Chapter 9

Olivia's apartment, 22:04pm

Jake sat back in Olivia's couch, slouched, seemingly on edge and very restless. He kept constantly tapping his fingers in a rhythm on the edge rest. And when he wasn't doing that he was staring down at his gun that he placed on the coffee table in front of him. He shifted forward and gave the gun a quick spin before resting his chin against his clenched fists. He sat there continued to think, think about what Olivia had begged of him earlier, the hurt Rowan had caused, the pain in the woman he loves eyes as she cried over everything her father had ever done and it sparked a new rage in him. His hands began to shake and he immediately got up and threw a lamp across the room which caused quite a racket.

Wondering if the noise had bothered Olivia, he decided to check on her. He entered her room to find that she was still asleep exactly the way he left her. He walked over to her bedside and pulled a duvet over her before leaving the room, grabbing his jacket and leaving her apartment in a hurry. He was on his way to Rowan's home and he stormed over there planning on giving him a piece of his mind, he was far too riled up to drive, lucky for him, Rowan only lived a few blocks away from Olivia. 10 minutes later he reached Rowan's. He looked up at the huge home and his breathing intensified as he tried to calm himself down. He stormed up the stone stairs and when he actually reached the front door he tried to gather himself together and calm himself to prepare for coming face to face with the monster. He gave the door 3 hard knocks and waited.

"Ugh." Rowan scoffed putting his book down. "Who is this now?" He walked over to his front door forgetting to look through the peep hole. He assumed it must've been Olivia coming to rant and ramble to him about how evil he was but he was mistaken. He opened his door only to be met by a swift knock to the jaw.

Rowan was laying on the floor completely dazed with a swelling and bruised cheek. He needed a moment to process what had just happened but before he could, he saw Jake lowering himself before him and then pulling him up.

Jake shoved him into the wall, looked him into the eyes and began baring his teeth. "It's not nice being backed into a corner is it?" Jake said angrily as he tightly cupped Rowan's face. "Feeling so trapped you can barely breathe freely." He continued. He was about to grab Rowan's throat and then realised it might be too far and let go of his face.

Rowan gave Jake a sinister smile and began to laugh. "You don't frighten me action man. This angered jake further and he held his arm and elbow up to Rowan's neck. "I'm only gonna say this once, you're leaving town, tonight. You just leave town and you never see Olivia again. You never contact her, you never get another chance to hurt or destroy her, you disappear forever. And I swear if you ever come back, this face is the last face you'll ever see." Jake said angrily through his bared teeth.

Rowan just continued to glare at him with narrowed eyes. ""Tell me something Jake, you're here defending my daughter's honor, playing the hero, yet where is she? Let me guess, at the White House probably? With him? No doubt she's probably over there seeking pleasure from him that you clearly can't provide."

Rowan laughed. Jake then grabbed him again, but this didn't stop Rowan finishing his verbal tirade. "You really think you can control me son? Do you really think either you or here can do so? Do I need to remind you that you can't take Command? Do I need to remind you how easy it is to show you exactly how much power I have over you, over her? All I have to do is send in another agent to seduce her, I mean, it will be easy considering how easy she is, ha, see what I did the..."

Before Rowan could finish, Jake took a strong hold of his shirt and pulled him into him, he then gave him a swift punch in the abdomen and he fell to the floor.

Jake lowered himself to where Rowan was lying and brought his head to Rowan's ear. "You've got 12 hours maximum. If I come back here and see you, I swear on my sister's grave, this will be the last face you'll ever see." Jake whispered menacingly before slamming Rowan's face onto the floor one last time. He slowly walked out of Rowan's home without bothering to shut the front door behind him. He slowly walked down the concrete stairs at the front of the home, sat down and ran his bloody hand down his face. He was shaking. Rowan had angered him in the past but never to this level. He just couldn't fathom why Rowan was so despicable to his own daughter. It angered him because it just reminded him of how his own father treated his younger sister, it made him sick to his stomach.

This was all he thought about on his walk back to Olivia's. He would have loved for Rowan to redeem himself and actually do right by his daughter for once but as usual, nothing ever worked out for him.

He continued to stroll down the street towards Olivia's apartment. He was only a few blocks away when something stopped him. He realised that no matter how much fear he out into Rowan, he most likely would never go away. He needed to do much more than scare him away. He then ran across the street to stop a coming taxi and waved his hand out. Once the taxi stopped, he got in and told him the destination of where he needed to go.

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Olivia's eyes fluttered open. The first thing she saw was her bedroom light as it directly hit her face. She slowly opened her eyes and looked around the room. She moved her hand to the other side of the bed to check for Jake but he wasn't there, so she figured he had either gone home or was in her living room. She got out of bed and walked into her hall. "Jake?" She called when she reached her living room and saw that he was nowhere to be found.

"Where the hell is he?" She thought to herself. She began to worry. She then looked back at the couch again, the place where Jake had laid his coat when they arrived home, and it wasn't there. She then immediately gathered her coat and shoes and ran out of the house, hoping to God he hasn't done anything stupid. She hoped to find him at his home.

On her walk over, thoughts of what he could have possibly done to her father ran through her mind, and the she thought of what her father could have done to him. What if he had already hurt him, placed him in the hole, or worse.

She reached his apartment building, a sweaty mess from the heavy pacing she had done. She raced up the stone stairs and up to the large glass door. She gathered herself together before approaching the building's receptionist. She slowly walked up to the young man behind the desk and fixed her jacket.

"Excuse me, I'm here to see Jake Ballard."

The man didn't pay her much attention and just gave her a book. "Sign your name here and you'll need to do the same when you leave." He mumbled

She took the pen and wrote her name down.

"Room number 23..."

"Yes, 237. I know!" Olivia said in a hurry as she ran over to the elevator. The elevator reached Jake's floor and practically jogged down the hall to his room.

She reached his door and gave the door four hard thumps before yelling for him to open up. "JAKE?! JAKE OPEN UP!" She yelled with a shaky voice. There was no answer. She desperately needed to know he was safe. She then remembered the spare key he had given her for emergencies that she never gave back. She rustled through her purse, literally shaking it up and down and emptying it until she found the key. She unlocked the door and burst into the apartment.

"JAKE! JAKE, WHERE ARE YOU?" She yelled worriedly looking through all of the rooms, but he was nowhere to be seen.

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Over on the other side of town, Huck was still in an extremely vulnerable state. He found himself in an alleyway, not too far from Rowan's home, with his gun in his hand. He continued to pace around in circles and he found himself doing this for about 10 minutes. He was actually nervous and he wasn't sure why. He'd killed people before, people he didn't want to kill, so why did he have so much trouble planning to kill somebody he actually despised? Somebody he actually wanted dead?

When he realised he was just wasting valuable time, he went back to his car and patiently sat in the drivers seat. He decided it would be a good idea to hack into Rowan's phone to track him down since was in a good enough position to.

He hit the jackpot. Rowan was at home. It was perfect for Huck, the perfect opportunity to strike. He left his car and began to walk down the street sinisterly with his gun in hand, and then he came to realisation, killing Rowan with a gun may not be the best idea. He ditched it in a nearby bush and proceeded on.

Meanwhile back at OPA, Javi was still in quite a state and had been crying non stop since his father left. Quinn tried her hardest to comfort him. She sat next to him and held him close.

"What's going to happen to me?" Javi sniffled

"Huh?" Quinn answered looking down on him. "What do you mean sweetie?"

"Where am I gonna go? Where will I live?"

"You're going to live with your dad, I assume."

"I've lost her forever! I have nobody." Javi cried hysterically

"You haven't lost her. You have her here, right here in your heart." She said as she pointed at Javi's chest. "And you have all of the memories, you'll never lose those, never."

Javi looked up at her again with tear filled eyes and buried his head in her chest. She put her arm around him and rubbed his arm up and down. She then took a hold of his face and brought his close to hers. "Hey, I'm going to go call your father, okay? I'll be right back." She told him before leaving the room for a minute. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and proceeded to call Huck. She hit the dial button and held the device to her ear.

"C'mon, c'mon. Pick up Huck, please." She said to herself

"Hey, this Huck. Leave a message." Was all she heard on the other line.

"Dammit! Look Huck it's me. Look, Javi, your son, he needs you right now. Please don't do what you're about to do. Javi can't lose both parents in one night. Just, please, as soon as you get this message, call me."

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22:45 pm, Rowan's apartment

Rowan sat at his dining room table with a glass and a bottle of the finest DuBellay wine. It was normally what he would do when he just needed to relax. He slowly poured the contents of the bottle into the glass and slowly took the glass to his mouth, inhaling the odour and then taking a sip.

Jake's words regarding Olivia still ran through his head as pulled out his wallet and glared at a photo he had hidden in there of a young Olivia. Despite how he treated her, he did love her deep down, and her hatred for him was just a constant reminder of how much he had failed her. Maybe sending her to boarding school wasn't a good idea after all, he should've have been there for her.

As he took another sip of his wine, he heard footsteps nearby. He realised that Jake probably hadn't shut the front door properly, and he wouldn't have blamed him. He pulled out the gun he had placed underneath his table, slightly hid it behind his thigh, carefully stood up and turned around to see who it was.

"What do you want?" Rowan asked smugly but in a stern manor.

A/N: I know it's a dick move to leave you guys hanging like this, but you'll understand why when you read the next chapter. Please leave reviews guys! Xoxo.