Talia

7 - Away for a year

She woke up the following morning to find him already gone to work. They had slowly slipped into a routine whereby they would have breakfast together before he left for work but after yesterday she just didn't know if he would want her around.

"Bridgette were is Mr Shields?"

"I'm sorry ma'am but he already left for work."

"Did he have something to eat?"

"Oh no, he left rather in a hurry," she said before turning back to her task of setting their table.

Her little princess walked into the room with a wide grin before it fell seeing Ethan not there as Talia explained that he had to run to work.

Expecting him at dinner they were both disappointed as he stayed late at work. This went on for a full week before she realized he wasn't even coming home after daring to stay up one night and wait for him.

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Talia's POV

Weeks turned into months as they remained under his protection. Not even his staff would tell us where he was. All I knew was that he had left with Sam. 

"Lia this is a surprise," Mel said over the phone. 

"Hi Mel. I hope I am not disturbing you, but I wanted to find out if you know where Ethan is."

"He is taking care of some urgent business don't worry dear he will be back really soon. He actually left with Lincoln I thought he had told you."

"Oh no he didn't actually. Well it's alright if he is okay," I said with a small smile. "How are the children," I said diverting the topic to safer ground as Mel began to tell me hilarious stories about the little ones.

Four months passed and before I knew it we were being transferred to Mel and Lincoln's house. Why, I have not idea. I was glad I had someone to talk to and so was Mel.

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Ethan's POV

"Here call them," Linc said handing me a secure phone as I contemplated on what I would say to her.

Taking the phone I called Lia's phone feeling nervous as the phone rang.

"Hi Lia," I said softly as I heard her breath hitch. "I called to just check up in you," I said.

"When exactly do you plan on coming back to your house. Your men refuse for us to leave to leave this prison you call a home," she spat.

"What do you mean leave. Leave for where?" I growled regretting this as my voice sounded harsher.

"Listen Ethan it's been how many months now? I don't know what you are doing or who you are with aside from Linc and Sam. But can't you just let us go. I need to live my life. Maybe meet a man, get married soon. This is just wasting my time," she said angrily.

"You will go nowhere and never meet another man," he growled. "As your friend, I will be there to satisfy whatever needs you require satisfied."

"Well no friend of mine would just leave without informing me where they are."

"That's not something I can tell you, it's for your own safety."

"Safety! What the hell is going on Ethan. We fight and then the next day you leave without a single word. Only to find out you are with Mel's husband, who knows doing what. Mel might be okay with her husband leaving for months but I am not. So until you tell me what's going on don't call me," she said ending the call before he could respond.

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Mel's POV

"Just, be careful Linc," I sighed into the earpiece.

"You know I always am. Ethan is asking how Lia and Marisa are," he said as I turned to look at the people in question. 

"They are both good. Zach and Marisa are both making trouble," she chuckled. "She is worried about him even though she try's her best to hide it.

"I hope this hunt brings forth results," he sighed.

"What have you found out thus far," I asked heading to our room.

"Where are you love?" He asked.

"Our room," I answered and a few minutes later the screen came to life as I saw my husband. "You need a haircut and a shave," I said once I saw his grizzly bear state.

"I am in Moscow love, it's flipping cold here," he said with a smile.

"Moscow?" I whispered in confusion as he nodded his head yes.

A few months back Linc and Ethan had gotten a lead on who was after Lia after setting a trap in her apartment. One of the security members and impersonated her and gone into her apartment only for an assassin to come after her. The only surprise being that Linc and Ethan had been present waiting for whoever came through the doors.

"You picked the wrong day to go hunting my friend," Ethan said giving the man a swift kick that sent him to the ground as the man cursed in Italian.

Linc picked the man up by his throat as his feet dangled to in the air. "Why are assassins so small these days? He growled looking at the man. "Now, who sent you?"

"You better just kill me. I am already a dead man for failing my task," the man said.

"Retrace his steps," Ethan said to Sam.

"You will talk. I know someone who will have you singing as far back as the days in your mothers womb," Lincoln said as a wide grin forming on his face as he thought of his good friend Roni her husband Roland.

Using his jet they flew straight to Italy. Roni made sure the package was safely checked through customs as they went straight to their villa. The little bugger did not budge until we found his true identity a month later. Whoever he worked for was good, but Linc's men were better. Showing him a live image of his wife and daughter at the park he didn't budge. Showing him one of my female assassins, aka The Chameleon walking towards his wife and daughter both of them smiling not knowing who the woman truly was he broke down before he spilled all the information he knew. Any assassin knew not to cross paths with The Chameleon.

"There is a bounty on her," he said as he asked for a laptop opening the site.

"Mel I need you help," was all Ethan had to say for me to assist them as Walter flew back with the laptop allowing me to work my magic.

It took a while to pinpoint the location of the person responsible for the site thus their current location in Moscow. The person responsible for the site knew how to cover their tracks well but one mistake they made was to not blind their web cam as I hacked his system getting an image. He knew that the men were onto him and after sending them the image. A scrawny little fellow he was with dirty blonde hair and nerd glasses, not lucky on the looks department.

"Have you found him yet?" I asked as Linc ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

"We are close. He is not leaving the country without our knowledge. I have man combing through all the underground channels he might use. Some of my team members have even gone geeky on me," he chuckled as he remembered some of his most trusted men looking dorky in glasses and actually pulling it off.

"So you don't love nerds?" I said with a playful smile as I tried to relieve some of his tension in anyway possible.

"Not all, but one in particular," he said with a twinkle in his eye.

"Hmm that's good to hear, you will have to tell me about this nerd that has your heart," I said as he laughed out loud.

"I will sweetheart."

"When are you coming back? The children miss you," I said with a frown. "I miss you."

"I miss you guys too. I will be home soon," he said sadly. "I have to go," he said as there was a knock on his door.

"Stay safe," I said as the screen went dark.

"Always," he replied via the earpiece.

A few months passed before the men finally returned. Lia and Marisa had returned back 'home' by then.

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"Uncle Ethan!" Marisa cried out running towards him as he put his bag down lifting her up into his arms. "You left us," she said her lower lip trembling as tears glistened in her eyes.

"I'm sorry pumpkin I was away on business."

"But you didn't tell us," she said disappointedly.

"I'm sorry I will make it up to you."

"Promise you won't go away again," she said.

"I promise," he said with a smile.

"Pinky promise?" She pouted as he hooked his pinky around hers.

"Pinky promise," he said with a smile.

"You look like a bear," she said touching his beard as he chuckled.

"And you have grown a few inches shorter," he said with a laugh as she frowned at him.

"Lia," he said soflty as she looked at him furiously before storming out of the room.

A couple of hours later he knocked on their room surprising her. 

"Here, put this on," he said gently placing a dress on their bed.

"What! Who do you think you are to just order me around to put on clothing, after leaving us here for months whilst we worried about your whereabouts," she fumed obviously very angry with him.

"I said put the dress on unless you want me to come over there and make you," he spat.

"Make me," she said defiantly crossing her arms over her chest.

Walking towards her he pulled her towards him before whispering in her ear, "If you ever want to see your little girl put the dress on now."

"What do you mean by that? What have you done with Marisa?" She said before running out of the room calling out for Marisa. 

Frantically searching the whole house for her she didn't find her. It would be pointless to ask his staff, they work for him after all.

Returning to the room she found him still standing right were she had left him.

"I hate you, you... you beast !" She spat. A flash of pain appeared on his face before he quickly masked it taking a deep breath slowly releasing it.

"Put the dress on," he said lazily walking out of the room as his phone rang. She looked at the dress admiring the soft fabric of the red dress. Looking down she saw black pumps beside her bed and knew he must have placed them there.

A few minutes later he barged into the room taking her by surprise just as she finished doing her hair up.

"The least you can do is knock," she spat beginning to hate the person before her. He was acting like a complete douche. 

"It's my house, I can do whatever I want," he said taking my hand and pulling her out of the room.

Getting into his car a white Audi they headed in the opposite direction from the exit driving further up Blackwood estates. Pulling up to a large house she was in owe of its beauty but this was short lived when she heard, "Get out."

Slowly taking her time to get out of the car she followed him as he walked up to the house swinging the door open. It was very quiet as she followed him out to what looked like the backyard only to stop in her tracks when he stopped in front of a large pool.

"Surprise!!!" She heard behind her as her workmates and Mel walked out of the house with wide smiles pulling her into their arms.

Still in shock she welcomed the hugs before turning to see a smile on his face as he held Marisa and Zach in his arms.

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Lia's POV

"I hope you are having fun," Mel said handing her a glass of orange juice.

"I am thank you very much for all of this."

"Oh don't thank me. Ethan did all this he has been here the whole week planning this."

"Wait I thought he was still away on business."

Mel burst into laughter before saying, "Is that what he told you."

I frowned scanning the crowd for the liar as I spotted him talking to Lillian a very flirtatious blonde. Everyone from work knew she flirted with even married men as long as they were rich. I didn't want any relations with the man but I also didn't want to see him with another woman even though I was mad with him, funny huh.

"You really do like him don't you? That angry glare says it all," Mel said.

"What no, he is everything I don't find appealing in a man. A playboy who thinks he is God's gift to woman, he is childish, possessive, unpredictable, sexy, caring and good with children. Besides I don't want to put his life in danger."

"Listen dear, if you really like him then give yourself a chance. Ethan can take care of himself, just look at what happened with that Jay fellow."

I nodded my head thinking over that scenario. He had proven to be capable of protecting himself.

"Now if I were you I would go get him before blondie over there sinks her teeth into him."

Following her advice I walked up to him giving him a sultry smile.

"Thank you for the party baby," I said with a sickeningly sweet smile as I saw Lillian's smile falter.

I counted my blessing as Ethan quickly caught on placing a kiss on my lips before saying, "Anything for you mi amore."

"How are you Lillian?" I said with a smile.

"Fine thank you Talia," she said with a fake smile.

"Sorry to interrupt your conversation I need to steal him for a minute or two," I said pulling him along by his hand.

"Hmm I should talk to flirty women more often," Ethan said as I pulled us into a closet.

"Ethan I want us to...Ethan will you..."

"Of course babe, you want us to have a threesome with Lillian," he said wiggling his eyebrows as I looked at him in shock before he burst into laughter. "What you don't want Lillian?" He said as I slapped his chest.

"Now don't tell me, you want us to make out in this dark closet," he said switching off the light.

"Ethan seriously," I said trying to hold back my laughter at his crazy idea as I turned the light back on.

"Okay, you were saying."

"I would like us to start over," I said.

"That's all," he said looking disappointed. "Here I thought you were going to pop the question, I was about to have a heart attack."

"What!"

"Well you did seemed nervous a few minutes ago, especially when you said 'Ethan will you' I was about to pass out waiting for the 'marry me' part and a ring.

"Very funny Ethan," I said stifling my laughter at his outrageous assumption. 

"So you finally realized you can't resist all this hotness, or all the heat we create," he said stepping closer to her lowering his head.

"I...I..I... Could we just ta...take things slow," I breathed out feeling the air get sucked out of me.

"Okay," Ethan said with a cheeky grin. "I'm sorry for leaving you guys for a year. Something really troublesome came up," he said looking straight into her eyes. 

"Hey it's your life. Besides I'm sorry for my behavior and what I said," she replied as he pulled her into his arms resting his head on hers. She wrapped her arms around him sighing as she felt his warmth.

"I missed your hugs," he said softly as they stood like this for a while before finally leaving the closet.

"You didn't have to act like a jerk just to surprise me," I said as we stepped out of the closet luckily no one saw us.

"Hey I had to make sure you didn't know anything. It worked after all and I have the pictures to prove it," he said.

"What pictures."

"Oh the one were you have a priceless expression, eyes wide, mouth open wide enough to let flies enter freely. Then others looking a tad bit pale out of surprise. Then another looking like you just peed in your pants. You didn't pee in your pants did you?" He said.

"No I didn't," I said as I bumped into Linc who was standing by the door glaring at someone.

"What the matter brother," Ethan asked as I followed his gaze.

Mel was currently laughing at something Gabriel one of the teachers had said. He was always the joker it was a wonder he was actually married. Mel looked in our direction with a smirk as she placed her hand on his forearm, as I thought oh no, this isn't good.

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Mel's POV

"Keep up the good work Gabriel that will teach that husband of mine to not ignore me ever again."

"Listen Mel I don't want to die. I have a baby on the way who needs a father," he said causing me to laugh.

"How is Maggie?"

"Disappointed she couldn't come here, but the doctor ordered her to stay in bed and she ordered me to come here just to get cake for her," he said making her laugh once more.

"Oh oh," I muttered as I saw Linc slowly making his way towards us. Luckily Ethan and Talia were behind him. 

"What's the mat.." He stopped as he felt a large hand settle on his shoulder making him turn to look at Linc as he visibly paled.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend sweetheart," Linc said through clenched teeth.

"Sweetheart this is Gabriel he is going to be Zach's teacher next year. So we will definitely be seeing more of him" I said before sipping my drink looking at him over the rim.

"Is that so," Linc said not taking his eyes off me.

"Yes," I said looking him straight in the eye seeing desire and anger written all over his face.

"How is your wife Gabriel?" Talia piped in feeling the tension build watching Linc's hand slowly release the poor man who quickly excused himself after responding to her question. 

I smirked as I saw Ethan and Talia leave us before turning to leave the room. We would definitely need some privacy I thought as I headed up the stairs with him right behind me.

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Talia's POV

The sun was setting as Ethan was by the grill flipping more burgers before I saw Linc walk up to him.

"Love the dress," I said looking at Mel's new outfit.

"Thank you," she said looking at her husband as he sent her a wink.

"He must really love you after you pulled a stunt like that back there. Some woman wouldn't be smiling the way you are right now or sporting numerous hickeys," she said making Mel blush as she touched her neck.

"Oh that back there was just to get his attention after he ignored me this morning."

"I can see you have all his attention now," I sniggered as both brothers looked our way making Mel laugh.

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It wasn't long before I felt his arms around me as he pointed at something in the sky. Looking up to see what he was pointing at fireworks exploded as I squealed in delight. Looking at him I found him staring at me not paying attention to the colorful display up in the sky.

"What?"

"Nothing," he said with a smile.

"Where is Marisa?" I asked after a few minutes noticing she wasn't around us.

"She is asleep. Don't worry they won't hear the noise," Mel said walking towards us.

I gave her a questioning look before I regretted this. "The room is soundproof," she whispered into my ear before leaning into Linc's embrace with a sly smile.

Dropping the subject I enjoyed the firework display stifling a yawn. 

"Let's go," Ethan said gently pulling me along with him.

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Ethan's POV

After leaving them in their room I returned a few minutes later just to check up on them stopping as I heard her on the phone.

"We are both alright Jay. Thank you," she said with a smile as I swung the door open one question in my mind. Why is she talking to Jay.

A whole year, they must have been really busy...

Why is she talking to Jay?