Fallen Ashes |✔️

Devil

The Prince of Scars

The name invaded my mind as I could only stare at his body with a mixture of horror as realisation settled.

"You didn't tell me-" my heart thundered inside my own chest as he slowly pulled his shirt over his head again, as if ashamed of the tale his scars told, the secrets they held.

He wasn't just an agent

Ash was the son of the Italian crime boss.

Something flashed in the treacherous waters of those blue eyes- a mutual understanding that I'd pieced it together. The mysterious appearances, his skill, the scars, the reason why he wasn't invited to the ball.

"Would you have killed me if I told you?"

"Why?" I whispered again, the word meaning nothing on my lips.

"How long have you known- that I was Venus Castellanos, that you were my next target? You showed up at my college, at the ball-" I almost stumbled on my own words, avoiding his question, the intent stare he attempted to rattle me with.

"I'm not your enemy." his words sounded innocent and yet his tone reminded me he was as much of a killer as I was, trained to end my life with a few swift manoeuvres if he needed to.

"I wanted to kill you... but here you are alive. And so am I." He continued as my head ached from the surrealness of the truth.

"What you're thinking... it can never happen between us. Your father is the Italian mafia lord-"

"And your father is the leader of the Greek Mafia. Who decides your life, your enemies? You or your father."

This was not happening. Moments ago I'd been running my hands over his back, ready for him to claim me in every way possible. And now-

Now I had no idea where I stood on the boundary of hate and pure desire for him.

"I knew nothing about you. But you already knew me, came looking for me." A multitude of unasked and unanswered questions lingered in the space between us.

The part of me that longed for bloodshed had found a dark twin in this man for a reason- explaining our encounters, the way we'd both been trained to arrive and escape effortlessly. We'd been playing with eachother- only for me to realise a much larger game was being played.

My dagger was in my hands and against his throat before he finished his sentenced. His answering feral glare was enough to make my grip falter but I didn't yield as I half-yelled "You were sent to kill me."

I almost gasped as the world spun around me as he swept my feet out from under me, moving with the grace of a predator.

"Don't play games you can never win with me." his hiss made my bones quake- but not in fear. Something more lingered between us that was yet to unravel.

I almost laughed at the irony of the situation- I'd been sent to kill a man, only for him to have been looking for me this whole time.

"Why didn't you kill me? I didn't even know you."

"Why don't you kill me now? Isn't that why you came lurking around our mansion?" his grin looked forced, pained even.

"Never come looking for me again- or next time I actually will kill you." I clenched my fists to hide the way they were shaking slightly, from the rage or betrayal I felt for something I hardly understood anymore.

No, I wasn't going to kill him. And I'd had enough of killing for my father, being spied on by a fiancé who wasn't worth shit compared to me and being treated like I was less than the queen I was.