Chapter Ten
JC awoke the next morning feeling both mentally and physically drained. Truth be told, he had slept very little the previous night. At first he had just laid awake in Alexa*s bed watching her sleep. He was envious of how little the dreams seemed to be affecting her. Then a thought came to him. What if Justin was experiencing this too? What if Justin knew about*well*whatever this was? That was extremely unsettling to JC and had forced him out of Alexa*s bed and down the stairs, where he paced the floor of his living room for several hours. He finally fell asleep on the couch, only to be awakened less than an hour later by Alona running down the stairs to get a glass of orange juice.
"Whatcha doing on the couch?" Alona questioned flippantly. "Did Lex kick ya out of your own bedroom?"
"Ha ha*very funny," JC mumbled, standing up to stretch and rub the sleep from his eyes. "Why are you so cheery? Do you know what time it is?"
Alona arched an eyebrow and shook her head. "Yup, it*s seven o*clock in the morning. And when you*re used to getting up at five every day, seven seems like a Godsend. So seriously," she questioned again as she walked into the kitchen, "why are you sleeping on the couch?"
JC flopped back down onto the couch and shot a hand through his severely disheveled chestnut locks. "I couldn*t sleep so I came down here to think. I guess I finally fell asleep."
"What were you thinking about?" Alona inquired, her tone nothing but friendly.
"Well, aren*t you just little Miss Inquisitive?" JC snapped.
In the kitchen, Alona fell silent. She hadn*t meant to pry. She was just making conversation. Without making a sound she poured herself a glass of juice, put the container back in the fridge, and headed back upstairs. JC sighed as she walked past.
"Alona*I*m sorry," he mumbled. "I*m not a morning person and I didn*t get any sleep and I just have a lot on my mind*"
"Save the explanation," she interrupted softly. "You don*t wanna talk to me and that*s fine. I*m sorry to have bothered you." And without another word, Alona retreated back up the stairs to the guest bedroom. She wanted to be friends with JC, but if he was going to be difficult*well*she could deal with that too.
~*~
Justin hadn*t slept a wink. He had come directly home after leaving JC*s, called Britney and then lay down in his bed and thought about Alexa. The instant chemistry he had felt for her was a little frightening. Especially since he and Brit had been doing so well lately. It had been months since the last time he had envisioned himself with another woman. But when he thought of Alexa, well, he did more than just envision himself being with her. He dreamt about her.
It didn*t help matters any that the dream had been completely screwed up. That was what Justin thought, anyway. He remembered it vividly. JC had been there, along with Alexa. Except it hadn*t really been JC and Alexa. He had kept calling them Lance and Gwen. And apparently in the dream he had been married to Alexa or Gwen or whoever. He didn*t understand it. But he figured that he didn*t really have to. After all, it was just a dream.
~*~
A large, black Ford Excursion drove past the wrought iron gate that fenced off JC*s neighborhood from the rest of the city. It had been circling the small community for over an hour. By luck alone, no one seemed to take much notice of it. Or what was going on inside.
"I can get you in the house, J. But that*s all I*m good for. After that, you and Tyrell are on your own. I ain*t about to lose my job for this. I*m finally making it*"
"You call working for a damn boyband *making it*?" Jalen scoffed. "You*re out your damn mind, Mike. You was doing a hell of a lot better when you was one of us."
"I ain*t never going back to that life," Mike, JC*s all too trusted security guard replied. "I*m only doing this to keep my family safe. Tyrell threatened my mama. I don*t have any other choice."
Jalen*s gold-toothed smile glittered eerily in the dark vehicle. Mike was telling the truth. He really had no other choice. When Tyrell called in a favor, it was always taken care of. If Jalen had been a better man, he might have felt sorry for his one-time friend. As it was, he though he was weak. He had sold out. He had left the gang in LA under some questionable circumstances. And now here he was, working for a bunch of lame ass white boys. As far as Jalen was concerned, Mike was getting what he deserved.
Tired of the silence, Mike took a deep breath and spoke up again. "When do you want in?"
"As soon as possible. Tyrell wants Lex back now."
"What about Alona?"
"What about her?" Jalen shrugged off Mike*s question. "I came here for Lex. I don*t give a damn what happens to*"
"She*ll know it was you, J," Mike interrupted seriously. "If Tyrell wants this done right, you have to think about Alona."
"You ain*t changed a bit, my man," Jalen smiled again. "Sounds like you want to help more than you*re letting on."
Mike shook his head and looked away. He hated this, but he had no options. If it wasn*t done right, Tyrell would come back on him or his family, not Jalen. He knew it and he despised it but he couldn*t change it. "I*ll make sure you can get in this Tuesday at six. That*s the best I can do. You*ve got four days to get ready. You take care of Lex*I*ll take care of everything else."