Until Death Do Us Part

Twelve

~Play Dirty~
Kevin McAllister

"You should start rehearsing your lies,
'cause this can only end one way."

Tom's eyes searched mine. He seemed angry, yet also a bit frightened. Maybe something in my expression added to his mixed emotions. I stood there in the cold with my arms wrapped around myself, glaring with as much fury as I could. Never once did I forget the weapon I had strapped to my leg.

Then his face changed again, and his dark brown eyes seemed to glimmer with a fire of amusement. "Oh, come on, princess." He leaned against the back, brick wall of the club.

"I'm not going to ask again," I said, my jaw clenched and my teeth gritted.

"To be fair," Tom began, putting his hands into his pant pockets and leaning his head against the wall. The unfair fact that he looked so handsome in the dim lamplight made me that much more furious. "You never really asked in the first place."

I let out a frustrated sigh, running my hands through my hair. Then I walked right up to him and grabbed the front of his shirt into a ball in my fist. "Do you have any idea how awful that night was for me? The nightmares that I had to suffer for weeks afterward?"

His arrogance seemed to fade for a second, but it returned as the silence between us grew. "You're telling me you wouldn't have done the same to me just two weeks ago?" he asked. I hated the way my eyes fell to his lips when we were this close.

I faltered. I loosened my grip enough that he grabbed my wrists with his hands. I struggled beneath his grip, but his eyes locked with mine. "Y/n." His voice was soft again. The way I wanted to forgive him in an instant just because of the way he said my name sent a new wave of disgust through my veins. "Is it not enough to say that I would never dream of doing anything like that again? That I regretted it the second I sent out the order? We all lose our humanity at some point in our line of work."

I sighed and closed my eyes. He wasn't wrong. I could count on both hands, and more if I had them, the amount of times I had forgotten what it meant to be human. "What would you have done to me?" I asked quietly, my eyes still tightly shut.

I heard him let out a breath and he let go of my wrists, sending my arms falling down to my sides. "Do you really want to know?" he asked. I opened my eyes to see his face turned away in guilt and shame.

"Yes."

*If Tom had succeeded*
Tom's POV

I looked at my prize with a surge of guilt, but also relief. I had done it.

Her body began to come awake, twitching as she groaned out of her slumber. Her hair hung in front of her face, but I saw the moment her eyes opened and squinted as she adjusted to the light.

Then, her eyes met mine, and it seemed as if she growled at me. She didn't seem scared at all, just angry. I grinned at that. She was just how I imagined her to be. I slowly walked up her spot where she was tied to a chair, and I knelt in front of her, pushing her hair behind her ears with a smile that shouldn't have been there.

"How much will I get for you, huh?" I asked. I saw the glimmer of hate fire up in her eyes, but my gaze kept falling to the way her hair fell and exposed her neck and the perfect shape of her face. She sent my heart racing, and I welcomed the thrill because I was still the one in control. She was the one tied to my chair.

"You just helped my parents out, so probably not much. They were tired of my shit," she replied with a laugh, leaning against my palm as if this was some game, as if she had free hands and was playing seductress. I despised how good she was at it.

I snatched my hand away and leaned down to be at eye level with her. "Then I'll be paid with your screams."

*Reality*
Your POV

"So you would have tortured me until you got a ransom?" I asked, my voice coming out more shaky than I wanted it to.

"That was my original plan, yes, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't relieved when my man came back bleeding and empty handed. Then, I found out we were going to be married and I was even more thrilled that he had failed," Tom answered, his eyes still soft with guilt.

"What did you do to him? He must've been planning on being killed for failing, but you were happy about the outcome." My confusion was obvious in my tone and in my face.

Tom looked away from me with a flash of some emotion I couldn't quite recognize on his face. "I had to keep face. I didn't kill him, but I made sure he wouldn't be able to get another job." The questioning look in my eyes made him clarify. "His hands and tongue were cut off." His voice was blunt and direct.

It was sick of me to do, but we were both disgustingly inhuman, so I smiled. I stepped away from Tom, trying to get a wrap on my thoughts. There was only one thing I could really think to say, though. "I would have done the same to you. I guess I can move on if you never intend to do something like that to me again."

He laughed, coming off of the wall. "You really think I want to see that death glare for the rest of my life?" The angelic sound of his laughter came from his devilish lips and reached my ears, ringing and echoing. "Don't worry, princess. I only intend to torture you with my horrible jokes."

For some reason my anger subsided in seconds. I couldn't help but laugh along with him. It was wrong, unnatural, but so easy. "Finally, a non-murderous smile from my fiancée. Thank goodness for that." He reached out his hand for me to take.

I simply rolled my eyes and reluctantly put my hand in his. I was touching the hand of the man who wanted to kidnap and torture me just a few months ago, but it felt like it was supposed to be clutching onto mine. None of this made sense, but all of it felt extremely right.

"Do you really think the Greeks are going to leave us alone?" I asked as we headed back towards the club. His face had taken on a look of authority and self-assurance, but there was also a hint of exhilaration that curled at the side of his mouth.

"Definitely not."

~ ~ ~

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, which is a little different than the others. I also hope I didn't confuse anyone with the scene that didn't actually happen, I just wanted to show how these two were before their engagement ;)

Thank you all so much for reading and giving me so much support. It is very much appreciated!

I'll catch y'all in the next chapter <3

~Aidan