Love me well or Love me not

Chapter 14: A New Life

This is a little AI pic of Leonardo.

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Kahina's POV:

The next morning, I was scrolling through the news, and an article popped up about a fire at the mansion of a suspected mafia boss.

It seems the cleaners had as much imagination as a 14-year-old boy.

There was a follow-up article about his wife and child missing; luckily, no photos of us were posted yet.

Leonardo was still asleep next to me; he looked angelic.

I went into the bathroom and took advantage of that time to watch the tape and draw in my manuscript.

By the time he woke up, I was almost halfway done; all I needed to do was put some color in.

I was happy that what had happened didn't seem to be disturbing his sleep schedule. From the moment I knew him, Leonardo had consistently slept 12 hours a night. It seemed like today was no different.

I made us some breakfast in the little kitchenette that I had. Today was going to be a busy day; we had to get Leonardo and me some new IDs. We also had to vacate my studio and find a place to live.

He looked up at me after finishing his omelet, and I patted his head gently. I hoped this wouldn't be too rough a time for him; after all, children are meant to be cherished and protected. But I didn't know if I could be a good parent for him.
I didn't want the boy to live a life always looking over his shoulder, scared someone would come to take me or him away. So I had to go to a good forger that would give me a solid identity, not one that would get burned after a bit of in-depth poking.

On the sidewalk, we waited for our Uber. Our first order of business was getting new clothes. The Uber dropped us off at a thrift store; we could only use cash for a few days in case my account was monitored.

The cash stored in my bra, or titty cash, would get us a new place to live and new identities. Thrift clothes would have to do until my money was moved to new, untraceable accounts.

I promised myself that as soon as I had access to my accounts, I would buy Leonardo the finest of luxuries.

While Leonardo was picking up new clothes for himself, I called one of my father's forgers. This was a risky move, if he wasn't the one who killed Zakhar. However, my situation didn't leave me much choice, and I knew that he would recognize the fire in the villa as my handiwork.

These cleaners really matched my style, as I had been setting fires since I was 6. I didn't know why but for some reason, watching the fire burn everything, made me all warm and fuzzy inside, as if I was actually loved as a child.

I used to burn things a lot when I was in the foster care system, it helped me feel less unstable. Once I had been adopted, my mother showed me safer ways to cope. But I always came back to burning if the situation reminded me of my past.

I was also starting to think of reaching out to my father myself. I wanted to put my shameful past reactions to him behind me.

It seemed that after getting a brand new kid, I was finally maturing. As before, despite admitting to my childish reactions, my toxic mindset, and the fact that the fault lied on both sides, I still couldn't make myself reach out to my dad.

I dialed the number while watching Leonardo jump from one rack to the next.

As the forger was assuring me that I could pick up all my documents in 3 days, I looked over to Leonardo, who seemed happy while picking out new clothes. He had picked up a neon leather jacket, a few black pants, and a couple turtlenecks, as it was freezing in New York at the moment.

He was heading to the women's section, and that perplexed me, but I was still talking to the forger, so I couldn't ask Leonardo what he was up to. As my phone call ended, he beelined for me and extended his arm. On it, there were a few articles of clothing: a maroon turtleneck dress, a couple of leather jackets, and some green jumpers.

As I took them from him, I checked the tags, and they all seemed to be my size. I must have looked perplexed because he said to me, "I know what your sizes are; I make clothes as a hobby, so it's not that hard for me to tell. Also, you should wear more green; it really suits your features." I was stunned. How had I lived with him and never known that he made clothes?! What else did I not know about him?

We paid for our articles, then headed towards a photography studio I knew, famous for their criminal connections. They had a close working relationship with my forger.

We went through the back and arrived in the middle of what looked like a hair salon. One buff guy was standing in the corner. I recognized him as part of the assassins organization my father was a part of.

He headed towards me as soon as we locked eyes. "Kahina, right?" I nodded. Leonardo squeezed my hand tightly. "I thought you got out of the game."
"I'm out; someone just pissed me off." The behemoth nodded and directed us to the chairs.

As we sat down, he explained our options. I decided to get a sharp bob, a copper hair color, and a blue dragon tattoo on my neck. It seemed like I was treating the situation as a means to try everything I wanted to try.

Leonardo turned to me and said, "Won't those things attract attention to us even more?"

I smiled reassuringly. "This is just a safety measure, so you don't have to be worried, but when you have distinguishable traits, that's what draws people's attention. That's what we want: if our photos are ever released, people's gazes will be focused on my blue dragon tattoo instead of "does she resemble someone I saw on the news?". It isn't a guarantee they'll release our photos, so just pick out whatever seems fun."

Leonardo didn't have as many options as me, so he opted for a fresh cut and a dark purple hair color.

After hours of bleaching, tattooing, and coloring, we were finally led into the photo studio. As we were entering it, Leonardo asked me, "What are you?"

About time he started asking questions, I was really worried he was too accepting of everything. "Ex assassin/assassin's daughter, but now I'm just a small illustrator," I said with a smile. He nodded.

After taking our photos, we scooped up our bags and headed for Meredith's apartment. I knew she wouldn't tattle on me, and we could have a hot shower there while awaiting our documents.

When she opened the door, she looked like she had been crying. When she recognized me, she threw her hands around me, and I pushed her inside. Leonardo closed the door behind us. She shouldn't be making that big of a fuss outside.

The next hour was spent giving a succinct version of what happened to Meredith. She looked at me suspiciously and tried to push me for answers, but when I clamed up, she let it go.

We sent Leonardo to go get a shower while I was catching her up. After his shower, he gave us a little show of his clothes. And for the first time since this whole ordeal, he seemed like a normal teenager.

He then proceeded to lock himself in Meredith's room to watch his shows on her computer.

While Meredith slept peacefully next to me, I finished my manuscript.
Tomorrow would be the day I finished this little mission of mine.