An Impossible Task

Chapter 8

TW: Sexual encounter, implied violence, angst, tension. 18+ only please.

While Cassie waited at the table after breakfast, John went to get the dog from Charon. On his way back to the table, Cassie saw that he was stopped by a man in a sharp business suit, with salt and pepper hair and a confident swagger. She could not hear them; she only hoped it didn't mean more trouble for John or for them.

"Jonathan," Winston began in a deep British accent. "What do you think you are doing?"

John looked at Cassie, then back to Winston. "Breakfast."

John started to walk away, but Winston stopped him. "What are you doing bringing that woman here?"

"Breakfast," he repeated, emotionless. "I would have taken her to my house, but as you know, there was a gas leak...."

"Right," Winston replied, holding the syllables out. "And whose fault was that?"

John began to walk away again, but Winston said, "The High Table is not happy with you, Jonathan. It seems you claimed you would serve, but you ignored a direct command."

"Killing you..." John said, his back still to Winston.

"Yes," Winston agreed. "Killing me."

John partially turned to Winston and said, "Who says I won't?"

Winston stood tall. "It seems to me, Jonathan, that you have lost your edge. The women in your life have made you soft, with a conscience. That does not serve the High Table."

"Since when have you cared what the High Table wants?" he shot back.

"I care when it serves me," Winston stated factually.

"So you want me to kill you?"

"Of course not," Winston told him. "I want to see you as the hunter you once were. Women and the life you chose do not mix. You got out once, Jonathan. Don't think you can do it again. You're doomed to failure. And I'd watch my back, if I were you. You have defied a direct order from the High Table."

John began walking away with his dog by his side. "I didn't choose the life. It chose me," was all he said.

As he walked forward, he spotted Cassie drinking her coffee at the breakfast table. He didn't think she saw him yet, but he saw her and a smile broke out on his face. She changed his life—he now understood he could still remember and honor Helen, yet live as a man in the real world. If the real world would let him.

John drove Cassie's car with the dog in the back seat to a warehouse on the outskirts of the city. Pulling up to a huge warehouse garage door, he waved at the operator and the door went up, allowing him in. He drove to the side and parked.

"Wait here," he told Cassie. John looked at her and leaned over the console to kiss her. She smiled and nodded.

Exiting the car, he walked over to where several men were looking under the hood of a car. They turned toward John's voice and one of them exclaimed, "What the fuck are you doing here?"

Before John could answer, the man continued. "You have to get out of here. They nearly fuckin' killed you."

"What are you talking about, Aurelio?" John asked him.

"We took you. We took you to Braxton...the hospital. Jeremy found you unconscious behind the Continental. He said Braxton should be remote enough to be safe."

"Who's Jeremy?"

"Marcus' nephew.

"Aurelio, Marcus was killed because of me. You think his nephew wants to help me?" John asked him, irritation in his voice