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T
he next couple of weeks had been spent laying low. David had people keeping an eye on the man who had caused Toby's kidnapping, and security teams had been provided outside Toby's apartment, but he knew that he couldn't rush this.
them. Now, they seemed so content with each other, their bodies intertwined, and the trouble of the world started to melt away. Just for a night, David wanted to forget about the thought of letting this slip from between his fingers; the very idea of no longer having Angela to come home to made his chest ache. He closed his eyes, and just before he drifted off to sleep in her arms, he spoke up one last time.
“I love you...”
Angela had said the words back to him as if they slipped off her tongue in a heartbeat. It was the one thing she was absolutely certain of, but he had already passed out, and she sighed as she pushed the hair falling over his forehead away from his face and pushed her body back.
Her back was resting again on the headboard of the bed as she stared down at him; he looked so peaceful in her arms; she smiled, staring down at him, thinking about how peaceful the given moment was...how she wished it like remain like this forever.
The next morning, David woke up to the smell of fresh coffee filling up the room; his eyes had barely even opened fully when he heard the sound of something dropping in the kitchen across the bedroom. It came as a loud crash, and he instantly knew that it was glass. For a moment, his worst fears came before him. He jolted upwards immediately with his eyes wide; as he looked to the other side of the bed, he noticed that it was empty.
Angela was nowhere to be seen around the room; his heartbeat had started to pick up pace instantly, and he tried to keep himself calm, but he couldn't push the thoughts off his head. He pulled himself out of bed, and the first thing his eyes landed on was the baseball bat lying by the huge standing mirror across the room.
Normally, David would just go for the gun he would keep at all times in his side table drawer; ever since the shooting with Toby and Angela happened, he was having trouble being near guns; the very thought of one brought him back to the same place. It was the lowest moment in his life. It was almost like he was experiencing PTSD, but he refused to speak about it with anyone. The last thing that he wanted was to draw attention to the whole situation; he just wanted it to be behind them.
He bolted forward and gripped onto the baseball bat with both his hands wrapped around it tightly. His heart was almost beating out of his chest as he made his way towards the bedroom door. As he slowly pushed it open, he looked around the huge living room, and to his surprise, the place looked as neat and clean as he had left it.
He was about to shout Angela's name when he heard glass being dragged against the floor once again. He didn't wait another second. David picked up pace as he reached the huge open kitchen just by the living room. The large, white-colored countertop stood a few feet away from the stove with white- and black-colored stools on each side. He pushed his way past the breakfast bar, and just as he caught a glimpse of someone's silhouette, he pulled the baseball bat upwards with all the force he had in his body. He was seconds away from swinging it straight onto the back of the person behind the counter when Angela spun around just in time.
David immediately stumbled backward with shock written all over his face as his breath was caught in his throat. He dropped the bat to the ground immediately, and Angela was still in shock.
She noticed the way his cheeks turned pink, and he pressed his hand to his heart. She could see the anxiety that rushed through his body, and she got up from the ground immediately. He had guilt spreading across his face like a little kid who had just made a mistake, and Angela could see it right away.
As Angela made her way to his side, she didn't care about anything but the reaction she had just seen; David closed his eyes. Suddenly, the noise in his surroundings was drowned out, his ears numb, and he couldn't hear anything; it felt as if his heart was about to rip its way out of his body at any given moment. Angela placed a hand over his shoulder as she whispered to him. Her voice barely reached him as she repeated his name.
A few moments passed, and he finally felt himself coming back to his senses; he opened his eyes once again and faced Angela; she was holding a glass of water in her hands, and her face was painted with worry. David's eyes trailed back to the baseball bat on the ground, and he spoke immediately.
"Oh...God, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to...I thought...I thought that someone had broken into the place."
She shook her head as she gently ran her fingers over his back. He took a sip of the water as Angela began to speak.
"Hey, are you okay, David? I got worried about you. You zoned out for a bit there, didn't you?"
He knew what was going on with him, but he didn't want to worry her; instead, he looked over at the counter, and his eyes moved towards the ground. He noticed what looked to be a porcelain cup that had been smashed on the ground; the tiles around it were covered in liquid. As soon as Angela noticed what he was looking at, she nervously spoke.
"Oh...right, about that...well, I woke up before you today, and I thought it would be nice to wake you up with coffee...I was about to carry the mug to the other counter when this stupid pain rose from the wound, and I dropped it. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up."
Before she could even go on, he cut her off immediately. He placed his hand gently on the left side of her cheek and smiled up at her as he spoke.
"You know there's a reason I have a chef and a whole kitchen at the end of the apartment. It’s such silly people like you who need to be getting all the rest they can don't go about getting themselves hurt over a mug of coffee."
She rolled her eyes at him as he moved forward and placed a kiss on her lips.
Before she could say anything else, he spoke once again.
"Why don't you head over to the bed, and I'll ask the help to clean it up."
She gave him a nod. Just as she had made her way across the hallway, she turned back to face David, who had pulled out his phone to call the woman who cleaned around the penthouse; he noticed a look in her eye as if she was holding something that she wanted to say back. He raised his eyebrows with the phone still pressed to his ear, and after a few moments of silence, she spoke.
"Are you sure you're okay, David?"
He knew that she was referring to what had happened when he had seen Angela behind the counter. He drew in a deep breath and spoke.
"I promise I'm okay.... now go on; I'll be there in a bit."
She smiled at him as she made her way into the bedroom.
He was left alone with his thoughts, and his eyes slowly trailed back to the baseball bat that was lying on the ground. He gulped as he thought about what had happened. David knew that the fear of one of the people from the Mafia breaking into their place and hurting Angela in any way was starting to get to him. It was changing the person he was, and he didn't like it at all. The idea of living in fear constantly on edge made him almost angry at the amount of control the man had over him.
Before he knew it, he changed.
He suddenly put his hands up and looked as if he was sorry; a stand of golden hair that seemed to look really attractive under the sun fell onto his forehead as he spoke.
"You know what, the chef will come in and make you breakfast in a few. I have to get going."
Angela's gaze fell upon him right away, and she knew that something was going on with him. She just couldn't put her finger on it. She could see his chest heaving up and down, and she felt the fear flashing through her body; she didn't know what was going on, but for some reason, it felt as if David had completely shut himself off to her.
Angela took a few careful steps towards her and placed her hands over his shoulders, but before she even had the chance to say anything at all, she noticed the way he looked away from her. Not wanting to meet her eyes, suddenly he did the unexpected. Se brushed her hands away from him, and before she knew it, he moved towards his jacket on the other side of the room.
Angela stood there with shock painted across her face as she whispered under her breath, but the words were loud enough for him to hear her.
“David.... why won’t you talk to me?”
She was trying her best to fight the tears that began to brim upon the corners of her eyes. He didn't look at her again; instead, he rushed towards the door with the leather jacket now clinging to his back.
Angela was left in the middle of the apartment feeling like she had done something wrong. She felt as if she was about to lose him, and this time, she wasn't going to let it happen. She didn't think twice as she grabbed her own coat from the couch in the living room and began to rush after him; she wasn't letting him get away like that.