His Crime

Chapter Eight

After Vanessa and I's conversation about Justin's stay, I didn't expect to receive my answer within minutes. I wanted to stay in the unknown, clueless to his plans and oblivious to any problems caused by his answer.

But I found it anyway.

As we say goodbye to Vanessa at the door, Justin leads the way to Erick's Range Rover, which is now Justin's temporarily. When I go to reach the car door's handle, Justin's hand meets mine, stopping me from moving. Facing him, he asks, "Are you upset?"

Furrowing my eyebrows, I answer, "Upset at what?" His eyes move from mine and down to the pavement, avoiding to meet.

"Ever since I told you I'm staying, you've been acting strange, as if you don't want me here," he assumes. The skin between his eyebrows creases as he pulls them together, his eyes skimming over my face.

"I do want you here," I admit. "This is still new to me, Justin. I don't know how to act, what to say. You don't tell me things, you never have. So don't act surprised when you do finally tell me things and I don't seem happy about it. There's no communication between us."

"I do tell you things," he defends. "I told you in that warehouse. I said I wasn't going anywhere, how else would you interpret that?"

"Well, I'm sorry I don't believe when you say things like that, especially with how that turned out last time." His eyebrows relaxes, and his eyes finally stare back into mine. I can see pity slowly creep through him, making me wanting to melt and disappear, to return to my comfort zone — to get far away from him, because he drives me insane, with anger and love.

"That wasn't in my control," he says, referring to his arrest. "You can't blame that on me, Selena. Did you think I wanted to get sentenced to life in prison?"

"Leo told me." I watch the pity that swims in his hazel eyes shift into flames. "He told me that you get given inside jobs, working alongside the corrupted government. You do their dirty work, you get given favours. You knew what they would do if you kept turning down jobs, which you continued to do." Watching him lick his lips, I push on. "You don't control that, though. Right?"

"Leo has no right telling you that." He steps away, breathing in the wet scented air, looking back to the house where his baby sleeps. "I stopped turning down the jobs, because I wanted to be with you. I wanted to stop everything for you."

"Why?" I question. "I hardly knew of your job, Justin. I had no clue, yet you wanted to stop for me?"

"I wanted to be the good version of myself, to stop my insane career, to focus my attention on you, because I'm madly in love with you. I didn't want to be a wanted criminal, or a murderer, or someone who sells drugs and has a malicious reputation. I wanted to be just Justin. Someone you loved, because he's a good guy."

We meet each other's gaze. He looks calm, no longer having an evil look in his eyes, his jaw relaxed. I step away from the car and closer to him. "You are a good guy," I tell him before I reach for his hand by his side. "Evil fills you more, sometimes, but you're a good person."

He chuckles at my comment. We intertwine fingers as he lifts his free hand to my cheek, moving his thumb against my cheekbone. His eyes are the last thing I see before his soft lips touch mine. Removing my hand from his grip, I replace them instead on his waist, tugging him closer to me.

Ruining the moment, I ask as I break the kiss, "If you stopped taking the inside jobs because of me, why are you restarting your career?" My hands still rest on his waist, as does his hand stay on my cheek.

"I have a few loose ends to meet before we disappear. We'll get out of here, move somewhere else and raise our son there."

I smile, tasting the new idea, liking the thought of having a beautiful future with him, away from trouble here. But my smile falters when I realise that it isn't going to be simple as that.