His Emancipator🖤 [His Duet #1]

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

I've already started, I might as well just give him the whole story. "I was coming downstairs when I heard scuffles. Luckily, my mom was the one facing the stairs so when she saw me, she mouthed for me to go hide. I mouthed back that I could help but all she gave me was a stern head shake. And like the coward I was, I went and hid behind the stairs. I watched her get shot twice Darelle. Twice and I couldn't do shit." I barely notice the tears falling until when Darelle wipes them off my cheeks.

"Princess, you were only fourteen, there wasn't much you could do." His other hand carelessly rubs circles along my elbow.

"Still, I could've found my phone and rang the police. You know, fight or flight. In which case, I only did the latter. I remained glued as two masked men robbed my mum her life." Small shakes rack over my body.

"You were shaken. We all respond differently to danger. You were a child. Whatever you did was warranted. Do you believe your mom would be happy knowing ten years later you still blame yourself for her death?"

"No but-"

"Keilee." He cuts me off, his embrace growing tight. "You did what any fourteen-year-old would do. Besides, she loved you too much that she chose her demise over the both of yours."

Beats of seconds pass without any of us saying anything. My shakes have calmed down but the tears still silently fall on the Egyptian sheets.

"Where was your dad?" Darelle finally asks.

"Somewhere waiting for his next shipment. You know for a while I did actually blame him for her death." He might not have been directly involved but maybe if he was there, the thugs wouldn't have taken away the only reason I was happy.

"What do you mean?" Darelle asks confused.

I link my fingers together nervously. "My dad is a mafia don." I pause to allow the words to sink in. "He has been ever since he was nineteen. That was right around when I was born. That man looked into my mother's eyes and told her he is in the mafia and that he didn't want to bring a wife and a child into that life. Never mind it was my second day on earth." I swallow the chunk in my throat. "He had already deposited millions into her account for child support. Can you imagine finding out your partner is the head of a gang when he's simultaneously dumping you with a two day old?" Heartless doesn't even begin to cover it.

For some reason, I just can't stop talking. It feels somewhat liberating to talk about it to someone other than Kira. "And if you're wondering whether he ever came back, yes he actually did. Fourteen years later. And the first thing he did was make all funeral arrangements and file for my custody. Sometimes I wish they would've just let me stay in foster care. The four years were just a reminder of his need to prove he was a good father when he had fourteen to do that. When I moved out I never looked back and though we might get along, my father and I are far from solving our issues." I draw a breath waiting for Darelle's reaction.

He tightens the embrace some more. "Oh Keilee. I'm so sorry you had to go through that. You're so strong. Maybe even stronger than me. You've fought so much to be where you are today, being this ass kicking tech expert. Your confidence is compelling. Maybe one day I could borrow a page from your book."

That's probably the nicest thing I've been told in a while but the way his statement comes out, it's as though he is talking more to himself than to me.

I finally muster the courage to look up at him. Rawness clouds his hazel orbs. He looks as though he's hanging by a thread. I'm not sure of what to make of the sadness clouding his features. Is it for me or for himself? What will it take it for him to realize that he is just as strong as I am maybe not as confident but he handles his demons to his best capability.

"Keilee wake- oooo hey Darelle." Kira waves, standing by the door, eyes wide. Instinctively, we disentangle. We were so caught up in our haze we never heard her open the door.

"Hi." Darelle replies rubbing the back of his neck.

"I've heard so much about you." She continues inching closer into the room.

I use my hand to show her to cut it out to which she replies with a simple smile. She's so dead she has no idea.

"All good I hope." Darelle enthuses.

I give Kira a warning look which she pretends not to see. "Define good." My soon to be dead best friend says smugly.

I'll kill you. I mouth and she smirks. Knowing she won't let it go, I interrupt. "Kira what's up?"

"I came in to check if you're okay since you weren't picking your phone."

"Oh sorry. I've just been caught up but I'm fine." If my body language doesn't show how embarrassed I am, my voice definitely betrays me.

"Yes I can see that." She pointedly looks at the position Darelle and I are currently in. I mean he's not embracing me anymore but we're way closer than one should be with their client.

"Seeing as y'all are fantastic, frabjous even," She says knowingly. "I'm just gonna walk out slowly." She begins back tracking to the door. "Pretend I was never here." She throws us a wink before shutting the bedroom door.

"Continue with what you were doing. I can keep a secret." Her shout echoes from the hallway.

Darelle and I chuckle simultaneously. My mood suddenly improving. That's what my best friend does to me. Even her subtlest actions prove refreshing when she does them.

A/n

Hey guys❤

Now you know all about keilee's life and her hot mafia dad😏

This chapter was long ik😫

Anyway thanks for reading!