𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐊𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒

𝟏𝟒 || 𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐀𝐑

"Where?" I asked, as there was clearly no place to sit.

His eyes lingered to his lap, then back up at me. "I'm not sitting in your lap, Dominic."

"Why not? You've done it before."

"That doesn't mean I'll do it again." I rolled my eyes, and Dominic muttered something under his breath. "Sure it doesn't."

Ignoring him, I continued to dab the small cut on his face. Once I was done cleaning the wound, I let him stand up. He turned on the kitchen faucet, running his hands under warm water, turning the water light pink.

I leaned my back against the counter, suddenly realizing what had just happened minutes ago."So you were just never going to tell me you were in the fucking mafia?" I emphasized, my voice tense with a mix of disbelief and anger as I confronted him.

He didn't respond immediately, his gaze flicking away from mine and back to the task of washing his stained hands. The room felt heavy with unspoken tension. Wanting insight into his thoughts, I pressed further, my tone blunt, "Say something."

"I don't have anything to say."

"You kill people," I stated, the words feeling surreal as they left my lips.

His response was chilling in its nonchalance, a simple mumble, "Mhm."

The gravity of his admission hung between us. My mind raced, struggling to process the revelation that the man I thought I knew was entangled in something so dark. I didn't even really know him, and every time I seemed to become vulnerable around him, in the car, in the bathroom, he found a way to expose more of his secrets. He was never the man that I thought he was. "And you expect me to brush that off like it's nothing?" I retorted, my voice tinged with incredulity.

"I never said that," he replied coolly.

"You're implying it," I shot back, my heart pounding with anger.

His gaze met mine again, unwavering as he turned off the faucet. "Those people that you murder, they have families," I pushed, my voice shaking with a mixture of outrage while he looked at me. "That boy on stage, he was someone's son."

The weight of his admission began to settle, the harsh reality of his actions crashing down on me. The way he killed the boy without hesitation shook me to my core. "Everything that I do, Red, are things that they deserve," he stated, his words carrying an unsettling conviction.

That's the type of shit that a serial killer says.

"How- how could you say that?" My voice quivered, struggling to comprehend the coldness in his tone.

"If you'd seen the evil that I've seen, you would understand why I do the things that I do," he responded, his voice carrying a haunting detachment.

"I've seen evil, hell, I've been through it," I choked on my words, my emotions raw and tangled. "But I never... I never..."

My resolve solidified, fueled by a mix of anger and desperation. I need to leave. I needed to get away from Dominic, from everything. "I'm leaving, I'll see you tomorrow." I told him, starting to walk away.

He stood in front of me, towering over my own figure. Now that I took the time to look at him, I realized that he was still bleeding from his ear. "Sit down."

I stepped forward, trying to push passed him by his shoulder. "Get out of my way."

He brought out his forearm, stopping me as he wrapped his arm around my abdomen. I froze, looking up at him. Once my steps had halted, he took me by both of my hips, gently pressing me back down onto the chair that he once sat in. "Sit down."

His hands remained there, firm on the silk fabric of the dress that I wore. "Someone just tried to kill you, and you want to go out alone?" he snapped, his concern finally surfacing through his veneer of detachment.

"He didn't kill me, you killed him," I shot back, a bitterness underlying my words.

"I was protecting you, it's a part of the fucking contract, Violet."

"Screw the goddamn contract, and screw you," I spat, my anger uncontainable. "I don't need your fucking protection."

"Like hell you don't," he bit back, his voice hardening. "You pissed off the Russians, Violet. What do you expect to happen when you walk out that door? For them to just forget about whatever you did?"

My defiance faltered for a moment, replaced by uncertainty. "I didn't do anything to the Russians, I'm not a killer," shaking my head, "I'm not like you." The hesitation was bitter on my tongue. I knew what I said was hurtful, I knew that I didn't mean it, I knew that I was lying.

"The boy that you keep defending? Had a gun aimed at your head. The man I shot after? He was sentenced to 13 years in prison for raping 6 girls, but got out 6 years early on parole. The man beside him, the one that my sister killed? Slaughtered the homeless living in an alleyway. You're telling me that they deserved to live?"

My heart sunk suddenly at his words, waking me up. Dominic was right, they deserved to die. Their death should have been crueler, they shouldn't have gotten the easy way out. They deserved slow, painful, agonizing deaths.

I sighed deeply, placing my head into my hands, tangling my fingers into my hair in stress and contemplation. "Do you swear to me, swear to me that the people you hurt are all bad people."

"I swear to you, alright?"

_______

After Dominic and I's alarming conversation, I took what had to be the longest shower of my life. Cleaning my hands and forearms of Dominic's blood, wiping my face of makeup, scrubbing my body with soap.

I didn't know what to think of Dominic anymore. I knew that I should have felt scared by him, how he was so cold in the subject of murder, but I didn't. I wasn't scared of him, and I couldn't shake why.

Once I was done with my shower, I slipped into some sweatpants and a T-shirt, hopping into bed, but I couldn't seem to sleep. The realization of the fact that I could've died back there kept my mind awake.

I guess Dominic was kind of born into the whole Mafia thing, with his sister included. I didn't know where Alec came from though. He spoke Italian, but it was obvious that it wasn't his first language.

Eventually I blocked out my thoughts and  shut my eyes, refusing to open them again so that I could sleep.

_______

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