Emma

Chapter Twenty-Eight.

"And this is the last piece of paper to sign Ma'am"

Ackley hands the sheet to me and I sign at the bottom. I thank her and as he is about to talk about the meeting that we have tomorrow with the mayor, we can hear screams coming from the back garden. I stand up from my chair and almost run to the window to see who that could be.

I sigh when my eyes fall on John Shelby. He shouts insults after insults, demanding to be let in. After Polly's visit last week, Ackley advised me to forbid the entrance to the entire Shelby clan.

"Do you want me to take care of him, Ma'am?"

When I see John keeping on yelling and yelling, his despair breaks something in me. Is he being sincere? Is his cry of despair true?

"No need Ackley. I will deal with it myself"

I leave the office, without a coat on even though the weather is anything but pleasant, and almost run down the stairs. When I step outside in the garden, the mud and rain do not spare me. But I don't pay much attention to it.

"For God sake Emma, finally!" Shouts John when I walk up to him. "Listen to me, please, for just one fucking second"

"You have to leave John"

"What? No! The fuck not! You will listen to me!" Shouts John through the rain.

"I don't want to"

"I don't give a fuck about what you want! I tried to tell you, I fucking tried! I never wanted to hide it. Thomas was the one who kept on going on and on about protecting your fucking innocence. He saw you as an angel who could never break him down or any of us! But damn it, Emma! You're destroying the only thing we fucking had, our town! And on top of that, you don't even care!"

"Maybe you shouldn't have lied," I retort, trying to ignore his cry of pain.

"I didn't fucking lie! I came to you! Don't you fucking remember?!"

"I wanted to talk about last week, in private. You know, without the family"

"What do you mean? Don't you wanna talk about last week?"

He did try to explain himself. He did try not to lie.

But it does not matter.

"Please John, see yourself out"

I turn my back on him and as I start to walk away, my arms wrapped around my chest to try and keep me warm, John decides to not let me go. He grabs my shoulder and spins me around to face him. Thomas' brother puts both his hands on my shoulder to keep me in place, therefore preventing me to walk away from him.

"I'm not gonna let you fucking go!"

"John, you don't understand what you are doing"

"I am! You're not going anywhere! Not until you fucking believe me!"

"How could I ever believe you when you killed people?!" I shout back. "When you lied to me! When you let me fall for your brother even though you knew he was a criminal! How could I ever believe one word when you stood there, lying to my face, and never feel any remorse about it?!"

"You think I don't have fucking regrets?!" Shouts John. The rain is heavier and thunder starts raging above us. "I hate this! I hate this whole fucking situation! You're out there, buying every single place in fucking Birmingham to kill us, and you think I don't care?!"

"Yes! If you did care you never would've lied!"

"I didn't wanna lie!" Yells John. I don't know if it's the rain falling on his cheeks or tears. I don't know if the weather is driving him crazy or this argument is.

"Then why did you?!"

"To protect you! Do you think I want you to fucking die?! I don't want to! I want to keep you the fuck away from our fucking madness! We're crazy! We're mad! Do you seriously want to be around crazy people?!"

"If it's you and Thomas then yes! Don't you understand what you were to me?! You were like my brother John! You were a friend in a strange town where everyone saw me as money! You were the only one who never asked 'what do you do' or 'what business are you involved in'! You were the only one who didn't care about my fortune! And I loved you for that!"

Thunder keeps on raging on and I find myself out of breath after yelling all my despair and hatred for this entire mess. I never wanted to feel like that, especially for John. He was the only friend I made in this town who didn't care about my wealth or my business. To this day, I don't think he even knows where my money comes from. And that's fine by me. I don't want my entourage to know anything about what I do, and how I do it.

John is calming down, even though the weather is not; and he eases his grip on my shoulders. His gaze softens as he tries to catch his breath. We have been yelling, crying, our distress for I don't know how long; and we are both tired. We are both soaking, and I can see he is exhausted. Not physically, but mentally. Not because of this fight, but because of everything.

"Then love me again"

"I can't," I whisper. "You broke it, John. You broke the trust I gave you"

"Tell me how to fucking fix it then. Tell me what I have to do to be your friend again"

"There's nothing you can do. I'm sorry"

I put my hands on his and force him to let me go, which he does. I start to step away, my gaze not leaving his, as he proceeds to run up to me.

"No! I'm not gonna leave. We're gonna fix this"

"John"

"I will not lose you, Emma," he states firmly.

I sigh. I take a step toward him and lay my hand on his cheek, wiping away the raindrops. Or the tears. My gaze softens in his and I smile sadly.

"You already did"

I turn around and walk away. I know this situation could have been avoided if they simply had said the truth from the beginning. They didn't have to lie, no one has to lie. The truth is always the best choice, maybe not the easiest one, but the best for sure. And even though I hold a very important place in my heart for John, it isn't there anymore.

"I'm not gonna take no for a fucking answer"

As I'm about to turn around to demand him to let it go, John does what is the most unexpected thing on Earth. He grabs my legs and throws me on his shoulder, my head on his back.

"What are you doing?!" I shout, trying to get down.

"We're gonna fix this fucking mess!" He yells back.

John starts to run away in my park. Where is he going?!

"Put me down, John!"

"Not until you trust me again!"

He keeps on running in my estate and as we get further away from my house, I know that it will be impossible for Ackley to find me. The rain and thunder falling on us are making it too hard to see or even hear John and me. And as he runs deeper in my estate, we enter a part of it I have never seen. My property is too big for me to know every corner of it, and I am pretty sure John knows that.

"Where are we going?!"

"Wherever we'll have to for you to give me this fucking trust back!" Shouts John.

"Are you ever going to let me go?!"

"No!"