Chapter 12

<Gavin Forrester>

Ainsley and I let go the minute we hear the knob of her front door turn. My head tilts slightly as I look up at Victoria. Her cheeks are stained and pale like all of the life has been sucked out of them. I reach up and grab her hand. She clasps hers around mine tightly but doesn't make any move to sit down. Ainsley takes that as her cue to leave. She walks back into the house and closes the door quietly behind her.

"Gavin, he wants me to go back to New York. He came here to take me home." Victoria bites her lip and sits down next to me, ashamed tears running down her cheeks.

"I know." I whisper as my arm wraps around her shoulders and pulls her close to me.

"I don't want to leave you. He knows how much I love you but he still wants to take me away." She sniffles and wipes her cheek with her forearm.

"I know." I look off into the distance and try to think of the right words to say.

"Are those the only words in your brain right now?" Victoria snaps and turns to face me. "Do you want him to take me away? Do you want me gone?"

"That is the last thing I want, Victoria but what he told me seemed fair. It's true, every moment you spend with me, the bigger a target you become."

"I've made it pretty clear that I'm fine being a target as long as I'm with you." She crosses her arms and furrows her brows.

"That's not healthy. You shouldn't have to be a target just to be with me; you don't need to make that kind of sacrifice for me." I bite my lip and look down at my lap.

"I may not need to but I want to, Gavin." Victoria's eyes fill with tears and then she buries her face in her lap.

"Victoria, I'm just saying that things are getting worse. Talon is coming back and I know that if you went back to New York your dad would make sure that no harm came to you."

"So, you want me to leave." Victoria mumbles, her face still buried in her lap.

"I love you and the only thing I want is for you to be safe. Things down here aren't safe and I know most of it is my fault but I don't want you to constantly be in danger." I tuck a piece of hair behind her ear and lean in close.

"Gavin, I'm a big girl and I can make my own decisions. I don't want to go and I don't want you of all people to force me to leave." She glares at me and sits up straight.

"I'm not trying to but your dad said he could clear things up in New York and I can clear up things down here and then we can be together."

"If I leave you then who's to say I'll ever see you again?" Victoria bursts into tears for the third time tonight and I feel extreme guilt settle in my chest.

I dig through my pockets until I've found what I'm looking for. I pull out the jewelry bag from the store in town. It still has her necklace in it because I've never really found the perfect time to give it to her. I dump the contents of the bag into my hand and then I close my fist.

"I don't know if we'll ever see each other again; hell, I don't even know if I'll wake up tomorrow but I do know that I love you with all my heart and I'd do anything to make sure we get to be together." I state and grab one of her hands, dropping the necklace gently inside of it.

She fumbles around with it until she realizes what it is and then her eyes grow wide.

"You bought this for me?" She sounds surprised as she unlocks it and admires the pendant.

"Yes. You deserve a reminder of how much I love you."

"I know how much you love me and I'm reminded of how much I love you every time I see you." Victoria holds it out for me to clasp it for her.

I do and then she lays her head gently on my shoulder.

"If you want me to leave, Gavin, then I will and I'll trust you to find me again." She says, filling the silence that has now ensued.

"I want you to understand something. I am not telling you to go and I'm not telling you to stay. I want you to make your own decision. It's your decision to make and I don't want you to feel forced into anything." I rub her lower back comfortingly as we both stare out at the stars.

"Gavin, I don't want to leave you. I can't imagine having to go back to New York and then spending months or even years wondering if you're still alive. I want to be with you and know for a fact that you're okay. As for my dad, I think he wants me to come home because he's already lost my mom and he doesn't want to lose me too. I know he means well but I need to be free. I'm an adult and I need to make my own choices."

"I think he's acting as any parent would in this situation. He wants his little girl home, safe and sound. I mean if I were a parent I wouldn't want my daughter to be on the run with a known criminal and in constant danger of getting shot by some asshole murder boss." I chuckle a little, my eyes gleaming for the first time since the beginning of this conversation.

"Way to put things in perspective, Holly Go-Bluntly." She punches my arm and continues to stare at the night sky.

"What?" My eyebrow raises in confusion and Victoria bursts out laughing.

"Like Holly Golightly, please tell me you've heard of Breakfast at Tiffany's...." Victoria gives me an expectant but serious look.

I respond with a mere shrug, a gesture that does not please her at all.

"Oh my lord, how have you never seen that movie? It's a classic!" She throws her hands up in frustration.

"The oldest movie I've seen is Rocky."

"Oh my gosh you are so uncultured; I cannot believe it!" She shakes her head and then leans on my shoulder again.

"So, you really want to stay?" I ask in a somber tone.

"Yes, with all my heart." She confirms and then turns her head slightly, a smile on her lips. "I'm not that easy to get rid of, Mr. Forrester."

"I never said I wanted to get rid of you." I smirk and place my lips on hers.

She wraps her arms around my neck and moves to sit on my lap. I hold her as close as possible and continue to kiss her until we both let go to catch our breaths'. Mr. Grayson makes a noise behind us and Victoria immediately moves off of my lap, clambering to her feet as fast as she can.

"Have you come to a decision, sweetheart?" I look up and see Mr. Grayson smiling sweetly at his daughter.

"Daddy, I want to stay here with Gavin. I know I'm in danger but I need to make my own decisions and I know Gavin will do everything he can to protect me. I love him and I'd rather die with him than never see him again." Victoria crosses her arms and gives her dad a look that says she means business.

"Baby, are you sure? If you come home, I will do everything to make sure you and Gavin can actually be together and have a normal relationship." Her dad rubs her cheek as tears fill his eyes.

"Our relationship will never be normal but no matter what happens, we stay together and I don't want to be taken away from him. I need him, dad." Victoria whispers.

"I guess I should learn to let go. You're growing up. I just don't want to lose you Victoria." Her dad brushes a few tears from his eyes, a smile etched on his lips.

"Dad, you aren't losing me. I'm still here, I still love you but I need to be independent. I need to live my own life."

"Okay, baby girl." His smile widens and he pulls Victoria into a hug.

He looks at me over her shoulder with worry present in his eyes. I bite my lip and stand awkwardly off to the side. They let go a minute later and I hand Victoria the car keys.

"Go get in the car, love. I'll be down in a few." I smile as she takes the keys and races off to the car. "Mr. Grayson, thank you for letting her stay."

"Gavin, there's no need to thank me. I'm glad you let Victoria make her own decision and I wouldn't be letting her stay if I didn't trust you. You seem like a relatively good person." He narrows his eyes and rakes them up and down my body as if he's trying to find evidence to change his opinion.

"Thank you, sir?" My voice fluctuates with confusion.

"Mark my words, Gavin Forrester, if anything happens to my little girl, I will hunt your ass down and I will tear you limb from limb until there is not a trace of you left on this planet. This is your ultimatum; do I make myself clear?" Chief Grayson clenches his fists and expels an angry breath from mouth.

"Crystal, nothing will happen to her, sir." I let out a few shallow breaths as Chief Grayson backs up from me.

"I'm going to go say goodbye to Victoria one more time." He announces and then walks down to the car.

I follow him, still shaken up from his warning. There was a fierce protection in his eyes, one that only a father has when his child is in danger. It's comforting to know that at least Victoria has him to count on. I come up right as the conversation between Victoria and her dad finishes up.

"Baby, I'm still going to be in town for a few days if you need anything or change your mind." He says as he kisses her forehead.

"I won't change my mind but thanks for being there for me, dad." Victoria wraps her arms tightly around his neck and I see her eyes fill with tears. "I love you."

"I love you too. I don't want anything to happen to you. Promise you won't get into any more trouble."

"I'll do my best." She laughs through her tears as she and her dad finally release. "I guess we should go."

"I guess you should. Please never forget how much I love you, baby girl." Her dad opens up the door for her as he dries his tears.

"I won't; I love you too, daddy." She closes the door and attempts to stop her tears.

I'm about to get in the car when I make eye contact with Chief Grayson.

"Take care of her; she's a light in this world. Don't let anyone take that light away, Gavin." Chief Grayson gives me a weak smile and then begins to tear-up again.

"I promise you'll get your little girl back alive." I nod and slip into the front seat of the car.

"Gavin, I'm sorry about earlier. I was just mad that everyone I love ends up leaving me..." Victoria begins to speak, referencing our earlier fight.

 I interrupt Victoria's speech with a slow, gentle kiss.

"None of that matters now, Victoria. I'm not going to leave you; I never could. Let's just go home. It's been a long night."

Victoria nods as the engine sputters to life and we speed away from Ainsley's house. She's quiet the rest of the ride home and is almost asleep by the time we pull up in front of Jeffrey's house. I shake her lightly and she wakes up with a disoriented look.

"My head is killing me." Victoria whines as I help her out of the car.

She grips my shoulder tightly and almost collapses as she tries to get out of the car.

"How much did you have to drink?" I ask with a comforting smile.

"I honestly can't remember." She takes in a deep breath once she finally regains her balance.

"You're really disoriented."

"Probably explains why I can't remember where I went or how much I drank."

"Do you at least know what you had to drink? 'Cause you smell like a mixture of everything on the menu." I smirk as I try to help her up the stairs.

"Thanks, Gavin." She rolls her eyes and tries to focus on making it up the stair in front of us. "I think I started with Rum and then had some Tequila but I honestly can't remember; everything has been a bit of a blur."

"Understood." I support her back as we finally reach the front door.

I knock loudly and Blaze comes to the door. Relief washes over his face as he pulls us both inside and slams the door shut.

"You have no idea how glad I am to see you both. I honestly thought the cops had taken you guys or something." Blaze grins and begins to walk towards the kitchen where there's boxes of take-out sitting on the counter.

"Why would they take Victoria? She's the head cop's daughter." Slick chuckles as he dishes up food for the both of us.

"Former head cop..." I say as I sit down.

"What?" Blaze whips his head around. "Please tell me you didn't run into him."

"He was sitting in Ainsley's living room, waiting, not speaking or anything. She had Victoria so I would've run into him anyway."

"Gavin, you can't go around confronting the former head police chief. What if he's still loyal to some of the cops? What if he feels it's his moral duty to turn you in? You can't trust everyone." Blaze angrily sticks his plastic fork in a piece of chicken and begins to saw at it.

"The man just wants his daughter back and I think he knows if he calls the FBI then Talon will make sure he never sees Victoria alive again." I cross my arms and glare at him.

"You cannot rely on Talon!" Blaze throws his hands up in frustration.

"I can count on the fact that he wants to kill me and Victoria himself so having the cops involved would be counterproductive." I state simply, knowing that, as usual, I'm right.

"We are free, Gavin, let's stop screwing with things that don't involve us anymore. Let's just try to lead a normal life." Slick suggest but I cut him off.

"The minute those cops get a new lead, our heads will be right back on the chopping block. We will never be normal and pretending we are won't help anything." I take an angry bite of the sandwich on my plate.

"Hey, Victoria, are you okay? You look a little green..." Jeffrey says from behind the kitchen counter, concern etched in his features.

Victoria pushes back from her seat and rushes down the hallway towards the bathroom in our bedroom. I hear her slam the door and then there's a loud wrenching sound coming through the walls.

"What did that girl drink?" Jeffrey shakes his head as he serves himself some food.

"She can't even really remember. Obviously it didn't agree with her liver." I take a small bite of my food.

"I'm gonna turn on the news, it should still be on." Jeffery announces and then picks up the remote.

"I need to go check on Victoria." I mutter and stand up.

My feet carry me down the hallway towards our now silent bedroom. I push open the door and call out for Victoria.

"Babe, are you okay?"

"Gavin, there's something you need to see." Victoria shrieks as she opens up the bathroom door.

She's standing the wooden frame wearing her jeans but no shirt. Her torso is slightly bruised but that's not the most horrifying thing on it. There's a letter "T" carved right above her left hipbone. It's covered in dried blood, implying that it must've happened while Victoria was passed out.

"Gavin, there's another thing." She holds out her forearm for me to look at and in the crook of her elbow, there's a small prick from a needle. "I don't think the alcohol knocked me out. I think I must've gotten really drunk and maybe didn't notice. Maybe I was already numb, I just don't know."

Victoria begins to cry and she collapses in my arms. I hold her close, fear dominating my features. My fingers run through her hair as I draw in deep breaths.

Talon touched her. His hands touched her and he marked her with a knife. He's sending a message. He's trying to tell me that he'll always be a part of her or that he'll always have control over me. I'm not going to let that happen, he's not coming anywhere near her again; not unless I'm waiting there with a fully loaded shotgun.

"He touched me. His hands were on me and he stabbed me." Victoria manages to say through sobs.

"I am never going to let that happen again. That bastard will not come anywhere near you without going through me first." I whisper softly in her ear.

"He's really back and he has his sights set on us. Gavin, Talon wants us dead." Realization clouds her eyes as she lets go of me, a hand comes up to her mouth to stifle more sobs.

"He just wants to torture us and he's winning if we let him. The only thing there is for us to do is take him out before he gets bored and decides to take us out." I grip her shoulder tightly and stare deeply into her eyes.

"You want us to take out Talon Tenebris?"

"The way we should've a long time ago." I confirm and take a seat on the bed.

"We can't do this alone..." She sits down next to me and grabs my hand.

"Do you want to know why I was out with Ainsley all day?" I turn towards her and wait for her to nod.

She bites her lip and moves her head slowly up and down.

"I was staking out Talon's headquarters. Ainsley used to work there and she got me a bunch of files to look at. She was helping and she says she has some contacts who would also be willing to help. We're not going to do this alone." I tuck a piece of hair behind her ear and leave my fingers lingering on her cheek.

"Are we going to tell the others?" Victoria looks nervous and then begins to gnaw on her lip.

"Um, they kind of already know. I wasn't planning on you finding out until it was done but I feel like you have a right to know after tonight..." I sigh, telling her the truth feels like the right thing to do.

"Did you not tell me to keep me safe or because you didn't want me involved?" Victoria narrows her bloodshot eyes.

"I didn't want to get you involved in another dangerous thing. The less you knew when the cops undoubtedly showed up, the better. I just wanted to make sure you were safe." I rub the back of my neck, hoping she'll accept my reasoning.

"Fine, I trust you but now I want to help." She crosses her arms and tilts her head, waiting for me to accept.

"This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you. I wanted to get it done and then tell you later..." I mumble under my breath.

"Gavin, we can't keep secrets like this from each other. I have every right to be involved, don't I?" Victoria uncrosses her arms and points at the cut on her torso.

"You're not the only one with scars from that bastard." I pull off my shirt, revealing the thirty cuts Talon gave me a few months ago for not killing Victoria.

They've healed a bit but they're going to turn into scars and they are never going to go away. Wherever I go, Talon will be with me and that kills me.

"Gavin, why did he give you these?" Victoria runs her fingers gently over the still red flesh.

"That's what I got for refusing to kill you..." I state simply, my voice cracking as she runs her fingers over a particularly deep cut.

"You went through all this punishment to make sure I got to live?" Victoria looks ashamed as she stops touching my skin.

"And I'd go back and do it again." I smile and slip my shirt back over my head.

"I can never thank you enough for that."

"You don't have to. People who love each other would do anything for each other and that's exactly what I did. I will never regret it, Victoria." I place my lips on her forehead and then pull her close.

"We have to get rid of him before he kills you." Victoria mumbles and looks sadly into my eyes.

"And we will; that's a promise." My hand travels down her spine and stays planted firmly on her lower back.

~~~~~

Victoria's "T" cut has healed slightly since she showed it to me a few days ago. It's scabbed over and no longer bleeding but it still scared her out of her mind. Blaze and Slick were surprised when they found out I told Victoria the truth but they agreed that it would make everything better in the end.

I pick up my phone and dial Ainsley's number. I haven't told her that Victoria knows everything and honestly, I've been pushing it off. I don't want a lecture about how it was my idea the keep Victoria in the dark in the first place. I know it was but I feel a million times better having told her and Ainsley deserves to know who else wants in.

"Hey, Gavin." Ainsley says in an irritable tone.

"I need to tell you something." I rub the back of my neck as I step out onto the staircase leading up to the front door.

I take a seat on the steps and push the front door closed.

"And I need some Advil. Tequila hangovers are the worst." She whines and shuffles around on the other end of the phone.

"I had to tell Victoria what we were doing." My eyes screw shut the minute the words escape my lips.

"Why the hell did you do that?" Ainsley's tone is laced with sarcasm.

"A few days ago, when Victoria was drunk, she got cut. Someone carved a T into her hip and so I felt that it was only right to let her know what we're up to." I bite my lip, regretting ever telling Ainsley what I'd done.

"Does she want to join in now? Gavin, we can't have her screw things up. She's not experienced enough and I don't think she knows what we're really up against." Ainsley rambles but I interrupt her with a grunt.

"Talon is her father; she's well aware of what we're up against but you're right, she's not experienced and I don't want anything to happen to her but we can't do this alone. There has to be something she can do." I mutter, frustration building in my veins.

"Wow, I'm glad you have so much faith in me." I turn around and low and behold, Victoria is standing in the doorway.

"Can I please have some privacy?" I ask as calmly as I can.

"Sure, take all the privacy you need." She rolls her eyes and walks back inside.

"Gavin, usually girls don't like to know that you don't think they can do something. It hurts this thing called their pride; I'm sure you already know all about that." Ainsley chuckles and then goes silent.

"She's not touching a gun, that's final."

"I agree." Ainsley still sounds amused which bothers me. "I'd like all my limbs intact."

"I'll call you later." I turn back towards the door and its wide open like Victoria flung it during her rampage inside.

"You mean after you've calmed down Victoria and told her you love her at least fifty million times and given her some gift so she won't look into anything?" I can almost imagine the smug look on Ainsley's face.

"That's not how our relationship works. We're equals and that's how it's always been." Anger burns in my eyes like a fire.

"Whatever, Forrester. Call me when you have things with her sorted out." Ainsley hangs up, leaving me with yet another problem to solve.

I stand up and stalk grudgingly inside. Victoria is sitting on the couch with her arms crossed, a frustrated look masking her face. I sit down next to her and don't say a thing.

"I thought maybe if you told me what you were doing, you'd actually let me do something productive. I thought you'd realize that maybe I could help you out. How stupid was I? You'd rather work with your people anyway because they won't screw things up." Victoria gets off of the couch and walks out to the kitchen, not once looking in my direction.

"Can we please not fight about this? You shouldn't've been eavesdropping on my conversation anyway." I cross my arms and slowly make my way towards her.

"You're right but you should have a little faith in me."

"Have you ever even touched a gun? Shot it? Loaded it? Killed somebody?" I glare at her and watch her features shift.

"You still don't need to talk about me like I'm some incompetent moron. I can do some things." Victoria turns around a goes to grab a bottle of water from the fridge.

"Victoria, are you just mad that Ainsley has one thing in common with me that you don't?" My arms wrap around her waist and I begin to kiss her neck. "Cause you know I'll always love you more than I could ever love anyone else."

"Gavin, I guess I'm just mad that I can't do for you what Ainsley can. I can't shoot a gun. I don't know how anyone could take another human life and I don't know how to take down a murder boss. I barely know the parts of a gun or even half of the terminology you use to describe what you're doing. I want to help and I understand that you don't want me to but I just don't like Ainsley being able to help instead of me. It's stupid but that's how I feel." Victoria closes her eyes and holds me close to her.

"It's not stupid but I want you to know that I'm doing this for you. I'm taking him down so this can finally be over and we can finally have a stable relationship without worrying that one of us is going to get shot." I place a kiss on her forehead and run my fingers through her hair.

"I understand; I just wish you were working with anyone but Ainsley." Victoria chuckles and lets go of me.

"I believe it was your idea to befriend her first." I point out with a smirk.

"As we can tell, I've made some pretty dumb mistakes in my life." Victoria places her lips on mine and tangles her fingers in my overgrown hair.

I pick her up and set her on the counter without breaking the kiss. My arms snake around her waist as she deepens the kiss.

"Get a room that isn't where we eat, dipsticks." Slick makes a face as he passes by us.

Victoria releases me and rolls her eyes at Slick, who's seated on the couch watching some TV show I've never seen before.

"Let's just forget about this for a few days. We can kill Talon a different day. All of us need to relax a little." I tuck a piece of hair behind Victoria's ear and help her down from the counter.

"We should all go somewhere tomorrow..." Victoria suggests.

"When has that ever been a good idea?" Blaze chuckles from the living room.

"The cops aren't after us; it'd probably be a good idea to get some sunshine before they decide to come back and pursue us." I smirk and hold Victoria's hand tightly.

"We shouldn't go around testing the theory that they aren't after us." Blaze points out but it's obvious, even he wants to get out of the house.

"So, noon tomorrow?" Victoria asks with an amused glance towards Blaze.

"I'll be ready." He sighs and stands up to go off to his room.