at the man seated across from me.

He was my teacher, my mentor. The man who taught me to be cold and closed off, the man who taught me how to kill. The man who played a big part in bringing me to the position I hold today.

He took me in and taught me all these things when I was but a naive 18 year old American boy. He brought me to Russia and trained me alongside his nephew, who also happened to be my best friend, Hedeon.

He was a true Russian. A hardcore man who loved his alcohol. He never spoke a word in English, only when speaking to Jacqueline did he speak English but that too was only in short sentences.

He was a cruel teacher, but fair and very deadly. I grew to regard him as the father I didn't ever get the chance to know. When I had first met Jacqueline he was there, when I wanted to ask for her hand in marriage, he was there. On my wedding day, he was there, when Jacqueline was giving birth to Natalya, he was there.

He was my father and I was his son. Him the master and I his student.

"Father," I greeted him with a genuine smile on my face. Long forgotten was my irritation from in the jet.

His eyes locked on me, his lips twitching in a smile he'd only revealed to a handful of people, "son, how are you?"

"I am quite alright," I replied in Russian as a form of respect to him.

Though our faces seemed somewhat friendly, our tones were harsh and cold. Not because of any animosity but simply because of the nature we were forced to adapt the minute we stepped out of the safety of our homes.

"You lie," he simply stated.

I sighed, not dropping my gaze but the intensity in my eyes dropped for a short moment.

"The three crimes can ruin our lives son, and it doesn't help that we deal with the three crimes everyday. It leads us to lose people all around us," he began.

"Son, do you remember the 3 Crimes?" He asked me.

"Drugs, guns and death," I recited from what was ingrained into my conscious from a very young age.

"What is this I hear of Jacqueline wanting a divorce?" He proceeded with a hint of danger shining brightly through his aging eyes.

"I'm dealing with it," I replied, my tone as cold as his.

"In our world, it's hard to find someone who is willing to accept us for who we are and when we finally do find them, they are taken from us, either by force or by free will Jacqueline...she's trying to run. Don't let her, son, don't let her get away. She is not only your wife nor is she only Natalya's mother, but she is as much as the head of the mafia as you are. If she goes, you crumble," he paused walking up to me, "she is a Hutcherson now, a part of the prime family in our world and once you become a part of this world...there is no escape." He walked out with those parting words.

~~~

Angela POV

"Alright, this is how we're going to go about things. We're going to rewind, we're going to go back to the first day the two of you met and the emotions you felt that day. I want emotion, make the other partner feel your emotion through your words. Speak as though you were in that exact moment all over again. So we're going back to the beginning. This will be your assignment for the weekend and on Monday we'll read it out," I said as I looked at the couple.

I looked up at them with a sense of excitement. Nowadays I felt more excitement than dread when I had to deal with the pair.

Not because of the dilemma they were in, but because I was the fortunate one chosen to listen to and solve their problems. Today I was the one who was going to be the one to hear the full official story of how they met. Up until now, it was only heard through rumours of how they met and their wedding was said to be a thing of dreams where only immediate family was invited.

Trying to contain my excitement, I ushered at Boss Lady to begin her story.

Today she wore a blue jeans which clung to her like second skin, showing off her curves. A burgundy flannel top and burgundy heels. Once again she managed to make such a simple outfit look so great.

Boss, on the other hand, wore a suit like he always does. They still sat close together and that was something I have been noticing a lot lately.

She cleared her throat opening her journal.

"It was a Saturday, the 10th of June to be more exact and it was pouring outside. It wasn't late at night but the dark rain clouds gathered in the sky made it dark. I don't know what I was thinking that night, but I got tired of sitting in my run down apartment and decided to just put on my pair of Ugg’s and go out. I didn't have a lot of money that night, just my last $15. I walked out and locked my apartment behind me. Making sure I had my phone safely tucked inside my jacket I made my way to the bus stop, but not the one that was five minutes away but rather the one that was 30 minutes away. I knew the bus there took you out to Georgia and I was in the mood to just do something crazy. So I walked in the crazy rain, with my weak ass broken umbrella and by the time I got there I was soaked as could be.

There was about three guys there who looked like utter creeps but hey, who am I to judge. I probably looked like a creep too with an oversized hoodie on and rocking the drowned rat look.

The bus took forever to arrive and I hastily got up so I could find a seat in the back. I found one seat, it wasn't in the back but in the middle but at least it was empty. So I quickly sat down and put my umbrella on that whole seat so that no one could sit there. I took my hoodie off because it was soaking and just looked out of the window.

I just sat and watched either the passing buildings, cars or the people running away from the rain and I watched as the raindrops slid down the window of the bus.

I don't know how long I was staring but at some point I felt someone sit besides me. I turned to them and my first thought was...gosh, this guy is really really... hot,"

She paused smiling as she looked at Joseph and he returned it with a smug look that said 'you know it'.

"He had long hair but not creepy long but like Chris Hemsworth long. Light brown eyes which sparkled but had this almost dangerous glint in them. His lips were slightly plump and just the right amount of pink. He smelt good too...really good...the first thing he said to me was 'what time is it?'. I don't know what led him to me, but that was the best bus ride I had ever had. I never knew I'd meet my future husband and the amazing father of my daughter there,"

She paused then, breathing in through her mouth she muttered, "I'm sorry, I'm just getting emotional."

Her tone got softer, her hands delicately dabbing under her eye and her voice shook and bottom lip quivered as she read the next part, "the fact that I'd taken a risk and decided to follow my gut, would actually be what led me to such a great future...I can't even begin to describe how amazing it feels. The act of not knowing what could happen, what you could do that could lead to such bliss and happiness is just so great. I don't know if I'm making sense right now. But if it was God, who'd led me there that day, or Satan, I don't know, but it opened something else in my life and for that I'll forever be grateful."

It was silent in the room as I tried to let the power of her words sink in to all of us. The emotion behind it.

It was broken by Boss lady clearing her throat and smiling softly at me before facing Boss, "you're next."

"Well, I can't tell you what I was doing in Atlanta because that's," he looked at us with a cocky smile before looking back down at his journal, "classified information, but sometime during my mission as I was tailing my suspect they had disappeared, so in order to clear my head, I decided to take a walk around despite it storming on that day. I stopped at a bus stop and sat down, looking down at my wrist watch I saw that it was only 15:00. The rain was pouring down, I wasn't dressed appropriately so my hair was wet and I was drenched to simply put it. I was cold and my legs were sore from all the running I had been doing when I was chasing my suspect. About an hour later a bus stopped infront of me and I thought 'what the heck' and got on..."

He paused, flipping the page, "as I was walking down the aisle of a...dirty dirty ugly old bus. I noticed something, or more likely someone. She was sitting two seats from the back and looking out the window in wonder like a little child. And I remember thinking to myself,"

He turned looking at her, not reading from the journal anymore, "well damn, if that isn't the finest woman I've ever seen. She was wearing the baggiest clothes in life but her face revealed the beauty she was hiding. She was simply... breathtaking..."

She smiled shyly looking down and he looked back into his journal, not stopping, "I couldn't just walk away. So I stood, counted to three, took off my wristwatch and put it in my pocket. I plopped down next to her and asked her what the time was... unbeknownst to me that it was the beginning of a whole new chapter of my life with this beauty."

Wow.

He chuckled as he leaned forward and covered her face with his, "don't get shy on me, Jacqueline."

"Shut up," she said back but her smile was wide as he started to lean back in his seat.

"Do I not get a prize for writing so well?" He asked her as he put his arm around her, using his index finger to bring her face up to his.

She rolled her eyes but nonetheless leaned forward slightly and gave him a peck on the lips. Judging from the groan of disbelief, he was not happy.

Breaking their little bubble, "did anything happen during the weekend?"

At that mention Boss Lady became stiff but it lasted for about a second before she relaxed again.

"Oh yes, this Saturday I was planning on going to pick up my daughter from my sister-in-law's house and bring her back home-"

"What home?" Boss lady snapped, "you're never home! You don't even know what 'home' is, Joseph, yo-"

He turned to her with such a look that even I stopped breathing. She fell quiet the minute his eyes darkened and simply looked back down.

"When I got there, Jacqueline had already taken her, and no she didn't bring her back home but rather to some damn hotel room so that she couldn’t see her father."

"I.." her tone was softer now, "I just wanted to spend some time with her an-"

"And now you have, Jacqueline. Bring my daughter home," he said cutting her off.

"Joseph, you don't-"

He held his hand up silencing her, "I want my daughter in my house by tomorrow before midday. Do you understand?"

She clenched her jaw, he leaned forward into her face, "do you understand? Can you not speak?"

"Do you understand?" He snapped louder and she nodded, "use your words."

"Yes, I understand."

"My patience is thin, Jacqueline. Very thin."

~~~