Until The Trial

Chapter 15

Samantha

She is in the living room reading a book when she hears Lucas greet Vaughn. Slight surprise hits her to hear him be back. Curiosity had made her check his room earlier, and it contained nothing. Only a few suits. Part of her supposed he had left, though she knows it probably was not the case. They for a while in hushed tones until she hears the side door open. Then it is only her and Lucas in the house, with the tension palpable despite not even seeing him yet. A debate forms in her head on whether she should flee to her room before he enters the living room, or whether she should continue with her book. Her stubbornness wins once more and she stays put. Seconds feeling like minutes, he finally steps into the living room. Samantha peers at him slightly over her book, her senses already tingling at the mere glance of him. He always looks best in the evening when his hair is tussled having escaped the gel and his suit jacket off. Being around him would be so much easier if he was ugly or despicable, but no, of course, giving her luck he is built like a god and is more gentle than most men.

"You're here early," she breaks the silence, lowering her book slightly.

"It's 6."

"Anything before 8 is early to me."

"Course it is. What I was doing took longer than was planned."

"I almost thought you would let Vaughn take your place

His handsome features turn into a scowl. "You really thought I would just stop doing my job, just because you asked?"

"Your room is practically empty," she shrugs.

"I keep everything in a bag under my bed," he squints. "Why were you in my room?"

"I was curious as to if you had left," she doesn't remove attention from the book.

"Sadly, no, I have not. Only went to do some things."

"Huh, you had said you have nothing to do today. Yet you were gone for most of it. Seemed like you had left to me."

"You would have liked that, wouldn't you?" he answers sarcastically.

"Thought you were getting a replacement. Maybe that's why you took so long," she says as if it was what she was hoping for and not like she was dreading it might be true. The whole day she felt guilty, he might actually change who is watching her. It would be for the better, but she has gotten comfortable around him. Talked to him like they have been friends for years.

"No one is replacing me," he growls, stepping closer to her. "This is my job."

"Till the trial is over."

"Till the trial is over," he repeats rather than giving his usual annoyed reply.

Good, he doesn't like her now. That is good. She'd rather have it that way than the other way around.

"It's too bad it doesn't end any sooner," she adds for good measure. Another wave of guilt hits her. It gets worse as she feels his stare burning through her. It's as if he can sense how she actually feels.

"I am going to freshen up,"  he finally says and with that, he leaves upstairs. Samantha let out a breath. Maintaining a chill attitude towards him is hard. Especially since she knows, as much as she wishes she didn't, that he has done nothing wrong. He is only doing what he needs to bring bad people to justice. In this situation, she is the unreasonable one. But she must be. Who will truly protect her if not herself? Sure, he might physically protect her, but if her attraction to him continues to grow, she is the one who must keep her wall up. She hears the shower turn on, meaning the man she is trying her best to not think about it in his birthday suit cleaning himself. She tries to put all her attention on the book, refusing her thoughts to go crazy. Suddenly, two loud shots sound close by.

Samantha stills, the book falling from her hands. It only takes hearing one more pop to have her moving quicker than she ever has. She flies up the stairs and lowers the stairs of the attic. Her mind doesn't think of anything else other than to hide, so she may not suffer the fate of the reporter. After pulling the attic stairs back up, she hides behind the boxes stacked up against the wall. Breathing heavily, her vision clouds as she feels herself start to panic. A couple more pops sound, but her mind has taken her so far that she only hears them as far away background noise. She squeezes her eyes shut, the empty eyes of her mother appearing before her. She doesn't want to die. Jayden deserves a chance in the world. She tries to will herself to calm down, but as her memories and fear continues to clash, she can't focus on anything.

******

A bit of a shorter chapter I know

For those who might find her actions odd, she is being rude to Lucas so he isn't nice to her

Let's see how long she can keep that up

Like, share and comment

Love, love <3

PS: Please keep in mind the editing might be off 😭