36
Anja's POV
Otto and I were in the living room playing with the kittens when front door finally opened. We turned and saw Axel and Oscar coming in with what looked like IHOP. Otto and I smiled big as they moved over to the island to put the bags on the island. I moved over to them pecking Oscar on the lips then Axel, both smiled warmly down at me.
"Took you long enough." I teased. Oscar smirked at Axel.
"We ran into some trouble but nothing to bothersome." he said in perfect English. I arched a brow at them thinking that couldn't be good, before moving to look through the bags at the different foods they. There were different kinds of condiments and syrups along with eggs and grits and bacon. They had a small order of pancakes and I looked at them confused. They don't like pancakes. Axel smirked.
"For you." he said and I smiled with excitement because he remembered that I liked pancakes. We sat down at the table and put out the food. Oscar leaned down every so often to pet his kittens that were growing fast. We ate like a family and I just watched them chit chat about minor things. Axel slid some of the syrup to me when I reached for it and I smiled my thanks to him. I was kind of bummed now as I thought about the next assignment we'd have after our review. I hoped it was quick and easy so we could get back to moments like these. The brothers had definitely changed since their arrival.
They weren't so closed off and silent. Well they were when we were out in public, but the complete opposite when we were all alone together. They showed that individually they had different minds but when together they were quite a force.
Finally the day came for us to all meet the Commission and get these reviews out of the way. We landed right at the front steps of the large building. As usual it was massive and people in business suits were moving in and out of it. I looked at the Swedes and noticed all three of them looked uneasy about the place. I leaned over to them.
"Hey don't worry. We will be in and out." I replied. My words seemed to fall on deaf ears because they still stared up at the doors as if they were mentally planning to walk into some place dangerous. I shook my head and just moved up the stairs. Finally Axel followed behind me and his brothers followed him. Once we were inside I moved up to the front desk where a blonde haired woman sat with large rimmed glasses.
"Escort Anastasia Monroe… with the Swedes." I replied. She nodded.
"Ah yes. I will let the Handler know." she said. I only nodded and leaned back watching as she picked up her landline phone and made a phone call. "Escort Monroe and the Swedes are here… yes ma'am." She hung up the phone and smiled at me.
"You may go ahead. But another official will be down momentarily to do the brothers' interviews." she told. I nodded looking at the brothers and waved before moving down the hall. Axel suddenly caught my wrist and I looked at him.
"Hm, what's wrong?" I asked. He has never looked so tensed before and I knew something was going on with him. Something was going on with all of them. He looked down at the ground before gently letting his fingers graze over my hand for a split second before letting it go. I blinked rapidly before shaking my head some. "I'll see you in a moment." I moved down the hall passing different people some I was familiar with, others not. I saw a few escorts I had trained with. They didn't seem to notice me so I kept it moving. Once I was at The Handler's office I gently knocked.
"Is that Anastasia at the door?" she asked out loud. She gave some people the chills but I always tried to play it cool around her. She did doubt me.
"Yes ma'am." I replied.
"Come in!" she replied and I did so. Her office was beautiful and fancy. She was sitting at her desk with curly white hair and a green and white outfit on. When she saw me she smiled, her pearly whites making her red lip stick pop. I closed the door and entered. "My my you have definitely surprised me, Ms. Monroe." She raised her hand for me to sit down in the brown chair in front fo her. It wasn't as nearly as fancy as hers. I moved over and sat down and she smiled.
"And here the Board thought no escort would ever work well with the Swedes. Yes here you are proving us all wrong." she said curling her fingers together with a smirk. "The time lines have been clean you all have been working tremendously together I might add." I just nodded keeping a friendly smile on my face.
"Yes. Things have been good." I replied and she nodded.
"Any concerns or worries we should know about? Do you think you can trust them fully to continue being their escort?" she asked. I nodded.
"Yes. We have learned much from each other." I replied. She hummed lightly.
"And that is what we like to hear. A few escorts had to be reassigned but most of our pairings have fared well together. But there is a slight concern. With you being a Board member's child, we must always take the best precautions to make sure you are safe. We do not want you ever being in danger like back in Atlantic City." she explained. I nodded.
"The brothers have been very protective of me." I replied and she grinned more.
"Yes I am well aware." she said before leaning back some. "It's not entirely welcomed to have the sort of relationship you have formed with the three. It can cause future problems should there have been conflicts in your relationship." I nodded.
"Yes of course. We've all been upfront and honest with each other so there is no need for worry." I replied and she arched a brow.
"And you are sure about that?" she asked. I was a bit put off by her question but I nodded.
"Of course." I replied and she nodded.
"Then you know that your partnership with the brothers was set up by your father then?" she asked. Her words moved into my ears and formed a rock dropping in the pit of my stomach. My mouth opened to speak, but I couldn't really form the right words.
"I-I-I'm sorry?" I asked. She nodded.
"Yes, it's been brought to my attention that your father has been paying the brothers extra money to choose you as their Escort to better keep tabs on you. Of course you can understand being daddy's little girl that he would only want you with the best." she said. My mind was drawing blanks even though I was trying to think clearly about what she was saying.
"How do you know this?" I asked. She laughed dryly.
"Darling it is my job to know. The only reason why I am telling you this is because I would rather you hear it from a trusted official than out in the field where you can easily become distracted and your judgement fogged." she said. My mouth dropped some. My father paid the Swedes because he didn't believe I could do my job on my own? In a way he was in control this entire time? I let out a shuddered breath. I looked down for a moment feeling my stomach tighten as I felt nothing but anxiety take over. My lips quivered some as I looked up at her.
"Will my father be in trouble? Is this against the rules?" I asked. She shook her head waving her perfectly polished nails.
"Of course not! He had already discussed it with the board and they agreed any child of a higher up out in the field should get some extra protection. You are doing a very dangerous job, but you are doing it so very well. You should be very proud." she said. My eyes fluttered a bit in shock, and I just looked down sniffling some. So in some ways, none of this was real because it was all my father's doing. I was trained for years for this only for it to be orchestrated by my father. Did he not trust me to do this on my own? And Axel, Otto and Oscar were going to just keep this from me? They would never tell me and just make me think they chose me because of the strong record I had?
"Um… thank you for seeing me. Um is there anything else you wanted to know?" I asked and she shook her head casually.
"Nope you have passed. We will see you for your mid-year review." she replied. I nodded and got up slowly and moved over to the door. "Anastasia." I paused and looked at her don't.
"Do not let this get to you. You needed to know the truth, but for what it's worth, the brothers did send word that they no longer wanted to be paid extra money for babysitting you." she replied. The rock in my stomach grew larger and I just nodded and moved out the door. Babysitting? Is that what they've been doing? Babysitting and fucking me! Was any of it real? My mind was spinning as I felt my brain disconnect from my body.
"Is there anything else you are not telling me?"
"Nothing."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
I finally stopped walking and just stared at the empty space between me. Axel lied to me before I gave myself to him fully. They all lied to me. Why? Why couldn't they just tell me the second they walked through my door? I wouldn't have trusted them off the back but if they put in the same effort they put in now all would be forgiven. But they didn't. Were they ever going to tell me?
"Anja?" a small voice made me jump and I looked down to see Herb. He specialized in analytics. We ate lunch together when I was training. It was fierce. Everything in my spirit had to break in order for my survival instincts to kick in. I would sit with him and even though I didn't speak a lot he would do the talking for me and I didn't mind just listening. I smiled happy to see him.
"Herb! How are you?" I asked. He smiled up at me.
"Oh am I just fine! How have you been? I haven't seen you since you graduated and moved off to bigger and better things." he said. My smile weakened just a bit.
"I'm fine Herb. I am glad you are well. I miss eating lunch with you and listening to you explain things I had no clue about what so ever." I replied. He chuckled.
"Well I have missed you too. Maybe when you're back around we can eat lunch again and I can explain some more things to you." he said cheerfully. I felt I was going to break, but I nodded continuing to smile.
"I would like that Herb. I'll see you around." I replied and he nodded and waved and we parted. I was back in the lobby and I looked at the woman who smiled.
"Your partners are outside. I was told to inform you their interview was quick as no one said anything. But they met with one of the board members actually." she informed. I could only imagine which board member it was. I needed to see my father. I needed him to explain this to me. I walked out the building and moved down the steps seeing the Swedes standing at the bottom of the steps. They looked at me, emotions riddled in their eyes. I held my composure even though what I was feeling was complete anger and betrayal. I just raised my hands and they looked at me worried since they couldn't read my eyes. Otto and Oscar put their hands on my shoulder and Axel just took my hands and we returned home. Once our feet landed back in my home, I shrugged their hands off violently and before I could stop myself, my hand flew up and smacked Axel right in the face.
His body jerked some at the sudden movement and I just started smacking at his chest now while his brothers restrained me.
"GET OFF ME!" I snapped at all of them. The brothers all stood together with me on the opposite side. "Is it true, did my father hire you all to choose me as an escort to keeps tabs on me?"
They were silent as usual and both middle and youngest Swede looked at their oldest brother whose cheek was a cherry red. I shook my head as none of them said anything.
"You've already been lying to me, just lie to me now and say no!" I replied and they all winced raising their hands to me.
"We wanted to tell you." Otto said and I scoffed not believing him and I waved him off as I turned around and sped upstairs to my room. I moved down the hall hearing footsteps following behind me. Of course they all followed me. Axel was right behind me as I entered my room.
"Anja it is my fault," he said stepping closer to me as I moved to look for my car keys and my purse, "I told my brothers we shouldn't tell you. At first we agreed because it was extra money-"
"Extra money. Of course." I replied. Money was the root of all evil and betrayal. He gripped my shoulders turning me to face him and he held me in place as Otto stepped beside him, eyes vulnerable and watering almost.
"Yes and then we got to know you and we changed, you changed us. We all fell in love with you." he said. Oscar looked at me with hurt eyes.
"Flower we are so sorry we kept this from you. We didn't want to do it, but we couldn't bare you finding out and hurting you." he said quickly. I looked at all three of them, the hurt still in my eyes as tears fell down my cheek.
"You said you loved me and yet you kept this from me. How can I believe anything you say now?" I asked.
"Because it is the truth." Axel said placing his hands on my cheeks to rub my tears away with his thumbs. I winced and just shook my head looking down.
"You guys have to go." I replied. The three looked at me confused and I finally looked up at them with a glare. "You all need to get out of my house!"
Immediately they all shook their heads defiantly. I glared hard. Fine. Then I'll leave. I smacked Axel's hands away and grabbed my purse and keys and pushed my way past them. Otto and Oscar watched with over bearing pain in their eyes before looking at Axel who just shook their heads and let me leave. Of course, they'd let me leave. Which was fine because like my last house, I had an apartment of which I could stay at. As I moved out the door, more tears fell down my face. I got in my truck and reversed and just drove off down the road. Now I sobbed. I cried and I cried hard. I looked up in my rearview mirror to see them all standing on the front porch. My vision was blurry from crying and I wiped my face with my arm and just kept on driving.
Damn them. Damn The Handler for telling me. Damn my father for manipulating this entire thing! Once I get to my other place and calmed myself, I was going to Georgia to have some words with that man! I suddenly remembered the markings in my back that Axel could track. He could show up at any moment if he wanted to. They would always know where I was. I felt sick to my stomach now and I merged off to the side of the road and screamed.
"FUCK!" I roared.
Normal POV
Hours passed and Anja did not come home which scared Otto. He never left the porch after her car left. He looked out into the land waiting for her car to pull back up in the driveway. Tears streamed down his face as he just stared at the dirt. She'd come back. She had to. There was a hole in his heart that he had created himself by lying to her. Seeing the hurt in her face and the tears in her eyes, hurt him a lot. He'd give anything to make her smile again, for her to give him. Could he buy her sweets from the festival? Could he take her camping and lie in the woods all night gazing up at the stars? He never had a woman upset with him. Only his mother had ever been mad at him, but her forgiveness came easy. But this was entirely different. His chest hurt from the pain he felt and he didn't like it.
"Please come back."
Hej, det är jag
Finns det chans att du vill mötas
Och prata om det som var
Om vad som hände, längesen
Dem säger tiden läker såren, men en känner jag
Hej
Vill du lyssna
Jag är ännu i tanken hur det var att vara vi
Oscar just sat on the couch staring out into space, eyes dead and filled with pain as his hand mindlessly strokes over the backs of his cats. He sniffled some and raised one of the cats to his face and gently rubbed the side of their bodies with his cheek. When was she coming back? What if she doesn't come back? What is she asks to be partnered with a different team? Killing wouldn't be the same, life wouldn't the same. He missed lying in the dark with her, curled up, naked and exposed together talking about the future and what it held for them. He missed the warmth of her skin, the light in her eyes as she smiled at him. And now a darkness had washed over him and he knew that he would never feel happiness again not even in killing if she wasn't with him. He looked up toward the stairs. Axel hadn't came down since she left.
När vi var unga du och jag
Jag har glömt hur det känndes innan allt gick fel
Det är en sådan skillnad, nu och då
Varför blev det så
Axel just stood in front of the window, eyes never leaving the tracking device in his hand. He could activate it and find her immediately. She would never know, but even that seems like lying and not giving her the space, she needed. But they were still responsible for her even after what happened. His thumb grazed the button that would track her in seconds, but he hesitated.
"You didn't have to agree to this."
"I know."
"So why did you?"
"You're my boys and I want to see you happy. All three of you."
She always wanted him and his brothers to be happy and in return he destroyed her happiness. He inhaled pressing the button and the blue dot flashed and the coordinates appeared at the bottom of the screen. He reread them for a few seconds before tucking the device in his pocket. He would not bother her, but would check on her every hour. He closed his eyes and sighed heavily placing his hands on the window seal. When they received their next assignment then he'd go and bring her back. But sadly he knew their secret had changed their relationship entirely. What could he do to make her happy again, to make her forgive all three of them? He would do anything for her, anything to make her want to be held by him again, to feel her arms around him which made his need to protect her even greater. Now she was out in the city by herself where anything could happen to her. Axel had minor anxiety whenever he felt he lost Anja somewhere, example being back at the home improvement store. When she was gone, he almost couldn't hide his discomfort at the fact she was gone. And now she really was gone and this made him anxious if not more aggressive with his thoughts roaming to the worst thing that could happen to her. He made a move to go to the door and try and find her but he knew he couldn't do it. She had her cell phone on her and if she needed him, she would reach out.
Kan du inte svara mig
På det som jag vill säga dig
Vill säga jag e ledsen för allt jag har gjort
Men du verkar inte vilja första
Kan du inte svara mig
På det som jag vill säga dig
Vill säga jag e ledsen för att ha krossat din själ
Men du verkar inte bry dig om de
Anja's POV
I just lied in her bed, facing the window that night. The moon was out high and I just stared out at the city, tears still moving down my face as I stared out into space. My apartment was simple and basic. One bed room one bath, not fit for anyone but me. I hated this. I hated being a part from them, but I knew I couldn't heal or get over this if I had stayed behind. I wanted to forgive them, my love for them was that strong, but they hurt me and I loved herself more in this moment. I had to do what was right for me now. I couldn't trust them right now. I knew Axel had probably tracked me by now and I was ready to fight him if he had showed up, wanting me to return but he didn't. I was happy for this and figured he was letting me have my space. I rolled over on my back unable to sleep and I hated not being able to sleep.
Luckily I was able to cry myself to sleep.