Sweet Is Revenge (9 page)

"What are you doing with Decklin?" He asked in a gruff voice. My brow furrowed.

"Who are you?" I asked. He cocked his gun.

"Don't make me ask again little one. I wouldn't want to have to do any damage to that pretty face of yours," he said.

"I'm here for a vacation, and you're completely ruining it," I said annoyed. He laughed at me, his followers joining him.

"Leave it to Decklin to find a feisty one, someone needs to tame him. It looks like someone needs to tame you as well little girl," he said with a fierce glare. He started walking towards me and I heard the click of a gun behind my head. I didn't dare turn around, but the man in front of me froze.

"If you want to keep your life, Rodger, it would be wise to not step any closer to this woman," I heard Decklin's voice behind me, masked in coldness. I finally turned to see him. He was holding a gun out in front of him with a murderous look on his face. I had never found him frightening before that moment and I was sincerely thankful that I was not on the receiving end of his wrath. I walked towards him and stood beside him. His arm came protectively around me, pulling me behind his body.

"You know who she is, don't you?" Rodger asked him. I was thoroughly confused by now. Of course he knew who I was, how did this other guy know?

"Who she is, is no concern to you."

"She's on the other side!" He exclaimed. Then he paused and scowled. "Oh, that's right, you guys have some sort of alliance. You guys are scum,
your
whole family. We would never let one of ours betray us and get away with it," he said disgustedly. He spit at the ground by Decklin's feet. "You're going to fall soon Decklin, and I truly hope that I'm there to see it. Hard to believe that your family use to be the most respected, until your dad had to go and fuck it all up," he growled. I was shaking and Decklin's grip on me was almost painful. "You're trash, just like your mother was, just like your father was, and just like the rest of the gang is. You're all vile
 
garbage
. One day I'll see to the death of you all and then we'll be on top, and no one will walk all over us," he spit out. I looked up at Decklin and if possible, his gaze was even
more fierce
than before.

"And you forget, I'm the guy with the gun," he said cockily. And before I could comprehend what was happening, I heard the shot of the gun and watched Rodger fall to the ground. I watched his blood pour out around him, oddly enthralled by it. I think I might have been in a state of shock, I didn't scream or cry or anything. I was frozen, unable to move or really think about anything except how pretty blood really was when it came straight from a life source. "Any other douche bags want to talk shit about my family? I will put a bullet straight into your brain," he threatened. This happened every day, people died on the streets and most of them didn't even make the news. Yet, I just witnessed it and I knew
,
I wouldn't turn Decklin in. I knew then, that if it were
me
in his place, I would have killed for him to, and I had a feeling it would have felt almost natural.

I don't remember getting back to Decklin's condo or drawing a bath or getting into it. But the next time I was fully aware of my surroundings,
that's
where I found myself.
In a steaming hot bath with bubbles in it, and candles around it.
Where had the candles come from? I heard a knock on the door and looked down at myself to make sure all the bubbles were covering anything
needed to be covered
before I told Decklin he could come in.

He came in and sat at the edge of the tub. He had a hot cup of tea in his hands and he handed it to me. I reached out shaky hands to take it. "Thank you," I whispered. My voice was hoarse as if I hadn't used it in awhile. Decklin ran a hand through his hair.

"Lillian, I'm so sorry you had to see that," he started. I just nodded absentmindedly.

"Did you," I cleared my throat because my words weren't coming out at a level he could hear them. "Did you really have to kill him Decklin?" I asked, looking up at him.

"Yes," he answered without hesitation. "Lillian, I lied to you again. And I'm going to keep lying to you because I can't tell you the truth. So maybe it's best if we just end this now," he said quietly. Tears unwillingly came to my eyes. "Oh, don't cry Lillian, you're stronger than that. I'm really not worth it. It'll be dangerous if we stay in this relationship, and I can't do that to you."

"I don't care about danger, Decklin. I truly don't. I've grown up my whole life trying to be protected from it. I just want a chance to prove to people that I can take care of myself. As for the lying, just
 
tell me the truth,
" I told him.

"Oh, you can take care of yourself? What the hell would you have done if I hadn't come down that alley earlier Lil? They would have
 
killed
 
you. They wouldn't have thought twice about it. They don't give two shits about who gets hurt, even if the person is innocent. And I hate to break it to you, but the lying isn't going to stop. This whole relationship has been a lie."

"Deck, I feel like I just got you. I'm not ready to let you go yet," I said softly, not daring to look at him. I should have walked out right then, I have never tolerated liars, but Decklin was something special. Someone I could stand hearing a few little lies from and
forgive
him in the end. I looked at him and saw a hurting person, someone who was so broken, but believed he was unbreakable, invincible, and totally above saving. I wanted to be the person who showed him how wrong he was, and how he could really truly trust somebody, no matter how many people he had killed in cold blood, I wasn't turning my back on him.

"When I take you home, I want you to talk to your father. Ask him what he does for a
living;
 
make him
 
explain everything to you. You're going to be pulled into everything one way or another anyway. I have a feeling things are about to get exciting, yet dangerous Lillian. Always be on your guard. After you talk to your dad, if you still want to be with me, we'll talk about it."

"What the hell does my dad have to do with anything?" I asked, getting frustrated. I set my cup of tea down, and not caring that he was still in his clothes or that I was naked, pulled Decklin into the tub next to me. "What does he have to do with
 
us
 
Decklin?
Nothing, not a single thing.
This is between me and you," I said and kissed him, spilling out my anger into the kiss. He kissed me back just as passionately, wrapping his fingers in my wet hair and placing another hand on my butt, squeezing. I pulled on his hair, making him tilt his head back so I could kiss on his neck. He groaned in defeat. "It's just between us Decklin. I'll talk to him, but it changes
 
nothing
 
with us. I will want to be with you despite whatever he says," I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him to me. I felt his sigh and his arms going around my waist.

"Oh Lil, I wish it was only you and me," he whispered.

I don't want to be aroundwhen it all comes down to watch something beautiful die.

Cauterize- Something Beautiful lyrics

Decklin

'
Fuck,
',
that was all I could think. I was screwed. Royally. I had fallen for the stupid girl. Stupid, idiotic, fucking spastic, hot as hell, pushy stupid woman. And since that happened, I didn't have it in me to kill her stupid parents, let alone kill her. It was time for back up.
 
I
 
couldn't do it, but I did know people who could.

Yes, I would get someone to off her family, and then she would come running to me and I would comfort her. Damn, I sound like a fucking pansy. I wanted to comfort a crying, sobbing, heartbroken girl? How lame was that? I guess I didn't really care, because despite it all, I
 
loved
 
her. Or, as close to the feeling as I would ever get. Damn it all.

I realized how screwed I really was on the way to the city. Everything she did was just so attractive. She was so innocent, yet I felt she knew a lot of the world, even with her minimal experience. She was smart and funny, and so beautiful. I couldn't do it. I could not kill her. I couldn't force myself to end her life. So I had to do the next best thing: get someone else to do it for me after I broke off all ties with her.

I had never been so grateful to get a call from Frances. Although he interrupted my time with Lillian, I knew I needed to meet with him. I had never really enjoyed shopping anyway, though the fact that she was
there,
trying things on for me to give an opinion about made it all better… Especially when she tried on those mini skirts. I figured she'd be okay, unrecognizable because she'd never been in the city before and she wasn't even enlisted as part of a gang. Just for precaution though, I made her promise to stay on the same street we were on. I didn't want to lose her in the city.

So I made my way to Frances' house in a hurry, I didn't want to leave her alone for too long. When I got there I found him sitting behind his desk puffing on a cigar.

"Decklin, my boy! Where have you been this past month? Your presence has been sorely missed around here," yeah right. I didn't believe it for a minute.

"I've been on a mission of my own Frances," I informed him. "And I've decided, I need your help," I finished. He lowered his eyebrows in confusion.

"What have you been doing Decklin?" His voice had lost all of the insincere joy at seeing me. It was purely business now.

"I found the woman who killed my father," I said and waited for what he had to say. He was silent for a minute as I stared him down.

"And you plan to get revenge," it wasn't a question. He stated it as a fact.

"Yeah, but I need help," I repeated.

"And what do you want me to do?" He asked, leaning back in his
chair which
squeaked under his weight.

"I want you to send somebody to kill them, the whole family," I told him, finally sitting down in the seat on the opposite side of his desk that he was on.

"And you can't do this why?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. I sat silent, trying to figure out a good reason to tell him. I'm fairly certain that 'I'm most likely in love with the daughter,' wouldn't suffice. But me not saying anything made him draw his own conclusions. I heard his slow deep laughter.

"Oh my, it's pretty funny how history has a way of repeating itself, and this could be good for us son," he said.

"What are you talking about?" I wanted to add 'old man' to the end of that sentence but, even if I didn't follow the rules, nobody disrespected the leader.

"You fell in love, or extreme like with one of them didn't you?" He asked. I didn't answer. "That's what happened with pretty little Delilah. Your father sent her on a mission to kill that pretty boy, and instead fell in love with him. We were all pretty surprised with that. She'd been on hundreds of missions before, and she was only eighteen. Poor old Derek was kicking himself for that one. He was infatuated with her-" he went to continue but I cut him off.

"He loved my mother!" I argued. Frances raised an eyebrow.

"Then why did he never marry her? I know this is hard for you to hear, but your mom was nothing but a toy to him. He had eyes for Delilah since she was about eleven years old, boy. He needed some way to get rid of all that frustration he was feeling. He planned to marry Delilah, make you think she was your real ma and kill off yours. He was only lookin' out for his own. Your dad was not a good man, Decklin," he said seriously. I felt the anger boiling up inside of me. I tried to deny everything he had told me. But when I looked back at my childhood memories it all started to make sense.

My dad never really looked at my mom. He only came to her when I was with her. He mentioned the name Delilah a few times. I never knew who she really was. He was pretty harsh with mom at times too, like he could only tolerate her. But she loved him despite all of that, and I was going to force myself to appreciate him anyway.

"Okay, so maybe I like the girl, but making sure I avenge my parent's deaths is more important than whatever I'm feeling. How could it be good for us anyway? We're enemies."

"No, we're neutral at the moment. With the marriage of one of theirs and one of ours we settled at a kind of truce.
We don't touch their guys
,
they don't touch ours
. But if there was another alliance, we could unite. Imagine all the power combined, everyone else would be running for the hills," he said, an excited glint in his eyes. I shook my head.

"No, I need to kill them. I promised my mother."

"Son, your mother's dead, she won't know the difference," he said harshly.

"I'll know Frances. I'll know and I'll kick myself for it. I need to get some sort of revenge."

"Well, I'm not going to help you. It could hurt us too bad. I'm sure they've figured out who you are Decklin, they're probably waiting for your first move. Their defenses are probably up."