Ace-The Secret Assasin

Chapter Seven- Trust

Emma POV

     I went home with Jo after the fight. I was so happy for Liam but I needed to get some space so I can figure out these feelings. Anytime I’m near him I loose my head and all control. I’m not used to loosing control. 

     Once Jojo dropped me off I headed straight into the house. Walking past James office I hear him call for me.

     Sighing I walk in “Hey” I say hesitantly hoping he didn’t know about Liams fight or anything else that happened. Especially the kiss, if he found out about that then Liam would be dead. Not joking.

     “Hey sunshine, I got a special job for you. It came in a couple hours ago and it’s high profile. It’s in Italy.” He said as he held the file out for me to take. I scan the paper quick looking at the picture of an older man in his fifties. Silver hair combed back into a tight pony tail. 

     “Who is he?” I ask not bothering to read anymore of the file. I’ll read the details on the plane. 

     “He’s an Italian mobster that’s lost his mind. He started killing some other gangs women and children after a brawl that ended his sons life. He’s been attacking the wrong family’s and they want to insure their family’s safety.” I nod my head in understanding still staring at the mans picture. “Your flight is in an hour. Get your to go bag. Do you want me to drop you off?” 

     “No I’m fine, I’ll drive myself.” And before he could respond the door bell rang. Who could that be? We look at each other suspiciously, silently asking if either one of us was expecting any visitors but the look on his face says no.     

     As I walked back to the main door I felt James following me quietly. I opened the door to see Liam standing there in jeans,  a white t-shirt and a black leather jacket. He had a bouquet of baby’s breath and sunflowers in his hands. My favorite... wait. s**t! James is going to be pissed. As if noticing my facial expressions, Liam looks behind me and finally noticed the straight faced James.

     “Hi sir, I’m Liam Dyer, Emma’s... friend.” Smiling as he stuck out his hand towards James for a handshake. He paused too long before he said friend. Oh god, Liams dead meat! 

     James the gentleman that he is smiled grimly and took Liams extended hand. Giving him a deathly stare “Hello, I’m James, Emma’s guardian.” 

     There was another long strand of silence as they had a staring contest. I thought I was gonna die that very second. What the hell was Liam thinking coming here?! That’s the f*****g thing, he wasn’t thinking! 

     “So Liam will you come to my office? I would love to have a small chat.” James said now with a huge smile on his face. ...what is he going to do... I stare at James with my eyes as big as saucers. He looked at me and gave me a slight nod. “and you need to go get ready for your flight or you’ll be late.” I knew I wasn’t allowed to argue so I stepped aside to let Liam in. 

     Liam looked to me and gave me another smile while I just glared at him. I told him to give me my space and to not get to close to my home life. So he decides to come to my house? Dumbass.

     He hands me the bouquet of flowers and touches my hand softly, followed by little tingles on my skin, before walking off to follow James into his study. I send up a small prayer, if god is still listening to me. Or maybe it was just for some piece of mind. I let out the breath and walk to the kitchen to grab a vase for the flowers. 

     Finally I decide to head upstairs to grab my to-go-bag from my bedroom. Then I go to the artillery room that’s down the hall and make sure to grab all the equipment that I might need. I’m thinking I’m gonna do a close up kill this time. That jackass deserves a little torture. Smiling at my devilish plans I finish packing up and taking the two bags, the file and my laptop bag to the door by the garage. 

     When I hear James call for me from the study, my heart starts to beat a little bit faster. Walking towards the door and opening it slowly I notice James in his usual spot and Liam sitting in the chair across the desk. Both staring at me with loving eyes. 

      “Sunshine I talked with Liam and I think it would be a great idea to take him with you to Italy for extra protection. You know how much I hate you going alone.” James says to me as he smiles brightly. Um what?!? I stand there still in disbelief from what he just said. 

     Looking to Liam I see a twinkle in his eyes as he stared at me. What did he say to him? 

     “Liam would you excuse us for a moment? I would like to talk to Emma alone.” James says kindly to Liam 

     “Of course I’ll be in the living room.” Liam says with confidence as he stands and walks out of the room but as he passed me he shot me a sly wink. Then proceeded to close the door behind him.

     I look back towards James with my jaw still laying on the floor. “Pick your jaw up off the floor before you catch a fly.” He says with a laugh. I stood up straight fixing myself. He shrugs at me“I like the kid.” He says to me making me drop my jaw again. Laughing he says “He really cares for you and seems to understand your boundaries. I think it’ll be a great cover for you to take him to Italy. He understands that you have ‘business’ to get done while you two are there.” 

     Fixing myself again I ask “What does he think I’m going to Italy to do?” I don’t need to deal with a suspicious Liam and a hit to finish. That would be an absolute disaster.

     “I went with professional photographer. I know how much you love taking pictures so I said you had a client in Italy who wanted to get head shots done for a new up and coming book they are publishing. He believed it pretty easily with no question.” He says it as a matter of fact. Well that works for me. 

     “Sounds good then. So why is he going? You know other than the whole alibi thing?” I ask still confused. James always threatened me never to get into a relationship no matter what. That my career was no place for loved ones. It’s to dangerous and can tear family’s apart. Plus the one thing but that never got talked about.

     “He told me a little about himself. Like how he’s a professional fighter and how he really likes you. How he wants to protect you.” Looking into my eyes with love. He always wants to protect me and make sure I’m safe. “He told me he would die for you or kill for you... and I know he wasn’t lying.” 

     I laugh lightly “Yeah you are like a human lie detector.”  He has always been good at reading people like he could reach into there minds and pull out what he needed to know. I was good but he was better. 

     “And I can tell that you love him.” Almost sighing it he rolled his eyes at me. I gulp and look down at my hands quickly. f**k I knew he would be able to tell.

     “I don’t know, I really like him though.” 

     “I know sunshine, I know he loves you too. That’s how I know he wasn’t lying to me. He’ll take care of you if need be.” this made me smile like an i***t. Liam got James to trust him with me. Maybe that’s all I needed, the right guy.  “Take him with you to Italy and be carful. Get the job done then maybe spend an extra day or two to enjoy the city. It will make everything look more believable.”

     Nodding at his words I took in everything that just happened. “Well hurry up or you two will be late.” Getting me to start moving but before I left, I walked over to him and gave him the biggest hug possible. “I love you, see you later alligator.” I gave him a small kiss on the cheek. This is what we did before each mission. Its silly but it always made him laugh so I kept it going.

     “In awhile crocodile, I love you more.” He said to me with a big smile. Instead of a goodbye it was more like a see you later. 

     I walk out of the office with the biggest grin on my face heading straight for the living room to Liam. He sat there on the couch with his head in his hands as his elbows rested on his knees. He looked up and smiled at me with his eyes brows furrowed in a questioning stare “Did I pass?” He asked with a little bit of concern in his eyes.

     “Passed with flying colors,” I said still smiling which made him stand up and almost run over to me, pick me up by the waist and spin me around like two idiots. Honestly I kind of loved it. “Ok, ok that doesn’t mean anything other than we are going on a small trip.”I say while still laughing. “You want me to swing by your house to pick up some stuff. We need to hurry.” I say trying to put Liam back in his place. This doesn’t mean we are a couple now, it just means that he can be in my life without fear of James killing him. 

     “Yeah I can drive too, my house is like fifteen minutes away.” 

.....

     After stopping by his house and picking up his things I gave him the directions to the private air field we were heading to.  He knows I have money so it shouldn’t be an issue convincing him about much.

    When we finally reached the airfield I told him were to leave the car with the keys. Getting out we both headed to grab our bags from the trunk. He handed me my smaller bags and pulled out the larger suitcase to start pulling it away before he noticed the folder I put back there with the info. He grabbed it and handed it to me with another questioning look. “It’s the contracts for the photos.” I say with a shrug. God I hated lying to him already but I guess if he’s sticking around I’ll just have to get used to it. I stuff the folder into my satchel bag that contained my lap top. He closed the trunk and started to pull the two larger bags behind him. 

     When we got to the hanger a flight attendant stepped forward taking the two larger bags from us while I held on to my two small bags that contained the important stuff. 

...

Liam POV

     Once we got settled into the cab we took our seats on the private plane. It’s a beautiful one too. Her ...dad...or guardian... well James must have a lot of money. I really didn’t ask him what he did for a living. I’ve always grown up around money so it wasn’t new to me but I don’t believe that this girl has only been fifteen minutes down the road from me and we never crossed paths. We live in the same social circles but it’s like she was a ghost. 

     Looking over at Emma I see her put on her seat belt. She even looks incredible putting on a stupid seat belt. How does she do it? The pilot announces our take off and I feel the plane pull forward.

     “So how did you know I love sunflowers?” She pops out of no where. I give her a small chuckle and think about how I asked mason to ask Jo what Emma’s favorite flowers were. I needed something and I just had to see her. She left my fight so quickly and after what happened I needed some answers. Though nothing got answered and now I’m on my way to Italy. Good thing my next fight isn’t until next Friday night. 

     “I harassed Jo until she told me.” I say with a shrug. Hey a guys gotta do, what a guys gotta do. She rolled her eyes at me but the smile on her lips is betraying her. “I should have guess though because of the nickname.” I laugh. She is a real life sunflower, it’s fitting. This time I was blessed with a blush that spread quickly across her face. 

     “Well just stop harassing my friend for my secrets.” She laughed at me.

     “Nope, she’s my secret weapon to get to know you.” As I look her in the eyes. She needs to know that I don’t want to give up if I have a chance. I just need a chance. 

     “Or you could just ask me?” She says all knowingly. I already know she’s too stubborn but I’ll play along.

     “Ok I’ll remember that.” Giving her a wink. “Do you want to come over here and watch a movie with me?” I ask because I just want to close this huge gap that’s in between us. I know she was expecting me to start asking questions and digging for information but I can tell she’s just not ready yet. She will tell me when she wants to tell me. So for right now I’ll just be happy to get to be around her.

     “Only if I get to pick the movie.” You can tell she’s excited because her eyes start to twinkle. 

     “Deal” giving her my sexy smile. She unbuckles and comes over to the empty seat next to me. Messing with the large TV that’s placed across from us at the front of the cab. She opens up the movie options and starts scrolling looking for something in particular. Finally she gasps and clicks the remote before I can even read what she selected. The screen explodes with the beginning of the movie “The Goonies” god I used to watch this movie over and over again. It was my favorite. Looking over I see the giant smile on her face “Your favorite movie is “The Goonies”? I ask her with a tease.

     She scoffs and looks back over at me “You know it?” With a little shock but I can tell she’s excited.

     “Sunshine I could recite every word to this movie.” I say with a laugh. We both settle into our seats right next to each other when the stewardess stops by asking if we wanted any drinks or food. We give her our order of pizza, beer, and some extra buttered popcorn. After she left we got lost in the movie, laughing at the same parts and pointing out different things that we’ve noticed throughout the years. 

     When we got all of our food and drinks we chowed down not being able to break our eyes from the movie but I noticed that Emma was starting to doze off. Leaning against my shoulder I could hear soft snoring. Eventually she was out cold sleeping on me and I didn’t want her to ever move. Leaning over I inhaled her sweet hair that smelt like lavender. I left my cheek resting on her head and slowly drifted off into my own state of unconsciousness.