(So guys! What did you think of that last chapter? That was a fun one for me to write! More tension between Sean and Finley! Gah, all the feels are killing me and I'm writing it, haha. Keep reading, it does get more intense. At least, I hope so. Reviews still very much needed! Thanks! Also, my French is a little rough, so excuse my mistakes. It can be hard to get an exact translation sometimes.)
Dinner was wonderful as always. It was just Nick, Juliette, and I, and I told Nick about Sean's thoughts on marriage. After a great deal of thought, Nick too thought it sounded like a brilliant idea. He agreed that with our titles, we could lead far more Wesen in the fight that would soon be upon us. He said we could change history and show that Grimms and Wesen could coexist without slaughtering each other.
Being a good guy though, Nick also understood why I didn't like the idea and had no intentions of actually doing it. After dinner and dessert, we sat around the living room with coffee.
"When do you start work?" Nick asked, his hand resting on Juliette's legs which were lying across his lap.
"Tomorrow night. So I need to stay up most of tonight and sleep tomorrow." That should be fairly easy I supposed, though I hadn't been on a third shift schedule in a very long time.
"Good luck with that. Thirds are the worst shift ever."
"I think I'll like it. Less time with Sean."
"You know, it's weird to hear someone who is on a first name basis with him." Nick said with a laugh. "He's just Captain or Renard to all of us."
"Well, living with him puts a different spin on things, I guess. Calling him Captain around home is a bit weird. I usually only do it when he is annoying me." They both laughed at this and I stood and stretched. "I better get home, guys. The Verrat is still following me."
"You armed?" Nick asked, standing along with Juliette.
"Yeah. Sean fastened a holster underneath my driver's seat. And I have a knife on me, as always." He nodded and leaned forward, kissing my cheek. Nick and I had already become close friends and it was nice to know that I had a group of people that had my back.
Juliette hugged me tightly for a moment. "Be safe."
I thanked them for the lovely dinner and company and then left to head home. No car was following me which I found to be a bit odd. Upon arriving back home, I realized why no one had followed me. The black car was here along with a second silver one.
My heart rate instantly hit triple digits and I slammed the car into park, sliding the Glock from underneath my seat. Dialing 911, I left the phone on my seat. I didn't have time to talk and I knew they would trace the call. Clicking off the safety, I ran toward the house, sweeping the gun in front of me. The door was ajar and I carefully made my way inside.
It was unnervingly quiet but I cautiously walked through the first floor. I had just gone through the living room entry way when I heard a loud grunt of warning. I spun, but was too late. Two men jumped me, knocking the gun from my hand. My body slammed into the carpeted floor, my face taking the brunt of the impact. I yelled out in pain as I felt my nose cracking, yet again. The weight of the two men was more than I could fight, though I did try.
It only took moments from them to subdue me and tie me to a chair, next to Sean. He was more restrained than I was, probably because the strength of the Zauderbiest in him far surpassed my own. His face was bloody and already bruising. I sent him a slightly frantic look.
"Well, I have to say, you are far prettier than I expected." The tallest of the men said. He was good looking, with black wavy hair and blue eyes. He had a day or two of stubble on his face and it worked. He gripped my chin and examined my face. "Sorry about the nose, but from the look of it, it was already broken."
I jerked my face to the side and he let go with a smirk. "Who are you?"
"You don't recognize me? Oh wait, of course you don't. I'm Damien Savreux Gaudot, your brother."
My heart sank and fear wormed its way through my bloodstream and into every part of my body. He was here to kill me. I guess it was lucky that he'd wanted to talk first, otherwise I'd already be dead. "Pleasure to meet you, Damien." I glanced at the other one, whose gun was still in hand but at his side. He didn't trust Renard not to break free and kill him. "You must be Jean-Luc." He just stared at me. "Mia said you were looking to kill me. I'm not really a threat, but apparently the French are a bit thick." Here I was, in mortal danger, and I was insulting the people that were in charge of the situation. Talk about one heck of a defense mechanism.
Damien's fist collided with my rib cage and I groaned, coughing a time or two to try and catch my breath. Sean was struggling against his restraints but to no avail. "Keep it up, Finley. I can do this all night." His accented voice said, slightly amused.
"Glad you're having fun. But it isn't really my fault that mommy's a slut." I was expecting the fist this time and he hit me so hard the chair fell over backwards. Jean-Luc now stood over me, his dark blue eyes blazing with anger.
"I'm going to kill you." His gun was pointed at my bloody face, and I closed my eyes, waiting to hear it go off. I wasn't ready to die but at least I wouldn't have to deal with this anymore. My life had been pretty average and I hadn't even done one thing on my bucket list.
"Jean-Luc! Arrêtez!" The silky, feminine voice caused my eyes to snap open. I saw the elegantly dressed blonde woman enter the room, her gun trained on my brother. Mia, I assumed. "Nous avons besoin d'elle vivante." I had no idea what was being said, but I hoped she was trying to convince him to let me live.
Jean-Luc reluctantly lowered the gun and backed away, but he was none too happy about it. "Elle n'est pas famille." That I understood. He was right, too. I wasn't family, not for real. Family had nothing to do with blood.
"She is, whether you like it or not." Mia switched to English, thankfully, and walked over, looking down at me and then over to Renard. She winced a bit. "Did you have to ruin his face?" She asked, running a finger along Sean's cheek bone.
Damien was about to answer but then his gaze snapped to the door as the sound of sirens could be heard in the distance. The three of them headed for the door, but Jean-Luc looked at me over his shoulder. "Ce n'est pas terminé, soeur." His words nearly dripped with venom.
They were gone in an instant and we heard their cars tearing away from the house. My tense body relaxed and I groaned softly. "Finley? Are you okay?" Sean's voice was fraught with concern.
"Peachy."
A few moments later, the door crashed open and Nick, Hank, and the man I now knew as Sgt. Wu came in, guns sweeping in front of them. "They're gone." Sean told them, and they holstered their weapons. Nick and Hank lifted my chair into a sitting position and untied me while Wu attended to Renard.
As Nick finished slicing through the cord that had held my wrists, Hank called for an ambulance. We both needed to be looked at, so neither of us protested. I rubbed my wrists before accepting a hand towel from Wu. My face hurt, badly, and my ribs were smarting. The towel was soon covered in blood, as was Sean's. He looked worse, probably because they had time with him before I had arrived. He had put up a fight, as had been evidenced by the few bruises I had noticed on Damien's face.
Finally able to look around a bit, I noticed a taser that was tossed haphazardly a few feet away from Sean's chair. So that is how they had managed to subdue him. I looked over at him and he was doing great with acting like he was okay.
The paramedics soon showed up and began attending to our wounds. After cleaning my face, they told me it was possible that I had a concussion. I wasn't surprised but I knew what to do so I wouldn't bother going to the hospital. Sean didn't want to go either, so I agreed to stitch the one spot on his face that needed it.
I gave Wu my statement while Sean talked with Nick. Hank checked the house just to be safe and when they were all satisfied, everyone left. A patrol car would be outside, just for added protection, and I had to admit that made me feel a bit safer. It took me only a few minutes to stitch the cut on Sean's face and then we changed clothes before collapsing onto the couch, holding bags of frozen vegetables to our sore faces.
I looked over at him. "You okay?" Our eyes met and he nodded.
"Yeah. I will be. You?"
"As good as can be expected." I winced as I used a finger to prod at my face. "After this past week, I really need plastic surgery. My poor nose will never be the same." The paramedics had set it, but there was no guarantee that it would heal correctly. This past week I had been attacked more than I usually was in three months' time. Apparently I was great at taking a beating, but I wasn't enjoying any of it. I really wanted a distraction so I glanced back at him. "Nick thinks marrying you would be smart." Sean would want to talk about this sooner or later, so I figured now was best. Neither of us had the energy to argue or fight about it.
"He's right."
I yawned and my face erupted into a volcano of pain. They had done some damage with that takedown. Taking a few minutes to breathe, I spoke again. "Doesn't mean I plan on doing it, pretty boy."
"Could it really be any worse than this?" He had me there. I wasn't sure that anything could be worse than the way I was feeling right now.
"You make a good point. The answer is still no. I want to marry for love, not to win some war that may or may not happen." We were both reclined against the back of the couch, feet on the coffee table.
"The war is happening, and probably soon. Tonight was just an example. They will find a way to kill you. Mia won't always be around to keep your brothers from taking you out of the Royal running." He grunted slightly and he rearranged to get comfy.
"Then we will find another way. Marriage is not an option."
The conversation ended after that and went spent the next several hours watching TV and keeping each other awake, just to be cautious. I would call work tomorrow and explain what happened, seeing if I could start next week.
oOo
My eyes slowly opened, blinking at the bright sunshine that was shining directly into them. Groaning softly, I glanced around. I was still in the living room, sprawled out on the couch. My head rested on one of the throw pillows, and that pillow happened to be on Sean's lap. His head was leaning back against the couch, lips slightly parted as he slept. The bruising on his face was much more evident now, but somehow he managed to look peaceful. His body was relaxed and devoid of the tension it normally carried. I had never seen him like this so I took a moment to enjoy it. People like him didn't get relaxed. Relaxed was dangerous, but after last night, we had both slept like logs.
His hand rested lightly on my torso and I was comfortable. I wasn't sure what time it was but I was guessing close to noon. Seeing my phone on the coffee table, I reached for it, trying not to disturb Sean. One of the guys must have grabbed it from my car last night. I had been too busy to worry about it. It was ten past noon and I softly. My head and face were throbbing so I gingerly moved to sit up. His hand tightened on my torso.
"But I'm comfortable." His words were slightly gravely from sleep. I hadn't known he was awake.
"Me too. But I want some Tylenol. Do you have any?"
He nodded slightly and carefully helped me sit up so he could stand. "Yeah. Be right back." I laid back down on the now empty couch and covered my face with my hands, gently of course. I needed a nice shower to wash off the dried blood and a change of clothes. But first, I needed to call my boss. I hadn't even started the job yet and already it could be in jeopardy.
(2 reviews on the last chapter! Yay. Thanks, guys!
Happy Owl: The line about being an alcoholic in need of anger management was my favorite! Glad you are loving the story! Hope things continue to play out the way you like.
XxMangoQueenxX: Thanks for reviewing! I am a fan of short chapters, and I want to keep you wanting more. Haha. Mean, I know. But I love to see people anticipating what will come next. The marriage proposal was just off the top of my head, so I ran with it. Glad you liked it. Also, even though I haven't reviewed or followed your current Grimm story, I am keeping track of it on my phone. Loving it!
Some of the sentences above were in French, so here are translations for those who don't speak or understand it: Mia said: "Jean-Luc! Stop! We may need her alive." Jean-Luc replied: "She is not family." And before he left, he said: "This is not over, sister.")