Sugar Baby Âœ”ϸ +twenty-sixth: fix

(alright so if y’all googled the coordinates, you’ll see it’s somewhere near Brighton. Heck, it is Brighton lol. It wasn’t intentional and I maintain that this story is in a fictional world. It just so happens that all my stories tend to have a Britain inspired protagonist idk why maybe it’s the accent-)

I paced around my apartment. My heart raced rapidly, my head buzzing with the newest revelation. I glanced at the clock and saw that it was ten-thirty. Still, half an hour before Rosalie arrived at the location with the money, if at all she did. I sat down on the bed, jiggling my leg in anticipation. Gray had left a few hours ago after dinner and promised to keep me posted.

I sighed and gazed at my phone which remained determinedly blank. I lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling. I kept thinking of the consequences. If Rosalie was caught today, that would be the end of the Atkinson Associations. Or would it? Scarlett would graduate soon. It was possible that the entire business would shift to her.

The thought of Scarlett made my heart wrench painfully. She had been nothing but nice to me, and I was going to rip her life apart. I sighed, hiding my feverish face in my hands.

The hours crawled by slowly as I tried to force myself to read. I was reading Order of The Phoenix for the fiftieth time. The words flew over my head and I found myself glancing at the clock again and again. I watched the second hand slowly travel. As if mocking me. The excruciating minutes trickled by when finally at a quarter to eleven, my phone buzzed with a notification. I reached for it, almost falling over my face onto the mattress in hurry. I checked the text notification.

Grayson: She’s here. A truck is approaching

I sucked in a deep breath, my heart racing.

Xavier: who’s there to take the money?

Grayson: nothing else yet

I sighed, clutching my phone tightly. I swayed to and fro, biting my lip. My racing heart refused to settle down. About a few minutes later, he texted me again.

Grayson: another car. I think this is the one. The truck stopped

A terrifying thought crossed my mind. What if she was armed? What if finding herself cornered made her fly off and become violent? I sucked in a deep breath, my fingers trembling as I typed in my response. 

Xavier: pls be careful bby

Grayson: pro 😉

I almost smiled as I looked at the text, putting my phone back down. It felt surreal that it was over. I hadn’t decided about my future at Harbour City Law Enforcement. But, I knew I wanted to continue my relationship with Grayson. I had no qualifications. The only thing I was relieved about was that I did have a lot of savings which should be enough to get through university if I ever got the chance to apply.

But then what? A corporate job? For the life of me, I couldn’t imagine Xavier Easton working at a multinational.

I decided not to think about something that made my head hurt and lay down on my back, playing on my phone for a while. I gazed at the clock as it struck eleven. Ten, fifteen minutes passed and my heart jumped to my throat. My stomach knotting so painfully that I felt like there were writhing worms inside it trying to claw their way out. I knew Gray had back up, but my blood ran cold. If anything happened to him, I couldn’t survive.

Xavier: you ok??

The moment I pressed send, the phone rang, displaying Grayson’s name on the screen. I picked up the phone, relief washing through me at the sound of his voice. 

“Xavier?”

“Gray-” I began. He sounded breathless, in a hurry. But mercifully unhurt. “Gray are-“

“Xavier, I need you to leave your apartment right now.”

I heard the panic in his voice as my blood ran cold. “Wha-?”

“Rosalie isn’t in the car. It’s one of her men. He won’t tell us where she is. Leave the apartment. Go to my place-“

My heart jumped into my throat when I heard a loud bang downstairs. Grayson’s voice rose in sheer panic. 

“Xavier, XAVIER?“

Before I could react, I heard heavy footsteps running upstairs. My adrenaline finally kicked in and I sprung to my feet, throwing the phone on the mattress. I gazed around and cursed under my breath. A fall from this height would be injurious and futile. I could try to make an escape in my car, but if I fractured my legs, I’d be too crippled to even move. There wasn’t much space in my apartment to hide. I could barely hear my thoughts over my pounding heart.

It was moments like these that I wished I kept a gun with me. Something that Grayson had insisted again and again, but my adamancy had always stood in the way. I couldn’t stand the thought of keeping a weapon with me. Ironically, it somehow made the imminent, persistent threat on my life seem even more real. And more than that, I couldn’t imagine ever shooting someone. Even for self-defence. I hated the loud sounds too much. I hated violence.

There was the unmistakable sound of a gunshot right outside my door and I froze in sheer terror. My body trembling as I staggered backwards. The door banged open with a force that made it almost fly off its hinges.

“You fucking bastard.”

Inexplicable horror coursed through me. I took a deep shuddering breath. I had been in a similar situation several times, although never in my own apartment. I considered it a safe place. However, Rosalie Atkinson stood in front of me, looking lethally beautiful as ever. Her arm stretched out in front of her, the evil metal glinting as she pointed a gun at me. Her eyes narrowed, rage burning behind her irises. Her usually immaculate hair flying around her face, which was pale like chalk. 

“I fucking trusted you!” she snarled.

Before I could open my mouth to keep her talking, she fired. I don’t know if it went off course or if she had actually planned to hit the bed. There was the sound of wood splintering as I took another step backwards, my brain freezing in horror. I hadn’t expected her to actually shoot so suddenly. 

“You fucking disgusting filthy swine!”

She shot the gun again. A loud ringing started in my ear as I tried to search around for any weapon. My nearest weapon would be a knife, kept in the kitchen. I would have to pass by her to get there. There was only one way. I had to talk to her. Stall her and hope Gray reached here soon.

“Rosalie,” I spoke in a voice of forced calm. I gulped, trying hard not to let my voice tremble. “Listen to me. You-“

“I should’ve fucking known. If that idiot Reznick had kept it in his fucking pants-” she shot again, this time the shot flew dangerously close to me and embedded into the wall. I winced horribly as she smiled in satisfaction. It was shocking to see her beautiful features contorted in rage and detest.

“Now he sees. Now he fucking sees. Boasting about how he fucked my date. The fucking pervert. And my own daughter. You manipulative bastard-“

In spite of myself, I flinched at her crass words. “Rosalie, it’s okay. You’re not-“

She shot again and I stopped talking at once. Her nostrils flared, her eyes wide. She looked insane. Beyond herself. I could take her on in a fight, but I was afraid a single movement would unhinge her completely and she would shoot again. Fatally this time.

“I fucking trusted you, Xavier Easton. I even think I fucking loved you,” she snarled, gritting her teeth as she glared at me menacingly. “You deserve to die.”

“Rosalie, if you kill me, you won’t be spared,” I said, trying to maintain rationality even as terror froze the blood in my veins. “It is a money swindling case. You’ll be spared. The police know. They are on their way-“

I screamed as she fired two continuous shot. She reached into her pocket and I watched, terrified as she loaded the gun again. I cursed myself for not moving in time to tackle her, but somehow the deranged rage in her irises rooted me to the spot. I had never had such a close encounter. In my own apartment. In front of my own bed.

I gazed at the bedside table where I kept my Swiss knife. There was no way I could get there fast enough. She seemed deranged, liable to shoot anytime. Even if I did get there, my melee weapon would be no match for her ranged one.

“You’re a fucking liar,” she whispered, her eyes glinting with tears and malevolence. “Fucking twisted, filthy liar. I don’t care if I’m hanged as long as you’re fucking dead first. You got into my fucking apartment-“

I screamed in agony as pain shot up my leg. My yells muffled by the sound of the gunshot. I crumpled to the floor, clutching my bleeding leg. Dark red blood started pooling rapidly onto the floor as I struggled to breathe. I could smell the rusty scent of my own blood, making me light-headed. 

“I fucking let you in my fucking bed-” she shot again. Blood spurted from my other leg, agony shooting up my body as I lay, crippled.

“I fucking believed in your twisted lies!”

She shot again on my arm. The surmounting pain made my vision hazy. My brain dizzy from the incessant blood loss. I was barely aware of anything as she walked over to me, her gun pointed menacingly at my head. She spoke in a snarling, scandalized whisper, her throat choked with emotion. Her eyes bloodshot as tears streamed down her face. “I’ll fucking end you, Xavier Easton.”

I couldn’t think. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t rationalize.

I lay, terrified. Writhing in pain in my own pool of blood. Each cell of my body frozen in terror. Screaming in anguish. I felt a hard blow to my chest as she kicked me, blood spurting out of my mouth. I tasted the coppery flavour, my breath ceasing. My heart beating frantically. Terrified of its nearing demise. 

“Sweet dreams, Mason Waters.”

There was the sound of another gunshot. A flurry of movement. I felt my consciousness ebbing away. Anguish ripping through my entire body. I floated timelessly, unaware. I tried to hold on to my consciousnesses even as it withered away with alarming velocity. My hands, slathered with my own blood, too feeble to grasp it.

It was getting harder to breathe.

I was falling into a gentle sleep which promised me I wouldn’t face any more agony. I gave in to the sweet promise. A single image burning into my skull. A single name.

Grayson.

And then, oblivion.