Trapped in her darkness

11- What is happening?!

James PoV

Finally, home!

The day was marred with problems with suppliers, issues with the factory overseas and customers' complaints.

And it did not help that I kept thinking of Harper. I resisted the urge to stalk her through the surveillance cameras but now I just can’t wait to see her.

I open the front door and I am met with noises… Too many noises. I follow the chatter and see everyone seated in the living room.

I knew that the girls were going to pass by to keep her company, but I did not expect to see almost everyone here: Sawyer, Chloe and Trevor, mom, Vicky, Dakota, Kaya, and Stella. Harper is on the big white couch, Connor by her side and they are all laughing.

“Hello, James!” Harper greets me, a big smile on her face.

“Hi” I reply, still surprised by the full house.

“I bet you never came back to your house full of so many people.” Laughs Andrew as he walks from the kitchen holding a pitch of Margherita followed by Ethan holding a couple of beers.

“Please, make yourself at home.” I mock them.

“When haven’t we!” Andrew grins, as he hands me a beer.

“Oh, James! Welcome home, son!” smiles mom as I lean in and give her a kiss.

“Your favorite son is home. Now can we order food?” asks Kaya.

“I do not have a favorite son. But I do have a favorite daughter.” Mom laughs.

“I am your ONLY daughter!” Kaya laments, playfully.

“Ok. Let’s order now.”

“James, I hope you don’t mind the mess we made, but we were looking at samples for the wedding.” Sawyer says apologetically.

“My favorite girl can turn my house upside down!” I smirk, taking a gulp of my beer.

“You see now why he is the best man!” Sawyer teases Andrew as she hugs me.

Ethan groans loudly but Sawyer and I ignore him.

This is my revenge for the act he pulled yesterday. My blood boils thinking of how I caught him taking Harper’s picture. When I confronted him, he said that he has my back and wants to make sure Harper is who she says she is.

Idiot!!

“James, can we talk?” Ethan asks me.

I glance at him, and one look is enough to know that he will not give up.

“Let’s go to my office.” I nod.

“But, baby, we are going to eat pizza.” Sawyer pouts.

“We will be done before the pizza gets here.” He tells her as he kisses her passionately.

“Ewww” the kids yell as we all laugh.

I walk with Ethan and Andrew to my home office and as soon as I close the door behind us, I decide to set the records straight.

“Ethan, I am not in the mood for another Harper-bashing session.”

“I never bashed her, James. I just told you that you should be careful.”

“And when I told you that I have everything under control, you decided to take things into your hands.”

“She did not want to share any details about her identity. The only alternative was to take her photo and send it to Jonathan.”

“The only alternative was for you to listen to me and let it go.”

“Jonathan found something already.” He just states.

“So, you still sent the photo to Jonathan.” I glare at him.

“I told you I was going to send it, James!”

I sigh and take another gulp of my beer. I am going to need something stronger if we continue this discussion.

“Don’t you want to listen to what Jonathan has to say?” Ethan insists.

“You are going to call him anyway.” I grumble.

“True.” He laughs as he dials Jonathan’s number and puts him on speaker.

“Ethan! How are you doing?”

“I am fine. I am with James and Andrew.”

“Good evening, James, Andrew.”

“Hi, Jonathan. Ethan tells me you are investigating Harper.” I cut to the chase.

“Yes. I asked my network about MS-13 and whether they are searching for a girl that fits Harper’s description.”

“And?”

“No one heard that the MS-13 gang was looking for such a girl.”

Ethan looks at me, his face expressionless. At least he is sparing me the I told you so look.

“But James, before you go apeshit-crazy on her, this is just the first feedback. I have been working on this for forty-eight hours, so don’t jump to the conclusion.”

I want to tell him not to worry, I will not go crazy as Ethan did with Sawyer, but this would be a very cheap shot.

“I won’t.” I just tell him.

“Ethan told me that you found something though.” I add.

“Yes! Thanks to the photo and especially the fingerprints Ethan sent me, I checked her criminal records.”

“Seriously Ethan. Her fingerprints?” I huff.

He just shrugs and looks at the smartphone.

“She does not have any criminal records. At least not as an adult.”

“You accessed her juvenile record? They are sealed!”

“I pulled some strings…”

“And what did you find?”

“That she was arrested when she was fourteen years old for theft.”

“She told us that she had to steal to survive since her mother was an addict and did not put food on the table.” I explain.

“Or she created this story from scratch because she knew you would investigate and find her juvenile criminal record.” Andrew says.

I glare at him, and he raises his hand in the air in surrender.

“What!? It could be possible!”

“She was not arrested for stealing food or for some petty theft, James. She was arrested for breaking and entering. She managed to break into a highly secured mansion and was stealing valuables for hundreds of thousands of dollars when she was caught.” Jonathan explains.

“She did not get jail time because she was a minor and her record was sealed.” He adds.

I rub my face, not sure what to do with this information. She has already told us about her troubled past… But petty theft and grand theft are two different things.

“The good news is that I got her full name. Harper Young.”

Harper Young…I like it.

“…and an address!” he adds.

“What address?” Andrew asks.

“Her mother’s address. I am taking a plane first thing tomorrow morning to go here.”

“If Harper told you the truth, her mother will not be there.” Ethan says.

If?! I glower at him, irritated by his incessant insinuations.

“Thank you, Jonathan, keep me updated on the investigation’s progress. Good night.” I cut the call short and leave the office.

One more minute with Ethan in the office and I know I will snap.

I go to the living room, but everyone has already moved to the patio as I see them setting the table there. Sawyer and Harper are missing though. I look around and find them standing by the pool, Harper standing in front of Sawyer, a contrite expression on her face.

“I am genuinely sorry for staring at you like that.”

“For the fifth time, I am not bothered by that.” Sawyer smiles back.

“What is happening here?” Ethan growls lowly as he strides towards Sawyer and pulls her to him by the waist.

“Nothing.”

“What did you do, Harper?” Ethan scolds.

“Ethan!” Sawyer and I both yell at him.

“I was staring at her all afternoon.” Harper confesses, lowering her head.

“It’s just that she reminds me of someone, but I can’t put my finger on it.” Harper tries to explain.

“You are going to be seeing a lot of me. You will have time to figure it out”. Sawyer jokes.

“Dinner is served!” Vicky yells.

“Let’s go, baby.” Ethan walks with Sawyer.

“Har…” I try to talk with her but she cuts me off.

“Connor, wait up.” Harper calls Connor and practically runs toward him.

Is she avoiding me? But why would she do that? Brunch yesterday went great, at least after I calmed her down.

Did I come too strong on her?

I cannot stop thinking about Harper throughout dinner... Jonathan’s first findings… Harper’s attitude towards me…The MS-13 gang… I glance at her from time to time and I am happy to see her at ease with my family and friends. She is smiling all the time, listening to their discussions, laughing with them at their playful banter, pitching in every now and then... I like that she fits in.

Well, she fits in with everyone except Ethan and me. She is wary of Ethan, avoiding any eye contact with him. Actually, I think he is the only one she did not talk to during dinner.

As for me... I just don’t get her attitude towards me. I still see fear in her eyes… not as frequently as before, but still there. I see guilt and pain as if she regrets bringing danger to my door.

“Everything OK, James?” Andrew asks me.

I sigh and nod, trying to stop thinking about Harper and just enjoy dinner.

Hours later, after everyone has left, Harper and Connor propose to do the dishes and clean everything. No, correction, Connor proposed... Harper was just standing next to him, avoiding eye contact.

I just nod and go to my home office, trying to bury myself with work. Trying and failing, because every few minutes my thoughts go to Harper.

Screw this!

I will find her and talk to her. We are two grown adults and if there is a problem, we should be able to address it heads on.

I storm out of the office and look for her. When I don’t see her either in the kitchen or the garden, I walk up the stairs to her room and knock on her door.

I wait a few minutes, but she does not answer.

Is she asleep?

I knock again, a bit louder this time.

Still no answer.

I know that I should let it go for tonight and try to talk with her tomorrow morning. But instead, I open the door.

Yes, this is not appropriate, but I just want to see her, even if she is sleeping.

I gasp when I see her sitting on the bedroom bench, her face strained with tears.