Chapter 120 - (Hundred) Nineteen: A Warning Sign

" Ace?"

" Long time no see, sweetheart." Ace straightened once he was done gathering her things and held them to her. " How have you been?"

Navaya snatched her groceries bags out of his hands, glaring. " Why are you here?" 

Resentment shot through Navaya as Ace stood in front of her, making sure he saw the clear rage scintillating in her eyes. A warning sign.

Get the fuck away from me or you lose an arm.

He saw the red lights oozing from her— her obvious threat— but he wasn't fazed.

" Same reason you are. It is a grocery store after all." He answered and Navaya rolled her eyes as she spun around, heading for her car.

Ace went after her. His approaching footsteps incited her to walk faster but he still caught up with her, grabbing hold of her arm to prevent her from taking a step further. 

" Navaya, wait." Ace said but Navaya heeded nothing. She just kept struggling to break free from his grip. Not just because she was angry at him for sleeping with another woman— though she was — but also because she was wary of the possible outcome of their confrontation. Ace had a criminal record, an ex-tug, and after Navaya had the guts to squander more than fifty percent of his fortune in one night, surely he must have hatched a plan to get back at her for it. A plan to inflict as much damage on her as much as she did to his savings, only Navaya wasn't planning to stay to find out what he was going to do.

" What? Shouldn't you be fucking another woman by now?" She yanked her hand out of his grip and right after she did, her palm met his cheek.

A slap. A hard one right across the face.

" This is for having sex with my secretary on my fucking bed. I should have slapped you three months ago as well." She said and proceeded walking to her car with hastened steps, to get away from there. Away from him.

" Navaya, please wait. I just want to talk." He voiced out loud enough so she would hear. She did though but it didn't matter. She scoffed and kept trotting away.

Just want to talk, huh? The was really almost no one outside but them. She was a defenseless woman and he was a tall man with toned muscles who was dressed in joggers and a black hoodie. Doesn't he know how shady this current situation looked? 

Navaya wasn't in the mood to talk, let alone take chances that night. What some people failed to understand is that when a potential threat waves a red flag, you don't suppose to walk towards it, or wait to see what happens. No, you fucking run. God gave people legs for a reason.

She jumped into her car and stepped on the gas, knowing that her fingers would probably be imprinted on Ace's cheek with how hard so slapped him. She managed to relinquish a portion of the smoldering rage threatening to fry her heart tonight but it wasn't enough. Part of her didn't seem to be content with slapping just Ace. It wanted her to do the same to Johnny as well.

Johnny.

He was the cause of all this. Seeing Ace again wasn't the reason she was furious. It was all Johnny. He made her so pissed. It was his fault. 

Her car came to an abrupt stop, tears blurring her vision as she banged on her steering wheel before burying her face in her hands. 

" No. Not this shit again. I'm done crying over that bastard." She mumbled, wiping the rebellious tears that pelted her face. Despite her words, the pain and sadness still overpowered her, crushing her.

She still cried, unable to stop herself.

Johnny hurt her more than she thought by marrying Nicky. They were expecting a child together for god's sake. He was the father of Nicky's baby and if she hadn't gotten into that accident, the two would still be married, raising their son. 

Navaya's chest knotted, painfully. After Johnny declared his engagement with Nicky, Navaya was left shattered, damaged, and emotionally unavailable to everyone. And that was where Asshole number two came into the picture. 

Ace.

She met him in college, and they quickly hit it off as friends before he turned into an admirer.

Give me a chance and I will never hurt you. Were his exact words. Well, she did, didn't she? She gave him a chance but look what happened, and although she hated to admit it, Ace was simply a rebound. A means to fill up the void Johnny left in her heart. It didn't work though, she still felt the void. Empty. 

Johnny was the only one who could fix the damage he caused.

***

At the other side of town, Becca and Johnny sat together, dining at a five-star restaurant. Once Becca spoke to Johnny about going out to celebrate, this place immediately came to mind.

Becca raised her wine glass and Johnny did the same. " As expected from Johnny Ramus. Cheers." With a smile on her lips, she clinked her glass with his and took a sip. " When I said let's go out and celebrate, I pictured us going to a club, not a lavish restaurant."

Johnny chuckled. " Is it a surprise though? You know I can't bring myself to trust clubs when you are involved. Mess happens in clubs. I own one now so I know what I'm talking about. Luckily, you don't even like clubs."

Clubs— no matter how fancy— do get crazy at times and the last thing Johnny wanted was for his innocent little sister to get mixed up with such things. If only he knew the innocent little sister he was referring to actually met her lover at a club.

Becca taped her lips shut on the matter, wishing not to speak about it anymore.

" It's a shame Navaya couldn't come with us. She's fun to be around." Johnny said and Becca appreciated the change in discussion.

" Yeah, it's truly a shame." The mention of Navaya, pecked profound curiosity in Becca as she went deep in thought. " Was it just me or was Navaya behaving a little weird today."

Becca placed her glass back on the table and watched Johnny as he picked up his cutlery, ready to dig into his food.

" Everyone is a little weird, some are even weirder than others." He brought the first bite to his lips.

" I know that, but today was different. I met her after the show and she looked… sad." 

Distress jolted through Johnny as he chewed, forcing a swallow. Sad? Why was she sad? It couldn't be because of him, right? They were fine when they were in the dressing room, she even let him hold her hand.

Johnny grabbed his wine glass once more and took a swig. All he did that day was restrict his actions— punishing himself. He kept talking himself into giving her some time, to let her be for now so she would get some breathing space. He fucking chanted it in his head so he would stick to his resolve and Navaya made him the happiest man when she dismissed the stylists, leaving the two of them in each other's company— when she told him not to go and allowed him to do her makeup. So what could possibly be the problem now? 

" Is that so?" Johnny asked, masking most of his worry. Showing too much would just raise questions against him.

" Yes, and do you know the bizarre thing about all this? Navaya only acts this weird when you are around."

Johnny froze for a second as Becca's word spurted into his ears before regaining his composure, nonchalance exuding out of him.

" And what makes you think that?"

" Observation," Becca said without batting an eye and Johnny let out a laugh.

" Hilarious, really. You have always been quite the dreamer, Becca. Sometimes I wonder who has the craziest imagination between you and Kris." 

It took everything Johnny had in him to say that, to deny his blooming relationship with Navaya in front of Becca but he did so either way. Navaya would have wanted him to. Anything to make her happy, even though it meant curbing the urge to tell the world how much he loved her. The same way he curbed the urge to pull her into his embrace while he got her ready for the show.

Becca hummed and took another sip from her glass, her eyes still fixed on Johnny. Observing him but got nothing at the end. He wasn't a snitch.

" Alright then. But by the way, Kris has the crazier imagination in the family." 

Johnny smirked. " No doubt about it."

" Mother is in New York."

" I know." 

" Did she tell you anything? Have you spoken to her yet?" 

Johnny hasn't said anything pertaining to the issue so it meant he still knew nothing. Becca just wanted to make sure of it.

Their dinner date ended with Johnny escorting Becca out of the restaurant, making sure she was safely in her car before getting into his and driving away.

Becca sat in her car, reaching for her seatbelt when she heard her phone vibrate in her bag. 

A text. 

She let go of the seatbelt and fished out her phone. A smile lit up her face when she saw who it was from.

Leo.

She opened the text and read it without hesitation.

Let's go for a little walk.

Becca blinked at the words on her phone screen and decided to type a reply to him but before she could, she received another text from him.

Step outside your car.

She did as she was told, without even thinking. She got out of her car, staring straight ahead, and saw Leo ambling in her direction. Her first love. The man of her dreams. He was in a long sleeve shirt and slacks. All black and he looked amazing.

He smiled as he neared and being only ten feet away from Becca, his gaze darted cautiously around the vicinity as if looking for something. As if sensing someone. Becca turned in the direction he was staring at— the rooftop of a building not too far from them— and saw someone up there. A sniper.

Her throat went dry.

Leo hurried his steps towards Becca but before he could reach her, a pain shot through him.

His eyes twitched as he took two steps back, feeling something wet saturating his shirt. Time froze as the pain overtook him, breathing becoming a difficult task. His hand then met his chest— the source of the pain— and the same liquid spilling out of it coated his hand.

Leo stared down at his hand that was now painted red. Blood. He just got shot.

He immediately looked at Becca— her face aghast with tears gushing down her eyes— and he collapsed on the concrete floor, blood pooling out.

" LEO!"