Hands Stained Red

Thirty Two ~ Kaden

I find her in her room, sorting through a bag. Shes finding it difficult with only one hand and growls in frustration before pushing it away from her and sitting on the bed.

"Hey," I say to her as I walk in and sit beside her. "Nikita is in the office."

She nods and goes to get up but I take her hand. Her eyes drop to our joined hands and she shakes me off but stays seated. "I want to get this done before the boys get back. Bad news will only make it harder to concentrate."

"You dont know that it will be bad news. I bet Crow already has Kira and Switch is on his way home as we speak," I tell her.

She takes a deep breath and stares at the wall opposite, "I just have a bad feeling about today. Like its going to get worse."

I take a look at her. Shes been acting off since the ceremony. Her mood constantly changing. One minute she's looking at me like we're a proper couple and the next shes looking at me like a stranger.

Its Quinn coming back that's messing with her head. His rejection is fucking with her and with that on top of Kira and Switch, shes a mess.

She gets up and this time I dont stop her. "I need to get this done and then I can worry about something else. It's getting late too."

I nod and follow her when she walks out of the room and towards the office. I dont know what shes going to do but I cant imagine it's going to be pretty.

Nikita is sitting in the desk chair when we walk in. Shes alone and has a smirk on her face, "I did a good job setting you two up."

I kick the doot shut and lean against it, not saying a word and letting Rya do what she does best. She sits down on the desk and stares down her aunt.

"When did you find out he was still alive?" She asks.

Nikita frowns, "Rafa? The same time as you."

Rya shakes her head, "Theres no way he's been on his own this whole time. It took planning to keep him alive and even more planning to get him here today. He didnt do it on his own."

Nikita doesnt answer for a few seconds and then rolls her eyes, "Fine. You caught me saving my grandson's life. Can you blame me?"

I take a deep breath through my nose as I watch Rya's face change. I will never understand the toll the events from those years ago had on her but I know that it had a lasting effect.

"Explain," Rya snaps after a moment of hesitation, "I want to know how and why. Now."

Nikita growls at her, "Rafa was the most fitted to being in charge. Even Ellie agreed so we worked to save him. She shot him with a paintball gun and you didnt even notice."

A crack sounds before I even see Rya move. Nikita's head rocks back and Rya steps away, rubbing her fist. "So for years you've been hiding him away? Plotting how to take me down?"

"Exactly," Nikita smirks. Blood drips down her chin as she laughs.

I scowl at her, "Why are you laughing?" I ask, unable to keep quiet anymore. If I was in her position I'd be terrified for my life.

She grins at me, "Because your wife is a hot head and already murdered the only other person who knows the plan."

"Poppy?" I say incredulously. I had nearly completely forgotten about her in this mess. She was nothing more than a twisted amateur killer, what is she doing plotting with the mafia?

Nikita nods, "You'll never know why everything happened if you kill me."

I turn to Rya to see her reaction but her face is still completely blank. "What a shame," she mutters and then reaches into the desk and pulls out a gun, firing quickly straight between Nikita's eyes.

Her body goes limp and a smile grows on Rya's face. "I've been waiting to do that for years," she laughs.

I look between the dead body and Rya. Shes just killed the only way to get any answers about what the fuck has been going on the past few weeks.

"What the fuck?" I shout, "What are you thinking?"

She rolls her eyes at me as she puts the gun down on the desk, "I'm thinking that I just got rid of a massive pain in my neck."

I'm completely speechless. How could she be so reckless? So stupid.

"Oh my fuck," she deadpans, "How dumb do you think I am? You really think that I would have killed Poppy so easily? After all that she did?"

I let out a sigh of relief and drop my head into my hands, "Sorry, it's just late." She doesnt answer and I look up to see her wincing, "Your arm bothering you?"

She shakes her head and puts her good hand over her stomach, "Just got a weird pain. Probably just PMS." She takes a deep breath and then smiles at me again, "Yep, already gone."

I nod my head, "Good. But I wouldnt be surprised if you were getting sick. You need sleep and a proper meal."

She rolls her eyes at me, "Fine. Once this is all sorted I'll sleep and you can feed me in bed."

"Honeymoon sorted," I smirk at her.

We hear a car outside and her eyes light up. She runs out almost excitedly and I notice the change in attitude from earlier. I follow her out and meet her at the front door just as she opens it and reveals Quinn, Matthew and Adrik.

Alone.

"Did you guys get here first?" She asks them, "How did it go? You took longer than expected."

They all look grey as they walk in. "Rya..." Matthew starts.

Rya gulps and her smile fades, "You didnt get him back, did you?"

Quinn reaches forward and takes her hand. His grip sliding up to her elbow as if he's holding her up. "We did. But their car was tampered with. It exploded before we got here. I'm so sorry Rya, but they didnt make it."

She shakes her head at him, "No," She says firmly, "My uncles arent dead. They cant be. Quinn, they cant be."

He doesnt say anything, "Come on, you should sit down."

I watch as he leads her away and I'm almost glad its him and not me because I cant think of anything to say.