Mission With The Enemy

18 - Father

I scrunch my eyebrows in confusion, "but your last name is Valentino."

"I chose to use my mama's maiden name, I have ever since she was killed." He looks down for a minute letting his head drop before he looks back up at me. "Angelo killed her," my eyes widen in shock and he continues, "I told you about how it was 10 years ago, I was 17."

I nod, "you don't have to tell me about it if your not ready." Although I want answers from him I don't ever want to force someone to talk about a loved one's death, it can be very personal. Especially not him, he's been through enough already.

He lets out a breathy, almost sad laugh. "Please don't do that Nirah," he says gently.

"Do what?" I ask, my eyebrows scrunching.

"Be kind to me," he elaborates, before I can say anything else he keeps talking. "I want to tell you. I'll tell you anything you want to know mi amore."

I nod at him.

"I'm going to start from the beginning, before ma was killed," he says. "Angelo was never a good dad to me or a good husband to my mother. I grew up knowing all the crime he was involved in, he's the one who trained me to be an assassin. He-" He cuts himself off his jaw clenching.

He looks down again and keeps talking, "He used to hit her. My ma," he grits out. "I would hear them shouting at each other most nights when I was younger, it usually ended with him hitting her. Or worse," he whispers the last bit.

"He didn't hit me properly until I was around 8 or 9. That's when I started trying to help my ma." He scoffs, "it didn't really do her much good, I probably just made him more mad."

"Lucien." I say quietly trailing off, I dont know what to say. I can feel tears building in my eyes.

"By that point she never shouted at him anymore, she tried to do everything his way but he's a fucking prick and would hit her anyway. I tried to stop him but I was just a kid, he would just hit me unconscious and lock me in a different room whenever I tried. My ma would come and find me a few hours later, usually with a couple new bruises. She would beg me stop trying to help her, she didn't like seeing me get hurt she always said it hurt her heart " he says.

"I stopped trying to help her unless it got really bad because I wanted to do what she said. When I was a bit older I could get a few good punches in but he would always end up winning. He continued my training but he was always careful to make sure I never had an opportunity to hurt him. He was smart in that way." He's quiet for a minute like he's collecting his thoughts.

"Angelo would go away for buissnes trips sometimes, that's the only time me and Mama got a break. We would bake or watch our favourite things on the T.V. There was always guards watching us but there was one that took a bit of pity on us and he would help us get out the house for sometimes," he smiles slightly at that, still looking at the floor. It makes me more sad and tears silently fall from my eyes.

"Once when I was 17 he flew us to Scotland for a few months, some kind of buissnes trip and he could leave us 'unsupervised' for that long," he says.

Scotland and the same year my parents died.

"He went out one night like he usually did but ma rushed to talk to me as soon as he left. She told me she had to follow him, to try stop him from doing something. She told me she loved me then rushed out the house and got in one of the cars. I sat up for hours looking out the window for her, I was really fucking worried. I should've gone with her," his voice cracks slightly.

"Come up here Lucien." I say softly and I shuffle over on the bed slightly to make a bit of room.

He looks up and his eyes are red but he isn't crying. "I don't want to hurt you love, your side is too sore."