JULIA'S POV

I took another drink of my beer and stared ahead to where someone I'd really wanted to meet was sitting. I'd been looking at him since he entered the pub and since he was on his third glass of whisky, it was better to go and meet him before he got roaring drunk. I finished the drink in my glass and headed to his seat, sliding the opposite chair out and sitting on it.

"I have company." He said without looking up.

"I've been watching you, and that's not true." I responded, and he looked up, looking surprised to see me. "You've been ignoring my calls and messages." I went straight to the point.

He took a sip of the whiskey in his glass. "I told you I wasn't interested. I have my own plan and I have no plan to work with someone that is not safe."

I laughed. "Because you don't want your love to find out whom you really are?"

He glared at me. "What do you want? You said you had everything in place the last time. How did it feel for your plan to completely fail? I even heard you got fired? The entire company has been buzzing since they found out the reason you were fired. Care to enlighten me?"

I leaned towards him. "Is that what you're concerned about? I guess she told you all that, right? Well, I have a plan now and nothing will be able to destroy it. The plan will destroy Jonathan and take him away from her side, permanently. That sounds good to you? You'll be free to have her as long as you desire."

I saw the eagerness in Lucas' face at my statement and hid my smile. This was what happened when you liked someone or obsessed over someone, in his case. Which was why I never made myself that vulnerable.

"What's the plan?" He asked and I took his glass. I drank the entire drink and pushed the empty glass back to him.

"I thought you weren't interested in working with me? There are many who have the same desire as I do. To see Jonathan fall to the lowest point possible." I checked my clock. "One of them is supposed to meet me here in the next… five minutes."

"Fine. I'll work with you, but you have to stop calling me when I'm home. My girlfriend is getting suspicious. I don't want her to find out anything about this."

I sighed. "That's none of my business. If you've not been able to beat sense into her, then you have only yourself to blame."

He glared at me, possibly surprised I knew that much about him. "Fine. So what's the plan?"

I wagged my finger in front of his face. "I can't trust you with that yet. You will need to do some little tasks for me before we can get to that point."

He rubbed his face. "As long as none of your tasks affect Danielle. I know Jonathan is your main concern so nothing you do should affect her."

I laughed and studied him. After seeing his behavior at their wedding, I'd known he was someone who should be on my team. It was obvious he was obsessed over the girl and the girl that had been with him also knew. That was the problem with people, mostly women. They allowed their emotions to stop them from making reasonable decisions. As much as I wanted Jonathan, it wasn't because of my emotions. I was simply aware of how much power I could hold if I owned him. And the fact he had gotten married and fired me meant he had drawn the war line first. It left me no choice but to do everything I could to get what he had kept from me.

I smiled at the simp that was in front of me. "Of course. I have no business with her." I lied. I was going to make sure she regretted taking what was mine. The fact their relationship was contractual made the revenge seem even sweeter.

Lucas raised his hand and a waiter came to meet him. He ordered an additional bottle of whisky and glanced at me. "Do you want anything different?"

"A bottle of beer for me." I replied. He nodded and added that to the order and the waiter left.

"So what are you doing in a pub like this on a work night? Busy day at work?" I asked, leaning again to him.

He shrugged. "I just needed some space to myself. How about you? Consoling yourself after being fired?" He threw back, and I kept quiet as the waiter brought our drinks.

"Just chilling." I replied when the waiter left. In reality, I had pretty much nowhere to go. Ever since I'd gotten fired, I had been staying in a motel. My father and his aide were furious that I had gotten myself fired rather than destroying Jonathan, and they had blocked all my cards and my home key card. My revenge was to satisfy myself, but also to redeem myself in their eyes.

He nodded. "So what's the task you would have me do?" He asked, and I took a sip of my beer.

DANIELLE'S POV

I sighed and turned again. Since I'd come to bed over thirty minutes, despite the fact I'd kept my eyes closed, sleep had eluded me. Eleni had shown me the text her husband had sent her and I'd felt chills on my neck. The feeling of someone staring at me had actually been real, not my imagination.

I couldn't even imagine how terrified she must have felt. While I'd planned to talk to her about Lillian, the words had been unable to come out of my mouth. She had so much to worry about and the last thing I should do was put someone else's burden on her.

I turned again and opened my eyes, staring at the silhouette of Jonathan's back in the dark. He hadn't been able to sleep either, I could tell by his breathing and the tenseness that seemed to envelop the bed. I'd shared the bed with him enough to recognize how relaxed he looked when he was asleep.

"Trying to drill a hole at my back?" He asked when I continued staring at his back. "Do you have something to say?" He asked, voice calm.

"Why didn't you let me know?" I asked against my wish. The explanation had made it evident Eleni had explained everything to Jonathan. They both had known, and neither had bothered to inform me. Even though the thought had been plaguing me, I hadn't meant to ask it so accusingly.

He turned to me and I knew he wouldn't be able to see my face that well since the room was enveloped in darkness. "Eleni didn't want you to worry about her. Plus she didn't want you to get scared to go out."

"But she told you immediately?" I asked. It just felt unfair to me. I loved getting involved and the fact I'd been left out was making me imagine so many things. Did he not trust me with her safety because we weren't in a real relationship? Did she think I was going to react negatively?

Jonathan laughed. "We're different. I am more than capable of taking care of myself but you two aren't. I'll say she was being more considerate of you than she was of me. She was willing to throw me to the wolves." He said, as if knowing where my mind had gone.

I smiled and burrowed myself more under the covers. "Will self-defense classes be enough, though?" Jonathan had mentioned taking us both to learn self-defense moves. When we had both brought up suspicions on whether we were capable of it, he had shut us down and informed us it was an order, not a suggestion.

"It will give her a sense of safety. You too. Plus, I'll place people guarding this place and her tomorrow. She'll be as safe as possible."

"Will they file the restraining order on her husband even if he's still in Greece?" I asked, my voice quieter. The sleep that had been eluding me was now lulling me.

Jonathan sighed. "He being in Greece isn't the problem. The issue is that he's a very recognizable and influential figure, and not many people will be willing to do anything that'll make them possible targets if he gets angry. That's why she had no support system back home. They all convinced her there was nothing they could do for her and for her to stop tempting her husband to abuse her."

I rolled my eyes. "What a load of bullshit. Would they finally get to work when he kills her like he almost did?"

Jonathan didn't say anything, and I tapped him softly. "You can do something about it, right?"

I felt him change his position. "I don't know. I was able to get to the judge, but he said there's nothing he can do apart from what he believes is right. They may take the lack of proof as enough reason to decline the claim."

I sighed. "I hope that doesn't happen."

We were both quiet, and I was already losing the battle against sleep when I felt Jonathan turn to me again. "I have an engagement I was invited to in London next weekend. Do you want to go with me?"

I wasn't able to respond as the sleep took me completely.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.