Chapter 24: CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Laurent stood with his ears to the door and strained to hear what was going on outside. To say he'd been shocked when he'd perceived movement behind him would be an understatement. He'd just gotten off a tense phone call with Max where the man had called him from a loud club. He'd tried to convince him to head home before he got too tipsy but that hadn't worked.
He'd been contemplating going to drag him out of wherever he was already when he'd heard the sound of steel sliding out of a cover behind him. Instinctively, he'd grabbed the hand, his brain helpfully telling him that it was an assassin Blackwell had hired. He hadn't thought about the mechanisms of how that could have been possible given that the man's phone was in his pocket, but logic didn't really work when one was trying not to die.
If he'd known it was just an amateur trying to scare him on her friend's behalf, yes, he'd still have done it. Maybe not quite as hard though. The girl had been rude and after all the activities he'd just completed, his brain just wanted to solve another problem.
"What were you trying to do?" He heard Rose ask softly and he strained to hear more. He didn't want to have to break out a stethoscope but he had no compuctions about it.
"I thought someone was kidnapping or threatening you. You sounded terrified" the girl rasped, and a twinge of guilt went through him. After twenty seven years of never breaking his rule to keep his hands off the female gender when it came to violence, it had only taken a slight little thing to make him break that rule.
Rose said something he couldn't hear and he looked longingly at the cupboard. If he had to leave his position here, and it turned out there wasn't a stethoscope there, it wouldn't be amusing to him.
He didn't have to though, because there was the distinct sound of someone getting up for a creaky chair and someone rushing after.
"Anna, stop for a second" Rose said, and her response made something in him crack.
"What the fuck do you mean you were terrified? Who is that asshole and what is going on here?"
"I'll explain as best as I can. But you really do need to sit down, Anna. And I'm pretty sure shouting is only hurting your throat."
"Well, something in him is going to hurt a lot more when I'm done with him. Where is that knife?"
Rose gave a short laugh, and if he could hear the edge in it, it meant her friend could too. His baby was getting frustrated. No longer yours, his brain reminded him.
"I've not seen you in years and you really want to do this upon arrival, Anna. I know you saved me a lot back in college but I'm no longer that naive, idiotic person. I've grown a lot more. And unless you finally stuck with those lessons, I doubt if you can get close enough to harm a hair on his body, so please, just calm down. I'm mad enough as it is and I need your fully functional brain, not your fist"
There was nothing but silence for a while and he wished he could just go out. The suspense was killing him. At last, he heard a sigh and then a "Fine, let's talk about it first"
"Not here," came Rose's immediate response. He smiled. If she suspected that he was listening to them, it meant she'd have done the same.
"Why not? You're the one who has been convincing me to sit still for a while now" He was beginning to hate the girl's voice. He just wanted to keep hearing Rose's voice. He should have recorded all of their conversations earlier in preparation for this.
"Just not here. I feel choked right now, and I just need to leave this environment."
Her friend's response was uncharacteristically gentle from what he could deduce from her, so he knew she'd heard what Rose hadn't been able to say. Him, she just wanted to leave him.
Or maybe it was her father she was talking about. Notwithstanding, he stepped away from the door and went to sit on the chair farthest from the bed.
He hadn't paid attention before, but now that he did, he could see that the man was definitely asleep. How he could sleep with that hammer over his head, he couldn't imagine, but the man was definitely sleeping. The machines surrounding him beeped steadily and his chest rose and fell in tandem with the sound.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone