"I don't think she does know how to close them," Hampson said lowly and smiled slightly at me. I knew there was a reason why I saved his life.
"Oh my god, thank god," Carter gasped. "I thought you had forgotten how to talk, man." Hampson gave Carter a look and he grinned sheepishly.
"Are we done?" I called loudly and stood up. "Good, great, I'm going."
"Daisy-"
"Goodbye!" I yelled and walked out of the room.
"Daisy, Daisy, Daisy!"
I looked up when Lily came running towards me, she was wearing a cute yellow dress and white shoes.
"Hey, kid," I smiled and ruffled her hair.
"Can you take me to Zac?" She asked. "Harriet hasn't got time to walk me over herself."
"Who's Harriet?" I asked.
"She owns this house," Lily said.
"Oh, her," I said remembering the woman who owned the orphanage. "Sorry, Lily, I don't think I can-"
"Please!" Lily pleaded, looking up at me with her big brown eyes.
I pursed my lips and sighed. "Fine, go tell Harriet I'll take you."
"Thank you!" Lily grinned and bounced off.
"I'll be outside!" I called and went and sat on the porch. I reached behind a flower pot and pulled out my secret stash of tobacco, paper and filter tips. I took my time rolling myself a cigarette and I was just licking the paper when Lily exited the house.
"What's that?" She asked curiously, looking at the half made cigarette in my hand.
"Something bad and naughty," I said and rolled it between my fingers.
"Then why do you have it?"
"Because I'm bad and naughty," I said and tucked the cigarette behind my ear and stood up. "Let's go, squirt."
I tensed slightly when Lily grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the road, but relaxed and smiled when she looked both ways and then crossed.
"Go on, knock," I said when we reached Jasper's house. Lily grinned and knocked on the door and I waited in boredom, crossing my arms over my chest.
Kyle opened the door and he smiled at Lily. "Hey, Lils, Zac's in the kitchen with Sammy. Go in." Lily turned and waved at me and skipped inside. Kyle glanced at me and his expression darkened.
"Don't start this I don't trust you shit again," I said. "I just dropped the kid off and now I'm outta here."
"I hear you drew with Jasper," Kyle said.
"Yeah, and?" I said.
"None of us guys can take him on. None of us have never drawn with him," Kyle said. "But you did."
"Maybe you're all just shit," I shrugged.
"God you don't watch your mouth do you," Kyle muttered. "You're just like him."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I questioned.
Kyle shrugged his shoulders. "Nothing."
"Kyle, what the fuck are you- Daisy." Jasper stopped by the door. "What are you doing here?"
"Leaving," I said.
"Come in."
"Um, no," I said.
"C'mon, you're a recruit now, you might as well get to know us," Jasper said.
"I'm more of a lone wolf."
"Yeah, and I don't really care," Jasper said. "Come inside."
"I..." I glanced over my shoulder and sighed. "Only if you've got a light." I grabbed my cigarette from behind my ear and Kyle took a lighter out of his pocket.
I reached for it, but Jasper slapped my hand away. "Excuse me?" I said.
"You're not smoking," Jasper said. "Now in you go."
"You don't get to decide that."
Jasper raised his eyebrow and grabbed my cigarette and dropped it to the floor, squashing it with his boot. "I do."
"You little-"
"Insult me inside," Jasper said and I narrowed my eyes at him but sighed.
"Fine." I followed Jasper into his house and made myself comfortable on one of the couches in the lounge.
"How you coping?" Jasper asked, sitting down next to me.
"Wonderfully."
"I'm surprised you're not asking me to give you answers," Jasper said. "About your parents."
I glanced at him. "I honestly don't know if I want to know who they are."
Jasper narrowed his eyes slightly. "Why?"
"Because they let their kid get given up for adoption. I thought they were dead, but they've been alive all this time. Who does that?"
"People don't always have a choice," Jasper snapped.
"Whatever, at the moment I'm happy not knowing."
"You can't be serious," Jasper said. "You must want to know. Your real parents. You may have a brother-"
"Shut up," I said sharply.
"You-"
"Would you tell me who they are even if I asked?" I asked Jasper.
"No."
"Then shut the fuck up."
Jasper sighed. "Whatever."
"This is all just a tiny bit of a shock to me," I muttered and ran my fingers through my hair. I stood up and walked up and down the room.
"I know. I don't blame you," Jasper said and I stopped at the fireplace, my eyes going to a picture of Richard and the woman that seemed so familiar. Jasper's mother.
"She's very pretty," I said.
"She was. I miss her."
"I know what it's like to long for a mother you don't have," I said honestly.
"It's shit," Jasper said. "She died 4 years ago."
"I'm sorry," I said and looked away from the photo.
"First my sister, then her. I feel like my family hasn't got much luck."
"Your sister... she may be alive," I said awkwardly, but I was grasping at air. Kidnapped years ago... It was clear that she was dead.
Jasper glanced at me and opened his mouth. "She-"
My phone dinged and Eli's name flashed across the screen.
"You and him," Jasper said as I made a mental note to reply to Eli later.
"What?" I said defensively.
"Are you-"
"Don't finish that question," I said sternly.
"He's the only guy I see close to you," Jasper said. "He's the only guy I see touch you."
"He's the only one that can," I said dismissively and turned round, sitting back down on the couch.
"I'm sorry for what happened to you," Jasper said and joined me on the couch. "I knew Michae-"
"Don't say his name," I said sharply.
"I knew him. I'd worked with him," Jasper sighed. "I'm so sorry."
"It's not your fault."
"But I could've done something-"
"How?" I asked. "You didn't know me before you kidnapped me. You thought I was the bad guy, not him. You couldn't have done anything."
Jasper gritted his teeth. "I'm just sorry," he muttered.
"Stop it, stop apologising for something you had no control over."
"Then I'm sorry for kidnapping you," Jasper said with a smirk.
"You're going to need to apologise a little more to make up for that," I scoffed.
"I've got all the time in the world," Jasper shrugged.
"Yeah," I agreed.
He didn't.
I rubbed my wrist and smiled slightly. My tracker was gone.
I could get out of this life.
Eli and I could get out.
It was quite hard to get any personal time over the next few weeks.
Literally impossible.
I went to school and then went to the Agency with Jasper and he took me home after.
It was impossible to be alone.
"Daisy," Jasper called and I jumped off the running machine I was on and looked at him.
"Yeah?"
"Richard wants you," he said and I sighed and followed him out of the gym. "You're getting better and better. Your fitness and fighting is improving."
"Wonderful," I said sarcastically.
Jasper rolled his eyes. The walk was silent as we walked to Richard's office, but it wasn't uncomfortable.
"Take a seat, Daisy," Richard said when we entered his office. I did as he said and Jasper went and stood beside his dad. "Jasper mentioned how he took a fake ID off of you a while back."
I shrugged my shoulders. "So?"
Richard slid my "fake" ID across his desk. "Funny thing, this isn't fake."
"Good, I paid a lot of money for that," I lied and crossed my arms over my chest.
"Daisy McCaughlin," Richard read. "McCaughlin, that's not a very common last name. Why did you pick it?"
"Sounded cool," I said. "What's with all the questions?"
"Do you know this man?" Richard turned his laptop round to reveal a picture of a man I knew very well.
I held my breath and tried to stay calm. Jasper was watching my every move, watching to see if I showed any recognition at all.
"No," I said smoothly and balled my hands into fists by my side. "Why should I?"
Richard watched me for a few moments before smiling and shutting the laptop. "You shouldn't," he said simply.
"Who is he?" I asked, frowning at Richard.
"He's my brother," Richard said and looked at Jasper. "Escort Daisy out, I'm sure she's tired and wants to go home."
I forced my limbs to move and I pushed myself out of the chair and stumbled as I walked towards the door.
"Are you okay, Daisy?" Jasper asked and I pulled away when he grabbed my arm.
"Fine," I snapped and let out a long breath when we walked out of Richard's office.
"Did you know that man? My uncle?" Jasper asked.
"No, why the hell would I know your uncle?" I asked and slammed my hand against the button for the lift.
"I don't know," Jasper shrugged. "I don't even know him."
"How sad," I said. "I'm not in the mood for chit chat, I just want to go home."
"Eli!" I yelled and slammed the front door to the house behind me. "Eli Reynolds!"
"Calm the fuck down, princess, don't go around yelling our real names. What's wrong?" Eli asked and grabbed my arm, pulling me to the side.
"Shits happened," I said in a rush. "I need to speak to you-"
"Everything okay?" Dante called as he slowly descended the stairs, stopping to cough occasionally.
"Everything's fucking wonderful, now go die in your room," I called and I grabbed Eli's hand. "This is serious, we need to talk."
Eli frowned at me and nodded. "Okay."
I cast a look at Dante. "Alone." I pulled Eli towards the stairs and barged Dante's shoulder as we went past him. "What is he even doing here still?" I said under my breath.
"Princess, what the hell is going on?" Eli demanded when we reached my room.
"You still up for getting away? Because I'm ready to go, like now. Run, get out of this town, this life-"
"Slow down," Eli said and placed his hands on my shoulders. "What's brought this on."
"They're brothers," I said. "They're fucking brothers!"
"Who?"
"Rob and Richard!" I exclaimed. "Rob is trying to take down his own brother! God, that makes him my uncle! Oh my god, this is so fucked up! I think they're on to me and I can't do this anymore. I need to get out-"
"Daisy!" Eli yelled and covered my mouth with his hands. "Let me get this straight. The person who is in charge of the assassin agency we're trying to take down is the brother of the person who is in charge of the Agency we work for?"
I nodded.
"He's Rob's brother. Your uncle."
"Not by blood," I corrected.
"This is fucked up," Eli muttered and ran his hands through his hair.
"I don't even want answers. I want out," I said.
Eli paced back and forth and sighed. "Okay."
"Okay?"
"We'll go. We'll get out."
"We'll run?"
Eli stopped walking and nodded. "We'll run."
"You don't know how long I've been waiting for you to say that," I said.
"Don't pack anything, we can steal whatever we need. All we need is money," Eli said. "Tonight we'll go."
"Tonight?"
"I've got some stuff to sort out," Eli said and I bit my lip when his thumb brushed my cheek. "Don't do anything stupid, princess. Just act normal."
"See you tonight."