Blurring the Lines

  His arms encircled me, crushing me against him. When he moved towards me, the weight of his body meant I had nowhere to go but backwards onto the bed. His body covered mine, pressing me down into the mattress. “You don’t need to worry, Baby Girl, I promise. I would die before I let him touch you again,” he growled fiercely.

  My heart stopped at his words. I could see the truth in his eyes. He wouldn’t let Carter take me; he would fight for me to the death. And with that knowledge, my heart broke all over again. I knew what was coming. In my mind’s eye I could already see it, Carter turning up, Ashton and him locked in some kind of death battle, Ashton being hurt or killed. Me, alone again, watching another person that I loved being ripped away from me.

  I couldn’t do it. I wouldn’t allow him to be hurt. This time I had some control, this time I could prevent it, this time the boy I loved would live. I would never allow Carter to hurt Ashton, ever.

  Forcing a fake smile, I tried desperately to think of a plan, an escape, something that would ensure that this time it all ended differently. Scenarios flicked through my head, us leaving, going into hiding, changing our names. But each one boiled down to the same thing – Carter would find us, and he would kill him in the slowest way possible. No, there was only one way I could ensure his safety.

  “I’m going to go and have a shower before the new guards all come. I guess you need to go and talk to Dean and Peter and tell them what’s happened,” I muttered, trying not to let out the waves of emotion that were crashing over me show in my face or in my voice.

  He sighed and dipped his head, capturing my lips in a kiss that was so sweet that it shattered my heart. I kissed him back, savouring every last second of it, knowing that it would be the last kiss I would ever have. I memorised the soft feel of his lips, the taste of his tongue, the smell of him, how the heat spread through my body making my heart throb. I memorised every single thing about it while my heart broke silently.

  He pulled away and stroked my face softly. “Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked, watching my face. I nodded, working hard to keep my face natural. I must have done a pretty decent job because he kissed me on the lips again quickly then pushed up off me and left the bedroom, looking like it almost pained him to walk away from me.

  I sat up and put my head in my hands, thinking it through again. Was there any other option? Was there anything else I could do to protect him? Carter knew where we were. He wanted me back, and if he had seen any of the magazines or papers then he would already see all of the stuff about Ashton… and he would be murderously angry. The dream I had about Ashton’s broken face and body flashed into my mind, and I whimpered. My eyes fluttered closed, holding on to the memory of that dream. I took a deep breath; I needed to draw on my inner strength now. It didn’t matter how much it hurt me, I needed him safe. There was only one way to keep him safe, and that was to get him as far away from me as possible.

  I couldn’t live in a world where Ashton didn’t exist. It hurt so much when Jack died, I couldn’t go through all of that again. If anything happened to Ashton, my whole world would collapse. I had to keep him safe, even if the pain would be excruciating, I wouldn’t allow Carter to hurt Ashton.

  I swallowed my sob and picked up my cell phone before walking to the bathroom on wobbly legs. I scrolled through my contacts, finding the one I wanted as I closed the door behind me tightly and leant against it. Maddy answered immediately. “President Spencer’s Office,” she said politely.

  “Hi, Maddy. Can I speak to my dad please?”

  I heard her tapping on keys. “I’ll just put you through, Annabelle,” she stated as the hold music started. I took a few calming breaths, I needed to get this done without giving anything away.

  “Annabelle, is everything okay?” my father asked worriedly.

  Come on, Anna, you can do this! “Actually no, Dad.” I took another deep breath. “I need you to do something for me, but I don’t want you to question me. It’s something that I need to have happen,” I said, trying to stress the importance without giving anything away.

  “Of course, Annabelle. What is it?”

  I slumped down onto the bathroom floor, leaning my back against the door, gripping my free hand in my hair. “I need you to transfer Agent Taylor,” I replied quickly.

  His reaction was exactly what I thought it would be. “What? Transfer? I can’t do that, Annabelle! He’s there for your protection; he’s the best man for the job. With everything going on right now, you need him there,” he said sternly.

  I closed my eyes, trying to block out the pain that I was feeling inside. “Dad, I need this to happen. I don’t ask you for much, do I? If you love me at all, you’ll do this for me and not ask me anything else about it. Please, Dad, please?” I begged, my voice starting to break.

  He was quiet for a couple of seconds. I couldn’t breathe. I could feel my heart getting harder with each passing second; I was starting to push everything away again, just like I used to. I didn’t care about my own life; Carter could do what the hell he wanted to me, as long as Ashton wasn’t harmed.

  “Annabelle, do you know what you’re asking? You want me to transfer him even after I just told you that Carter knows where you are? This is that important to you?” he asked quietly.

  Jeez, Ashton is the most important thing in the world. “Yes,” I croaked.

  “Has something happened? Has he done something wrong?” my dad inquired hesitantly.

  I gasped. “No! He’s done nothing wrong. He’s an excellent agent, exemplary. I just need you to transfer him, please?” I said fiercely.

  He sighed. “Do I get to know the reason?”

  “No. Please trust me, please do this for me. Transfer him to wherever he wants to go. He wanted some Front Line thing in LA.” I wiped the silent tear that fell down my cheek.

  He was quiet again. “Okay, consider it done,” he replied, his voice tender and worried.

  Relief washed over me and my stomach unclenched. The fear loosened, and the muscles that I didn’t even realise I had tensed, started to relax.

  “Thank you, Dad. Thank you, thank you,” I muttered.

  “I’ll call him and let him know,” he stated sadly.

  I gasped, panic stricken. “No, don’t! You can’t do that.”

  “What? You just said you-” he started, but I interrupted him.

  “Dad, Ashton’s not going to want to leave. If he finds out now, he’s going to do everything in his power to stay. You can’t tell him until he’s ready to go. I think he’s going to need to be escorted away,” I admitted, biting the inside of my mouth hard enough to draw blood.

  “But if he’s that dead set against going, why is he being transferred?” he asked. I could hear the frustration in his tone.

  “Because I need him transferred.”

  He sighed again. I could just imagine his defeated frown as he ran his hand over the back of his neck. “Okay,” he finally agreed. “The four agents that are coming over should be there within about forty minutes. I’ll call and have them escort him straight to the airport and wait until he’s on the plane. I’ll get Maddy to book his flight.”

  I smiled weakly. “Okay. Maybe you could call Dean Michaels and let him know what’s going on, but tell him not to say anything to Ashton,” I suggested.

  “Yeah, I’ll do that. So when the four guards get there, they’ll take Agent Taylor to the airport and leave you with your two far guards,” he clarified, checking I understood everything.

  “Can I have Dean as my new near guard? He’s the only one I wouldn’t mind near me.”

  “That sounds like a good plan for the short term, but we might need to look at something else longer term. Maybe it’s best if you come home for a while or something,” he replied, sounding exasperated.

  “I don’t want to leave school,” I replied quickly. “Can’t we just see how this all goes for a while?”

  “For the moment, but I’ll keep a close eye on it. I already have people keep
ing tabs on what he’s up to. If I get even one sniff that he’s coming near Arizona, you’re coming here to stay with us. Understood?”

  “Understood,” I confirmed. “Dad, one more thing before you go.”

  “What’s that, Annabelle?” he asked curiously.

  “Ashton’s done an exceptional job here. I don’t want you to think that just because I’ve requested this early transfer that this looks bad on him. He really deserves whatever recommendation you would have given him at the end of the eight months,” I said sternly.

  “Okay, Annabelle, don’t worry, I’ll take care of everything,” he replied as he ended the call.

  I let out the breath I didn’t even realise I was holding. It was going to be hard enough to watch Ashton leave me, but I had a feeling I was going to have to make him go, and I would need all my strength for that. He was going to force me to lie right to his face; he was going to make me rip my own heart out when I explained it to him.

  I refused to feel the pain that was trying to break into my heart; this pain was nothing to knowing he was hurt or dead. I couldn’t change my mind, this needed to be done. I just needed to keep myself focussed and strong. This was the only way I had a chance at keeping him safe.

  I closed my eyes and rested my head back on the door. “Please let me be strong enough to let him go,” I whispered, before pushing myself up off the floor and climbing into the shower. As I cried helplessly in the spray, I couldn’t get the thought of Ashton’s broken, bloody face out of my head. My heart was breaking irrevocably. But that dream wouldn’t come true. This time I would get to save the boy I loved.

  Chapter Sixteen

  ~ Ashton ~

  As I walked out of the bedroom, I felt sick. I didn’t want even an inch of space between us now that Carter was free. My hands clenched into fists. Half of me actually hoped he came after her so I would be able to rip his head off, but the other half knew that I needed to keep him as far away from my girl as possible.

  When I stepped out of the front door, closing it tightly behind me, I beckoned Dean over. His face changed immediately when he saw mine, obviously catching on that something was wrong. “President Spencer just called. Carter Thomas has been released due to lack of evidence,” I announced.

  His mouth opened and closed a couple of times. “Released?” he said quietly.

  I nodded. “They’re sending over four new Agents from Washington. When they get here, we’ll have a strategy meeting again, but I think we’ll add an extra two for the day and night. One outside the building, one inside at night. Then during the day, I’ll bring you slightly forward again so that you can act as second near guard. I’ll then have the two extras take a fifty yard stance, one in front, and one behind,” I frowned, trying to think everything else through.

  Dean nodded in agreement, obviously pleased with my plan. “Do you think he’ll come after her?”

  A chill crept down my spine. I took a deep breath. “Honestly? Yeah I do.” I would kill him before he touched her though. There was no way that sick, abusive, asshole was getting anywhere near my girl again. Dean nodded, his face angry. “Let me know when the four guards get here, the President said within the hour,” I instructed, checking my watch. It was now ten to eleven; I sighed and frowned, looking back at the door. “I’d better go back in. Anna’s in the shower, I think she’s freaking out. Her dad told her about the letters.”

  Dean winced. “Wow, shit, okay yeah, go be with her,” he agreed, nodding over his shoulder to the door.

  I turned and stalked back in, making my way to the bedroom; I could hear the water running, so I quickly slipped out of my jeans and pulled on fresh clothes, putting two extra gun clips in my pocket. I’d need to carry extra bullets from now on, just in case. When I was dressed, I headed to the kitchen and just stood there waiting for Anna. She was going to be freaking out about this, but she obviously wanted time on her own because she’d sent me to speak to Dean. I’d have to give her time and let her come to me. She knew I was here for her.

  About forty minutes later she came out of the bedroom, wringing her hands nervously as she walked into the kitchen. She didn’t look at me. I swallowed the lump in my throat, waiting for the outburst that I knew would come, and when it did, she would break my heart. I hated to see her cry, it was like physical pain.

  “Hey, Baby Girl. You okay?” I asked quietly as she started making coffee.

  She nodded. “Yeah fine,” she replied nonchalantly. I rubbed my hand down her back tenderly, wanting to soothe her. Wordlessly, she shrugged off my hand. “You want a coffee, Ashton?” She sounded so cold that it sent a shiver down my spine. She hardly ever called me by my name.

  I frowned. “Um, no thanks.” She had her back to me, her shoulders were hunched, and her back was stiff. I moved close behind her and put my hands on her shoulders, massaging gently. She squirmed away from me. “Anna?” I whispered, frowning.

  She just shook her head. “Just don’t, okay,” she said as she grabbed her cup and stormed out of the room into the lounge.

  I stared after her in shock. She just needed some time, she’d come to me when she was ready for me to help her. She wasn’t used to opening up to people so it would take a little time before she was ready to talk about it. I’d just have to try and be patient and not rush her into divulging her feelings.

  My cell phone buzzed, so I answered it quickly. “Hey, Dean.” I frowned, still watching the point where I last saw Anna.

  “Hey, those four guards are here. We’re at the door,” he replied, at the same time that I heard him knock on the front door. I disconnected the call and walked out of the room, glancing into the lounge quickly.

  “The four new guards are here. I might be planning for an hour or so, okay,” I called through to Anna; I thought I saw her stiffen but I was too far away to be sure.

  I made my way to the door and opened it to see Dean standing there looking at me strangely, with the four new guards behind him. “I’m sorry, Ashton. I don’t know what’s going on,” Dean said as he stepped to the side.

  The four other guards stepped forward in unison. “Agent Taylor, we have orders from the President to take you to the airport now,” one of them said.

  Panic surged through me; maybe they’d heard something new – was Carter on his way here?

  I turned quickly. “Anna, grab your stuff, we’re leaving!” I ordered.

  The guards stepped forward again, looking at me apologetically. “No, Agent Taylor. We have orders to escort you to the airport, not Miss Spencer. You’ve been reassigned,” the same guy stated. He held out an iPad, nodding down for me to take it.

  I frowned, taking it from his hands and looking down at the official transfer request document that was signed and stamped by the President himself at the bottom. Front Line, LA office, immediate start.

  My heart was crashing in my chest. “I don’t understand. Why the hell would I be getting a transfer? I just spoke to the President like an hour ago!” I countered, confused.

  “Ashton,” I heard Anna say from behind me. I turned quickly, seeing her standing there, just watching me. “You’ve been transferred, because I asked for it,” she explained, looking at me with her face stern and cold, showing no emotion whatsoever. My blood seemed to turn to ice in my veins. She’d asked for me to be transferred? I turned back to the guy and handed him the iPad before slamming the door in his face and turning to Anna.

  “What the hell are you talking about?” I asked, stepping closer to her.

  She stepped back, keeping the distance between us. “I’m sorry, but I can’t have you here. You complicate things, you make everything harder for me, and I just can’t cope with anything else. It’s best for me if you just leave. You and I have been in this little protected bubble for the last couple of days, and I thought nothing could come along and burst it, but I was wrong. You and I just can’t work, so it’s best that it stops now. That way, I can just get on with things and learn how to deal with it on my own. I
’m sorry, but you have to go.” Her voice didn’t waver once. I looked into her eyes, and my heart started to break, they were the cold, heartless eyes that she used to have when I first started my assignment.

  I gulped, swallowing my panic. “What?”

  “I have too much going on right now, I can’t cope with having you here too and knowing that you think you’re in love with me,” she replied matter-of-factly, almost as if we were discussing the weather.

  “That I think I’m in love with you? I don’t think it, I am freaking in love with you!” I corrected, shaking my head incredulously.

  She frowned. “Look, I have more important things to deal with than some agent trying to seduce me while I’m upset and vulnerable. It’s best for me if you just leave so I can get on with it and deal with this all in my own way without you getting in the way all the time.”

  “What the?” I gasped. “You actually think that I preyed on your vulnerability so that I could seduce you?”

  She ground her teeth and shook her head. “No, that’s not what I meant, it came out wrong,” she muttered.

  “Then what?”

  She huffed in frustration. “There are lots of things. Carter being out, the fact that I still love Jack, the way you lied to me all this time about Carter’s letters and the reason you’re assigned to me. I have so much going on in my head that it feels like it’s going to explode, and most of them are because of you!”

  Jack. I knew that Jack would come up at some point; for the last two days I had been waiting for her to freak out about the how close we’d gotten. “Anna, I know you love Jack and that’ll never change, but Jack’s not here anymore, I am. How the hell am I supposed to compete with a guy that’s not here anymore?” I asked desperately. “Look, I don’t need to complicate things for you. We’ll work all of this stuff out together,” I replied, stepping closer to her again. “As for the letters, I had no choice. It wasn’t up to me.”