I know it's been a long time coming and I'm sorry you had to wait so long. But for the faithful I present Chapter 5. I hope you'll enjoy and find that the wait was worth it. Those of you who gave up maybe this will cause you to give Zachary and Ciara another chance. Either way enjoy.
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"I can't believe that bastard!" Aaron replied after Zach told him, Gideon and Alexander about what happened at his condo between him and Colin.
Zach and his friends were having breakfast at their favorite restaurant where he asked them to meet him so that he could tell them about Colin.
"I wanted to wring his bloody neck," Zach said his anger returning as he thought about his former friend's behavior towards Emilee.
"How is Emilee doing?" Alexander asked.
"She's scared Colin's going to come back and hurt her," Zach replied.
"The poor girl," Gideon said.
"Look whose headed our way," Aaron said looking in the direction of the restaurant's entrance.
They were all surprised to see Colin walk through the entrance. Everyone watched him as he looked around, saw them and made his way over to them.
Colin kept walking towards the table where Zachary was also sitting and knowing that he'd told everyone about his behavior from the previous night of what he knew by now were his former friends were sitting. He thanked God that the four set of angry eyes trained on him didn't have the power to strike him dead or make him burst into flames where he stood because if they did he knew he would be drawing his next breath.
He was hoping that Zach, and the others would allow him the opportunity to explain his behavior towards Emilee, but he didn't put too much faith in that happening, not if Zach had already given them all the gory details of what he'd done. However, he had to try because he wanted to try to keep his friendship with Zach and the others intact.
He didn't see any reason for him and Zach not to become friends again, especially since his marriage to Ciara wasn't real, and he had no romantic feelings towards her.
Colin refused to believe that Zach would hold what happened against him. He was also hoping that some of the others in their group would side with him and help him in gaining Zach's forgiveness if that was what it took after, he told them his side of what happened. But the angry looks he saw in everyone's eyes told him that wasn't going to happen.
"Hello chaps," Colin said smiling as he approached the men. They didn't return his greeting or his smile. They all simply stared at him.
"I'm going to assume from the looks on your faces that Zach has told you all about what happened at his place yesterday evening."
No one answered him they all just continued staring at him.
"Does anyone want to hear my version of what happened?" Colin asked becoming angry that they all believed Zach without waiting to hear his side of things.
"Of course we want to hear your version of what happened." Gideon said. "Why don't you tell us all about how you went over to your friend's house to get his step-daughter to give you winning picks on the horse races?"
They all watched as Colin stammered trying to think of a response to Gideon's accusation.
"How could you do such a thing?" Alexander asked.
"I just wanted Emilee to give me the winner of one race." Colin said. "She did it before; one more time wouldn't have hurt."
"She did it the first time because she didn't know any better." Zach said. "She gave you those winning horses because she wanted to thank you for comforting her mother during our flight to London. You knew what you were asking her to do was wrong, and you tried to take advantage of her."
"Oh come off it," Colin said pulling a chair away from the table next to where Zach and the other were sitting and sitting down, "don't sit here and tell me the four of you wouldn't have made those wagers if Emilee had given you the winning horses instead of me. All of you would've gone back for more if the first picks she gave you had proven to be right just as I did."
"Whether we would've done as you did isn't the issue here," Aaron told him. "The issue is your despicable attempt to use a child who didn't understand the consequences of what she was doing and who was trying to reward you for the kindness you showed her mother."
"I know what I did was wrong." Colin said finally admitting what he'd done. "The only excuse I have for what I did is temporary insanity, I lost my head. It's not every day that one meets someone like Emilee with such an extraordinary ability. I want the opportunity to apologize to her and Ciara for the way I behaved and for frightening, Emilee."
"You're not to go near either Ciara or Emilee." Zach told him the tone of his voice deadly serious. "If you do you'll regret it."
"Why don't you want me to go near them, Zach?" Colin asked the tone of his voice snide, a smirk on his face. "Do you want to be the only one with access to Emilee's ability? Why aren't you willing to share her with the rest of us?"
If Colin that statement would bring some of the men sitting at the table over to his side, he was gravely mistaken.
"I'm going to give you three seconds to get up from this table and walk out of here under your own power." Zach told him. "And I think you should know that you've already used up two of them."
"I'm not afraid of you," Colin told Zach. "Perhaps you've forgotten that I grew up in the streets and slums of London, the toughest slums this city has. I used wealthy boys like you as punching bags to train for the real fights I had to endure on almost a daily basis to survive those slums, so if you think you can take me go ahead and take your best shot."
Zach was about to reach across the table and grab Colin around the neck and choke the smirk he wore on his off when Alexander stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Let me deal with our friend." he told Zach his eyes trained on Colin. "Let's take this outside Colin. We don't want to ruin the other patrons' meals by coming to fists to cuffs in front of them do we?"
"Anywhere to settle this will be fine with me," Colin said easing his chair back and standing.
"Thank you," Alex said throwing his arm around Colin's shoulders and walking out of the restaurant with him, as if they were still friends.
"How do you want to do this?" Colin asked once they were outside the restaurant shrugging Alex's arm off his shoulders and standing in a fighter's stance.
"I didn't come out here to fight you." Alex told him. "I wanted us to come out here to discuss the situation like gentlemen."
"I don't th..."
Alex cut off whatever Colin was about to say by bringing his right leg up to give Colin a roundhouse kick to his face sending his six feet, two-inch frame crashing to the ground. When Colin tried to stand Alex kicked him in the face causing blood to come gushing from his nose.
"You ass!" Colin screamed pulling out a handkerchief from inside his jacket pocket, placing it onto his nose, tilting his head back to try and stop the flow of blood.
