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Chapter 17

It's currently Tuesday and I told Joey I would go to lunch with him. I'm waiting outside of this nice little cafe waiting for him to show up. When I finally see him walking towards me I run and give him a big hug which he returns. "Sorry I'm late. There was bad traffic" he says but part of me thinks that wasn't the case but I don't question it. "It's okay. You ready to eat?" I ask since I'm starving. "Of course darling" he says smiling at me.

After I order a burger and Joey orders pizza. Once the waiter leaves, we sit in silence until he breaks it. "Have you talked to Jackson lately?" He asks while watching me for a reaction. I realize why he was late now. "You were helping him prepare weren't you? That's why you were late?" I say looking at him to see what emotion he is portraying. "Yeah I'm sorry I lied I just didn't know if you knew and I didn't want to worry you" He says nervously looking at the table. "Hey it's okay I understand." I say while squeezing his hand to reassure him. "Good. How are you feeling about the whole situation?" He asks eyeing me waiting for a reaction. "A little nervous to see Tony but I know that he would never put me in harms way but I'm worried about Jackson" I say looking down. "Hey he'll be okay. Plus I offered to stay there but he refused and said he had someone else coming" he says trying to cheer me up. Now comes the point to tell him I'm the buffer between the two. "Umm well about that..." I say drifting off a bit. He realizes where I'm going with this and instantly says "No! I'll stay there but you will not!" He says. I sigh and look at him before saying "I am staying there because I know how to deal with Tony. Even though I hate to admit it, I know a lot about him. More than I wish to. That's why I'm the one staying there but don't worry because if anything happens I have you and Ryder to call in case it gets out of hands" I say with pleading eyes. "Fine but if I find out he laid a finger on you I won't hesitate to kill him" he says not kidding. "I know" I say sheepishly smiling at him.

After lunch I drove home to start packing up my stuff. When I walk in I see Ryder on the couch watching a movie. "Howdy" He says which makes me chuckle. "Hey. Did you learn the new greeting from Sandy?" I ask while laughing at his unimpressed face. "Are you ever going to let that go?" He asks while rolling his eyes. "Probably not" I say while sitting down next to him. "How are you feeling?" He asks out of the blue. "Okay,Joey knows about everything now so he is worried about me like usual" I say. When I say that I see this emotion flicked in Ryder's eyes but I'm not sure what it is. "Everyone should be worried about you with Tony around" he says while looking at me. Before I can respond my phone rings and the name that pops up makes my heart stop. I look at Ryder who realizes who it is and mouths "speaker phone" and I nod understanding his plan.

"Hey Tony" I say a little tense. "Hey little cuz. I called to see if it was true" he says with his happy facade on. "If what is true?" I ask wondering what he is referring to. "That you are staying with Jackson while I'm visiting" he says with amusement laced in his voice. "I am. I thought I should get some family bonding in while I can" I say while rolling my eyes. "Good because I have some important news to share with you and Jackson." He says. That sentence makes my whole body tense and I panicked. I quickly calm and not let him get to me though. "Hopefully it's something positive" I say while wishing I could kill him. "Oh it is" he says. "Well little cuz it was nice talking to you but I think it's time I go but don't miss me too much" he says with a voice that I can practically hear the smirk. "Bye Tony" I say before hanging up. I look to Ryder to see him fuming. "This can't be good" I say while calling up Jackson.
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Uh oh! What do you think Tony has to say? Comment.