In the morning, John woke up first as usual. Alice had her long blouse pajama curled up to her waist again, and this time she was wearing a pair of black cotton Victoria's Secret cheekie style panties, which made her ass look great. Her body was still touching John's and he could notice the light freckles covering her smooth skin. He blushed and pressed his head against the bedframe, noticing he was rock hard and couldn't let her see this when she woke up, he got out of bed carefully to avoid waking her up, then headed to the bathroom. He definitely needed a cold shower.
After about 5 minutes, Alice woke up with the sound of the shower. It was a very beautiful and bright morning outside, she could see that through the floor-to-ceiling windows heading to John's bedroom balcony, although it looked cold. She looked around exploring the room and just now she could notice the details in his bedroom. It was a peaceful, elegant and organized place, just like the rest of the house. Being so close to him these past few days was enough for her to conclude he was a very methodic person. When she looked at a corner of the bedroom she was surprised as she realized there was a dog's bed there, she didn't see or hear any dog around though and found it funny to think about John as a dog owner, she noted it mentally to ask him later. Alice's thoughts were interrupted as she heard the shower stop, she judged it would be better to go back to her bedroom to freshen up and also to give John some privacy for him to get dressed after his shower.
John got out of shower, wrapped his towel around his waist as always and opened the bathroom door to find his bed empty. A pinch of disappointment hit his guts, deep inside he wish he could see that delicious scene one more time. He shook his head and got in the closet to choose the clothes for the day, a black pair of jeans and a dark blue long-sleeved t-shirt. Gosh, how sexy he looked... Before he put the t-shirt on, he thought it would be prudent to check with Alice if he could already leave his stitches uncovered. He headed to Alice's bedroom and heard the bathroom faucet being turned off, he knocked loudly on the bedroom door to announce his presence.
When Alice got out of the bathroom, John was in her room, shirtless, wet hair falling on his face, wearing just the pair of black jeans, which left the band of his Calvin Klein underwear showing. He looked heavenly.
— Good morning. Are you feeling better? John asked, sounding truly interested in her well-being.
— Good morning, John. Yes, I'm feeling much better, thanks for being so kind to me. Alice said, looking down, both because she was deadly ashamed for being such an intrusive person the night before and also because otherwise she wouldn't be able to stop staring at his gorgeous body.
— I huh...wanted to check with you, do you think it's ok to leave this cut uncovered already? Now that I have a doctor at home I'll take advantage of it, right? John said smiling timidly and slightly turning his body so Alice could have a better view of his ribs.
— Let me see it. Alice said, but deep inside she wanted to run back to the bathroom and get under cold water.
Alice approached him, touched his ribs, and noticed this caused him goosebumps and his nipples got hard. She briefly analyzed the stitches and said it would be ok to leave it uncovered at this point, and in fact, he had a pretty fast healing so probably in a day or two she could remove the stitches completely already.
— Good to know. He said. — Thank you again for your help on this. I could have died too if it wasn't fo you.
— It was nothing.. really. Alice answered blushing, while standing up.
They were too close and kept staring at each other as if there was a magnet preventing them from looking away. Alice was suddenly hypnotized by John's scent, fresh from the shower, mixed with his unmistakable cologne, and those cruel eyes. She looked at his lips, then back at his eyes, her face was now very serious, her honey eyes were dark again with desire. John realized it, but couldn't move away. He too thought Alice had hypnotizing eyes.
With everything that was happening, Alice thought life was too short not to do whatever the hell she wanted at this point, so she raised her head and softly kissed John's lips, keeping her eyes open to see his reaction. John fought internally, hesitating for a few seconds, but he was losing the fight.
— Alice, what are you doing? John whispered, their lips still touching as he had no power to move away from her. All he was able to do was to place both hands on Alice's head to look directly in her eyes.
— I have no idea. Alice whispered back, insisting on the kiss and then sucking on John's bottom lip.
Alice's lips were so warm, juicy and soft... John gave up resisting and parted his own, allowing her tongue to invade and explore him. His hands moved to Alice's hair, holding her firmly while kissing her with passion, urgency. Both were breathless and dying with so much desire, when suddenly John stopped and stepped back.
— We can't! I can't do this — he said breathless and confused, shutting his eyes as if he was internally struggling to say those words.
— Oh my God... I-I'm so sorry. This was totally inappropriate from my part. I am really sorry. I don't know what's wrong with me. Alice said, her voice already breaking, and she ran back to the bathroom and shut the door behind her.
She started crying silently, covering her mouth, and sat on the floor, her back against the door thinking to herself "what the fuck were you thinking, you stupid idiot!", and buried her head on her knees.
John was petrified, his lips were still parted and wet with Alice's taste. He felt a million things at this moment, but most of all he felt anger, so much anger against himself. He kept repeating in his head that he had no right to do this to this woman's life, he couldn't ruin and complicate things more than they already were. That Viggo was right: everything he touches gets cursed, everything he approaches turns into a pile of pain and suffering because he only deserves to suffer in this life. He couldn't handle making her go through what...Helen went through. He didn't merit love again, most importantly, he didn't deserve to feel loved, desired, ever again. He couldn't and was not worthy of it and he was wrong and irresponsible to have allowed it, allowed himself to even get attracted to this woman in the first place, to get close to her in any non-professional way, to care for her. If that was not enough, John knew he was putting his own life at risk for doing that. It must be over, things will need to be strictly professional from now on.
John shook his head and stopped right in front of the bathroom door. He raised his hand as if he was going to knock, but gave up after a few seconds and stormed out of the room, he needed to refresh his mind.
After crying her eyes out, knowing pretty well she was reacting like this not just because of what just happened, but for everything hitting her together, feeling real, hurting her, Alice stood up and looked at herself on the mirror, face and eyes as red as her hair, feeling disgusted with herself, with her audacity and imprudence.
— Fuck, what have I done? What. Was. I. Thinking? Ugh, I'm so stupid... I've got to get out of here, I can't stay at John's place, he might think I'm a slut now. I need to run away from here, from this life. Alice got dressed with the warmest clothes she could find in her bag, packed her few other personal things and was decided to disappear, not exactly knowing where to though. She went downstairs but noticing the house was too silent she observed a piece of paper on the kitchen's marbled counter top. It was a note written in blue ink with a pretty peculiar handwriting:
Forgive me for the indiscretion. I'll be right back so we can talk.
Alice bit her bottom lip as strong as she could to avoid tearing up again. She sighed and thought it was the perfect opportunity to avoid the awkwardness of facing him again before leaving. She completed the bottom half of the paper:
This is my own fault.
Feeling heavy on her chest, and thinking how could she fall so ridiculously fast for someone, especially under these circumstances, she gave a last look at his place and walked out of the house as fast as she could to avoid giving it up. It was cold, but very bright outside, thankfully not snowing, and the sky was completely blue. Although the cold wind was sharp against her face, and she certainly was not wearing the appropriate clothes for the weather, it made her feel good somehow, relieved. Unfortunately, though, she had to walk for about 10 minutes to finally see a cab, since she didn't have a phone anymore.
— Hi, good morning. I'm going to Bleecker Street, West Village, please. Alice said shaking with the cold.
— Yes, ma'am. The cab driver said giving her a double stare through the mirror, as if he was surprised to see her. — Sorry for the indiscretion but... Are you Dr. Geller? from the National Medical Magazine? He asked.
— I..huh.. yes, it's me. Alice said, a little ashamed to be looking like a complete mess right now. The driver smiled weirdly and looked at her through the mirror again, giving her a disgusted cold shiver down her spine. At this very moment Alice started regretting her decision and realized she was still in great danger. Sadly, it was too late now, as she heard the cab driver locking the car doors and talking to someone on his phone as he started to drive too fast "I got her".
Alice started panicking and screaming what the hell was happening and where he was taking her.
— Shut the fuck up, bitch, or I'll have to tell them you were too noisy to be delivered alive. He said revealing a shiny silver gun that was hidden under his sit.
Alice curled herself on the back sit and started crying as silently as she could. She was so much terrified that she started feeling nauseous. She was praying that it was just a nightmare and she would wake up at any moment, but as soon as the cab stopped near a very deserted street, in front of a very suspicious building, she had to accept it was very much real life.
Two huge men approached the car, opened the door and grabbed her by her arms as if she was a piece of paper.
— Please don't hurt me, I don't know what you want from me! Alice screamed and tried to get rid of their grip, causing one of the men to slap her in the face. It was so strong that she was completely knocked out.
— Etot deystvitel'no krasivyy, da?* — One of the men said in what sounded like Russian and laughed loudly.
John was driving fast and recklessly in what looked like an empty plane parking space, this was one of the only things that could help him drain his mind out of his stormy thoughts. He was forcing the shit out of his mustang, thinking to himself that he should probably call George and ask to be replaced, or find an excuse to keep away in "field missions", when a beep on his phone made him freeze completely and immediately stop the car, making the brakes cry and his hair cover his face.
— Holy Sh... Fuck! He said, punching the steering wheel. — What are you doing, Alice... John cursed forcing his head against the back of his sit.
John managed to tag a GPS on Alice's bag, just to play safe, which would warn him on his phone whenever it moved more than 20 feet away from his house. With this, he could see the exact moment she left and could also notice she was now moving too fast on the map. This could not be just a ride on the park. He immediately changed his path and followed Alice's trace, although he was about 30min late behind.
When Alice managed to open her eyes, waking up after being knocked out for about 10 minutes, she was sitting in a dark room, with just a feeble light over her head, which looked like a bizarre interrogation room. As she recovered her senses, she felt her left cheek pulsing in pain and noticed a few drops of blood on her shirt. Her hands were tied behind her back, fixed to the chair she was sitting on. Her whole body ached with the tension and stress.
Alice jumped on the chair when the door in front of her opened violently to reveal a tall fat man, probably in his 60's, who had foreigner traces and looked repugnant smoking a spit-soaked cigar.
— Look who's up! Ha-ha. The fire hair bitch! He scorned, in a strong accent that Alice believed sounded like Russian just like the other guys.
Alice kept silent, shaking with fear, tears rolling down her cheeks silently, causing the cut on her cheek to sting.
— Those bastards from The Circle... They robbed me, ya know?! They've ruined my business. I'm going to make them pay! He screamed with hatred bursting from his eyes. — And now you will tell me every little detail, every little secret that you know. The man added, speaking suddenly in a low voice, getting close to Alice's face to touch her lips with his thumb. Alice felt her stomach protesting in disgust to the man's hand and had to reunite all her strength to keep from vomiting right away.
— I d-don't.. know wh-what information you would want from m-me. Alice said sobbing.
— Oh my little darling... He put one strand of Alice's hair behind her right ear. — Don't ya play with me. The man said between his teeth, sliding his left hand down Alice's right arm. He untied it from the chair, and violently pulled it forward, planting it over the table in front of her and lifting the long sleeve from her sweater. He sucked on his damp cigar, causing it to burn stronger and with his other hand he pressed the lit tip against her delicate forearm skin, slowly burning it, causing her to scream her lungs out and squirm on the chair. He was firmly planting her arm against the table and her left arm was still tied, not allowing her to get rid of it. — I know you are the brillant bitch responsible for this shitty company's medical projects. Don't you dare play with me! I can give you a collection of scars if you don't cooperate, and I can assure you that I will enjoy every second. He screamed and licked his lips nastily. He let her arm go, and Alice curled with pain on the chair, shaking while looking to the burn mark left on her skin, crying loud this time.
Alice's sobs and screams were interrupted by a desperate man who arrived running, out of breath.
— Ser, Babayaga zdes'!
— UGGHH! FUCK. You bunch of incompetents! The man grunted and punched the table, causing it to crack a little. — Stay here with this bitch, I need to get out of here before John Wick finds me. I'll send backups to get you out. Ona nuzhna mne zhivaya. He added, while Alice could not believe her ears when she heard John Wick's name, filling her with a sparkle of hope within her soul.
The fat man vanished, being replaced by the other one, who was literally shaking in despair, while pointing a gun to Alice's head. After a while, they started hearing endless gun shots and male grunts that lasted for several minutes, until it all turned bizarrely silent. The scared man then started stepping back, trying to have a sneak peak out of the room, but still pointing the gun at Alice. When about 50% of his head was out of the door, it was suddenly blown up in bloody pieces, causing Alice to jump on the chair again, watching in slow motion the headless body hit the floor and a puddle of blood accumulate around it.
Five seconds later, John Wick materialized in front of the door. Breathing heavily, blood soaking his right shoulder, he was holding his gun firmly with his left hand, but relaxed when he saw there was no-one else in the room with her.
— For fuck's sake, Alice. John groaned, breathless. His eyes were wild and angry, an expression that was new to Alice, but at the exact moment he realized she was hurt, he frowned and sorrow replaced his expression.
Alice was shocked, her whole body was shaking, even her head, her eyes were wide open. John approached her and asked if she could walk, untied her left arm and legs and helped her stand up. She nodded yes, although her legs felt like jelly, and they left the place as fast as they could. Alice was practically being dragged by John. She was turning her head in disbelief on their way out, looking at the dozens of bodies and puddles of blood left on the floor. John is an assassin, a merciless one, she thought.
The drive back at John's place was completely quiet. He was pressing the steering wheel as hard as his jaw, fighting tears from flooding his eyes. He was just realizing he was already too attached to this woman. He was also feeling guilty for having left her alone when he was responsible for her and was being paid to protect her no matter what. The idea of her suffering, being hurt or being killed was unbearable to him, especially if caused by his mistake. However, what was bothering him so much was the fact that he knew his reaction was not normal, he never felt this way with any of his previous "body-guard" jobs, or actually with anyone else since... Helen.
Alice was numb, sitting with her feet up on the car sit, hugging her knees, as this position made her feel slightly comforted. She looked through the car window and could not believe how ironically beautiful the day was. It was now the sunset time and the sky was a bright pink. Her heart ached as she just wished her life was normal again and she could be cozy sipping on a hot coffee, watching the day end somewhere safe.
John parked in his garage, turned the car engine off, and kept holding the steering wheel for what seemed an eternity, looking blankly to the wall in front of them. After a moment, John finally turned to his right, with difficulty since his shoulder was fucked up.
— Please… Just don't do this again. He spoke blinking his eyes slowly, almost whispering, and it was possible to sense real affection in his voice.
All Alice could do was nod positively, completely out of strength. Her fragile figure caused John to simply not resist and hug her, caressing her hair with his left hand. It was ridiculous how beautiful she looked, even after all she had just been through.
— Let's get clean. He said, cupping her face in his hands. — We can talk all this through later, ok? It was almost incredible for Alice to hear this man saying these words in such a caring way, after seeing what he is capable of doing, mercilessly and coldly.
Alice went upstairs to her bedroom while John noticed the piece of paper he left on the counter top showed a new sentence, in the most lovely handwriting, compared to his.
This is my own fault.
He rested his elbows on the counter, crumpled the piece of paper inside his left hand and rested his forehead over his fist, feeling completely lost. John hated feeling like this. He liked having control over everything, every detail, this is how his brain works, this is why he's so good at what he does. Because he has total control over every movement, every step. Being attracted to someone, being so close to falling in love again, was dangerous, and now not only for himself, but also for Alice since it was his actual job to protect her. He was now vulnerable, he now had a weak point.
The mission was compromised.
When John was finally able to shake those thoughts off, he went upstairs too as he desperately needed a shower and would also need Alice's help with his shoulder.
Meanwhile, Alice finally decided she was clean enough and got out of the shower, putting on the now familiar giant fluffy robe, the only piece of clothes available for her now. She wanted to cry again when she remembered all her stuff was left behind on the cab, although a sparkle of relief crossed her brain for having left her laptop behind, safe on John's couch.
Needing to take care of her injuries, Alice got out of the bedroom as quietly as she could and felt relieved hearing the shower from John's room. She immediately felt immature, but she just wanted to procrastinate their encounter as much as possible. She headed to the kitchen, where she knew there was an emergency kit.
Using the oven glass as mirror, she gave herself 2 painful stitches on the cheek. For the cigar burn, since the robe was long-sleeved, she would have to take her arm off it to take proper care. Just now she realized her wrist showed a mix of greenish purple bruises, caused by the fat man's grip. At the exact moment she placed her naked arm over the kitchen counter, moaning a little, John arrived.
— Let me help you.
— Ok. Alice just accepted the fact that taking care of it with her left hand would be pretty hard.
— Who did this to you? John asked frowning, visibly upset, anger filling his eyes again.
— A fat disgusting man burned my arm with his nasty cigar. Alice said with her voice breaking, remembering the moment.
— Son of a bitch...John punched the marbled counter top. - And this? John carefully caressed her cheek with his thumb — I could have helped you with this, I know how painful it is to give yourself stitches…
— I couldn't see very well, they slapped me and it knocked me out… but I believe he is one of the guys you already... took care of... Do you know them? And do you know who is the disgusting man? He kept saying The Circle robbed him, fucked his business up...
— Yes. By your description and by some of the men I met there and I already knew from previous jobs… His name is Dimitri Morozov. He represents one of the dominant families of the Russian mob that commands in New York. At least now we know who is our target. I need to share this information with George. John said, while applying some medicine over Alice's burn, covering it with a bandage.
— But… Are you going to tell George about… all that…happened? Alice said with her eyes wide open.
— Don't worry, I will make sure to let a few details out of the way. John said in a low voice, lightly caressing Alice's bruised wrist.
— Thank you. Alice said with a timid smile. — Now let me check you shoulder.
John was shirtless, in just a pair of deep blue sweat pants, still holding his black T-shirt, since his shoulder was still bleeding pretty bad and he would need to have it taken care of before getting fully dressed. This time Alice would make sure to keep strictly professional.
— Hmm… another stab. Alice said while examining him — This time it was a little deeper, reaching at your muscle pretty bad, a different kind of knife too. Pretty painful, but it's out of danger as it didn't get any nerves, but I recommend you immobilize it for a couple of days. I'll clean it and stitch you up.
John was amazed by how her whole figure changed when she was acting as a real doctor. He admired her and secretly found it pretty attractive. John nodded and bit his shirt. After about 15 minutes of torture, Alice finished it and helped him get fully dressed. The tension between them could be felt in the air, but they just acted like nothing had happened.
— I'll make us a sandwich, ok? We can eat on the couch, I'm so fucking tired... John said in a deep voice and Alice just agreed, putting the emergency kit back on its place and disposing the rest in the trash.
— Can I help you somehow? Alice asked.
— Don't need to. You can go to the couch, you really need to rest too.
After about 10 minutes John sat on the couch, next to Alice who was watching the news on TV just as a background noise since her mind was miles away. He brought 2 turkey salad sandwiches and 2 glasses of orange juice. Alice thought she was not hungry but as soon as she started eating she realized she was starving. Her body needed to recover energy.
— Thank God I left my laptop here. But... you will need to borrow me some clothes. Alice broke the silence, devouring the sandwich.
— I wouldn't mind sharing my wardrobe with you at all. John said. — But actually, why don't you shop something online? Just to be safe, I recommend you send it to this address. John said, reaching out to his phone to show Alice an unknown address. — I'll have them inspect everything and send them over here.
— That is a great idea!
— Oh and you will need to use the company credit card information. Since you don't have yours anymore, you can use mine. John opened his dark brown leather wallet and handed it to Alice. — You already know how it works, right? By the way, I've already asked the administrative sector to handle the documents you've lost, in a few days you'll have them back.
Alice finally felt a sparkle of joy. John was really organized and focused, and it was relieving to have all things being taken care of so fast. Besides, she loved shopping, even online. She was a woman of taste, expensive taste, and she knew she could spend whatever she wanted on the company's card. So she grabbed her laptop right away to select some essential stuff like underwear, lounge-wear, a few work clothes, a couple pair of shoes, a new bag and other personal care stuff. Enough to spend a couple weeks.
A bip made John's phone vibrate, it was the card's automatic alert with the total value spent. He smiled when he saw the value, teasingly, a few thousands in about 30 minutes. By realizing he would obviously see the price on the card's alert, Alice blushed.
— Huh... I'll ask them to transfer this to my expenses, ok? She smiled timidly.
— Don't worry, this is totally covered by my normal spending. John said, he was certainly not afraid of spending money either.
After the meal and the therapy session with all the shopping, Alice's body was ready to shut down and she felt terribly tired all at once, starting to yawl unstoppably.
— Come on, we've got to rest.
They filled the dishwasher and headed upstairs. Without saying a word, Alice walked in the direction of her bedroom. She knew they could not sleep together after what happened.
— Wait. John said, running into his bedroom and returning after about 30 seconds with a T-shirt and a pair of sleep shorts. — Not sure if it will fit you, but...
— Thank you, John. Alice said and forced a tired smile, taking the clothes from his hands. — For everything, really. You saved my life again. Alice caressed his arm softly. She wanted to kiss him and spend the night with him, simply sleeping on this chest, but she just wished him a good night instead. — Have a good night.
— You too. John said, wishing he could grab her and carry her on his arms to his bed, and watch her sleep during the whole night.
—
Etot deystvitel'no krasivyy, da? — This one is really beautiful, huh?
Ser, babayaga zdes'. — Sir, the Boogeyman is here.
Ona nuzhna mne zhivaya — I need her alive.