The Price Of Love

Chapter 28

Jay's POV

Once again, I find myself staring at Talia. I wonder if everything that happened yesterday was a dream.

It has to be right? There's no way she agreed to stay. Why would she?

I jump when my phone suddenly rings, and Talia begins to stir. I curse quietly, quickly grabbing my phone and declining Atlas' call.

I look back at Talia, relaxing when I see she's still fast asleep.

For some strange reason, it calms me to see her so relaxed.

Talia suddenly rolls from her back onto her side, and then onto her stomach, now half lying on my chest. I smile slightly, wrapping my arms around her waist and pulling her fully on top of me.

My hands slide under my shirt that she's wearing, resting on her bare lower back, enjoying the feeling of her skin under mine. And I love the feeling of her body on top of mine, her head tucking right in the crook of my neck.

I gently circle the skin on her lower back with my two fingers, sighing as I stare up at the ceiling. I feel the anxiety start to grow in my chest as my mind drifts to Issac.

He will visit soon. He'll come to try to figure out my relationship with her. I have to figure out a way to pass whatever test he comes up with without getting Talia killed. I feel my hands tighten around her at just the thought.

So far, only one solution comes to mind.

Something I should have done years ago.

***

I close the door to my bedroom quietly to avoid waking her up, before walking into my office. I call Atlas as I shut my office door.

"Sir" He greets, and I hum. I assume he's calling to update me on the mission to Arizona. The one to get Griffin and Abigail.

"How'd it go?" I ask, and when I hear him sigh, I know something went wrong.

"I did as you asked. I even went as far as telling them we were heading to fucking Missouri at first to collect a shipment. I only briefed the teams of the actual plan when we were minutes out".

"Yet when we were about to storm the place, they were already speeding off," Atlas says, and I sigh, my grip on the phone tightening while I take a breath, my mind already forming our next move.

"They went in different directions. I split us into threes; one team checked the house, another went after Griffin and I went with a team after Abigail. We got her. A bit banged up but she's alive" Atlas tells me, and I smile. So the plan didn't go accordingly, but we got one of them. I call that good news.

"We didn't find anything in the house, it was all cleared out. Griffin got away" He tells me. "How?" "I was told he just got away. He drove one of our cars off the road in the process. No deaths but two injured".

I nod, processing the information. "I want your opinion Atlas. Do you think he got away or did someone let him?" I ask him, and the line goes quiet as I await his answer.

"I'm not sure sir. I did look for surveillance footage of the car chase but once they got on the highways I lost them" He finally says after taking his time to answer.

"At least we narrow the list," I say, running my hand through my hair. The snitch was on one of those teams. They had to have been. "I want the names of everyone who went on that mission. And highlight the ones who went after Griffin" I tell him, and he agrees before I end the call.

I shove my phone in the pocket of my sweatpants, before leaving my office. I'm about to go back to my room to change into some proper clothes but stop when I hear quiet music coming from the kitchen.