Being Chased (33 page)

"
Gah, I've will-wee mithed Peggy'th cooking," she mumbled between bites.

"Slow down. There's plenty more,"
Chase said, chuckling at her.

She downed the glass of milk, closing her eyes after she'd finished it, sighing deeply, so glad to be home.
Chase reached over and wiped off her milk mustache with his finger, smirking at her and shaking his head.

"That was good. Thank you," she said looking sheepishly at him.

Allen had walked over and stood in front of the coffee table looking down at her. She looked up at him, eyebrows raised. "Julia, I-I wanted to apologize for the way I've handled things." He choked up.

"
It's okay, Allen," she said quietly, not being able to recall one time she'd seen her father about to cry. She knew he'd cried after her mother died, she could tell from the look on his face at times, but he'd never openly cried in front of her.

"No, it's not okay,
Julia. I've been a total asshole."

Her head shot up in shock as she looked at him. Wow. His
admitting that was huge as she’d not heard him very many times admit to any wrongdoing.

"I know I've treated you unfairly and you didn't deserve that.
After your mother… passed… I was so lost. I know you were, too, but I didn't know how to fix things, so I just withdrew." He sighed deeply, rubbing his hand over the back of his neck. "I want to try to make things up to you. If you'll let me."

He looked so hopeful and apologetic, ashamed even, that
Julia didn't have it in her to tell him no. "Of course, I will. Would this 'making things up to me' include my getting my own apartment?" Might as well strike while the iron was hot.

Allen
cleared his throat. "Well, um, I, uh, don't know right now, Julia. I mean, you were just taken from me. I'd like a chance for us to get to know each other again. Then we'll go from there, okay?"

She could do that. "Okay."

"Can I get a hug?"

She
rose from the couch, going around the table to hug him. He grabbed her so fiercely she was once again puzzled. She didn't think she'd ever been as surprised by someone as she'd been by him in the past two hours.

"I'm tired," she said drawing away from him.

"I know you are. Why don't you get some rest? It's almost six a.m."

"
Chase? Would you stay with me?" The fear she'd felt still clung to her.

Chase
glanced at Allen who nodded his approval and Chase took her hand. Weariness hit her suddenly and she became a zombie as he led her to her bedroom. He pulled the covers back and sat her down on the bed, turning her to lie down then covered her, tucking her in.

"No, please lie next to me,
Chase," she said when he moved to sit in the chair by her bed.

He went to the other side of the bed, kicking off his shoes, then climbed on and lay next to her outside of the blankets. He held her in his arms as she nuzzled against his chest, his hands running lightly through her hair. Hearing her breathing even out, he realized she'd fallen asleep. "I love you," he told her before he drifted off himself.

****

"Best waking moment
ever," Julia said. She'd awakened to see that Chase was still with her. Finally, they'd gotten to wake up together.

Chase
blinked his eyes open, looking around, realizing he was still in her bed. He looked over to see her lying on her side, her elbow bent underneath her, her head resting on her hand. He looked at his watch seeing that it was after noon. "Hey there, beautiful," he said, smiling at her, brushing the backs of his fingers over her swollen cheek.

She scoffed. "Right. I'm sure I'm looking
 
very
 attractive right now."

"You do. You look tough. All badass and shit." He winked at her.

She smacked him on the chest. "And here I was watching you sleep thinking how much I love you, how handsome you are and that you're my hero. Well, ix-nay on the ero-hay."

He scowled, his lips moving into a pout, which she found adorable. He looked like a little boy who'd just been scolded. She giggled and wrapped her arm around him, pulling him by the back of his head to her so she could kiss those pouty lips. When the kiss got a little more heated, she winced.

"I'm sorry, baby. Did I hurt you?" His rested his hand on her hip.

"Mouth is
just a little sore." She looked at him apologetically.

He'd kill that fucker all over again if given the chance. He knew he'd have to come to terms with all of it soon, but he also knew he had no regrets for what he'd had to do.

They lay there a little longer holding each other then finally got up to eat something. When they walked into the kitchen, Allen was sitting at the bar reading the newspaper.

"Good afternoon
," he said, looking up at both of them. "Did you sleep well?" He reached for Julia's hand, squeezing it tightly then let it go.

"Yeah
. I was totally worn out," she said, smiling sweetly at him, still amazed at the change in him. Maybe he 
was
 sincere about things changing between them. She never thought he cared about anything she did, let alone how she'd slept.

"Sit. I'll get you something,"
Chase told her as he got a plate out.

"I
talked to my attorney this morning, told him everything. He advised we all just keep it to ourselves. Basically said we'd done nothing wrong. Chase, justifiable homicide would've been the charge and he assured me you wouldn't have been punished in the least; more than likely he said you'd have been lauded for ridding the world of one more worthless criminal."

Chase
placed a sandwich in front of Julia along with a bottle of water. He looked at Allen and nodded. He couldn't describe how he was feeling if he'd had to. He had no remorse, really, just a little sadness at the taking of a life. However, he did know he'd recover. He leaned against the counter eating his own sandwich.

"The paper says the police arrived at the house last night a lit
tle after four this morning," Allen told them. "Says they found a man and a woman dead in the basement and another dead man cuffed to the gas meter outside. The gun was in the woman's hand. They think it was murder-suicide. Paper says the police received an anonymous tip that they were the kidnappers."

So
Felix had had his men get rid of all of them. But what about Josh? What'd happened to him? Chase wondered.

"I receive
d a call this morning from my accountant telling me that my money had been wired back to my account. I talked to Franklin and Collin and found that their money has been returned, too."

"That's good. I wonder who made that
happen? Surely not that Felix guy," Julia said, taking a drink of water. She turned and motioned for Chase to come sit by her.

"I'm not sure.
Josh was there, right? Doesn't he have a degree in computer science something or other? Felix is his uncle, you know."

Julia
gasped. "He is? Well, maybe Josh is the one who put the money back. He was always good with computers. I'll bet they had money from their other kidnappings that he was able to wire to Felix or something. That's why they gave back yours? So they wouldn't get in trouble?"

"Could be,"
Allen mused.

"What about the Maggie woman? Who was s
he and how did this even get started?" Chase asked.

Allen
explained to him that Maggie's father, Richard Devlin, had been a friend of his, a successful businessman who’d run in his circle, and Richard had known Franklin and Collin, too. Richard had lost his wife, also, so he and Allen had a deep connection.

"Okay, that makes sense. It took me a while to place her but then I figured it out, knowing I'd seen her
here that night. Then I realized I’d seen her out at several dinners and functions over the years, she just looked different then with black hair," Julia said.

Allen
continued explaining that Richard had died of an illness several years ago, leaving Maggie millions, which she'd spent extravagantly, making poor investments, and ended up losing it all. Richard had been linked loosely to the Irish Mob, it'd been rumored that Maggie had dated Sean "The Muscle" Laughlin at one time before he'd gone to prison on racketeering charges, so Allen had made sure to keep a little distance from Richard knowing he might've been involved in some illegal activities.

"Maggie came to several of us at one time
or another over the years trying to get us to join her in what we found out later was a Ponzi scheme she'd designed. That’s why she was here that night, trying to get me to invest. Seems everyone she had kidnapped were children of all of us who’d turned down her little endeavor." Allen shook his head. What a waste. “When I turned her down that night, she was so angry, stomping out of here, cursing me out like a sailor, telling me I’d regret it." Allen looked at Julia guiltily.

“
Dad,” Julia said, tilting her head to the side and looking sadly at him. “You couldn’t have known.” She stood up and hugged him where he sat on the barstool.

“I’m so sorry, Julia,” he said as his voice caught. He held her and kissed the side of her head. “You called me ‘Dad.’” He took in a shuddering breath.

Julia closed her eyes as she hugged her father. “Of course I did. That’s what you are. My dad.”

****

By Monday, things had pretty much gone back to normal. Julia had made arrangements to work from home for a week, not wanting to face her coworkers, namely Audrey, and be subjected to the questions about what’d happened or the looks she knew she’d get because of the shape her face was in. Chase had driven her to her office so she could pick up some files while everyone was on lunch. On their way back to the Tower, he squeezed her hand where she sat up front with him.

"Y
ou think Allen's going to keep me hired on still? I mean, they're gone. The people I've been protecting you from the past two years are no longer a threat."

"I don't know." She hadn't thought that far ahead. If
Chase wasn't working for her, they could openly date. But then she might not get to see him every day like she did now. And if he wasn't guarding her, he'd have to get another client which might mean even more time away from each other.

Coming into the Tower lobby,
Julia saw Ben and ran to him, hugging him as hard as she could.

"Julia
," Ben choked out, sighing as he hugged her tightly. He'd gone on vacation before her ordeal, so he’d had no idea what had happened until Allen had informed him that morning.

Julia
started crying. "Ben."

He
pulled back, looking down at her with tears in his eyes. "When your father told me today what happened, I almost fell apart, little girl. Big, tough guys like me don’t cry, you know. Don't you dare do that to me again."

Julia
laughed through her tears. "I won't. I promise." She hugged him around the waist again. "I love you, Ben-ediction."

"Same here,
 
Joli
." He kissed the side of her head letting her go.

In the elevator,
Chase put his arm around her, holding her close to him.

"Ugh, I'm such a crybaby." She chuckled, wiping away her tears.

"No, you're not. You've been through a lot. It's okay." He kissed the top of her head.

When the elevator opened, they went to the door,
Chase punching in the code to enter.

"Is she okay?"
Allen walked to them, worry all over his face at Julia's crying.

"Yes, she just saw Ben."
Chase sat her on the couch going to get her some water.

"It's okay, honey."
Allen sat next to her, holding her hand as she continued wiping the tears off her cheeks with her other.

Chase
handed her an opened bottle of water and she took a drink. "Thank you, Chase. I'll be fine, Dad." Chase sat down next to her, his arm naturally going around her waist.

"You're okay now?"
Allen asked.

"Yeah.
Think I'll survive."

"That's good."
Allen chuckled then stood up looking down at them. "Now, I've got a question for you two, something I've had on my mind for some time."

Was he going to ask if they thought
Chase should stay on? Good. Now he could still be there and they could see each other every day and he'd be able to pay for his last two semesters of law school. Julia and Chase looked at him awaiting his question. He took a breath, looking from one to the other then forged ahead.

"I couldn't help noticing, but what's going on between the two of you?"

Oh, shit. Allen's 
so
 going to ground me! I just know it! I'm almost twenty-four years old, and I'm going to be sent to my room!

Christ
. Allen's going to chop off my dick when he finds out I’ve been sleeping with his daughter.

What do I tell him? Yes,
Allen, Chase and I have been having sexual intercourse, making love… er, shagging?

Goodbye, buddy.
It was nice knowing you. We've had some good times together, you and I. Hope you know how much you mean to me, big guy. I mean, we bonded early on and we've been going strong ever since. I'll definitely miss you.

Or
how about, Yep, you guessed it, Allen. We've been doing the horizontal Mambo. Boinking. Getting jiggy with it. Doing the dirty.

I remember
when I was thirteen and we were having a moment alone, but did you quit? No! You were cocky through all the hard times, a real, uh, stand-up guy. 

W
ell, Allen, Chase's been injecting me with his hot beef stick; we've been power scrogging, doing the hibbity dibbity. Boning. Ack! 

Things just won't
be the same without you… Fuck. I’ve screwed shit up this time.

Allen
cleared his throat, looking at them all, 
Well?

Here goes nothing
, thought Julia. "Well, 
Daddy
…" Couldn't hurt to butter him up a little, could it? "You see, we—" Just then Peggy came out of Allen’s office to interrupt. 
Praise the Lord and pass on Allen's suspicion! Or sharing of sexual positions!

“Sir, Hank Murphy with CEP is on the phone for you,” Peggy told him
, handing him the handheld wireless. She saw the relief on Julia’s face and Chase’s whitened face and winked at them with a knowing look before she left the room. Julia couldn’t help but snort. How the heck did Peggy know?

“
I’ve been expecting a call from him. Thanks, Peggy,” Allen called after her then held the receiver to his ear. “Hello, Hank.”

Allen chatted for a few minutes then hung up, giving both Julia and Chase an amused look. “Seems we’ve got a meeting at CEP, kids. Let’s head on over.”

***

"Why don't you all have a seat,
" Hank said from behind his desk as they walked into his office.

Julia forgot to breathe for a second but finally slumped her way down into one of the chairs in front of
Hank's desk. This was worse than just chatting it up with Allen. Mr. Murphy was a badass she did not want to piss off. She could deal with her father being angry, but Hank? Yikes.

Chase knew this was so much worse than just talking to Allen. Shit. His dad didn’t pull any punches. If Allen had told him his suspicions about Julia and him, he was sure to lose this job. Hell, he’d be lucky if his dad even kept him hired on at all. Hi
s stomach sank as he realized that if Allen would chop off his dick, with his dad involved, his entire package was doomed. A lifetime of penis envy stared him in the face.

Hank began
. "It’s been brought to my attention that there’s possibly something going on between the two of you."

Moment of truth. Might as well face the music.

"Pop, Julia and I never really talked the first two years I guarded her. But the past several months we've developed a, uh, relationship of sorts…" He took in a deep breath. God, he didn’t want to talk about being in love with Julia to his dad. Jesus. Men didn’t do this shit, did they? Talk about their feelings? Next thing he knew, they’d be braiding each other’s hair or some shit. His jaw clenched at the thought.

Julia jumped in. "Mr. Murphy
, Chase and I are, well, we're like, you know, um." She couldn't seem to spit it out! She looked at Chase for help.

Hank watched
them both intently waiting for an answer. He chuckled to himself at their nervousness. He wasn't stupid. He knew there was something between them. He just wanted to hear it from them, so he patiently awaited their response. The more he remained silent, the more they talked, which amused him to no end. Old interrogation trick.

Chase
finally cleared his throat, knowing exactly what his dad was doing. "You see, Pop, Julia and I, well, we're in love."  

Hank
nodded slowly, looking back and forth between them. "I see," he said slowly.

“Mr. Murphy
, it's not like we planned it! Please don't fire Chase! It's my fault, really. I all but threw myself at him!"

Allen
raised his eyebrows at this, giving Chase a look.

Shit!
Allen was going to think he’d taken advantage of her! "That's not true. I was the pursuer. She put me in my place several times, but I couldn’t help myself. She’s just so beautiful." He looked over at her and saw her melt at his words which made him smile.

Hank's eyebrows went up then
.

After they all sat there a minute just looking at each other, s
he'd had enough. Julia was going to clear the air whatever the consequences.
C'est la vie
and all that, right? "Look, Dad, Mr. Murphy. Here's the dealio. Chase," she held her hands palm up at Chase, "and myself," she moved her palms back toward herself, placing her fingers on her chest, "love each other. After all we've been through, nothing's going to keep us apart. So do what you have to do—tell us we can't be together, scream at us, call the cops, try to exert your authority over me—" she glanced at Allen, “nothing's going to change how we feel." She looked at Chase all, "You agree, right?" He winked at her then grabbed her hand, squeezing it, proud of how brave she was even if she was being a veritable smartass… and risking his manhood. He felt himself cringe once again at the thought.

Allen had wondered how long it'd take for the smartass that was his daughter to return. He pursed his lips to hold back a chuckle.

Chase looked at his dad. "If this means I lose my job, then so be it. I love her, Pop. She's worth it."

Hank
had gotten a huge kick out of all of this. He steepled his hands, elbows on his desk looking at his son. "You remember signing a no-fraternization policy don't you, Chase?"

"Yes, sir, I do." Shit. Here came the part where he was relieved of his duties.

"Yet you chose to ignore it."

"Look, Pop
. I had no intention of falling in love with Julia. It… well, it just happened. I mean, how could I resist?" He mumbled the last part, as he looked softly at her, running the backs of his fingers gently over her still-bruised cheek. She smiled at him, taking his hand with hers and leaning her cheek into it. At Hank’s cough, Chase suddenly came out of the little "moment" he'd been having with her and turned to face his dad. He straightened in his chair, acting more professionally and said, "I understand that you have to do what's right. I'm guilty of malfeasance, no doubt about it."

"Well, then I have no oth
er alternative but to take you off this job, Chase."

"Now jus
t a goddamned moment here!" Julia was up and out of her chair in a flash. "It's not his fault! Seriously, I was the one who pushed things. Chase kept telling me he needed this job, that he wouldn't be able to go to law school without it, but stupid me kept goading him into a relationship with me. You can't fire him! It's all my fault!" She was livid now, animatedly flailing her hands everywhere, punctuating each sentence with a finger pointed at Hank.

"Julia," Chase said, trying to get her attention.

She turned to him. "What, Chase? It's not fair and you know it! I've ruined your life!" Turning back to Hank she begged, "Mr. Murphy, you can't do this to him!"

"Julia," Chase calle
d, trying to calm her down. She was just making things worse with her outrage.

She ignored him, continuing her tirade. "Dad, please don't
let him do this! If he doesn’t have this job, he'll have to drop out of school, then he'll…" She looked at Chase. "You'll…" Her voice lowered to a mutter. "You'll drop… me…" Oh, God! She hadn't thought of that until now. If she'd gotten him fired, how could he want to be with her?

She stood looking at him, her brow creased with worry. She didn't want to lose him.
Not now. Not after all they'd been through.

"I'm not going to drop you, b
aby," Chase said, smiling softly at her. No way would he leave her. But he knew their time together would lessen since he'd have to take another client, and between another job and his classes, they’d hardly see each other. And how the hell was he going to find another assignment that paid as well? He'd saved a couple thousand, but that'd, what, pay for maybe two classes next semester?

Allen's heart broke for both of them. He knew what it was like to love someone desperately only to lose them. He had to let them know immediately what he'd planned before Julia broke down even more. "Julia? Honey, have a seat."

She stood, her eyes locked on Chase's as a tear spilled over, falling down her bruised cheek, looking at him almost as if she were memorizing his face knowing he'd be leaving her soon.

"Julia?" Allen said softly
, standing to move closer to her. She snapped out of her trance and looked half-dazed up at her father. She sat down silently, wiping the tear away. "Julia, I've been thinking the past several weeks about this, and I hope it'll work out. Chase? How would you like to do an internship with my company this summer?"

Chase was stunned. Was he
serious? Hell yeah, he'd like that. He couldn't help but grin. He looked at Julia, reaching over, taking her hand in his then looked back at Allen. "Yes, Allen, that would be perfect. Thank you, sir."

"Well, it'd be almost like I'd hired you on, so you wouldn't quite be making six figures, but if you stayed on until you graduated, a seven-figure salary wouldn't be too far off in the future."

Chase's mouth fell open as he stared at Allen. Had he just said six and seven pertaining to digits? As in salary? For him? Holy shit!

Julia shot out of her ch
air again but this time to wrap her arms around Allen’s neck, a new wave of tears slipping down her cheeks. "Thank you, Daddy," she whispered.

He hugged her back as tightly as he could, knowing he only wanted to make his daughter happy. Though he'd decided to ask Chase to join his company some time back, it couldn't hurt that he now looked l
ike a hero in his daughter’s eyes.

“You knew all along, didn’t you?” Chase looked at his dad knowing he’d made him sweat just
for the hell of it.

Hank chuckled. “Yes, son, Allen and I discussed it earlier.”

“Brutal, Pop. Pretty fucking brutal.”

Hank laughed. “Yeah, I know. I’m pretty proud of your mother for keeping this to herself, too.”

“Mom knew too?” Chase just shook his head as his dad’s eyes sparkled with mischief at him.

When Julia was finished hugging her father,
Chase stood and shook Allen's hand, thanking him for the job offer.

"I see good things in you, kid." Allen clasped Chase's shoulder with his hand. "It really had nothing to do with making Julia happy, but let's keep that to ourselves, shall we?"
he said quietly then winked at him.

"Yes, sir," Chase said, chuckling. He wouldn't have said anything either way. He
knew Julia and her dad had just patched things up, and he knew she needed her father.

Julia
hugged Allen again. She was so excited about what he'd done for Chase. He'd definitely earned 
major
 "Dad" points for it. "You're the best, Daddy," she said as she kissed his cheek.

Allen's eyes welled
with tears as he hugged her; he was so glad to have his daughter back.

***

Allen made arrangements with Hank for Chase to stay on the job for two more weeks until things settled down. It was business as usual when Allen had to fly to California two days later to attend a week-long conference, but still being wary of things, he asked Chase to stay overnight with Julia.

It hadn’t been a tough decision for Chase to
agree to stay. He and Julia alone for almost a week in her apartment?  Uh, jackpot!

Friday
night they planned to meet friends at a neighborhood bar. Julia had only talked to Claire, Lily and Jacob on the phone, not wanting them to see the damage done to her face because she knew they’d freak out over it. Her eye still had some redness in it and there was still some bad bruising on her cheek, but she could cover most of it with makeup. She missed her friends too much, so she was willing to meet them out and allow them to go all gaga over her for a while.

Sin
ce it was such a nice evening, she and Chase ended up walking to the bar, which was only a couple blocks away. He held her hand and couldn't stop grinning at the fact that he could. He could also kiss her in public and hug her if he wanted.

"How fucking awesome is this?" he asked her as he grabbed her and kissed her right there in damn near downtown Manhattan. She laughed at him, wrapping her arms around his waist, leaning her head against his chest as they walked.