Tortured Sinner by Tessa James

Johnny - 32

Istop by the diner to pick up Claire a few minutes before her shift is over, and Bram informs me she’s already gone. I try not to freak out and send her a text to let her know I’m done.

Considering how nervous she always is when I leave, I assume she’ll read it and respond immediately.

But she doesn’t.

“Do you know where she went?” I ask Bram while attempting to hide my emotions.

He shakes his head while clearing off a table. “Nope. We weren’t busy, so I let her go.” He stops and faces me, seeming to pick up on my distress anyway. “Is something wrong?”

“No.” I lie. “I’m sure everything is fine.”

“Johnny…”

“I’m on edge. It’s probably nothing.” I make my way to the door. “Call me if you hear from her.”

I bolt back to the complex. It's possible she went home to shower and change out of her diner clothes. Or maybe she's studying. There are plenty of reasonable explanations as to why she hasn't replied yet.

She could be in trouble, my brain reminds me.

I shake the thought away, not wanting to hyper-focus on that theory.

She has to be okay; I won’t accept any other reality.

I key in my code, granting me access, and rush through the empty courtyard, praying like hell the whole time that she's upstairs, completely unharmed.

Griffin might be lying in a hospital bed, inches away from death, but countless other things could threaten Claire, especially in this world I allowed her to step into.

I pound on her door and peer through the window for any sign of her. “Claire, you in there?” A minute goes by and when she doesn’t answer, I bolt down the hallway to my own place. I had given her a key to use, so maybe she decided to come over instead of going home. We’ve been spending so much time together that it seems like a possibility. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself.

I enter my foyer and I’m greeted by the sound of my heartbeat thudding through the heavy silence. I pause and listen—nothing else. That could mean a number of things, like maybe she’s taking a nap. Shit has been overwhelming lately, she could have needed some rest. But with each step closer to my bedroom, I remember her confession last night about not being able to fall asleep without me.

Who’s to say she isn’t trying, though?

I hold my breath and step into the room. A second later, I’m back out, rushing toward the front door. She’s not here. She’s not answering. She must be in trouble.

An invisible clock starts flashing in my mind, blinking a warning that time is running out. What if I’m too late? Like I almost was when Griffin came. Or last night when Jared was going to…

I can’t even let my mind continue the vile thought. I’ve never killed someone before, but last night, the idea of ending Jared’s life for what he could have done to Claire was insanely strong. If it wouldn’t have only further put her in danger, I may have gone through with it.

I reach for the handle but am startled when it turns, the door opening, and a beautiful angel standing on the other side.

“Claire.” It’s like I can finally breathe. I drag her in and wrap my arms around her. “Fuck, are you okay? I’ve never been more worried in my life.” Each time Claire’s life is threatened is a new and intense knife to the gut. Getting used to caring about someone so intensely is a shock to my system.

Claire hugs me tight, not saying a word. Her body relaxes into mine like she feels the same way I do.

It’s then that I notice the protruding thing between us.

I break away, but only slightly, to look into her eyes.

She stares back and swallows thickly. She brings her hands to her stomach and fumbles under the thin sweatshirt she’s only wearing to cover her bruised arms. Claire drags out a blood-stained package, and if I thought my heart was going to explode earlier, I was wrong.

I gasp, totally incapable of hiding my shock. A million things cross my mind in a matter of seconds, but each one of them ends with having no fucking clue how she pulled this off.

“What did you do?” I ask her in utter disbelief.

“I…I got this…for you.” She shoves it toward me.

"How?" I take the package from her. And although I'm fucking thrilled it's here, I can't begin to imagine the lengths she had to go through to retrieve it.

She blinks and seems to snap out of her daze. “You promise you won’t freak out?”

I breathe in deeply in a desperate attempt to calm myself from doing the very thing she thinks I’m going to do. We’ve only been in each other’s lives a short time, but she already knows me well.

“Okay,” I finally say quietly, not sure whether or not I’ll be able to pull it off, but for her, I’ll try.

Claire averts her gaze and reaches behind her, pulling out another surprise to completely throw me off balance.

I want to grab the gun from her—throw it into the ocean and get it as far away from her as possible. But the way she holds it, rigid yet loosely, with her finger running straight, showing perfect trigger control, tells me that she’s either a natural or potentially experienced in this department.

Still, the urge to get any possible threat away from her is strong.

And so, her mouth opens once more, and she explains how she came into possession of both items. The conversation she overheard, the internal battle she faced on whether or not she should go, the gun, and Jared showing up when he did and how she forced him to tell her where the package was located. Part of me thinks she’s leaving fragments out, not wanting to tell me the whole story. The other part of me is in awe of how she handled the situation.

Yeah, of course, I'm pissed that she was incredibly reckless, but damn am I proud of her, too.

“He said it was Steve and some guy named Boston?” She’s sitting on the couch now, her elbow propped up on the back of it while she’s facing me.

The stolen package sitting on the coffee table, the gun resting beside it.

I scan my memory for anyone by that name, only settling on a smaller built dude who’s new to Franklin’s organization. Clearly, there’s no way he matches the description of one of the assholes who beat me up.

Meaning only one thing—Jared lied.

And if that’s the case, he more than likely was involved in what happened, he was just too fucking afraid of Claire to admit it. He must have been genuinely concerned that she was going to shoot him if he wouldn’t admit to his role in what went down.

That alone brings me a sense of comfort, knowing Claire put that much fear in him.

I’ve sensed it from the beginning—this hidden strength under the surface, something that no one has ever supported or allowed her to embrace.

Claire has been plagued by shitty people controlling her, bringing her down, and the time for that to stop has finally come. And I think she’s realizing it, too.

“J…do you know a Boston?” She stares at me, waiting for a response.

I shrug. “I’m not sure. Maybe. I’m bad with names.” If my gut is right, and Claire is willing to shoot someone because of what happened, I don’t exactly want to admit the whole truth just yet. I need her emotions to settle down before she grabs the gun and finishes them off.

It’s strange though, to have a person who cares this much in your life. I sort of got used to doing everything on my own. I fight my battles alone because that’s what I grew up doing. I never knew my dad, and I lost my mom young. My aunt got custody of me, but it was my cousin who sort of took me under his wing. Eventually, they both left, too. Her to an overdose and him to the army. I’ve known Bram most of my life, but I’d never expect anything from him. Hell, I even feel guilty when he won’t let me pay for my food.

“Are you mad at me?” Claire’s question snaps me back to reality.

I place my hand on her knee. “No, of course not.” I rub my thumb along her silky skin. “Just promise me you won’t do anything that dangerous without telling me first?” It’s not that I want to control her, but more so that I can be there if something goes wrong. We’re a team now, and I don’t want her to think she has to do stuff alone, either.

“I wanted to; I really did. I just didn’t want to distract you while you were working.” Claire shifts closer to me. “Your job is already consuming enough.”

Tucking her hair behind her ear, I tell her, “But you’re more important, okay?”

She leans into my touch and her eyes close.

“I’m serious.” I silently plead with her to understand the lengths I would go to protect her. It makes no sense how she could mean this much to me so soon, but she does, and I can’t allow anything to come in the way of that.

Her lids open and that gorgeous blue stare pierces me. “What are you going to do?”

“Good question.” I flit my attention to the contraband sitting on the table waiting for me to make a decision.

* * *

“You’re sure?” Claire asks me, a hint of fear lingering in her tone.

I nod. “Yes.” Although, I hate the uncertainty that threatens to wreck me.

Claire grips my face in her hands. “You’ll let me know the second you’re done?”

“Yes, not a moment later.” That is, if I’m not dead.

“I could come with you.”

“No, not this time. I have to do this alone.” It’s not my persistent fear of letting someone in that enforces this, it’s the fact that this is entirely too dangerous to involve anyone who isn’t already tangled up with Franklin. Claire has already put herself in harm’s way by exposing herself to Jared, but I have to bank on the fact that he hasn’t come clean with Franklin about what happened just yet. If what Claire tells me is true about how badly she scared him, Jared might not tell him at all. Apparently, her performance was pretty convincing.

“Okay.”

I place my hand on her waist and pull her closer despite the package tucked into my waistband preventing us from touching our bodies completely together. I breathe her in and bask in this moment because it will be gone before I know it. I stare into her eyes and memorize every swirl of blue and fleck of gold.

“Don’t you dare say goodbye,” she tells me.

I press my lips to her forehead. “Nope, just a see ya later.”

Claire stands taller, bringing her mouth to mine. Her kiss is soft and desperate, and makes me wish I could stay here with her forever.

But I can’t. Not with the way things are.

I walk out my front door, leaving a piece of me behind. I want to glance over my shoulder, to look at her beautiful face one last time, but that would only make me feel like it really was goodbye. And I refuse to believe this is the end of our story. There has to be more.

Her gaze burns a hole through me as I make my way down the stairs and across the courtyard. It lingers even when I exit the complex and disappear out of her line of sight.

I continue on my journey, crossing the street and taking my normal path to where Franklin is most Sundays. I haven’t fully decided what I’m going to say, but one thing is certain: I have to get him the package.

Each step closer to him is one further away from Claire. I fight the desire to turn around, to run back to her and pack what we need and run far, far away from here. To use what money I have saved and seek refuge in another place. That’s not an option, though. Not when so much is still on the line. If I quit now, all the progress I made with Billy will have been for nothing. I can’t stop until everything falls into place. I just hope we can make it that long.

I round the corner to the dim and damp alley. Despite the sun still being out, the buildings cast a dark shadow, creating an ominous atmosphere that could be straight out of a mob movie. It’s fitting, considering the circumstances.

“What’s up, J?” Josey greets me from his usual spot near the back entrance.

I haven’t seen much of him since our meeting in the bar. He’s managed to keep his distance from me, and I don’t blame him. If Franklin found out he gave me insider info on how to locate the package, I can only imagine what he would do to both of us.

“Boss in?” I ask him.

He stares at me like he’s trying to read my mind and then finally says, “Yeah, give me a second.” Josey opens the door, disappears inside, and then comes back out. “Go ahead, he’s waiting for you.”

I grip the handle of the metal door and pause to take a steadying breath.

Josey pats me on the shoulder. “Good luck, kid.”

I step into the smoky area, making my way further until I'm standing in the same room I've been in countless times before. Each meeting was stressful, but nothing like what I'm feeling right now. The outcome of this visit could go any number of ways, and the majority end up with Franklin having someone put a bullet between my eyes. The rumors of Franklin's wrath are enough to worry anyone doing business with him.

Today though, I hope to take back a little of that power.

“This better be good.” Franklin sets his crystal glass of brown liquid onto the table. He folds his arms across his wide chest and leans back in his chair.

I move my hands to reach into my waistband.

All four of the men posted up in each corner draw their weapons and aim them at me.

I stop completely, not wanting to die just yet. I’d at least like to see the reaction on Franklin’s face when I show him that I was capable of pulling off the impossible. Well, Claire was, but I’ll leave that part out of it.

Franklin nods at the goon to his left, somehow communicating with him to step forward and finish the task that I started out to do.

The large, broad-shouldered man approaches, lifts up my shirt, and retrieves the bloodied package and hands it to Franklin.

“Hmph.” Franklin tilts his head to the side, a faint bit of disbelief showing through. “How’d you pull it off?”

“It’s better not to ask questions.” I boldly tell him the same thing he’s told me when I got curious about stuff in the past. I shouldn’t speak to him like this, but I’d rather avoid divulging any details if I can. It keeps everyone else involved safer. There’s absolutely no way I’m going to admit Josey or Claire played a huge role in helping me.

Franklin laughs, which surprises me even more. “Fair enough.” He examines the package for a brief moment and tosses it across the table toward me. “Keep it.”

Not exactly the reaction I was expecting. Why was he so hell-bent on having me find it if he was willing to just let it go?

“What?” I say in disbelief.

“For your trouble.” Franklin takes a long drag from his cigar and sets it onto the ashtray. Smoke billows from his mouth and he continues, “You’ve proven yourself quite resourceful, Johnny.”

Am I supposed to thank him? He and I both know that this was a setup, but neither one of us seem to want to admit it.

Franklin cranes his finger toward the man behind me, motioning for him to come over. Franklin whispers something into his ear.

“Yes, sir. Consider it taken care of,” the man responds, and then disappears out the door I entered from.

Panic rises within me at the idea of him going after Josey, but on the slight chance that he isn’t, I can’t react, because then Franklin would absolutely know he was in on it. Instead, I remain as unaffected as possible.

Still, there’s the lingering uncertainty of what happens next. “Are we, uh, good?” Meaning, is he going to go back on our prior arrangement and rope Billy back into this line of work? Or is something worse going to happen that I haven’t already considered? With Franklin, it’s like a game of Russian-fucking-roulette.

Franklin’s dark eyes glare at me. “For now, yeah. Take the package and get out.”

I do as he demands, swiping the stupid thing off the table and leaving without another word. I shove it into its home in my waistband for hopefully the last time. I pick up my pace without seeming too eager to leave.

I bust through the door and it takes my eyes a second to adjust.

“You good?” Josey’s voice appears as my sights settle onto his big figure.

Relief settles over me along with the urge to freaking hug and thank him for all he’s done, but I can’t.

Instead, I grip his shoulder firmly. “Yeah.” I try to telepathically say all the things I want to, and in a way, it’s like he does the same. “I’ll catch you later.”

I leave him behind and drag my phone out of my pocket, following through with what I had promised Claire. I swipe over to the text screen and thumb a quick message.

Me: I’ll be home soon.

And for the first time since all of this started, I feel like I might actually be able to pull this all off.