Lottie’s words went ignored, Val steered the car past the
stoplight without as much as giving her an indication he’s heard her sudden
input.
He put out the engine one street off Lottie’s address. Valentine reached over
pulling the door open at her side: “You’re in some deep shit, Charlotte. Think about
going a different way with your life. Go on now. We’ll keep in touch.”
Lottie’s anxiety levels were rising as he got closer to her home. No doubt there was any number of people all too willing to tell Oz or Spencer that she had been dropped off by the commander and turn up the pressure on her. Surprisingly that didn’t seem to be his aim and he stopped far enough away that she could slip away hopefully unnoticed.
Holding her breath as he leaned over she let it out again as he opened her door and she moved to undo her belt. His words made her body tense again and she wanted to point out just how good she was at what she did – but since that would get her in more trouble she just let the words hang as she reached for her bag. Climbing out of the car she leaned back in for a second. “Fuck you,” she spat out before slamming the door and walking away without a backward glance though her heart was racing.
He could see it her eyes, the very moment those same walls
Lottie had raised crumbled into nothing. She seemed to curl into herself without
moving, appearing smaller, younger. And Valentine might have felt pity, years
ago, when he was a younger man.
“Yeah.” He nodded in agreement when she turned away, “That’s
a good girl.”
She rolled her eyes at the reflection in the mirror though the words of praise filled her with a warmth she rarely felt. As he drove her head gradually turned back round until she could watch him from the corner of her eye. The streets grew nearer to her home and it was still disconcerting when she considered the fact he had her address memorised along with goodness knows what else. “You can drop me here thanks,” she blurted out as he stopped at a red light and the sudden thought that her neighbours would see her being brought home by the Watch commander.
Valentine’s smile was a brief look in the rear view mirror as
he adjusted it slightly.
“Can’t I?” A gruff chuckle left the Commander, as Lottie
counted off reason after reason building a wall of safety to secure her own
comforts. “And what exactly would CCTV show, Charlotte?” He asked driving the
car into a pause at the red light, Valentine tossed on hand over the back of
her seat and turned to fix the girl with a stare. “You walking into my car all
by yourself? Do you really want your Lord to find about that footage? ” His
brow arched with the question. “Because it doesn’t put you in a favorable position
to be in.”
For a moment she truly thought she had the upper hand but as he unravelled each point she made, especially the thought of Oz seeing the CCTV footage, she realised just how easy she had made it for him. Staring back at him for a moment she shrank a fraction in her seat. “No Sir,” she suddenly replied quietly and turning her head away from him to look out the passenger window.
In lieu of answering Valentine slammed the door in the girl’s
face, circling the car to get in his seat. The Commander folded the glasses off
his face and tossed the pair on the dashboard, leaning over the girl to reach
for her seat belt and force it in place.
“I don’t actually.” Valentine answered looking up once the click. You had to start cutting off
fingers to get results and he, for one, was the kind of man that would always
reach for the knife when he needed to. “I expect you to be difficult until you
get smart. Question is, how far are you going to force my hand until you get
smart?” Valentine pushed Lottie’s address in the GPS driving off the sidewalk.
Slamming the door in her face was one thing but when he leaned over and fastened her belt her heart began to speed up as her mind raced over where this was going. On edge Lottie watched his every move, his words taking longer to sink in as she realised he had put her address in his GPS, her address that he clearly already knew from memory.
“You can’t actually do anything to me,” she said brazenly after a moment, a slight waver to her voice. “Half my class saw you talking to me, there’s CCTV of you forcing me into your car. If I wanted to I could have you charged with kidnapping because I quite clearly am not coming with you by my own free will and…and you have my address memorised and in your car’s system.” Quite what she was trying to get at she had no idea beyond making it clear she knew, or at least doubted he could seriously hurt her.
Valentine watched the rather elaborate eye roll the
submissive gave him, looks like that that weren’t hidden usually meant she was
well aware of the consequences. His hand landed on the nape of her neck. A
friendly gesture if it wasn’t for the tightness of Val’s grip.
“Follow me.” He led her to the car, holding the front door
open with an expectant look. “I’m guessing by the looks you are giving me you’ve
nothing to tell me.”
Lottie shivered as his hand gripped her neck, annoyed at herself for the way her stomach flipped at the firm touch. She had to close her eyes for a second and take a deep breath to remind herself that this was not a good thing.
She hesitated only for a split second at the instruction. After all she had no doubt he would either just arrest her again as appeared to be his trademark or, and she hated to even consider it was a possibility, he might actually go to the dean. Lottie slid into the seat, her body tensing at the remark before she was back to full attitude. “You don’t honestly expect me to rat out the Montagues? I’d be signing my own death warrant,” she exclaimed, her expression cocky but her eyes betrayed a hint of the fear she felt every time she considered the consequences.
Valentine’s eyes looked the girl over the edge of his sun glasses, the knowing smile that touched the Commander’s lips spelled an amused warning that wasn’t easy to miss.
“They will wait.” The man said, amused by the obvious way the people in her group slowed down their step, curious to hear what was about to happen. Valentine stepped closer to the girl speaking quiet enough for his words to remain private: “I think if you don’ t keep my attention occupied I’ll just have to go see the Dean. Maybe he’ll be more interested in my time. What do you say?”
Lottie may be a brat but she wasn’t completely stupid and she certainly recognised the warning in that look. His words implied he wasn’t joking around as well. With a clear sigh and rolling of the eyes to express her displeasure and what an inconvenience it was she gave an over the top sweet smile, “What can I do for you Commander?”
It wasn’t hard to spot a watch car, the glaring blue and white made it stand out, and if that wasn’t enough of a give, certainly the man leaning against the side was a dead giveaway something was up. In his uniform, the Commander was an exclamation point amongst the casually dressed bystanders. His glasses sat perched on his nose, tipping down just slightly when he gave his phone a quick glance.
Just in time as the spotty mid noon crowd of students in front of the exit doubled. People poured out and Valentine pushed himself off his car when he spotted Lottie’s petite figure, he caught up with the girl just as she was saying her goodbyes with her classmates.
“Miss Berdini, a moment of your time if I may.” His words, polite as they might have been, were nothing if a cool reminder.
Lottie was not having a good day. Apparently she hadn’t charged her phone properly overnight and it had died on her as she made her way to class that morning. She’d forgotten to read a paper for her first class of the morning and as she came out of her second class her head was buzzing and she was desperate for coffee, sugar or alcohol and didn’t care in which order.
Preferring to blend in with the crowd on occasions like this she kept pace with the little group in front and turned quickly when she heard her name. Pursing her lips she stepped aside towards the commander, his uniform causing him to stick out like a sore thumb in among the students. “I’m afraid I have very important things to do Commander but it was sweet of you to drop by.”
Lottie's wild adventure 