Never be caught off guard, even if the future is inevitable and unpredictable.
-THEO
Caleb Park's POV
She was in a white dress.
Time slowed down as I struggled to grasp what was happening. The girl who stole my heart wore a white dress in front of a priest, standing with someone who claimed to be her brother. She had not one but two different men pointing guns at her.
I might not know how marriage works, but I'm pretty sure that guns are not meant to make an appearance.
"I see that I am right on time." I look up to see a girl in a cloak covering her whole body. "You know what they say; a wedding is never complete without a burial following right after." She pulled two guns out of her pockets and shot the two men beside her.
Then the people sitting in the pews stood and started running for their lives while others fought with weapons they pulled from thin air.
Taryn didn't surprise me when she pushedJack and me to the floor while she used her heel to fight off a man who was about to put a knife through her head.
I looked at Jack and saw a dreamy smile on his face.
I scoffed and smacked the back of his head. "Leave it to you to be turned on in the middle of a shootout."
He glared at me, but before he could retort, Taryn grabbed both of us by our ties and pushed us out the door that we walked through and barricaded them with her other heel.
"I think that should hold them off for a while. We need to come up with a plan to get Peyton and get out of here." She muttered to herself.
The mention of the girl made my heart skip a beat. I looked down to try and keep a strong façade like I had been doing all this time.
She left me to get married to her brother. I don't know whether to be surprised or disappointed that a girl would prefer to be hitched by her family member than me.
I came out of my thoughts when the door that Taryn supposedly locked started moving forward forcefully. It made the heel that was holding it starts breaking into half.
Taryn took a step back. Jack and I copied her as the door kept pushing. The heel gave way to the groom of the day.
I resisted the urge to punch him in the face because the reason for such an action was never mine in the first place.
Everyone leaves me in the end, and I'll end up alone.
"Are you guys okay?" He asked with concern in his tone.
Taryn looked him over with suspicion as if he was going to harm us at any moment.
"Relax, Peyton said to make sure you guys get to safety, but I have to ask why you are here in the first place." He asked and began walking away from the show to a long hallway.
As soon as we walked into it, a bunch of men in suits passed by us with grim looks and guns in hand.
She wasn't joking when she said her origin is not a place to be messed with, was she?
"You know, just the newer version of Romeo and Juliet without the death of the main characters." Taryn shrugged as she dropped her guard down a bit, seeing that Danny wouldn't hurt us.
Danny snorted at her reply, "That's nice and all, but we have to get to Charlie and Peyton. Come on." He urged us, and we began running through the halls.
Taking different turns and walking through rooms that looked almost as big as the entire Penthouse.
We neared a wide-open door, where a dark-skinned girl was fighting with one of the men that held Peyton at gunpoint earlier.
She stuffed a flash drive into her bra and ducked when he sent a chair towards her. He decided to jump over the table, but she was fast enough to duck and slide under. The table now served as a barrier between them again. She kept going in the same direction as the man to tire him out.
"Father," Danny held a stone-cold gaze at the man who now turned around to us.
A small smirk overtook his features, and he moved faster than I could blink.
He took a left, and Charlie went left, seeing it as an easy pass. But he was smart because he suddenly changed course, jumped over the table, wrapped his hands on her throat and placed her back on the table.
He reached into her cleavage, pulled out the flashed drive, and slipped it into his pocket.
Danny saw red after witnessing the contact between his father and Charlie. She must be something important to him.
Before he took a step forward, the man he called father surprised me again. He brought Charlie closer to himself and turned around so that now she was facing us and his gun was on her temple.
She thrashed around for a bit. It made him press the gun harder onto her skull.
"I'm only going to be nice once and ask where Peyton is." He declared, taking on a demanding tone.
Danny rolled his eyes, but his gaze was unwavering as he stared his father down, "Like the fuck should I know! You have no business with her. Let her go!"
"Ah Ah, son, that's no way to talk to your father, and you should know better than to think that you can demand something from me." He remarked.
"If I take you to her, you let Charlie go."
I looked at him incredulously. Was he going to sell Peyton out so easily?
The man grinned, "Lead the way, son."
With enough curse words to write a new song, Danny led us to a door where we walked in, and Joey followed us right after us.
Peyton had lost the train of her dress as she stood close to a man. He sat in a chair and was not looking healthy.
My heart clenched at the guilty expression on her face, and she avoided looking at me.
"What a wonderful surprise, darling." The man who held Charlie at gunpoint said to the man that sat next to Peyton.
The return man snorted and spat out blood.
"I would say that your timing was as impeccable as always, but I don't fancy lying to my daughter." He directed his gaze to the blonde in a white dress.
That's her father?
"You claim her as your blood now? What happened to the last decade and a half of revolting against her?" Danny's father rolled his eyes.
I heard a wince from Peyton, and I turned to look at her. As much as this will make me look like a fool. I hate to admit that she looks very beautiful, but it's a shame that I will never get the pleasure of being the one that stands next to her in a tux while she is in a white dress.
"Ah, the bride of the hour, if you give me a minute or two, I'll call the priest, and we continue from where we left off, hmm?" Danny's father spoke, and he got dirty looks from the intended groom and bride.
"Now, don't get snappy, kids. Your honeymoon will have to wait but the wedding will still hold whether you like it or not." He continued with his taunting.
"Not so fast," Peyton said, "You said that if I get married to your son, you will clear Shane's name?"
Was she really considering this?
"Ah yes, the china man. See, as you said, that was the agreement, but you never speculated a particular time exactly. All you said was that I do it, and in return, you and Danny tied the knot."
I'm getting lost here, but I know that if I voiced out my curiosity, I might be at the other end of his gun. While Danny went on to continue his song which consisted of curse words.
Danny's father waved the hand with the gun dismissively in the air, "Now that you know that it wasn't completely your fault that your mother died. I think it's time that your father joined her, hmm?" He pointed the gun at Peyton's father.
And like the brave girl I knew her to be, she stood in the gun's path. Protecting the ones she holds dear; too bad that I am not in that category.
"Not gonna happen." She stated with determination.
"Ah, so now you have a backbone. What happened to the little you who wanted her father to shower her with love every time he hit her? Or when he chose to spend his time with your sister and not you."
How exactly is Danny related to this man again? Because they act and look nothing alike.
Troy coughed out more blood, stealing the attention from the room, "You do know that if you kill me, Sam will have your head, and you will be more wanted than the China man that you used as your sacrificial pig."
Isn't Sam the current ruler of the Empire and Peyton's grandfather?
"I think I'll take my chances." He snorted, "Step aside, child," He then looked at Peyton and said, "This doesn't concern you."
"Neither does it you!" Danny barked out.
"I think you should learn not to leave your office open after you meet with your staff. I know what you plan on doing with my grandmother, and I think we both know that has to be the most absurd idea that you two have come up with in a while." He continued.
The man with the gun gave us all a dramatic eye roll, "As I said before, I'll take my chances."
Charlie struggled against his hold and kicked his shin, but the man remained unmoving.
"If you wanted me to give you attention, then all you had to do was ask, Charlie. I'm sure my son wouldn't mind sharing." Her eyes flashed with fear at his words
"Okay, that's it," Taryn said.
"I think it's clear to everyone here," She gestured at us, "That you have some serious mental issues, and it's obvious that you have a bone to pick with these people."
"Way to have a go at it, captain obvious," Charlie spoke as she tried in vain to get out of the dangerous situation that she was in.
"Do you two know each other?" Jack asked as he looked from Taryn to Charlie.
"Shoot me for trying to buy some time so that you make it out of this alive." Taryn glared at Charlie.
"If it comes down to it, you have no reason to even have a bone to pick anyway?" Peyton said.
"You haven't figured out my motive yet?" He asked with a grin, clearly knowing something that we didn't.
He turned to look at me, "He's a part of the reason. I'm sure you're still clueless about it."
How am I the reason why he apparently wants to kill his son's girlfriend? The last time I checked, I have never made contact with someone who was currently missing a few screws.
"It seems like your trip to Miami was a waste if it never occurred to you what my alibi was." He directed to Peyton.
I'm not completely surprised that she had another reason to come; she never did allow me to see all of her.
"Would you stop speaking in tongues and get to the point, damn it, old man!" Taryn said.
"Patience, little girl,"
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
"I know that I'm not that tall, but I think I'd like to say that your dick is the size of the world's largest ant." She said with narrowed eyes.
"Would you stop provoking the dude! In case you've forgotten, he has a pistol pointed at my brain." Charlie muttered in frustration.
"Enough! Joey, this madness has gone long enough." Troy said.
So that's his name, he didn't look like Joey, more like a Max to me, but I'm not judging.
"It's me that has the information you want but I'll give it to you if you let the children go," Troy says, and I wonder what he is talking about.
"Ah, where's the fun in that." Joey turned to Peyton, "You said that you found out my biggest secret. Mind sharing it with everyone, especially your little boyfriend?" He gestures at me.
I take on a confused expression and turn to look at Peyton but no surprise when she refuses to look at me.
"Penny, what is he talking about?" Danny asked as he sent a piercing look at the girl in the white dress.
Joey scoffed when he saw that Peyton went mute.
"I think I'll do the honours. Danny, are you aware that you have a sibling? A brother to be exact." Joey drawled while smirking.
"Joey, for fuck's sake! Now is not the time for you to behave like a fucking saint and pretend that what you are about to say won't have a lasting effect on them." Troy grunted and spat out more blood.
I'm going to assume that there is something wrong with him, but the way tension is high in the room, I'm not sure anyone cares about his health at the moment.
"What are you getting at, old man?" Danny stared his father down.
"Peyton's boyfriend over here is your long-lost sibling."
I felt time stop for the third time today as what he said processed in my brain.
If Danny was my brother, does that make the man he called father mine or am I the adopted one?
"You are my son but a mistake all the same. You're the reason why Danny's mother wants nothing to do with me. You weren't supposed to be alive, I made sure of it when I sent that hit man to you and your adoptive parents, but like an itch you can't reach, you can't go away, now can you?" He poked at me.
I was abandoned on the doorstep of an orphanage home. And grew up believing that my birth parents didn't want me, but it turned out that I was right.
But that means, "Did you know about this?" I asked the girl who knew how badly I wanted to know about my birth parents no matter how much I played the subject off.
She finally looked at me and her blue eyes brimmed with an unknown emotion, "I wanted to tell you, but I didn't want to upset the perfect balance..."
I cut her off and yelled, "For how long were you going to pretend that I didn't want to know what happened to them?! For how long are you going to watch me cry about the fact of not knowing them?!"
She winced at my raised voice, but I was too upset to care.
She lied to me. She used me. She made me fall in love with her with the hope that maybe, just maybe, we would have a family together.
How wrong and gullible was I?
Before Peyton could respond, Joey yawned and coked his gun, "As fun as this is, I would like to get on with my life without further ado."
He took us by surprise and threw Charlie towards Peyton, successfully catching her off balance, and they both fell to the floor.
Now that the path to Troy was not blocked, he sent a bullet to the man's arm and one to his stomach. Troy cried out in pain while Joey dropped his gun and tried to run out of the room, but another burst of men in suits walked in and subdued him while a man who looked to be in his early sixties walked in after them with an air of confidence surrounding him.
I tuned out their conversation. The blonde girl had her hands on her father. He had fallen to the floor because of the impact of the bullet in his body.
She placed his head on her lap, stroked his hair and whispered words, most likely to make it seem that they would both make it out of this alive.
I felt my heart reach out for her.
Her mom was dead, and now she would watch her father die before her eyes.
Life was cruel.
No matter how much we fight it, fate has a way of making the worst moments in our life be the most lasting.
"You kids okay?" The man in his sixties said as he looked us over. His eyes stayed on Danny and me the longest.
"What do you think?" The woman who brought us from the airport snapped at him.
The room went critically quiet, and it was then that I noticed that the whispers between father and daughter had stopped. One remained unmoving while the other looked like her whole life flashed before her eyes.
"Peyton?" The older man called out to her, but she didn't look up.
She simply got up from the floor and went towards the other door on the other side of the room but stopped in her tracks.
She turned her head to the side. It was hard to read what was going through her mind.
"If Jordan and Joey sit in the cells, I'll be more than willing to talk to you later." She said in a cold voice.
"You have yourself a deal. But remember Peyton; it was bound to happen sometime, just not in the best circumstances." Peyton nodded wordlessly and walked out of the room.
"So what happens now?" Jack asked, looking at no one in particular.
The older man sighed and rubbed his brows, "What happens is that you lot, are welcome to stay for a while. My granddaughter clearly is not in the right mind to stay alone, but I suggest that only the popstar should talk to her."
So this is the infamous Sam Griffin. That explains the all-black outfit; a bulletproof vest strapped over a black tee, tucked into black cargo pants and a holster belt strapped onto it, his feet clad in boots.
"It's going to be one long night." He murmured.
-
"If you keep doing that, we might just have to buy these people a new carpet before we leave." Taryn reprimanded me.
"Aren't your legs tired yet?" Charlie shot at Danny.
After we walked out of that room, we were made to sit in a large living room. Danny and I had been pacing the carpet, trying to come to terms with what happened.
"Okay, since you two are acting as if you are diagnosed with ADHD, I'm just going t say it," Jack announced while taking in an over-exaggerated breath to prove the point of how long his rant will going to be.
"Let's get this straight; you two are brothers by sharing the same sperm donor?" He directed it at Danny and me.
We both looked at each other, and I think that's when I saw the familiarity that Jack was hinting at. Apart from the different styles we cut our hair, it was still the same shade of dirty blonde, and our bone structure was similar, but since he was older, his were more prominent.
"And my mother was the reason your mom left our father?" I asked Danny.
He shrugged, "I would prefer the term sperm donor but yes. My parents broke off ties a long time ago, and the last time I heard about my mother, she had remarried in Las Vegas." He declared.
Another thought popped into mind, "Did you know about this?"
He avoided eye contact, "I mean, I did suspect that the marriage dissolved because of an illegitimate child, but when I did some digging. I was led to a dead-end, and so I gave up."
The last part of his statement came out apologetic.
It was for the best he hadn't found out about me earlier. I'm pretty sure he would not be able to take custody of me, and at least I forget I'm content with how I ended up.
"Now that we have cleared that up, how do you two know each other?" Jack motioned from Taryn to Charlie.
"I think that's another story for another day, don't you think?" Taryn told her boyfriend sweetly through clenched teeth.
Charlie huffed, "Now that we have come to an understanding. Which one of us is going to talk to Peyton?" She gestured her head to the hallway that led to Peyton's room.
"I mean, I am her best friend and all, but I think the person she would be better off talking to is you." She looked me straight in the eye.
Not gonna lie; her brown orbs looked familiar as if they held a sense of mischief like another brown-eyed girl I knew.
"I know that you think that she lied to you but hear her out," I turn my attention to Danny.
"Peyton has her reasons for doing what she does, and even though most times they are for the benefit of the people around her, I think that you should hear what exactly was her motive behind not telling you; that you had a family who abandoned you."
He winced at the end of that statement because ironically, he was a part of that family.
"While you do that, I'll show myself to the kitchen." Jack stood up, but Taryn dragged him down and gave him a shake of her head.
"If you think I have some diabolical death trap for your boyfriend, you are in it over your head." Charlie snorted.
"You do not want to go there," Taryn said with a dark expression.
Charlie mirrored, "I'd like to see you do something about it."
"Are you sure you ladies wouldn't like to talk this out like I don't know, ladies?" Jack asked, trying to ease the tension that just lit itself.
"Butt out of it." Both girls barked at him and faced each other squarely.
Danny put a hand on my shoulder, and I turned to look at him, "Just keep an open mind to what she tells you. It might sound a bit far-fetched but just know that it was coming from a good place."
I joined him and looked at the hallway.
I sighed, "I just hope you're right."
-
They say that beauty lies within the eyes of the beholder, and I strongly agree with that theory.
It was the early hours of the morning. I spent part of it gazing at the sleeping beauty on top of me.
This is how I want to wake up for the remaining part of my life on earth. I want to wake up with Peyton in my arms, in our bed, in our home surrounded by our children.
It may seem a bit far-fetched but if there's one thing that I have learnt from her, is that the term give up, is not in her vocabulary.
Peyton chooses that moment to wake up from her slumber. Her blue orbs look innocent and unguarded, but it doesn't take long for her eyes to return to their unguarded state.
I smile slightly, "You okay?"
She nods, probably not wanting to bless me with her morning breath.
"Good." A sly smile takes over my face as I switch our positions, and we end up spooning.
I made sure to be the bigger spoon and be her rock through this.
"Can I finally get the answer you have withheld from me?" I say softly, not sure how this conversation will go.
She sighs and rests her hands on mine. "Where do I even begin?"
It feels like she is asking herself that question as much as she is asking me.
I encourage her by placing a small kiss on her neck. "Take your time. We have all day."
She turns her head slightly to look at me. "Are you sure about that?"
I roll my eyes, already remembering the pep talk that Jack and Taryn gave me before I walked in here last night.
"As sure as I'll ever be," I muttered and tightened my arms around her.
"Ever since I could remember, I was taught I was the cause of everyone's problems." Her voice starts to shake, but I know there is only so much that I would do.
We have to have the right people by our side to face our demons, even though most times it's best if we are left alone.
"This is the place that I call home. Where things are never what they seem to be. Many lives have been made and lost, and we are not even on solid ground."
"Yea, why is the British Empire in America, anyway?" I ask.
"That Caleb is something even I haven't figured out. My problems run deeper than just what you saw yesterday. From the beginning, Charlie, Danny, Lola and I have had our share of moments of grief, sadness, happiness and peace when it comes to the Empire." Now I feel she is talking in code.
"I get that the place is fucked up and all, but I don't get why don't you guys just up and leave?"
That's one thing I know has been bugging me for a while. I mean, if this place is as horrid as everyone paints it as. Why not just leave?
"The book I got mad at you was actually my mom's journal, but what my father told me contradicts everything I read. She said that she died because of loss of blood which was true, but it was not a pregnancy complication. She told the nurse to end her life so that I may live. It was because one of the nurses cut her veins in that room. According to my father, I feel it's either she was forced to do it because of the circumstances or the circumstances were forced to happen.
But if you look at it clearly and I was not born, maybe my mother would have lived, and Lola would get the motherly care she craves. And this forsaken place that I call home wouldn't be as soulless as it is now."
It never ceases to amaze how her mood changes from sad and hurt to pissed off in a matter of seconds.
"I still believe that none of this would have happened if the Empire didn't exist. If that was possible, maybe my mother would be alive, my father would not have died, and my sister would not be God knows where."
She untangles herself from me and hides her face in her arms.
"Now that you know about most of my baggage. I'm sure you're ready to run for the hills. Any sane person would."
This girl thinks so lowly of me, and it hurts that I came all this way to get her to come back to me, but I am not taking no for an answer.
With determination coursing through my veins, I sit up and remove her hands from her face. Her blue eyes look unguarded just like when she first woke up.
I know that Peyton is not scared of what the Empire is capable of or what may happen to herself from now onwards; she's afraid of what would happen to us.
"I already told you, I will help you through your demons just like you helped me through mine. And that's not only a promise. It's a deal."
A small smile creeps up on her lips, but it goes away as fast as it comes.
"Caleb, there is so much that you don't know, and I can't be selfish and dump all my problems on you without thinking about the reparations it will have on not only you but your career and those around you."
As stubborn as always.
"Peyton, if I cared so much about how our relationship would affect my future, I wouldn't be here, now would I?"
At my rhetorical question, her jaw drops. Not that I blame her, we have crossed the line of friendship. We might just throw caution into the wind and live in the moment.
She shakes her head firmly, "You wouldn't be saying that if you knew about what I've been through."
I'm trying not to get frustrated, but she is not making this easy at all.
I grip her shoulders firmly but not hard enough to hurt her. I look her straight in the eye to show her how serious I'm being right now.
"Peyton, I know it's going to take me time to adjust to your world. It obviously won't be all rainbows and sunshine. I know that you feel like you are the reason everything is so messed up, but for once, can you see things the way I do?
I know that I like you a lot and you like me too. Who's to say that we can't be together? It's not the Empire, it's none of our friends, and it certainly is not the Spanish Mafia. Peyton, the only person who thinks us being together is a natural disaster waiting to happen is you. Now I don't care how long it takes, but I will stay by your side and help you from here on out."
I feel my emotions getting the best of me, so I rest our foreheads on each other, "You don't have to have your guard up when you're around me. You don't have to act like a heartless Dealer; there is so much more to you than that. And I'd be a fool not to value you for who you are, flaws and all. You helped me. Let me return the favour."
She releases a shaky breath, unsure how to respond to my rant. And if I'm being honest, neither would I if the tables were turned.
"A couple of weeks before I came to Miami, I had an aunt. She may have been a devil or an angel, depending on how you put it. My ex killed her in cold blood; I still don't know why. I knew my father made it look like my ex slept with my sister, and she became pregnant."
She lets out a shaky breath; she's opening up to me. Just what I wanted for a while now.
"It didn't sit too well with my father at the time, so they shipped her off to my aunt, who was a drug addict. Lola lost the child because my aunt physically abused her. I'm not gonna throw a pity party and say that it's because they were hell-bent on Danny and me getting married. They made my boyfriend the bad guy by making it look like he got her pregnant.
Long story short, I ended up moving in with my sister and my bitch of an aunt. We faced her together, but she still took more of the pain; she already had a head start."
"I'm guessing that experience left a lasting scar on your memory?" I asked, not sure how to tread the situation.
She snorts and moves away from me. She stands on the floor beside the bed, facing me.
"More than you know it."
She doesn't give me time to process what she just said because she took off the shirt from last night and stands bare before me.
As naked as the day that she is born, she places her hands on her hip.
"When we walk out of this room, everything we once knew won't make as much sense as they did. I'm willing to risk it if you are ready to see the scars of my past. My aunt gave me these." She motions to herself.
The scars take various colours, but they start below her collar bone and end at her mid-thighs. I hate to admit it, but her aunt knew where to give the bruises.
I stand up from the bed and walk toward her. I grip her waist and bring her closer to me.
"I know this might sound cheesy, but you are beautiful just the way you are." She giggles despite the tension between us, "Flaws, baggage and demons, we've all got them, and I think it's time we showed them who's boss."
I kiss all the scars I could find on her body while rubbing my arms around her sides.
I finish assaulting her body with my kisses and allow my head to be at eye level with where her heart is beating.
"One day, I'll make you know how much you mean to me, emotionally, physically, and every other way possible."
I place a light kiss on her heart and feel something drop on my head. I look up to see Peyton holding back tears, but she is doing a horrible job.
My stubborn dealer.
She wraps her hands in my hair and tugs me upward, "I trust you a lot, no matter what happens. Promise me that we will be okay?"
As if I would ever let that happen.
"Deal."
She smashes her lips on mine.