Pawned Virtue - #wattys2015 BK4 TPBS - Completed 1st draft

-28-

Not edited.

Simeon closed his phone and stared down at it as if it were a foreign object come to haunt him. His first reaction had been 'no fucking way' but in the end he had to believe it. It wasn't like Adam to make up shit like this. It had to be true.

Not wanting to actually speak with Lucas,  Adam had called him instead and after he broke the news Simeon could understand why.

Tara was gone. The girl who wormed her way into all of the hearts of some of the toughest men in the state had gone. Left. It wasn't that she'd run away but it felt like it.

"Hey Sims, what's up? You look like you've lost your best friend."

Simeon looked up to Dane and the other men following him into the room.

"I have... kinda" was all that he could say.

"What the hell man?" The frown on Danes face belied his confusion.

"Tara left."

"Bullshit."

"Fuck."

"No way."

As if clones there was a synchronised falling into chairs until all were sitting and staring at Simeon.

Simeon once again looked to his phone.

"Adam called. He said the boss saw Tara today and when he left Tara was quiet... too quiet..."

"What the fuck did he say?" The younger man next to Dane asked.

"No idea" Simeon replied while shaking his head "but after dinner Tara left."

"Where the fuck did she go?"

"Is anyone protecting her?"

"Why..."

Simeon just raised his hand.

"She called that friend Keiran and he and his dad picked her up."

They all fell silent. Each one having their own hard time evaluating the information just given to them. They never spent a lot of time with Tara, not as much as Adam and Jones, but most of them saw her as a little sister who they swore to stand by and protect.

This whole situation was doing their heads in. Tara was one of them but if she didn't want to come back...

"Are you telling the boss?" Dane asked him.

He nodded slowly "Adam and Jones refuse to and Maggie isn't in any state to tell him anything."

"They spent a lot time with her."

Murmured agreements were made throughout the room.

"When will you tell him?" Dane asked.

"Now," Simeon stood up "then I'm gonna smack some sense into him."

They all saw how much he loved the girl so this was a shock to them all. How he reacted when he got the news would be anyone's guess.

They sat in solemn silence as Simeon left the room duly noting that his back was rigid and his hands clenched. Simeon was the closest friend that Lucas had but right now it seemed like it was about to be put to the test.

Simeon didn't bother to knock. He walked straight into Lucas' office and from the way the Lucas glared at him he wasn't the least bit happy with Simeon's actions.

"What the..."

Simeon pointed at him as he made his way to the chair in front of the desk and sat down.

"You don't get to talk Lucas. You get to listen but I don't give a flying fuck what you have to say."

"Who the fuck do you think you are?"

Lucas was instantly pissed off and that was enhanced as Simeon started to laugh an almost hysterically evil laugh.

"You're a fuckwit Lucas. A complete and totally useless fuckwit!"

"Fuck you..."

"How about you shut the fuck up and listen? How about that mister I can only live a fucking miserable life because my dead girlfriend fucked me around?"

Lucas stood up.

"Oh sit the fuck down Lucas and listen."

"You've got two minutes to explain this shit to me Simeon before I put a bullet through your head."

Simeon laughed at him again as he lent back in his chair.

"She left."

"Who left?"

Simeon just sat quietly and waited until finally he could see the light dawning on Lucas' face.

"Tara... left?" Lucas wasn't sure if he was actually asking a question or making a statement.

"Yes dipshit. She left. Apparently you went all high and mighty and chased her away."

"But... " he shook his head "I didn't... I asked her to stay."

"Well something you said upset her enough for her to leave."

Lucas replayed the scene with Tara in his mind for what must have been the hundredth time since returning home and shook his head.

"I don't know!"

"Well think man! Shit Lucas. You've done some stupid things in your life but this has to be the most stupid yet."

"I don't get it... it doesn't make sense." He shook his head in disbelief.

"Making sense or not Lucas, what the fuck are you going to do about it?"

"What the fuck can I do if I don't know what I did?" he ground out with a snarl.

Simeon threw his hands up "What the fuck did you say to her today?"

"I.... look all I told her was that I'd support her while she finished school and then I'd give her a divorce"

"and?"

"What do you mean and?"

"Oh for fuck sake Lucas. I know you. You want to know what I think?"

"Oh please great guru... explain it to me" Lucas mocked him with his mouth curled.

"I think you love her... hell I know you love her! I think you're using your guilt as an excuse for not getting to know her. I think you want to believe that you're still in love with Maria but I think you know you're not and that scares you. Tara is nothing like her and you don't know how to cope with someone who's completely honest and trustworthy... unlike Maria. You feel guilty for finding out the truth about her. She used you Lucas but you're too much of a fucking good guy to think the worst of her because she's dead. You want to remember her as the sweet woman she made you think she was... well she wasn't Lucas. She was a bitch. A cold hearted money hungry bitch."

"I fucking loved her!" Lucas seethed.

"Well she didn't love you!" Simeon pointed to the door "Go out there and ask how many men she tried to get to fuck her! Open your fucking eyes Lucas!"

Lucas sat with his mouth open as he listened to Simeon... No fucking way!

"You're talking shit Simeon."

"Oh am I Lucas? We all know that you love Tara but you're a fucking idiot by continually denying it." Simeon stood up and went to the door "And if you want me to believe that you don't then tell me... are you really prepared to never see Tara again?" He walked out of the office and slammed the door behind him without waiting for an answer.

Never see Tara again? Never see Tara... Never... see...

Shoving his fingers into his hair he grabbed hold harshly and thought of what it would mean to never see Tara again.

NOOOO! What the fuck had he done?