What Wolfe said finally sunk in. He wanted me to forgive him? After all he's done? Damn, if forgiveness came that easily, people wouldn't be killing each other.

With renewed strength, I pulled myself out of his arms and, since I had been sitting on Wolfe's lap and he had been sitting on the edge of the bed, there was nothing behind me so I actually fell right to the floor. Wolfe stared at me for a second, half amused and half surprised. My butt really hurt and I had just about no dignity left, but my pride kept me from backing down. Or in this case, getting back up. Fixing a frown on my face, I glared at Wolfe from where I had fallen. Dammit. Damn him and everything else in life, except Twizzlers.

"Are you serious?" I flashed him a furious look. "You made me jump out of a moving helicopter into the freezing Atlantic ocean. It's almost November. Do you understand how cold it was? I could have gotten hypothermia. I could have been eaten by sharks. Hell, I don't even know how to swim- I could've drowned, Wolfe! Forgive me if I can't forgive you for almost killing me. And that's not even the worst of it! I'm going to be in so much trouble. I could go to prison for this, you know!"

"Florence-"

Ignoring Wolfe, I continued, my voice growing higher and higher with each passing word. "I wasn't even supposed to leave the block!" I said. "The only thing they hadn't done is put an ankle monitor on me! They're going to think I tried to escape. That I tried to flee the goddamn city. They're going to think I'm working with you. Or for you. And then I'm going to end up in prison, where they'll make me pee in a bucket. Pee in a bucket, Wolfe! I can't pee in a bucket. My pee would go everywhere, you know, I don't have a dick to whip out and aim like you. You can pee anywhere! I can't do that!"

"Florence!" Wolfe growled.

But I wasn't done just yet. "You do not know  what you put me through, Wolfe. You made my life a complete hell. There are people coming after us, after my family. Because I have a connection to you, they're going to hurt us to get to you. Fucking fish bait. I'm in a huge legal mess, my future is basically nothing at this point, my best friend may very well just be working for you guys, you have an engagement ring, Preston might get fired from his job, and my parents will ground me for the rest of my life! If I don't go to prison first, that is. And you want me to forgive you for all of that-"

The rest of my rant went right back down my throat as soon as I saw Wolfe move. Since I was still sitting on the plush carpet floor, the way he came at me was terrifying from my viewpoint. In a flash he was on his knees hovering over me with one hand wrapped around my waist to keep me from moving back, which I desperately tried to do. Like before, it was useless.

"Stop, Florence!" Wolfe's voice portrayed his frustration. Anger laced the edge of his dark eyes, turning him into that authoritative monster that so many people feared. I didn't have his mentality and I didn't understand his psychology, so I couldn't really write a detailed explanation as to why he did the things he did. However, I knew enough to understand that an angry Wolfe was a dangerous Wolfe, and a dangerous Wolfe was not to be messed with. Fight with dogs and you'll get scratched, but fight with a wolf and you'll get your throat ripped out.

I was the last person to be able to tame wild things. I was no fighter, but I was no giver-upper either. No, I was Florence and I was going to take the rational path that wouldn't get me killed. But it was just so hard, with Wolfe glaring me down, begging for a challenge that I was oh so ready to give him. I couldn't let my anger take over, though. Because my anger, even at full potential, was no match for the temper of his. He was a thousand times stronger, a thousand times more resolved to destroy. Wolfe lived for this kind of thing, these disputes and fights whereas I had barely had so much as three disagreement in total in my entire life.

"You want me to stop?" The words slipped out before I could clamp my teeth down on my tongue. Once I said them, however, there was no going back. Anger had a way of making me fearless. I placed both hands on his chest and shoved hard, although he didn't budge. "That's rich, coming from you! You don't know the meaning of stop, Wolfe. You can't stop. You can't leave things alone, can you? Every little thing, it has to benefit you or else it's useless."

Wolfe bent down, his lips dangerously close to my cheek. Before, his fingers had bit into my back from misery. Now, he did it as a warning. "I know what I did was wrong." He whispered, his honest words tainted by the fact that he was still a bad person. "You have every right to be angry with me, Flo. But do not unleash that little temper of yours in a way that'll get you hurt in more ways than one. After all, I should be angry with you, too. From what I heard, you just couldn't keep your mouth shut. Maybe I should put something in there so you won't be able to talk..." With a smirk, he forced my lips to part with the tip of his thumb but met with the barricade of my teeth. Absolutely livid at his double-edged words, I jerked my head away to get his thumb off my mouth. He curled it back into his fist before I could bite.

I met his cold blue-eyed gaze with one of my own. "You shouldn't have expected me to keep quiet. Omerta? Please, babe. I'd be surprised if the Feds didn't bust down the door in the next thirty minutes with all their new, glittering  information about all your secrets, provided by yours truly." Of course, I was saying all of that just to get Wolfe ruffled. The information I have Detective Rossen was just slightly adjusted, enough to make me seem innocent but not enough to actually help them catch Wolfe or the Crowns. From the way his eyes glowered, my attempt at angering him further recklessly worked.

"I should kill you, you know." Wolfe breathed softly. His voice was languid but edged with an evenness that showed he was trying incredibly hard to conceal his emotions. "It was my mistake not doing that sooner. Dammit, Florence, why did you fuck me up like this? Why did I have to fall in love with you? I should have killed you from the start so we wouldn't have to go through this suffering. I don't know what's worse...meeting you or not meeting you. God, you destroyed me. Whatever you were trying to achieve, you did it, Florence."

I twirled a strand of my hair and sighed. Then I touched the skin beneath his eye, warm with heat and the wetness of his tears clinging to my index finger and sighed again, softly and warily. Forgiveness didn't come to easy, unless he had a bag of some new flavor Twizzler I hadn't tried before (just kidding, I had about every single flavor the company had ever created, even going to far as to mail suggestions to them- lemon lime, bacon, vanilla, caramel, coffee blast...) so the Twizzler thing was kind of useless. Although it would help his proposition for clemency be accepted much more easily, but a girl can wish.

"It's not that easy. And I wasn't trying to achieve anything." I finally said.

"When it comes to us, nothing ever is." Wolfe lowered his gaze to my lips. The way he looked at it made me wish my actions from earlier- impulsively kissing the corner of his mouth when his hands loosened- didn't happen. I didn't want Wolfe to get the wrong idea, although it really didn't matter because Wolfe had ideas of his own. He was stubborn as a mule but goddamn he was irresistible. Wolfe ran his fingers through my hair, catching the ends in a fist. "But it doesn't have to be hard either."

"There are too many reasons why we shouldn't be together, one of them being that you're a criminal." I said carefully. The words were hard to voice but I needed to hear them, and so did Wolfe no matter how badly it broke us. "We can't be a normal couple. We can't walk down the street, holding hands all hoity-toity, because there's going to be a sniper somewhere watching you and waiting for the right moment to deliver that one shot. Even if the cops don't get you, someone else will. If love is that difficult, I don't want it. I'll wait for that lawyer husband to come around."

"First of all, I would appreciate it if you were to refrain from using the words 'hoity' and 'toity' in my presence ever again." Wolfe growled. It was a dry attempt at humor but made me smile nonetheless. "Second of all, there are many places in the world where protection can be provided from the outside world. We could have a happy life together, Florence. And third of all, I meant what I said in the helicopter."

"I meant what I said too. If I die, I will come back to haunt you."

He cracked a sided smirk that made my heart jump. "As long as I have you, I'll be okay."

"Aww, that's so sweet. I look forward to more of these compliments in prison letters."

Wolfe sat back and pulled me up. I tried to scoot away like a crab but he grabbed one of my ankles and dragged me back, so I had no choice but to sit beside him cross-legged on the floor, our backs resting against the bedframe. From our position, we were invisible to anyone who was to come in through the door. 

It was quiet for a second, until Wolfe broke the silence.

"What did you mean when you said that your friend Ade might be working for us?" He inquired softly. "I thought we had established, or at least assumed, that Ade Sinclair was working with a third party. A foreign mafia of some sort. I asked Elliot to run the name through the system again, in case we missed something the first time. He set for Germany two days ago, to meet up with a friend of ours to see if that kid Ade had any international relations in Europe. Something should come up within the week."

Shocked, I looked at Wolfe. "Elliot Josiah? He's in Germany?"

"He landed this morning."

"Are you sure?"

"He checked out of Rostock-Laage Airport. Yes, I'm sure." Wolfe said.

"Umm..." I fiddled with the heart pendant of my necklace. The stupid band aid prevented me from feeling the soothing bite of the metal edge on the pad of my thumb that I had grown accustomed to over the years since the necklace was given to me...by Ade on my 16th birthday. Inside was a picture of him on one side and a picture of me on the other. I had forgotten it was hanging around my neck up until this point. The necklace was more than an accessory to me. It was a connection, the bare remains of a childhood love gone wrong. Despite Wolfe's accusations against Ade, despite the bullet wound on my shoulder, and despite the fact that Ade completely abandoned me when I needed him the most, I didn't rip the necklace off me like I should have. I loved that necklace. As silly as it sounds, it helped me through hard times. The heart pendant was a symbol of solidarity. 

Wolfe glanced at me sideways, the remaining light from the clouds catching the brilliant grey in his eyes. "Is there something you want to tell me?" He asked curiously. Innocently, too. For a man that was known for knowing everything, I was surprised he didn't know this.

"I saw...Ade and Elliot together yesterday, around 8 in the evening." I said, forcing his name off my tongue. Before Wolfe could interrupt, I continued quickly. "At a Denny's Diner, the one on the same block as the Espresso House. I saw them talking for a bit, and then go outside. Elliot handed Ade something, too. It looked like a piece of paper, but I'm not too sure. And before you ask, yes, I'm absolutely sure it was them."

"Elliot couldn't have been in Brooklyn." Wolfe growled. "He was on a plane bound for Germany yesterday."

"But I saw him, Wolfe! He couldn't have been on a plane. He was with Ade. Man, this is confusing. So is Ade the traitor or did Elliot double cross you?" I shook my head at the ridiculousness of it all. "Because either you have a rat in the Crowns or Ade is not the guy you think he is. Maybe they're working together. Maybe they're in love. Who knows? All I can say is that Elliot lied to you, Wolfy boy." I reached over and poked his Adam's apple. "You got played like a harp, son. Played like a damn fiddle. Played like a fool. Damn, that's a shame-"

Wolfe's jaw tightened. He didn't say anything for a moment. He just looked at me with a blank expression, although I knew it was just a front. I bet the things he was feeling right now wasn't so blank. I was telling the truth. And from the way his hands clenched into fists and his eyes burned, he knew it too.

"Next topic of conversation." Wolfe growled. His anger laced his words with a dark edge. "I will figure out the whole mess with Elliot later. What engagement ring?"

His question jostled me back into reality. I looked at Wolfe. His eyes flickered with amusement. A blush crept up my cheeks. Why did I have to get into the habit of talking without thinking? Embarrassed beyond belief, I was about to deny knowing anything about an engagement ring until I realized there was no way to get around it. Lying wouldn't save me now, I was in too deep to babble my way out of this mess.

Just as I was about to confess to snooping, Wolfe beat me to it. "Curiosity killed the cat, Flo." He smirked. 

"But satisfaction brought it back." I glanced at his black duffel bag, its innocent material with the white sports logo in the corner hiding the mysterious object of all my troubles. "I was looking for a tampon-" I said, before I remembered that I wasn't supposed to be lying. Wincing, I continued. "-and I thought you'd have one, because why the hell not? You're always prepared, aren't you? But anyways, I was  wondering why you-"

"That's for me to know and you to find out." 

"Jerk! I wasn't intentionally looking  for it. I needed a tampon-"

"Why would you assume I would have sanitary napkins?"

The way he said 'sanitary napkins' made me snicker, but I managed to cover it up pretty well by faking a cough. I pretended to hack up a lung until Wolfe gave me a weird look and I promptly stopped. "I don't know." I shrugged. "Why wouldn't you? You know, if you're going to occasionally drug me and then kidnap me from my home, I would appreciate it if you went out and brought some tampons with those billions of dollars in your bank account. If you want to keep me a prisoner, you're gonna have to provide me with the necessities that come along. I'm a whole package, sweetie. That means I need tampons, Twizzlers, the blood of a freshly slaughtered pig, exactly 3 and one fourth of a bezoar, eye of a newt, Nagini's venom, fairy wings, a cauldron-"

"Stop talking."

"Excuse me, Mr. Grumpy, I'll talk all I want and you can't-"

"Please?"

"Alright."

"Hey, how did you know I'd be the one to pick up the rock? And that I'd cut my thumb?" I asked curiously after a moment's silence. "So many things could've gone wrong. Why'd you take the chance?"

His lips turned up in a smirk. "Come on, Flo. You're the most curious person I've ever met. There's no way you wouldn't  have picked up the rock. Yeah, it was a calculated risk and it could've gone wrong, but it didn't. Sorry about the window, by the way. And the chemical on it was just a light sedative, enough to knock a little thing like you out in no time."

"Asshole!"

"It was Brice's idea."

"Brice is an asshole too, then."

Wolfe did one of those sighs that dogs do at the end of a long day. "I would never intentionally put you in harm, Florence. Anyways, who's Preston?"

"Preston?" 

"Yes, Preston." He repeated. "In your hysterical rant, I managed to hear something about a Preston getting fired from his job."

Shit. Out of all the things I said, I regretted that the most.

If I told Wolfe the truth, there was a very good chance he would recognize Preston because Preston had ties to the Crowns from working undercover. And from the numerous news articles that surfaced from the deep corners of the internet with the arrival of the Brooklyn Crowns, everyone knew that a spy in the Crowns would be treated to the harshest punishment. The Crowns had a history of making their enemies suffer, and it didn't include death but the brink of it. There was absolutely no way I was going to give up the identity of my babysitter.

"He's a new employee of the Espresso House." Absolutely a bald-faced lie, but I think Wolfe believed it. I couldn't tell. His face was so passive. "Sorry, it was nothing. I was angry, I said things that I didn't mean to. This 'Preston' has no relevance whatsoever to our conversation. None. Absolutely nothing. Nada. Zinger. Zoosh. Zimbabwe-"

"Stop talking."

"You are so rude-"

"Please?"

Manners in a man were my weakness. "Alright. But can I ask you a question?"

"Anything."

I took a deep breath. "Where did you go?"

Wolfe stared at me. "I'm sorry?"

"After I jumped out of the helicopter. Where did you go? And why didn't you want me to stay with you? Answer me truthfully, please Wolfe. No more secrets."

"Well," Wolfe began casually, but he avoided eye contact. "First off, I didn't want you to stay with me because it was too dangerous. I would rather have you safe but in the hands of cops than have you by my side and dead. As to where I went, that doesn't matter because I came back, didn't I?"

"No secrets."

"Oh, Florence-" He sighed.

"No secrets, Wolfe."

"They chased us as far as the border of PA, but we doubled back later. They...well, I suppose this won't come as much of a surprise as I know you are familiar with the types of things I do, but they're gone."

"Wolfe, you killed-"

"It wasn't a single effort, you know. I'm a wanted man, Florence, and part of the reason why I wanted you to jump off was because I knew to what desperate lengths those guys would've gone to get me. The tail of their chopper smashed into ours when they executed a too-wide right spin. They took the brunt of it and fell back, and that was the last I saw of it." Wolfe said quietly. 

The fact that Wolfe may as well have killed several law enforcement officers didn't come as a shock- as he'd said, I was all too familair with his criminal background. I took a moment to reflect on relativity and came up with nothing, so I decided to move on.

"I have another question for you."

"Oh, do continue Florence." He grinned.

I hesitated, not exactly sure if I wanted to hear the answer to it. After a moment, however, my curiosity got to be too much. "Well, remember that night you came to the coffee shop to yell at me for going to the cops? How did you find out about it, Wolfe?" I asked anxiously. "I know Clancy didn't tell you. She promised not to, and I trust her with all my heart. We were the only two people who knew about the visit. It came out to nothing, anyways, but I'm still curious to know how you found out. Who told you?"

"Elliot."

"What?" I squealed. "How did Elliot know?"

"I had him follow you. The first week we tracked you and your family's every move." Wolfe answered casually. He didn't seem one bit ashamed of himself. Instead, he eyed me carefully, watching for a reaction with a wary expression, half amused and half expectant.

At first I was too stunned to react. And then I tried to hit him with a tissue box from the bedside table but he moved out of the way, so like the police visit, it was another fruitless effort. 

"What the hell, Wolfe? Are you kidding me? Who the hell do you think your face is doing-" The idea of being followed, the abuse of privacy and our every action on display, was so beyond irritating that I started stringing angry words together without even thinking if it made sense. "-like who even are you? Who allowed you? Who authorized your existence? Who even pushed you out of their vagina and thought, 'well, this baby sure is not going to grow up to become a famous crime lord and mob boss'? Do you think you are cool? You think you're cool, Wolfe? You're not! You're not! You absolutely will tell Elliot to stop this tomfoolery, this...this scallywagging ridiculousness-" I sputtered.

"Shh." Wolfe reached over and pressed a finger against my lips.

"You goddamn walnut, I'll kill you!" I shrieked, redoubling my efforts to beat Wolfe Sterling to death with a flimsy cardboard box of tissues.

He merely blocked my attempts half-heartedly with one hand until I finally tired myself out. Exhausted, (who know how strenuous it was to commit murder with Kleenex?) I sat back and pulled a face at Wolfe.

"I'm not exactly sure what you were trying to do with that tissue box, but are you done with it?" He laughed quietly, entertained. That served to make me even madder, but I couldn't do anything about it anymore because I had exerted so much energy into the death attempt.

"I didn't hurt you at all? Not even a little bit?"

"Would it make you feel better if I said you did?"

"Wolfe, please! Don't do this to my parents. They're too scared to involve the cops. They won't do anything to jeopardize your agreement because they'd twist themselves into the mess- we haven't done anything suspicious, I swear! Wolfe, there's no reason for Elliot to do this-"

"It was just for the first week, Florence." Wolfe interrupted. "We didn't put cameras in your apartment, for goodness sake. It was just a simple track and report mission. But I digress, and apologize. It was an invasion of your privacy. I'm sorry, Florence." He grinned crookedly. "Forgive me?"

If he hadn't been so irresistible, I would've found it a lot easier to stay mad at him. If Wolfe was anything to me, he was my weakness. He was my wine to water to an alcoholic and damn me to hell for choosing precisely the worst thing for me.

"I hate you." I finally grumbled.

"I know."

"I forgive you."

"I know that, too."

Wolfe got to his feet and offered me his hands. I slipped mine into his and let him yank me up. But when I tried to pull away, he held on. Wolfe entwined his fingers through mine and pulled me closer. He bent down and kissed the top of my forehead, an action that left me breathless and wanting more. It was the little things that attracted me to Wolfe, the dangerous quirks of affection that crumbled just a little bit more of my resolve to not fall for him every time. If I hadn't already, that is.

"I love you, Florence." His words brushed across the top of my head, warm and sweet. "I don't expect you to feel the same, not after what I put you through. I don't deserve you. I never will. But that won't stop me from loving you." Wolfe chuckled bitterly. "You know, I told myself that caring about someone would be the last thing I'd ever do. Love doesn't exist in my world, but it does in yours. So does happiness. I don't deserve any of that. But I'm a selfish bastard if I say so myself. I take and I don't give back. I'll make you mine soon enough, and I'll never let you go."

I looked at Wolfe. I looked at his blue jewel eyes, tired and wary and wintry. I looked at his dark pink lips, caught in a bitter frown. I looked at the cold tanned skin of his throat, his Adam's apple bobbing when he swallowed. I wanted to hate what I was seeing. I didn't.

"Why did you come back?" I asked softly. The question had been bothering me ever since I woke up.

The way he looked at me made me want to hide under the covers forever. Wolfe wrapped his arms around my waist and this time I let him. A feeling of content tightened my chest, the sort that said my source of happiness was derived from one of the bad things in the world. His embrace felt so protective and warm that I pushed away every sensible thought in my head telling me to walk away and let myself melt into the hug until he finally opened his mouth and answered my question.

"I came back to say goodbye."