Love Behind Lies

Chapter 18

The next morning it took my alarm and my ringing phone to wake me up and it was brutal. When I finally understood what was happening, I looked at my phone. Brent was calling me.
“Hello,” I answered.
“Good morning Cat! How’d you sleep?” Brent seemed wide awake.
“Pretty good. You?”
“Good! Are you ready to go?”
“Yup. Just have to get dressed. When are you and Sam picking us up?”
“15 minutes.”
“Alright,” I said, and hung up. I really had to get going. I rushed out of bed and got dressed first. I had packed my suitcase already and had it waiting by the front door, so I didn’t have to worry about that.
The doorbell rang just as I was walking downstairs. Thomas opened the door and Sam was standing there, waiting.
“Good morning Catherine,” Sam sounded happy.
“Morning, Sam,” I answered, trying not to sound so excited to see him.
“Are you both ready to go,” Sam asked me and Thomas.
“Yeah, I think so,” I replied. I walked over to the stair well and said goodbye to my mom. She was sad to see me go, but knew I was going to be safe since Thomas was coming with. She doesn’t know the real reason we are leaving, or even where we are going. We came up with a pretty good story about visiting some old friends in New York and she bought it.
We left the house as soon as possible. I think everyone was anxious to get on the road and out of town. As we drove to the airport, Brent went over final details for the next couple of days.
I was sitting shotgun with Brent driving and the other boys in the back. We were riding in Brent’s black Porsche, which is the nicest car I’ve ever been in. I was almost too scared to touch it, but I guess it’s a company car, so it’s no big deal to Brent.
“You ready to go,” Brent asked me as we walked in the airport. The drive here had been fast. I must have been in my own world again.
“Yeah, I think so,” I replied.
We all walked towards the elevator, chatting about our trip and life in general. Thomas and Sam were getting pretty close which was nice to see.
The airport was pretty busy for a Wednesday morning, but we all stuck together and made it to our gate with ten minutes to spare. Brent and Thomas decided to hit the bathroom before we started boarding. I guess Sam and I were just too nervous to use the bathroom right now.
“So, how’d you sleep last night,” Sam asked me, breaking the silence.
“Good, I guess. You?” I didn’t really want to about last night.
“Pretty good. I missed you though.”
“Yeah.”
“Katie, are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I guess I just feel bad about last night.
“Kate, you don’t need to feel bad. There is nothing wrong with what happened.”
“Sam, are you stupid? I kiss you twice, and I have Brent already! Cheating is no good for anyone.”
“Katie, I thought we talked about this.” Sam reached out his hand to touch my knee but I pulled it away. I didn’t want him touching me.
“That was before you made me kiss you. I think you brainwashed me or something.”
“No, I talked some sense into you. The only thing that you did wrong last night was lie to yourself. You knew you wanted to kiss me, but you denied it.”
“I still knew it was wrong! I should have been smarter.” I slouched in my chair. I didn’t want to talk about last night anymore. The only thing it did was stress me out, and there was no good in doing that.
I could sense Sam staring at me. He wanted to talk to me, but that wasn’t going to happen. He succeeded in laying a hand on my thigh and it actually felt nice; some type of comfort. I liked it there, but suddenly Sam’s head snapped up and his hand disappeared.
Brent and Thomas were back from the bathroom. Thank God. I was for sure done talking about last night, for the moment at least, but I really did like Sam’s hand on my leg.
“Everything okay here,” Brent asked, looking at me and Sam.
I looked sternly at Sam, who smiled back at me.
“Yeah, everything’s fine,” I grumbled.
A few minutes later the plan pulled into the gate. It was a small plane; one of those special ones spies get just for being spied. We needed a direct flight to Rome, Italy and this was the only option.
The four of us stood up and gave our tickets to the nice ladies at the gate door, and then we made our way to the plane. Once inside, I could see leather seats near the front of the plane and a lounge area in the back. There was a mini fridge and a T.V. This plane was pretty impressive. The food was amazing and it was never ending. Even the drinks tasted better than normal.
The trip was long and I spent much of it sleeping or talking to Brent who sat right next to me and never took his eyes off me. When the plane finally landed in Rome, I was wide awake, which wasn’t the best thing ever since we were going back to our hotel room to sleep because it was very early in the morning.
We all got into another nice car that Brent set up for us and drove to our hotel. We checked in at the very elaborate front desk and I took a second to take in my surroundings. The lobby to the hotel was like a castle. Warm lighting made the entrance feel like home and the grand staircase coming down the middle was beautiful. The whole scene was just wonderful.
After Brent checked us in, we made our way up to our suite with 3 bedrooms, kitchen, living room and 2 bathrooms. I was super excited to settle in. When we reached our suite, I was the first to walk into our full kitchen that was absolutely stunning. I walked through the kitchen into the living room with the whole back wall being windows that overlooked the city. This room had two big couches and a couple of chairs, along with the huge T.V and a mini fridge.
I turned to me left and found myself in a bedroom with two big fluffy beds and a walk out porch. The bathroom, which was attached, had a Jacuzzi and a shower with two heads. It was the nicest bathroom I’ve ever been in.
Brent was right. This hotel was really, really nice. It was almost insane. I would never been able to stay in a hotel like this with my family. There would be too many of us and it would be super expensive.
I went back into the living room, leaving my suitcase on the bed I just left behind.
“I’ll sleep in that room over there,” I said, pointing to the room I had just come from.
“Okay, sounds good. There are two more bedrooms on the other side of the suite.” Brent was talking over everyone. “Either two of us can share a room, or one of us can sleep on the couch. Catherine gets her own room no matter what.” Brent and Sam both looked at each other.
“I will take the couch,” Sam announced.
“Alright, perfect. Thank you. Feel free to make yourself at home guys,” Brent said and then went into the kitchen.
It was still dark out in Rome. There weren’t that many people on the roads either even though it was a big city. Many people live here, and it was weird knowing that my dad could be close by.
Thomas and Brent had disappeared into their rooms and I was stuck with Sam in the living room.
“I’m mad at you,” I told Sam, breaking the silence.
“I know,” Sam sounded disappointed. We stayed silent. “So, is this going to be how this whole trip goes,” Sam asked me.
“I don’t want it to be this way,” I replied. I walked towards him and sat down next to him on the couch.
“Why did you come and sit next to me?”
“Fine, I’ll leave.” I started to stand up, but Sam grabbed my hand, pulling me back towards the couch.
“What can I do to make you not mad at me,” Sam asked, completely serious.
“I don’t know. I feel like I can’t be too close to you anymore because of Brent. But who knows how that’ll turn out.
“Fine.” Sam sounded mad now. He stood up and left the room. Now I was the sad one. I got up and walked to the kitchen. I was getting something to eat from the refrigerator when someone started banging on our hotel door. I looked at the door surprised that someone would be knocking this early in the morning. I started walking towards the door to look through the hole, curious to see who it was, but someone came up from behind me, covering my mouth and wrapping their arm around me.
“Be very quiet,” Sam’s voice was a whisper. He removed his hand from my mouth and grabbed my arm, bringing me towards my bedroom. Someone pounded on the door again, scaring me and making me cling to Sam.
“Who’s going to get the door?” I was whispering, even though we were safe and sound in my room.
“Brent is.” Sam’s voice was quiet too. “Come over here.” I tiptoed over to Sam who was sitting in a chair in the corner of the room. I sat on his lap and he put his arms around me. I felt much safer now. “You okay?”
“Yes, thank you,” I replied
“You’re always welcome.”
We sat there, silent for a while. The pounding had stopped, but I never figured out if Brent answered the door or not.
Someone knocked on my bedroom door and I jumped.
“Can I come in?” Brent’s voice had no emotion.
“Yeah, come on in,” Sam replied.
Brent opened the door and walked over to where I was sitting with Sam. I got off Sam’s and rushed over to Brent. He gave me a big hug, holding me tight.
“Are you okay,” Brent asked.
“Yeah, thanks to Sam. He kept me safe,” I replied.
“Thank you, Sam,” Brent said.
“Anytime,” Sam mumbled.
“Where is Thomas?” I asked.
“He’s out in the living room. He’s okay.” Brent said, still holding me.
Sam stood up and left the room. Brent and I followed him and we all sat down on the couch.
“Okay, so I put a camera outside the door when we came in the first time. I was just looking through the film and I didn’t recognize the man. He didn’t leave a note either, so I would forget that ever happened.” Brent seemed pretty calm about the whole situation.
“Catherine, we need to keep you safe, so don’t talk to anyone that you don’t know well.” Sam sounded mad again.
“Okay,” I replied.
“Just stay away from the door from now on, okay?” Thomas’ voice was serious.
I nodded my head and stayed quiet.
The next couple of hours were silent. We decided that we should get some sleep so we could get some stuff done when we really started searching.
We all fell asleep pretty quickly in our own beds and when we all finally started waking up again, the sun was out and it was time to eat.
“So, is everyone hungry,” Brent asked everyone.
“Yeah, I think so,” Sam said.
“Should we order room service, or what,” I asked.
“I could go get something from somewhere,” Thomas offered.
“That sounds like a good idea. I’ll come with you,” Sam agreed.
“Yeah, that works,” Brent said.
Brent and I gave Sam and Thomas our orders and the two boys left.
“So what are we going to do today,” I asked Brent.
“Not sure yet, Cat,” Brent replied. “Come over here. Sit by me.”
I walked over to him and sat down. He put his arm around me and I rested my head on his shoulder, and we just sat there.
“How are you doing?” Brent’s voice was a whisper.
“Good. You?”
“Missing you. I feel like I haven’t had much time with you lately.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean.” I lifted my head so I could see him. He sat up more and moved his hands so they were holding my neck and chin, pulling me closer to him. I could feel his breath on my face and there were butterflies in my stomach.
When our lips pressed together, it felt like the first time he kissed me. There was so much tenderness and love in the way he held me close to him. I put my arms around Brent’s neck and pulled him closer to me. He wasn’t letting me go anywhere as his hands tightened around me. I never wanted this kiss to end. This was a real kiss, not forced, by someone who actually cared about me. This felt right and I was happy.
“I’m going to keep you safe, Cat,” Brent whispered to me before pecking my lips a couple more times. I had nothing else to say, so I just kissed him back.
I don’t know how much longer that lasted, but eventually I collapsed in his arms, my head on his chest and his arms wrapped tightly around me.
“Promise me that no matter what happens after this trip you will always be my friend and love me,” Brent whispered.
“I promise,” I replied without thinking.
“Cat, I,” Brent paused. “I love you.” That was the first time any boy has ever said that to me and I was speechless at first, not knowing what to do.
“I love you too,” I responded, a smile forming on my face. I was so content in this moment; I never wanted it to end.
About ten minutes later, Thomas and Sam arrived. They brought our food in, and put it on the kitchen table.
“You guys ready to eat,” Sam asked, as he walked into the living room area.
“Yeah, I think we are,” Brent replied. He kissed me gently on the lips before letting me go, allowing me to stand up.
“What did you guys do while we were gone,” Thomas asked.
I looked at Brent and smiled. “We just talked,” I replied, unsure of myself.
“Oh, sure,” Sam replied, smiling at me.
“So, what do we have to eat,” I asked Thomas and Sam, changing the subject.
“Oh, a little bit of everything, Kate,” Thomas replied.
“Good! I’m so hungry,” I said. Brent’s hand rested on the small of my back as he led me over to the kitchen.