Page 48 of London Has Fallen
I rest my forearms on my thighs and lean forward, staring at him. His long lashes would make my mother jealous. His hair is a tousled mess with leaves and other things stuck in it but even with dirt caked on his face he still looks… good. Fuck, am I more than just attracted to Artemis Argyros?
“You like him, don’t you?” I push to my feet and spin around to see my aunt standing in the doorway with a crooked smile on her face.
“No,” I defend. Aunt Meelz quirks a brow as she makes her way into the room and checks over Artemis while I stand here awkwardly, suddenly feeling like a dick for being in here with him when I shouldn’t be. I should be in my room trying to catch up on the shit I missed in class today. I decide it’s better if I leave and just check on him later but Aunt Meelz clears her throat, halting my escape. I slowly turn to face her and hate the sight of the smile on her face.
“Why are you running away?”
I balk at her. “I’m not running.”
“Fine, why are you walking away?”
“Because… I have things to do and he is clearly not gonna die so I’m off the hook with Dad having to find another headmaster.” She places her hands on her hips and cocks her head to the side.
“So, you’re not in here because you're concerned for the guy you actually like, but to make sure you didn’t kill the headmaster?”
I nod. “Exactly, see you got it all figured out.” I try to escape again but she calls out to me.
“London.” I slowly turn to face her and pin her with a bored look. “Why are you hiding it?”
“Hiding what?” I snap.
“Your feelings for him. I know you and you don’t sit at anyone's bedside unless they mean something to you. So, I will ask again, why are you hiding it?”
“He calls me Omorfia,” I say barely above a whisper.
“What does that?—”
“Bellezza.” Her eyes widen and her mouth parts on a gasp. “Yeah, he brought it all back today and I can’t do that shit, not again.” This time when I make my escape, I don’t stop when she calls out to me. I practically run down the hallways, heading toward the entryway. I round the corner and slam to a stop when I crash into someone. Hands grip my shoulders. I dart my gaze and the moment his brown eyes collide with mine the tension that was mounting moments ago begins to ease. Whatever he sees in my eyes has him wrapping his arm around my shoulders and leading me out of the doors of the school and heading toward the garage. We ignore the looks and the whispers of the students milling about. I know they are wondering if Cronos is Artemis or not and I don’t care enough to tell them the difference. Those nosey fuckers can think what they like because let’s be real, it’s not like it’s not true. I am screwing the headmaster.
Nos doesn’t say a word or pry as he drives us out of the school grounds, I know without him needing to say it where he is taking me. I haven’t slept or even showered and I can’t find it within myself to give a fuck. Something is happening to me and I don’t know how to stop it. These feelings inside me are fucking with my head, I’m not that girl that gets caught up in her feels. When Nos finally reaches his spot, exhaustion is weighing heavy on me but I push through it and follow him down to the rickety dock where we sit side by side. He wraps his arm around my shoulders and draws me into his side. I breathe him in and instantly relax.
“Last time we were here I told you about Aida. I’m only guessing here but something tells me there was a guy in your life that broke something inside you.” I keep my gaze ahead, unsure how to answer him or if I even want to. I have never spoken to anyone about this. Aunt Meelz only knows a small amount. I told her what I had to do in order to keep her off my back when my mom sent her to check on me when I went into a dark hole. I had to claw my way out of that fucking hole and swore I would never go back there, that shit nearly killed me. “I will never judge you, Lon.”
A whoosh of air escapes me. “I can’t,” I say barely above a whisper, feeling guilty that he confided in me and trusted me enough to share his story but I can’t do the same.
“If you ever need to get that shit off your chest, I’m here.” I nod, a yawn escapes me. “Come on, I’ll take you back.” I shake my head even though my eyes begin to droop.
“A couple more minutes,” I say through another yawn. He chuckles and places a kiss to the top of my head.
“I’ll carry you back to the car when you fall asleep.” How can I feel so at ease with him and trust him so much in a short amount of time but I’m screwing his brother? They are identical twins but I don’t—I can’t look at Nos the way I do Artemis because somehow they look nothing alike to me. Artemis is an enigma. He commands attention when he enters the room and carries this asshole aura with him that reels me in but Nos, his aura is dark and broken and that shit has me needing to be close to him and fix him in a way.
“Lon, it's time to wake up.” I slowly blink my eyes open and frown when I realize for the second time today I am in another Argyros’s arms. “I need you to open your room door, darlin’.” I turn to the side and sure enough I’m met with the sight of my bedroom door. I lean forward in his hold so the retina scanner can scan my eye, the door opens with a click. Nos shoulders it open and instantly frowns. I turn my head to the side and follow his gaze to find none other than his twin brother sitting on the edge of my bed with a pissed off look on his face. It's not the angry look on his face that has me pushing away from Nos so he’ll put me down, it's the bruises on his face and the blood seeping through the back of his shirt. I rush toward him and reach for his face but he flinches back and I immediately feel like a fucking asshole, I shouldn’t have left him.
“Where the fuck have you been?” I ignore the bite in his tone and force myself to remain calm.
“Why did you go?” I counter, his eyes narrow. I can see he is trying to mask the pain he’s in but he isn’t fooling me.
“You think I get a choice?” He doesn’t give me a chance to answer. “I don’t get to decide shit, I was forced to be here. You think I fucking love this shit?” He’s starting to lose it and right now I don’t have the mental capacity to deal with his meltdown and what the fuck is going through my head.
“Get up, you need to shower and so do I.” He recoils as if I have said the most outrageous thing in the world. “It’s not like you haven’t seen me naked before, pretty boy, get your ass up now and if you’re a good boy, I might stitch those wounds on your back.” He drops his gaze to his lap in shame, I don’t pity him because I know if I was in his position that shit would piss me off. I turn to Cronos who is glaring holes into the side of his brother's head. I move to stand in front of him forcing him to look at me. “I need you to go and grab me the first aid kit from his office and some clothes.”
“Just take him to the nurse.”
“No,” both Artemis and I say in unison. I shoot him a look over my shoulder, why the fuck is he avoiding the nurse?
“Please, just do what I asked.” He begrudgingly nods and turns to leave but Artemis calls out to him. Nos turns to his brother and catches the keys he tosses him.
“The gold one is the master key, use that to get back in.” My jaw unhinges.