Rebellion: Destined Hearts, #5

Chapter One

BRITTANY

It’s not you, it’s me, Ryan says, looking at me across the table in this way over the top, and entirely too expensive, Manhattan restaurant. I just need space. I blink a few times as my brow furrows trying to take in all that he is saying. I really don’t want to hurt you, Britt.

Hurt me? I’ve only been seeing the man for three weeks. What? Does he think that I’ve actually fallen in love with him in that small amount of time? Ridiculous. 

Then it hits me.

But it’s Christmas, I blurt out. 

He doesn’t miss a beat, and it’s obvious he totally doesn’t understand and thinks my sudden outburst has way more meaning behind it than it really does.

We can stay friends, he suggests, lifting his glass of red wine to his lips. 

His eyes wander to a busty female a few tables over that actually has the audacity to wink at him and flirt in front of me. Rolling my eyes, I try to focus on what is happening. A breakup, a little under two weeks before one of the biggest holidays of the year, and only 24 hours shy of when Mr. Arrogant across the table and I were supposed to be leaving for his parent’s house in upstate New York. 

Ryan’s eyes find mine and he says, Staying friends could have its benefits. His foot rises under the table and he suggestively rubs it against my calf.

I snort, I can’t help myself. Yeah right, benefits? I don’t think so asshole.

Ryan’s eyes wander once again and find the woman’s stare from across the room and I have to hold myself back from lunging across the table and punching the bastard in the face. 

Benefits for who, Ry? Because you always were a shitty lay. His eyes snap to mine angrily, he sits up a little straighter. Don’t think I’ll be coming back for those sloppy seconds. Thanks, but no thanks.

Watch it, he hisses. Lord knows you don’t have enough to pay for this dinner tonight. I should drop your poor ass with the check, and we’ll see just who will be calling who later, Sweetheart. 

He sets his wine glass back down on the table and starts to cut through his steak. The fire inside me builds. I find it nearly almost impossible to hold back on my earlier thoughts of punching his lights out. Maybe gouging out his dark brown irises would be best. It would definitely save some other innocent female from his nasty habit of wandering eyes. 

I take a deep breath and decide it’s now or never, telling him off that is, not the eyes gouging bit. Standing, I adjust my dress and grab my clutch and jacket from the booth. 

You’re right, Ry. Maybe I will call you later. He smiles. The smug bastard actually thinks he’s won. But you know, I say, leaning forward so we are eye to eye as I stand next to our table. My poor ass prefers the company of a man who actually knows how to please a woman. Not a little boy who lives off Mommy and Daddy’s trust fund. 

I purposely hit his wine glass, causing the red liquid to spill all over the white tablecloth and his white dress shirt.

As I turn to leave, the long line of obscenities thrown at my back makes me crack a smile and giggle. The girl from a few tables over rises and makes her way towards him just as I pass a few waiters rushing past me to his rescue.

He is all yours, Hunny. Enjoy. Not that any woman ever would.

I roll my eyes knowing the poor truth the girl is about to stumble upon, then smile thinking it’s perfect karma. 

Serves the guy right. I should have known better than to let my boss set me up with one of his old college buddies. My boss at the makeshift job the bureau set me up with, that is, while I’ve been stationed in New York on assignment. The assignment that has just ended, and God, I can’t wait to get out of the Big Apple and away from jerks like Ryan.

Stepping outside, I wrap my warm coat around my shoulders as the chill in the air startles me. Opening my clutch, I pull my phone from inside as I make my way to the curb to hail a cab.

Working for the FBI has its benefits. Bouncing all over from place to place and moving around from town to town is not one of them. Luckily, with no family to call my own, the toll is less on me than some that are in my line of work. Although, I can’t deny that this time of year my reality really sucks and I’d do anything to not spend another holiday season alone. But that would take one hell of a miracle.

Figures. It’s Christmas and this lonely poor girl has nowhere to go. The lonely being true. Poor, not so much since the bureau makes sure I am paid more than my fair share, especially since I am not on the, shall we say normal, payroll. 

Since growing up bouncing in and out of foster care the last year before my 18th birthday, I always wanted a nice family Christmas and thought this year I might actually get the chance to have one. No such luck I guess. But if I am being honest with myself, I wasn’t really into the guy anyway. Not being alone for the holidays was probably the one excuse that kept me hanging around as long as I did. His crappy frat boy attitude and lazy bedside manner definitely leave less to be desired. I am sure that we would have broken things off once the holidays were over anyway. Actually, he saved us both time and effort that neither of us really wanted to put in the more I think about it.

The cab pulls to the corner, and I wait for it to stop completely before opening the back door and climbing in. 

Where to? The cabby asks.

Brooklyn, I say, as the man takes off from the curb and heads toward home. 

Although in my line of work, there never really is such a place as home. 

Trying to think of the one place I know that can get me the farthest away from here, I scroll through my contacts and land on the name of a good friend I haven’t talked to in a while. Hitting her number before thinking clearly, I wait as the phone rings and pray she isn’t busy for the holidays.

I don’t want to be alone. Lord knows I’ve spent one too many holidays alone with no family over the years praying for a miracle that never seems to come. As the phone rings twice, I worry my bottom lip between my teeth and anxiety crawls across my skin. There is only one or two left in my small circle I call friends, and Lord knows they are already busy like they should be with family and closer friends to call their own this holiday season. I don’t want to intrude. 

But then why am I making this phone call then? 

When the phone rings a third time my heart sinks. I really have no one else to call. Luckily, as my assignment with the bureau ended in New York, I was granted a couple of weeks' vacation before my next job. Hence the vacation I was supposed to take with the prick that I just left moments ago after dousing him in red wine. I chuckle at the memory of the look on his face and know his shocked expression will be one I remember forever.

God, it was totally fucking worth it.

In the last five years, I have lived numerous places since leaving the West Coast. All except Florida. Rumor has it that is where my next assignment takes me, and I can’t wait to soak up the sun and kick back on the beach with a rum drink of some sort in my hand. I hold the phone a little tighter as island dreams take me far away when I look out the window of the cab and take in the snow beginning to fall.

Just as I think the call is about to go to voicemail, she finally picks up and I let out a sigh of relief as her voice fills the line. Britt! Is that you?

Hey, Jo! What are you up to? God girl, it is good to hear your voice, I say, as the time its been since I’ve seen her sets in and the sound of a familiar friend pulls at the empty space now beginning to grow inside me. 

After I was assigned to watch her in Nashville when the bureau needed to keep an eye on her ex, it was hard not to break and tell her the truth about my life when we became so close. She was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of friend I never expected to make on a job. But when you live your life from one fake identity to the other, it’s hard to open up to anybody. 

 Jolene Stewart was kind to me, a friend to me, when she didn’t need to be. I trusted her enough to even tell her my real name. Well, Jolene Young now that is, after she married the damn near almost perfect ex-marine, Troy Young.  

What did I do when my assignment watching her was all over? I did what any chicken shit would do. I up and left without a trace. I even ignored the wedding invitation she sent me for her and Troy. A bitch move, I know it, but I couldn’t find it in myself to face her after everything that went down and how close we became as friends. Hell more like sisters, when I’ve never had a sister to call my own. 

When we finally started speaking again a few months back, she immediately jumped on my case to visit if ever I got the chance. But I haven’t had it in my heart to face her. 

Until now.

I’m in Key West for the holidays, Jolene says too eagerly, and I begin to sense all too well what may be coming next. The whole gang is here. Rex, Noah, Eva, and Gwen. God girl, it’s been forever. How are you?

I roll my eyes and think of what to say. 

How am I? 

Alone. Miserable. Depressed. Possibly suicidal. 

No, never that last one. 

But desperate! God, so damn desperate not to spend this holiday alone. 

Been better, I admit.

Uh oh, what’s wrong? Jolene asks as she takes on a motherly tone.

Nothing, I laugh nervously. Can’t a girl just call an old friend during the holidays to catch up?

You always were a shitty liar, Brittany Morris, she laughs, calling me on my bullshit and making me remember why I knew I couldn’t hide my secrets from her any longer those couple of years ago. Inevitably, it was the reason why I left without a trace and haven’t talked to her since.

Silence fills the line as we wait each other out. Me? Well, I’m stubborn as hell and not about to break anytime soon to let her know the truth about my call. Her? I’m not so sure, but then she blurts out a saving grace and I know even if I don’t tell her all she wants to know, she’s won anyway.  

Come to Key West!

What? I laugh, totally trying to hide the fact that my master plan seems to be mysteriously working. 

Although I didn’t expect her to be in Florida. I figured I would make a trip back to Tennessee, or Kentucky, Alabama even, wherever she and Troy ended up making a home for themselves.

A friend of ours has an apartment in town. Close to our rental. He isn’t using it, and we had fewer people we thought we’d have follow us down here. Troy’s parents are due in tomorrow, and my mom will be here by the weekend. They are staying with us, but you can totally crash at the apartment down the street. For free. Come! You know you want to!

Yeah right, I’ve got plans, I’m busy, I lie as her grunts of disapproval fill the line. Besides, what makes you think I want to go to Key West? I laugh, even though this is exactly the way I had wished this conversation would go. As a matter of fact, it is perfect, seeing my next job takes me to Florida anyway.

Do you have better plans for the holidays? She laughs. 

I hear Troy in the background. She argues with whatever he said in a way only a teasing wife could before I hear slight laughter and her hushed whispers as she hurriedly begins telling him to stop whatever has made her suddenly so giddy. I smile to myself and quickly realize how much I miss them. Silently, I sit as their laughter fills the line and I struggle with the truth. She could always read me like a book. It’s the one reason why maybe I did vanish without a trace knowing eventually she would see through my shit and call me on it, kind of like it looks like she is doing now.

Come on! Free place to stay. A loud nosey family for the holiday. What more could you ask for? Jolene laughs as the cab begins its drive across the Brooklyn bridge.

I look outside at the lights of the city and think about the man I just left behind at the restaurant. My eyes close as my mind wanders and I think about how I felt sitting across from him once he dropped the bomb on me he just did. Now, alone and dreading the next two weeks worse than I have any other year, I find myself making a decision I never should have hesitated on to begin with. Especially since it was the reason I made the call in the first place.

I’m in! I say, which is immediately met with a loud excited shrill yell from my old friend. I laugh as excitement fills me and tears prick the backs of my eyes knowing I won’t be alone this year. I’ll text you when I get home and tell you what flight I book. Oh, and Jo! Tell your friend thanks. I’ll see you sometime tomorrow.

Chapter Two

DYLAN

My eyes wander over the city below me in the dark. Lifting my drink to my lips, I take delight in the burn of the alcohol as it slides down my throat. I hear a noise come from the back of the apartment and my brow furrows as I take a few steps towards the door leading back in off the balcony. Nothing. Which is a good thing because I am worn out after traveling across the country and flying me and my son to Key West last minute.

The trip was entirely not planned. I booked it when I wasn’t exactly ready to face another Christmas at home tormented by the memories that my ex-wife left behind. She left me and Logan three years ago when he was just one years old on Christmas Eve. Since then, the holidays have never been the same. Her addiction to pills was more important than her marriage. Well, that, and the affair she was having with one of her suppliers. It was the ice breaker that made me never want to trust a woman ever again. 

I roll my eyes and snort out in disgust as I bring the tumbler of bourbon to my lips. They’re all whores. Each and every one of them. My real mother was no exception, either.

Stepping back out on the balcony, I laugh quietly to myself as I wonder how in the hell I got here. Maybe it was a genius idea coming across the country trying to forget my past. Maybe I just couldn’t stand putting my son through another crappy Christmas alone. Hell, maybe I’m just a fucking idiot. But whatever it is, I am now the proud lonely occupant of this two-bedroom apartment in Key West for the next two weeks as I try to escape all the bullshit Logan and I left behind. 

That is, until I have to start a new job. One the bureau hasn’t told me about yet, and one I am still anxiously awaiting orders on.

Lucky for the little man, Jolene and Troy stepped up and said he could stay with them for a while when I take off to some still unforeseen location in a few weeks and take down what I am sure will be another crack head — just like my damn ex-wife - and hell if the vengeance running through my veins isn’t the main reason I love taking the no good pieces of shit out of this world any chance I get. 

I take another sip of bourbon. A sinking feeling sets in the pit of my gut. I still haven’t decided if it’s best he stay with Troy and Jo or someone else I trust more than anyone in this world. Someone I haven’t talked to in a long ass time. To be honest, I am not sure I am ready to open that door just yet.

Slamming back the rest of the bourbon, I head back inside and place the cup in the sink. Grabbing my bag from the foyer, I head towards the only bathroom in this place, strategically located between both bedrooms. Pausing briefly, I look in and see my little man spread out in the middle of the bed like a damn king.

Stay young, King Logan. Don’t let the fucked-up truth of this world get to you little man.

Smiling to myself, I close the door slightly, making sure to leave it cracked just a little before heading across the hall.

Entering the bathroom, I take no time in starting the shower. I let the small bathroom fill with steam as I ready myself to soak away the stress of traveling for almost one day straight. I set my bag down and take a look at myself in the mirror as the fog begins to frost over the glass. My dark blue eyes have circles under them, and I haven’t shaved in a few days. My thick brown hair needed to be cut a month ago, and the stress of being a single father has eaten away at my once full physique, making me leaner than I intend, but still built from hitting the gym four days a week and working out all the pent of aggression endlessly pumping through my damn veins.

Grabbing my shirt over my head, I toss it to the floor and kick off my shoes. Taking my toothbrush, I start to brush my teeth when I hear a noise outside the bathroom. I wait for a moment and figure it was nothing. Logan was more than passed out a few moments ago, and after traveling all day there is no way the little man is waking up any time soon. Spitting out the toothpaste and rinsing my mouth, I rid myself of my pants and boxers, kicking them off around my ankles, I pull back the shower curtain and feel the water — perfectly warm and ready. Bending down and pulling off my socks, I start to enter the shower when I hear that noise again. I still for a moment and wait. A few moments go by before I hear another thud.

What the hell!

Turning off the shower, I grab the nearest towel and wrap it around my waist. That sure as hell sounded like someone else was in the apartment. Totally not prepared with anything to defend myself with if I need to, I slowly open the bathroom door and step out into the hallway. 

Peeking into the bedroom, I see Logan still asleep and slowly make my way towards the kitchen. There sure as hell is someone, or hell something else in this place, and I’m going to fucking find out what that noise was. I pass a small table in the hallway and notice a pen. Sure, it could only do minimal damage, but I grab it anyway as I take a few more steps toward the kitchen. Peeking around the corner, I am surprised when I am met with — nothing?

Fucking great, well I’m officially losing it.

Shocked, I walk into the kitchen and wonder what the fuck is wrong with me. I could have sworn I heard something a few moments ago. Maybe the long hours on the plane or the couple of drinks screwed with my mind. I need sleep, and the sooner the better. Giving a slight shrug to the invisible intruder, I wait for another moment before beginning to turn and make my way back to the bathroom.

Hey, asshole!