Chapter 12 #2
“Why did you close up when I talked about your father?” she questions and I put an arm around her, keeping my other hand on top of her shoulder, caressing it, and think of how I’ll put everything into words without blacking out again, and possibly running away.
“He’s a sensitive topic to say the least. From a young age he coerced my brother and me into being the next Tamik Ricik.
My brother almost broke and I started to follow his every command so that he would leave James alone.
Mitf mafia isn’t as amicable as Denfell’s and Kane’s.
Most of us were born and raised to be the next best hitman.
Kill without blinking. Not to get attached.
Not to feel. I was detached already and my father’s words and his lessons only worsened the case.
I was barely alive when I found you. I was brought to take you down.
But I was the one who fell to my knees. You showed me that love exists.
And you are the definition of it to me. I was nearing death, worse, I was killing without remorse, anyone and everyone that dared cross my path to what I thought was success.
Being the most feared mafia leader. Having control over everything and everyone.
I was so fucking wrong. My success is bringing a smile to your face.
My success is seeing YOU succeed and being there to celebrate it.
My success is having you in my life forever,” Love doesn’t say a word, not for minutes, and it’s not needed.
The way she hugs me, lips to my chest leaving small kisses every now and then, is enough of an answer.
“Where were you my whole life?” she questions looking up at me I chuckle, her cheeks turn pink when I cover us, better her, with my coat.
“Doing a lot of dumb shit. But now I’m here,” I can feel her heart racing and my own starts to lose control.
“Forever?” she asks her lips looking too edible.
“Forever,” I say and seal our lips, my fucking body ready for round two but I don’t push.
“You sure?” I ask her when she runs down my body, this woman. My woman will kill me.
Listen to the fucking voice inside you that says, “It’s all going to be fine,” because one day it will be.
The trauma, the words, the beating, the abuse, it doesn’t go away, it never does, probably never will.
But it gets blurry with time, and gives you the chance to see the rest of the world more clearly.
Until you can see so much more than pain, suffering, and the thought of your imminent death.
I was in a fucking pit. Now I’m high, it almost feels like I’m drugged.
It’s an unhealthily healthy addiction. My Love keeps me in check.
She’s been trying to make me be nice to someone other than her however, that didn’t work.
I fake it for her, but everyone’s annoying and downright stupid.
I’m the stupidest of them all for agreeing on a night out with Love’s friends.
“Chill, Dominik. Satan isn’t going to appear through that door,” Damian says but he doesn’t get it. In a space with this many people it’s easy to let an enemy slip by.
“I’m not concerned with Satan, made peace with him a long time ago,” I say to the only person, besides Love, I can talk to without wanting to throw myself off a bridge, or throw them. Tempting… No! Stop, you damned murderous brain.
“Then what the hell?” Damian questions and I get outside and do the one thing that can calm me down. I check I can still see Love, and light up a cigarette.
As I fill my lungs with fucking death I can finally breathe.
Ironic, huh? Damian follows me after saying something to Josh and erases my cig.
“Fuck off, will you?” I say and light another one, only for it to meet the same end on Damian’s hands.
I start to think of all the possible ways I can break them and him.
“Unfortunately, I’m stuck with you, man,” he says sighing.
“How long haven’t you smoked for?” Damian asks and I wonder why he cares, but then I remember, it’s good to have a friend, and the others are detached from the real him.
Only I see Damian, me and a certain boring blonde.
Her facial structure is similar to Love’s but the similarities stop there.
“Shouldn’t you be with Maya?” I ask and Damian tries to shush me but I twist his arm before he gets to touch me.
“She told me to fuck off,” I start to sense a buzzing during Damian’s words. I’m detached from him and trying to figure out what’s wrong.
“So did I. But you didn’t listen did you?” I reply to him still looking around and listening carefully to any strange noise, and when I notice it’s too late.
“Stay calm, and take everyone out through the back, you make sure Love leaves unharmed,” I say and light another cigarette this time to focus, by the time I end it this will be over. So let's get this over with.
Damian doesn’t ask me anything he looks into my emotionless eyes daring to murder him and he goes inside the pub.
I go to my car and take my silencer. I grab my gun and enter the apartment in front of the pub.
I need to find the fucking sniper. He shot Kai’s team.
Kai is unharmed, he’s roaming around waiting for Love’s call to pick her up.
I turn off my phone when I hear it start to ring, and curse myself.
Damned friends too worried with me not to ruin my damned plan.
“Did you hear that?” someone asks, I don’t try to understand who, or distinguish that person from anyone else I ever saw.
It’s better if you don’t humanise the people you're about to coldly murder, especially if you need to lie about ever seeing them.
So no faces. See a body, hit to kill, move to the next room.
“Probably from the pub,” an older man says, his accent… this is Mitkus mafia, what the fuck are they doing in this side of the country?
I check out the place and take a second blow in from the cigarette looking at it, I have half of it, I will have to kill them all before it ends. Seems doable, If I start fucking moving. I check the gun, it’s fully loaded, six bullets, then I need to recharge.
I see the first shadow, that’s all I let it be, a shadow. No faces. No bodies. I aim at the head and take the first shot. One down. At least four more to go.
“We have someone inside-”
I don’t let the man finish the communication, I shoot him, they threatened my Love, I want them to die, fucking terrified. I don’t care about danger. I was born for the adrenaline it feeds me. And I eat it up. Reinforcing my senses.
I hear shots where I left a coat standing on a pole.
I shoot in that direction. Another body to the ground three down.
Next? I move to the upper floor, concerned they’ll consider starting a fire and exiting from the rooftop.
I move through the back stairs, and hit everything that moves.
Including a leaf from outside that comes inside a window, my bad!
“It’s fucking Ricik, evacuate the-”
Seven down. Now I need to find it before they leave. The gas chamber. I spot it, I grab my grenade and hold it in my hands for one second before I hear a window break. They’re not leaving… not alive.
I erase the cigarette, open the gas valve and throw my grenade inside the room.
Thirty seconds. I have thirty seconds to back out.
“Where’s the fucker?” someone asks and I hold my breath, I move to the nearest window and break it with my elbow protecting my eyes with my arm.
I steady up and get to the emergency stairs, they don’t go until the floor.
But they allow me to jump to the balcony of the apartment next door.
I’m ducking behind the balcony’s stone walls when the satisfying boom goes off.
Quickly I exit the building from the back to enter my car which's window was broken by a brick and I don’t trust it.
I call Karl, he takes the car and the gun.
Makes sure our team is the first to get to the scene to erase any remains of me.
“Dom!” Love screams when I park my car in front of the girl's house. I look at her in the mirror and see that her eyebrow is open.
“Who did this to you?” I ask her and see she’s shaking. Everyone else is near her. Everyone but Rian. “Love, what happened, you’re scaring me-”
“They took Rian,” Josh says from behind her, he doesn’t have to further explain.
Mitkus got Rian and I think it was a little bitch that got Liot to ruin our truce.
“I hope you have a plan,” Josh says cracking his knuckles.
Love stops him from moving closer to me.
I touch Love’s bloody forehead as if it’s the fuel I need to let chaos ignite.
“Karl, I need you to get Stephanie. At all costs.-”
“Why Stephanie?” Damian asks confused they have no clue what they walked into when they chose to be my friends.
I live and walk in chaos. It’s been the constant in my life and I think it’s always going to find its way to me. What I usually have is control over it. And that’s exactly what I’m getting. Some fucking peace that will give Love the safety she deserves.
“We need a bargain trade if we want Rian alive. This prick who got Rian? He’ll kill him without remorse. If we don’t take something he wants from him. Someone he needs.”
“I like your thinking. Make it happen,” Josh replies and hugs Love. Her hand slips to mine and I caress it.
“Will do. And Love?” I ask and she looks at me, her eyes still uneasy, her eyebrows pushed together. “We’ll get Rian back, and I’ll make sure Liot will never cross our path again”