Second Chance Ch. 06

Okay everyone, here is the next chapter for Jared and Olivia. I'm working on the next chapter right now. Hoping that I don't crash another computer (cross your fingers!) or that I'm not hit with another case of writers block. I have known where I wanted this chapter to end for months but couldn't get there. Once again special thanks out to MaaddMaaxx for his editing skills. I have tried to take some advice given to me by readers so I hope this chapter is easier to read for you. A final note, if there is mistakes (and I am sure that there is some) they are mine...just keep in mind this is a learning process for me. I'm trying my best. Enjoy! CinderLaw

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Jared closed his eyes while trying to stretch the stiffness out of his neck. It'd been a hell of a night. He had just gotten back from a pleasurable evening at the up state police station that had stock in hard ass steel folding chairs. He was tired, but he knew that he had to talk to his brother and give a report. So here he stood waiting on the coffee to brew and Jason to get his ass out of bed.

"Morning Jared." Said a sleepy sounding Laysea.

Jared looked up at her and said a simple, "morning." He wasn't in the mood to really talk that much but that was just because he was what Laysea would call cranky right now.

"Is the coffee about done?" Laysea asked, noticing the exhausted look on Jared's face.

"Yeah, Jas about up?"

"Of course I am." Jason responded as he walked through the door with a twin on each leg. "No way in this world these two little tyrants would allow someone to sleep with the sun up!" He gave Jared a good look over, "You look like hell, bro."

"Yeah been a while since I had to pull an all nighter in a Police station."

"And?"

"We need to talk...want to do this somewhere else?" Jared asked as he glanced over at Laysea who was listening to every word they said.

Jason glanced as his wife, as much as he knew he would pay for it later he replied, "Yeah, go on to the office, I will be there in a bit."

Jared let out a snort when Laysea all but threw daggers at Jason for saying that. He grabbed a cup of coffee and gave Laysea a smile as he headed towards the office while Jason tried to sooth his pissed off wife and get the twins in their highchairs.

As Jared walked into the office he nodded to Jerry and Trenton, as they sat waiting for everyone to arrive. The next person that came through the door was Ty, no one was surprised to see him. Jason didn't have just one second he had two: his twin brother and his best friend. A couple of minutes later, Jason walked into the office, closing the door quietly before turning to walk towards the group.

"How bad?"

"Someone tipped the cops off about Olivia being there, not sure who...yet." Jared stated. "That's what took me so long; they wanted to talk to 'the woman' that was at the cabin with me."

"What did you tell them?" Ty asked.

Jared looked up at Ty as if he had just grown an extra head, and said, "What woman? Then Kaleb came in and worked his magic to get me out of there."

"After I dropped Olivia and Chloe off yesterday, I made the rounds here in town. Jake's crew didn't make a move. In fact our sources say they have not done much moving at all this week. However, Tom and his spliced group of misfits have been all over. I got people telling me how they have seen them taking pictures of our buildings around town and meeting at the establishments that are in business. But we knew that he was. No one seems to know why he is taking the pictures thought. Plus didn't you say, Ty, that Maxie claimed someone took a picture of her but when she went to confront the guy he took off?" Trent questioned.

"Yeah, and if I ever find the bastard..." Ty ground out.

"So do we know why it is Tom that has made the attempt against Jared? Or are we assuming that he is after Jared? How do we know that he hasn't decided to take Olivia out of the equation?" Jason asked.

"Hell at this point, he could be willing to take them both out." Ty stated. "If he hits one of them he has made an impact on us - either to Jared or through him."

Jared walked over to the window and looked out over the city that lay beneath him. "Jas, your call man, but personally I think Tom is a big enough threat we need to get the woman and the children out of here. Whatever he wants we can figure it out better if he doesn't have so many targets available to him."

Jason met the steel eyes identical to his; he saw the pain etched into Jared's eyes saying, "I think you're right. Go pass the word, woman and children are to go to Stan's place. It is the only place they will be absolute safe without needing too many of the guys to protect them. I want it done by tonight...if anyone gives you flack you tell them it is a direct order from me. If they don't like it then they can get the fuck out of my organization. No one is above this order from me! I will be sending my own wife and children so I don't want to fuckin' hear from any body how they don't want to be separated!"

As everyone filed out of the office to do Jason's bidding, he paused Jared, by touching his arm, waiting until everyone was gone before he began to speak. "What happened?" He asked. "As your brother, I'm asking you to tell me what happened between you and Olivia."

"I let her in. I began to let myself imagine what it would be like to have a family of my own, not just any family but her and Chloe. I just need some space from her so I can focus on this right now. I will be okay." Jared replied.

"It's not bad to want those things, man. She could be good for you, but you're not going to know until you try to find out." Jason told him.

"I know, it's okay too, but this...just feels different. I mean, when I wanted to protect Trista it felt like an obligation, with Olivia -- it feels like it's essential to me living. And Chloe, man that little girl has been busy wrapping me around the little baby pinky of her's since I met her. Look, just get them to safety Jas, let me deal with what will happen between the two of us later. But if she is not safe then I run the chance of losing her before I can find out."

"Okay, they will go with everyone to Stan's place. But Jared you're going to have to admit to her and yourself that she is something to you. Don't mess it up with her by not telling her." Jason advised him. "Now you better go downstairs and explain to her what is going on."

"This from the one who was warning her not to hope for too much. Change of heart?"

Jason looked him straight in the eyes and said, "No. Just giving you the time to accept certain things on your terms this time. Now go tell her she has to leave, and when she refuses and you start to come up with reasons why she should stay with you, know that I have ordered it and she has to leave anyways. Besides, if I have to face the fury of hell with my wife, you can suffer the fury of hell that Olivia will dish out to you. So have fun telling her."

Jared chuckled, "Yeah have fun telling your pregnant wife that you are sending her and the twins away."

Jason smiled at him saying, "Yeah but mine knows that I'll be doing it for her best interest. What is yours going to think? Unless you plan on telling her something to give her hope."

Jared grunted as he left the office. Before he exited the apartment Jason heard him cheerfully holler, "Goodbye Laysea, thanks for the coffee!"

Jason rolled his eyes at his brothers tactics to annoy him as he sat in the office for a few more minutes - waiting. He knew what would happen in the matter of moments. They may have only been married for three years but he knew her better then any other woman.

"Jason? What is happening and what are you planning?" Laysea asked as she stuck her head into the office.

Now the part he dreaded because she may understand but that didn't mean that his sweet, little wife would be willing in the least. In fact, she probably wouldn't admit to understanding why until the end when everything was done and they were back together as a family.

"Well sweetheart, there's a slight change in plans for today..."

****** As Jared walked into the living room, he listened for any sounds. He didn't hear any so he figured that they were both still asleep. He walked over to the sofa table to empty his pockets into the glass bowl that was suppose to be for decoration but he just used it for a catch all for his pockets.

"HI JARED!" Screeched a high pitch voice that could only belong to one person.

"Hi Chloe, when did you get up? " He asked as he turned to look at her.

"Chloe was up with the sun this morning." Said a tired sounding voice.

Jared looked over at Olivia, she looked like hell warmed over. He felt a little guilty since he had not called her. "Did you get any sleep?"

Olivia smiled slightly at him, "A bit. You?"

"They don't let you sleep when they interrogate you." He said cracking a grin.

"Why did they keep you so long?" She asked with concern in her voice.

"Trying to get more information out of me. Kaleb, our lawyer, came to the rescue and finally was able to get them to release me for the time being. He told them something along the lines that the only real reason they were still holding me was because my last name was DeGeo. They were not able to deny it, so they released me." Jared explained with a shrug.

Olivia gave him a weak smile then looked at Chloe, "Sweety, why don't you go finish your breakfast?"

"Okay momma." Chloe said and ran all the way back to the kitchen.

Jared watched the little girl run off and had a bad feeling begin in the pit of his stomach. There was only one reason why she would have Chloe leave the room and that was to talk to him about something that Chloe wasn't suppose to hear. He look back at Olivia and waiting for the proverbial other shoe to fall. He didn't have a long wait.

"I don't think that we should stay here." Olivia said in a tight voice as she looked everywhere but at Jared.

"I can't agree more." Jared said.

Olivia was shocked by his statement, it showed in her eyes as she now looked at him with wide open eyes. She figured that he would fight her on this decision. That he suddenly seemed to agree with it confirmed that he was tired of her, Chloe and the trouble that they had brought to his life. She swallowed to get past the knot that suddenly formed in her throat. "Good then it is settled, Chloe and I will leave right after breakfast."

Jared looked at her, knowing she was talking about something different then he was but going along with it. "Okay, I will let Jason know that you will be ready then."

"When did you decide that sending us away would be the answer?" She asked him.

"I thought it last night but after talking to Jason this morning we have discussed it believe it's the best choice for all involved." Jared replied gruffly, hoping she would not notice the pain that had to be present in his face. Especially since he winced at the thought of what she thought the plan was. How in the hell this beautiful, smart woman thought that he would just randomly drop her off at her place while a psychopathic killer was still targeting her was beyond him. In that moment Jared realized that he would lay his life on the line for Olivia and Chloe. He knew when this was done and over he didn't want to say goodbye to her. He just didn't know if she was willing to be a part of his life.

Olivia found it hard to say anything more because the knot kept growing so she just nodded and headed the direction that Chloe had taken a few minutes before.

Jared picked up his cell phone and pushed the # 1 button then send. Jason picked up on the second ring apparently still trying to convince his little, "sweet" wife that this was for her best interest. "...I told you that I am not doing this for any other reason then you and the children's safety!"

"Whatever! You are using this as a guise to have your little tart come over! So don't you dare lie to me!" Laysea screamed at Jason.

"What tart? I am sending you to the island with all of the other woman and children! What do you think that we are going to have a boy's night out? Honey, this is just you being hormonal." He explained to her in a calming voice.

Jared sighed and rolled his eyes at the completely stupid comment his brother had just made.

"I know you didn't just call me hormonal, you jackass! I am pissed at you not hormonal! You promised me -- swore to me -- that you would never leave me in the dark again. I don't expect details but you can give me enough to understand what the hell is going on. And if you EVER call me hormonal again, well you wont have to worry about that, because I will cut your balls off THEN we will talk about someone being hormonal!" She screamed at him. SLAM!

Jared assumed that she had slammed the door on her way out of the room. "Do I need to grab the team and come protect your balls?" Jared asked.

"No, I can't believe I just told her that...I mean I've thought it a lot but I never meant to say it to her." He sighed, "Okay just so you know, my wife is being very difficult with this order so if you are calling me with some reason why Olivia needs to stay I may grab my gun and shoot you. Just so we are clear." Jason said in an aspirated voice.

"Nope, she said her and Chloe will be ready after breakfast."

"How in the hell did you get her to agree so fast?" Jason yelled at him.

"It was her idea." Jared said simply.

"Sometimes I really dislike how easy you have it. Hey on second thought, why don't you come talk to Laysea?" Jason asked.

"Because, I like my balls...and you obviously need practice talking to pregnant woman...hell Jas, last time she slapped you and try to launch things at your head!"

"Pussy!" Jason said into the phone right before he disconnected the call.

Jared chuckled. He knew that Jason thought he had it easy with woman and that he thought Olivia knew she was going to the island. He also knew that Olivia thought he was sending her home to get rid of her. Jared sighed; they would both have a big surprise at the airplane strip when they learned the truth. For now he was going to take a shower to get ready for the fight that would be happening shortly.

*** The rest of the morning went pretty smooth. Everyone was loaded up in the SUV separately so that it didn't look like they were all running away. Jason and his family went first -- Laysea made it very obvious that she would rather talk to anyone but Jason. Ty and Maxie left with them also. About every 15 to 30 minutes someone else left and some came back only to leave at a later time again. It was so that if anyone was watching the building it would look like a typical day of people coming and going. With any luck someone would be confused by all the coming and going.

The truck that Jared, Olivia and Chloe went in was one of the last ones. He had kept her at bay by saying that there was a lot going on so they were unable to leave just yet. When Chloe asked, before they left the condo, where they were going, Olivia told her home and Chloe turned to Jared asking him if he was going to stay with them again. When Olivia answered for him and told Chloe that Jared had to stay here, Chloe began to crying and clinging to him. Jared looked up at Olivia and for a split second wanted to tell her that she wasn't leaving him. Luck was on his side though, Olivia turned and walked away from them and he didn't have to fight with Jason about changing his mind to send them away. The heavy feeling that he had been feeling since this morning when she said she wanted to leave was finally gone. He had seen in her eyes that she really didn't want to leave him. That was enough for now.

As they rode in the truck, Jared and Olivia being very quiet and Chloe still sniffling about leaving. He knew exactly when Olivia would start talking to him again -- as soon as they turned away from town and headed to the private airport. Sure enough...

"Um, wait, you turned the wrong way." She called out to the driver, who acted like he didn't even hear anyone talk.

"No he didn't." Jared said simply.

"Yes he did! This is leaving town and since I live in town I am pretty sure that he is going the wrong way to my place."

"You would be right. If we were going to your place."

"What do you mean if? I said that we should leave and you agreed."

"I still agree, but I am not taking you back to your place to be at the whim of a psycho."

"Then where in the hell are you taking us?" She said in a near scream.

"Mommy! You said a bad word!"

"Yes, Liv, you should watch you language around impressionable children."

Olivia closed her eyes as she felt her frustration building up, she took a couple of deep breathes until she felt she could talk again without screeching at him, "Jared?"

"You are going with the rest of the woman and children to Stan's Island. He use to be the one in charge of the organization before Jason. He was the one who took over after our father was killed. Everyone will be safe there." He replied simply.

"That's what you said about the cabin. What's different now?"

"There's only one way on or off the island."

"Which is?" Olivia asked suddenly feeling tired from trying to drag every answer out of him.

"Air." He replied.

"What about you?" She asked him as the realization that he wasn't pushing them away he was protecting them. The only sliver of fear was that he wouldn't be with them.

Jared sighed and looked at her, "I gotta get a handle on this, I need you away from here and safe. Stan can do that. I gotta deal with this shooting thing and get them off of you then I gotta get Tom off of both of us."

"Then what?" she asked in that small voice she was beginning to hate.

"That's up to us. We will talk later, but we both can admit that there is something here." He said as he opened the door and got out on the tarmac.

Olivia opened her door and stepped out she turned around and got Chloe out of the SUV, by the time she turned back around Jared was there with their bags that he handed off to one of the guys loading the baggage on the plane. He leaned down and picked up Chloe and grabbed Olivia's hand to walk them to the plane.

When they reached the plane Jared let go of Olivia's hand and gave his complete attention to Chloe. "Hey Princess, you do me a big favor and mind your mother. Okay? The place you're going has lots of water and fun things to do. So have lots of fun, and I will see you soon." He told her then gave her a big hug, feeling her little baby arms wrapping around his neck, hugging him back.

"Jared, will you come see me?" Chloe asked still sniffling a bit.

"Yes I will. And when everything is done here, I will come and get you and bring you both back, okay? Then you will see me all the time again."

"Pinky promise?" she asked.

Jared stared at the little pinky that she held out to him with tears rolling down her little cherub face. He smiled and twisted the top part of his pinky with hers, "Pinky promise."

She smiled through her tears and said, "I love you Jared!" Wrapping her arms back around his neck tightly.

"I love you too, Princess." He whispered to her as he hugged her back.

He then handed her to one of the other mothers assisting with getting all the children seated. He turned toward Olivia, who he noticed was wiping her eyes. He pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly, whispering in her ear, "We will talk, I promise. The only reason that I want you both to go is because those bullets that they are shooting are real. I can't bear for you or Chloe to get hurt by them."

"I know, you can't bear to be the reason that another woman loses her life." Olivia said as they separated from the hug.

Jared looked at her with a stunned expression, "At one time that was right -- but it isn't now. Without you two, I can't imagine living." He leaned into her to lightly kiss her but then he felt her kiss back. He pulled her body closer to his and deepened the kiss by slipping his tongue into her willing mouth, tasting her, while he tried to memorize everything about her.