Chapter 20
"Any news on who shot up Kadienne's apartment building?"
Hanging from the bar of the salmon ladder, Oliver shook his head before going up another tier, sweat glistening all over the upper half of his body. "Not yet. Any of your contacts have an idea?" He hadn't checked on Kadienne since last week, solely focused on finding who tried to kill her.
So far, no suspects.
John wished he had any kind of information because he was afraid Oliver was on the verge of going off the deep-end. "Look man, you've been spending a lot of time under that hood this past week. Why don't you go home and check on things? Take a night off?" He suggested, setting his jacket down on the table.
Dropping down to his feet, Oliver squared his shoulders and began striking the wing chun dummy with his forearms. "I have more investigating to do tonight." He felt Diggle's hand on his shoulder and stopped the workout, shutting his eyes briefly. "I have to find whoever did this and make them pay."
"And you will…AFTER you go home, shower and relax for a night." John knew the other reason for Oliver avoiding the mansion. Kadienne. "You can't let what Kadienne said get to you…"
"Why the hell not?" Oliver snapped, shrugging his partner's hand off before continuing to hit the wing chun dummy as hard as he could. "She made it clear she has feelings for The Hood, not me." That hurt him to hear, especially after the dream he'd had about Felicity telling him to let her go and move on.
"Why does it matter? It's still you she has feelings for. So what if it's The Hood, it's still you." John pointed out, not understanding why Oliver was so upset about this revelation. "I know the dream freaked you out…"
Oliver growled warningly, shooting a glare toward Diggle while continuing his sharp strikes. "Don't! I never should've told you about that." He grumbled that last part out, enjoying the rapid pace of his heart. "Felicity loved me for ME, not the Vigilante. If Kadienne only wants the Vigilante, even though she slept with Oliver Queen, then I need to stay away from her."
"And let her pine over the man in the Hood?" John folded his arms in front of his chest disapprovingly. "Why not pay her another visit as The Hood and convince her to give Oliver Queen another chance?" It really disturbed him how Oliver referred to himself in the third person.
"I tried, she didn't listen to me. I told her the Hood couldn't be with anyone and had to be alone." Oliver stopped, breathing heavily from how hard he'd hit the wing chun dummy and grabbed the bars attached to it tightly, gritting his teeth. "She begged me not to abandon her like Oliver Queen did. I didn't mean to do it. I just…I was confused and didn't know how to handle what happened between us or even talk about it. And now I'm paying the price because I drove her right into the arms of The Hood. Hell, I even tried telling her she didn't love The Hood, she loved and wanted someone else, implying Oliver Queen, and THAT didn't work either. So tell me Diggle, what else can The Hood possibly say to get her to listen and see reason?"
John remained quiet for a minute, mulling over his partner's words and heaved a sigh. "You could try telling her how you feel as yourself – as Oliver Queen." It was the only suggestion he could come up with. "You've fallen for her and you can't deny it. Just like you couldn't deny how you felt for Felicity. You were too late to tell her; learn from that mistake."
Deep down, Oliver knew he was right, but the fear of being rejected weighed heavily on his mind. What if he couldn't make her happy the way the Vigilante did? There was so much darkness in Oliver's life and he never thought he'd find another light like Felicity Smoak…until he laid eyes on Kadienne Young. Leaving her alone right after making love wasn't a smart choice, but at the time Oliver needed to process what happened – what he allowed to happen. If anything ever happened to Kadienne, he would never forgive himself and it would be another life taken on his conscience.
"Fine."
"Fine?"
Oliver stepped away from the wing chun dummy and grabbed his grey t-shirt. He'd shower first before checking on Kadienne to see how she was doing. Luckily, there was a shower he installed within the Foundry prior to constructing and opening Verdant. Hopefully, Thea wouldn't mind him pulling Kadienne from her job to take her for a ride on his bike to somewhere they could talk privately.
"We'll take the night off." He knew Kadienne was currently upstairs working the club and performing her managerial duties. "But we're back to work tomorrow."
Smirking, John shook Oliver's hand and clapped him on the back, wishing him luck with Kadienne.
Besides a small sealed cut on her forehead, Kadienne was healed and back to normal day activities. She had a lot of energy to burn off after being bedridden for several days. Miraculously, Moira Queen didn't discover she was staying at the Queen mansion until she recovered. She supposed that was Oliver and Thea's doing, not questioning it. Now, however, it was time to leave and Kadienne still hadn't made the call to her father. Maybe she could stay at a hotel under an anonymous name until she found another place to live. Once again, Oliver hadn't spoken to her in a week and it didn't surprise her in the slightest. All she wanted was another visit from The Arrow, to feel his lips on hers and a chance to convince him they could be together. Kadienne just had to figure out a way to get him to come to her and so far, she came up blank with ideas.
"Everything good over here?" Thea asked with a smile, wearing a gold and black dress that sparkled under the strobe lights.
"Yeah, busy." Kadienne called over her shoulder while mixing another drink, helping out behind the bar because, once again, one of the bartenders had called off at the last minute. "I should be done here shortly and then I'll start the inventory for the night."
Thea waved her off dismissively. "I took care of it already. You can do it when we close…"
"Actually, I was hoping to steal Kadienne away for the rest of the night."
Thea turned around the same time Kadienne's head snapped up, both girls staring back at a freshly showered Oliver. Kadienne had to learn how to breathe at the sight of him in tight dark grey pants and a black long sleeved thermal shirt that clung to every muscle in his body. She could see the outline of his muscular arms and torso, remembering how incredible he felt on top of her during their romp at the hotel.
"Where have you been?" Thea demanded, planting her hands on her hips. Roy hadn't been able to track him down because it was as if Oliver disappeared off the face of the earth! "I've been worried sick about you!"
"Sorry, had to go out of town for some business." Oliver lied, the words rolling off of his tongue smoothly and kept his eyes fixated on the redheaded vixen behind the bar.
The dress Kadienne wore was dark red, had very short sleeves to the point of almost being sleeveless and hit mid-thigh, molding to every curve like a second skin. It was a hoop neckline and somehow the dress was both tantalizing and covered all the important parts. Her hair was down in loose fiery red curls that hung down to rest to the middle of her back and a few over her shoulders.
"I just got back tonight and figured I'd pop in to check on things."
"Or maybe you're lying through your teeth like you always do!" Thea snapped, unable to hold back her temper after the talk she'd had with Kadienne and stormed past him to the stairs.
Oliver's eyebrows rose almost to his hairline, staring after his sister's retreating form and looked back at Kadienne, who refused to meet his eyes. What the hell had he missed? As much as he wanted to go after Thea to find out what was wrong with her, Oliver had one goal in mind and that was talking to Kadienne. Maybe she would make sense of his sister's cold attitude towards him in the process.
"What do you want, Oliver?" Kadienne asked resignedly, not missing what he said about taking her away from her job for the rest of the night.
Either she had selective hearing or ignored what he told Thea. "The bartenders can handle it. I really need to talk to you. And I was hoping it could be somewhere more…secluded." He walked around the bar counter to stand in front of her, extending his hand with pleading ocean blues.
No matter how hard she tried fighting it, Kadienne couldn't deny she had feelings for Oliver. It was complicated being in love with two men and one was clearly out of reach. She was being split down the middle between Oliver and The Arrow, though Oliver had made his choice the moment he walked out on her after they had sex. Kadienne couldn't forgive and forget or put up with the hot and cold demeanor Oliver had. Disappearing for a week at a time with no explanation. What kind of relationship could that result in? In spite of all the doubts, Kadienne found herself taking his hand and letting Oliver guide her out of the club, grabbing her black long coat since Starling City was on the verge of winter.
"I won't be able to get on the back of your bike in this dress, if that's what you're thinking." Kadienne asserted, pulling her hand away from his as soon as they were outside and shoved both of hers in the pockets of her coat.
Oliver nodded, already having a contingency plan since riding his bike was out of the question and gestured to the waiting black car parked in front of Verdant. She shouldn't have been surprised he'd think of everything and she wouldn't be able to come up with an excuse not to go with him. Shaking her head, Kadienne followed him to the vehicle and stepped inside after he opened the passenger door. Within minutes, Oliver pulled away from the club and headed into the night toward an unknown destination.
"So what's going on with my sister? What did you two talk about?" Oliver asked, trying to make polite conversation and couldn't get the look of pure disdain and disgust in Thea's eyes out of his mind.
"Everything. I told her the truth, Oliver." Kadienne confessed, knowing there was no point hiding it from him. "I couldn't lie to her anymore."
He stopped at a red light, slowly looking over at her and gripped the steering wheel tightly in his hands. "I told you not to tell her anything, Kadienne. There's no leads on who brought the drug into the club. Now she's going to get herself in trouble by trying to find out who it is." He sounded frustrated, staring back at the road and slammed his foot on the gas as soon as the light turned green.
"She deserved to know and I couldn't lie to her about it anymore." Is this what he wanted to talk to her about? To grill and reprimand her about telling Thea the truth? "She knows you've been in contact with The Arrow too."
That made things even more complex. "He's the one who contacted me." Oliver amended through gritted teeth, doing his best to hold back his temper much like Thea did a week ago. "She shouldn't be mad at me for that. It was out of my control and I only did what he asked because of you."
"She's tired of being lied to, Oliver. Your sister isn't as dumb as people think she is. She knows you've been hiding something. You disappear for weeks on end and don't call to check in. And I never asked for your help and I don't know why The Arrow has gone to you for it twice. What do you expect her to think?" Kadienne barked, defending herself and folded her arms tightly in front of her chest. "Screw this, take me back to the club now. I don't want to be anywhere near you right now. You can be pissed at me all you want, but it's your fault for lying to your sister in the first damn place!"
Tough, she was stuck with him for the remainder of the night or until they resolved all of their issues. "No." He turned the corner, heading on the other side of the Glades.
"Oliver, take me back NOW!" Kadienne snapped, losing her temper this time and whacked him in the arm with her purse. "This is kidnapping!"
"You got in this car willingly. No it's not. We have a lot to talk about and you're gonna listen to what I have to say. So sit back and relax, we got at least 20 minutes before we get to our destination." Oliver ordered, keeping his voice even and low, stopping at another red light and locked the doors just in case Kadienne tried making a run for it.
Unbelievable! Kadienne wanted to claw his eyes out and stared straight ahead, pursing her lips tightly together. The moment they arrived at their destination, she planned on slapping him as hard as she could across his smug face. So what if she told Thea the truth about everything? Was it really that wrong of her to be honest with her best friend? Kadienne didn't regret letting Thea in on everything and never would, knowing she did the right thing.
Oliver could feel the anger radiating off of her and sighed; this night wasn't getting off to the start he hoped for. Maybe it wasn't the right time to have this talk and he should just take her back to Verdant. Granted, he didn't help matters by snapping at her over telling Thea the truth about the Vertigo and…The Hood. How the hell was he supposed to explain that one? One problem at a time, he thought, coaching himself mentally and kept driving toward their destination.
The rest of the drive was made in silence, the tension so thick in the air it couldn't be cut with the sharpest knife. Not even a sword. They'd been doing this dance for over a month where they came together, but something always pulled them apart. Pulled Oliver away. He knew what it was and the sacrifice he had to make in saving the city from corruption and evil. Oliver was tired of being unhappy and alone; the dream about Felicity was a sign for him to be with Kadienne. Diggle was right and he didn't want to die in the basement of his club as The Hood – The Vigilante – The Arrow. Pulling into the driveway, Oliver barely put the vehicle in park and made the mistake of unlocking the doors before Kadienne hastily got out, slamming the door behind her.
"Whoa – whoa, where are you going?!" Oliver demanded, catching up to her quickly and stepped in front of her to stop Kadienne from walking, staring down in her acidic eyes. "Kadienne, we're in the middle of nowhere and it'll take forever for you to get back to the city. Just come inside with me and talk. Please."
"Why? So you can scold and berate me some more about telling your sister the truth? No thanks, I'll pass." Kadienne tried stalking past him only for Oliver to step in front of her again, this time yanking her against him to wrap his arm around her waist. "Let go of me!"
She had to be the most stubborn woman on the planet. It was no wonder Oliver had fallen in love with her and only admitted to himself when he was sure he had reclaimed his heart from Felicity. "Never." He didn't want to do it this way, but Kadienne left him no other alternative.
A second later, his mouth captured hers in a passionate searing kiss full of promise, need and want.